? Woodmizer Band Saw Mill

[fcurrier]

Since a search for Woodmizer turned up no results on this site, and since this is the most common sense site I've come across, I'm looking for advice.
We have a 90ish acre of land, affectionlatly called "The Woodlot". It's grown, and overgrown, with as mixed a variety of trees, including spruce, fir, hemlock, white and yellow birch, cedar, ash, popple, a couple pine, a couple oak (special, too young to be cut in what's left of my lifetime), sugar maple and red maple, and probably some I haven't listed.
Entry level into the bandsaw market is $3,000, plus whatever other expenses may be added, so give me $4,000 to get into the game.
I have a next door neighbor who owns a cedar mill (circular saw) who has told me that he can market anything that I can saw.
I think I'm going to go this route, but I'd like to hear from anyone else here who's had experience with bandmills and marketing the lumber they've sawn.

 

[wshytle]

Frank-

With the lumber from 90+ acres you probably have enough lumber to buy a couple of bandmills. That is, of course, if you want to own a bandmill. If you had rather end up with some serious cub money you might look in to renting. It sounds like whichever way you go you're going to sweat. Other than firewood I haven't done any marketing but I've run chainsaws several tanks at a time and that's work. It's what I also call dirty work because you bring something other than sweat back home with ya.

Good luck and keep us posted maybe with a pic or two....Wayne

 

[digger]

Frank,
I'll take a pic or 3 of my band saw tomorrow.

 

[fcurrier]

It's been roughly 24 hours and nobody's said "you could shoot your eye out". Oh, it's not a BB gun anymore. OK, nobody's said "you could cut your fingers off".

 

[digger]

Sorry Frank,
I didn't get up to take a pic for ya, but I will tomorrow for sure.

 

[lhinds]

Frank; You might want to consider letting someone else log it for you. We bought 123 acres and sold the timber to a loger for 125,000. Then went to the county tax office who reclassified it as stump land. Cut our taxes in half. We ended up with the land paid for and 35,000 pocket money.

 

[fcurrier]

Lon -68.49430 Lat 46.78684 Luther: Stumpland? The thought makes the hair on my neck stand up! The taxes are about $600/year. 4 cords of firewood will cover that. We did have a logger cut on about 40 acres a few years ago - a swampy section that needed a skidder to get around in. Our next-door neighbor (not the one with the cedar mill - on the other side)(I've got good neighbors!) maintains cross-country ski trails out there so we didn't do a winter cut. Big mistake! As careful as the logger was he left some pretty deep ruts.

Hey - tell me you bought a 123 with some of the money from cutting the 123 acres.

 

[digger]

Frank C.
Here's some wood cutter pics for ya.
Come on over and we'll play with some real wood.
Here's the bandsaw,

Here's the sizer/planer/shaper/molding machine,
I've got 27 different heads for the beast too.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Charlie, is that equipment that came with your new property?

 

[digger]

Yep

 

[lhinds]

Frank; I didn't like what hapened to the land either but it was better than what was going to happen to it. It wasn't torn up very bad. It was going to be strip mined for coal.

 

[fcurrier]

That sure ain't no Woodmizer LT10!

 

[aschumacher]

Charlie, what (used to) powers that big monster? I suspect some big a$$ motors for the shapers...how about the band saw? Do the lights dim in the area when you fire up all that stuff?

 

[digger]

Allen S.
Nothing used to, They still do.
Everything in those pics runs and operates like a champ.
It's all 208 3 Phase.

 

[kide]

I was sure it'd be either water or stem power with a big 'ol line shaft and leather belts made from moose hides..
How wide is the band?? I use 1/8 and 1/4 inch on my Crapsman benchtop...

 

[dfrisk]

KENDELL - I would have guessed something along the line of an IH UD-18 to 24 engine. They were pretty common remote power plants. And I agree with the lineshafting & flat moose-hide belts!

My little 4" x 6" bandsaw uses .025" x 1/2" x 64" blades. I don't make too many sharp radius cuts on purpose!

 

[gchunnett]

This is a most fascinating discussion viewed from this side of the pond (South Africa) and rather fortuitious, I have a place down in Cape Town which has 75-80 year old Beech floorboards and I need a few dozen planks to replace beetle infested planks, and some stuff to get a 35 year old Cub Cadet going again like a a fuel cut off valve, really only the brass screw and seal adjustment thingy, glass bowl and seal are still ok. Any ideas????
I could come do some lumber cutting but i doubt if a CC would tow the logs

Kind regards

Gordon

 

[kmcconaughey]

Gordon, WELCOME!

CC Specialties might be able to ship you that part.