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Thread: Ideal Sawmill

  1. #1

    Ideal Sawmill

    Hello All! Wanted to get some input/guidance concerning a really good sawmill and why? My neighbor is selling his Logosol B1000 with beefed up accessories and on wheels. He upgraded to a TimberKing 2020

    Thanks, and I appreciate your reply,

    Brian

  2. #2
    LHBA Member mudflap's Avatar
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    looks pricey and very professional:


    how much?

    don't know if there are any pro sawmillers on here - most of us bought as little as we could so we could build our homes.

    few questions -
    - how long is the track? long enough to do rafters? figure at least 2' longer than your rafters. 4' would be more comfortable. because rafters are pricey if you have to buy them in long lengths. unless you plan on doing log rafters - which you will still want to flatten one side, so a sawmill would be great for that. I mean, if you can't do rafters on your mill, I don't know if it'd be worth it, unless the price of the mill was super cheap - like $4k or something like that. that was my motivating factor - rafters were going to run me $9k. my mill was a lot less.
    - if the track is short, can it be added onto for not very much? Like could you fabricate a track or have someone fabricate one for you for a few hundred $? or does the logosol have some proprietary track that you have to buy their $3k track extension?
    - you could still justify it maybe if you were just going to do your door and window bucks with it. I made 4x16's on my mill for my windows and they look really cool. that's something you can't buy from Lowes.

    - does it take standard blades? Mine takes 11' blades, and I can buy them from a local place because they are standard.

    - I would assume you can get parts for it from the manufacturer, since it was only 2018. after blades, I run through guide blade bearings, but found out I can buy them on ebay - the same exact kind - for like $5 a box, rather than $25 each.

    - if it has the electric loader on it, that's cool. it's a struggle for me to load 30' logs with a cant hook.

    it might also be worth an expensive price if you plan on selling it later - you could probably recoup a lot of expense - sawmills are always in demand - esp. the towable ones.
    --
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    We have the Norwood 2000. We've used it to mill most of the lumber in our log house. We milled easily 10,000-12,000 linier feet. Plus we flattened the tops of the rafters.we bought extensions for the deck but still only had 22' so for our 25' rafters, we set them up milled as far as it would go then backed the saw up and pulled the log back and milled the last 4-5 ". Kinda a pain but it worked.

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    I said we milled 11,000' but that is just what we used in the house. We have stacks and stacks of lumber and cants in the log yard that would be another 5000'+.

  5. #5
    Very cool, thanks for sharing . Why did you go with the Norwood 2000?

  6. #6
    Thanks man! Logosol is $25,000 - way too much for my liking

    How long is the track? 16 ft standard; however, more sections can be added. I want a 6/12 roof on my future 30x30 log home, so 20' rafters are required (see attached). Any experience with this brand: https://woodlandmills.com/portable-sawmills and what kind of pitch did you go with for your roof? Rafter image.png

    I made 4x16's on my mill for my windows and they look really cool. that's something you can't buy from Lowes. Cool, got any pictures that you can share?

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    In all my research, Woodland and Hudson looked like the best bang for the buck. The track on the Hudson would probably be cheaper and easier to duplicate to make track extensions. Mudflap has a Hudson.

  8. #8
    Cool, anyone heard of the Range Road Sawmills out of Canada? https://range-road.ca/home/product-c...6a-36-sawmill/

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    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmazur111 View Post
    Cool, anyone heard of the Range Road Sawmills out of Canada? https://range-road.ca/home/product-c...6a-36-sawmill/
    I've never heard of them. It is definitely a Chinese mill as is the Woodland Mills mill, and appears to be nearly a clone. Building track extensions would not be hard.

    What do they cost?

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    LHBA Member eagle's Avatar
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    You should look into swing blade sawmills. I was turned on to them from a friend in the wood business. Wasn't sure at first but looks easier and faster.
    Ken and Audra Dinino
    "Determined to build my log home before I leave this world"

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    Quote Originally Posted by eagle View Post
    You should look into swing blade sawmills. I was turned on to them from a friend in the wood business. Wasn't sure at first but looks easier and faster.
    Those look awesome, especially if you're into cutting for production. But looks like the biggest saws limit you to 12 inch lumber, which is plenty big for joists and rafters. The downside, in my opinion, is not being able to cut big live edge slabs.

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    LHBA Member rckclmbr428's Avatar
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    The ideal sawmill is like the ideal boat, your friend owns it and you're allowed to use it
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    LHBA Member LarryNut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by allen84 View Post
    Those look awesome, especially if you're into cutting for production. But looks like the biggest saws limit you to 12 inch lumber, which is plenty big for joists and rafters. The downside, in my opinion, is not being able to cut big live edge slabs.
    Lucas mills have 60” and 72” bars for quick attach slabbing. Also have a dedicated super slabber that’ll cut up to 9’ wide. Reckon that’ll do.

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    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LarryNut View Post
    Lucas mills have 60” and 72” bars for quick attach slabbing. Also have a dedicated super slabber that’ll cut up to 9’ wide. Reckon that’ll do.
    That's it... Dream tall.

    Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

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    LHBA Member eagle's Avatar
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    I saw a lucas for 7K on craig's list. gone before i could get it
    Last edited by eagle; 11-14-2023 at 05:40 PM.
    Ken and Audra Dinino
    "Determined to build my log home before I leave this world"

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    LHBA Member LarryNut's Avatar
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    Found you a wide cut band mill Allen. You can even make convertibles instead of slabs.

    https://www.trucutmills.com/?utm_sou...waApPLEALw_wcB


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    LHBA Member mudflap's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LarryNut View Post
    Found you a wide cut band mill Allen. You can even make convertibles instead of slabs.

    https://www.trucutmills.com/?utm_sou...waApPLEALw_wcB


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    8' WIDE cuts????

    What would you ever cut that big? lol . I guess you could make 2x4's....only "sideways", right?
    --
    "cutting trees is more important than thinking about cutting trees or planning to cut trees." ~ F. David Stanley

    videos: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/mudflap/
    polished blog: https://loghomejourney.wordpress.com
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    Quote Originally Posted by mudflap View Post
    8' WIDE cuts????

    What would you ever cut that big? lol . I guess you could make 2x4's....only "sideways", right?
    Garage doors and picnic tables. Not sure there's enough big trees around here to justify something that size. Pretty cool though.

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    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Looks amazing. I can't imagine a nice straight cut with that much unsupported blade between the guides.

    That surface planet is a game changer also.

    Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LarryNut View Post
    Found you a wide cut band mill Allen. You can even make convertibles instead of slabs.

    https://www.trucutmills.com/?utm_sou...waApPLEALw_wcB


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    There's a like new 36" Hudson on FB Marketplace. It's not discounted much but it's cheaper than a new one.

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