Practical Considerations Before Purchasing a Portable Sawmill

Note: This article was originally published in May/June 2025 edition of The New York Forest Owner magazine, a publication of The New York Forest Owners Assocation. It is authored by Ed Neuhauser.

Some of us are fortunate enough to own small woodlots. Most of us start managing our woodlots by cutting firewood. As we conduct our Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) projects, cutting the poorer quality trees for firewood and leaving more growing space for our better quality trees, many start to dream of producing their own lumber for personal use. Most of us start this process by setting aside a few decent logs, small logs that would never be included in a commercial harvest, but would be big enough to provide some personal lumber. The next step is to have someone come in with a portable sawmill and saw up those logs into lumber. Then we get to experience stickering and drying lumber. The time may come for some of us when we would like to be able to produce our own lumber and this then involves considering the purchase of a bandsaw or circular sawmill. In my case, the desire for a sawmill really developed after I retired and decided to build a wood shop. I convinced my ever-patient spouse of all the money we could save by having me sawing our own logs for lumber instead of buying it from someone else to build my shop. I’m not sure she really believed me, but in agreeing she made me promise that if we purchased a sawmill, I would promise to stay out of the house until sundown. In this case, her peace and quiet (getting rid of me) was well worth the price of a sawmill.

So how does one go about deciding if they have sufficient quality and quantity of timber to justify the purchase of a sawmill? If we do have enough timber, how do we go about deciding what brand and model of sawmill to purchase? This series of articles will explore those questions and help you decide if owning your personal sawmill makes any sense for you.

As a member of NYFOA and long-time participant in the Master Forest Owner (MFO) program, I have been fortunate to visit many landowners who are doing innovative things with their forests and land. Take advantage of the network that has already been developed and go visit landowners that may already be doing what you would like to do. Woods walks are one of the best ways to initially connect with folks. Find out who has a sawmill and introduce yourself and ask if you can come to visit them to talk about their mill. Most NYFOA members are more than willing to share what they have learned and would be happy to have you come and visit. I visited a number of NYFOA members before acquiring my sawmill and building my wood shop and it was well worth the time and effort. Not only do you learn what worked for them, but more importantly what didn’t work.

Initially, starting in the 1980’s, most people who purchased portable sawmills intended to use them in a business where they would trailer the sawmill to someone’s property and then saw logs that the forest owner had brought together in one area. While this is still are large part of the sawmill business today, a second mode of operating a sawmill has been developing. This second model is where the sawmill operator does not intend to operate the mill as a business by going from place to place, but rather intends to use it primarily to cut logs from their own woodlot, as well as some logs that people might trailer to their property to be sawn into lumber. 

The next questions that need to be evaluated are: Do I have enough timber on my property to justify buying a sawmill? Do I have the right equipment to safely fell the trees and move the logs to the sawmill site? Do I have the proper space on my property to safely stage the logs and set up my sawmill? To answer the first question, let’s evaluate how much timber I was able to saw in the past calendar year. I keep a record of what I saw every day and a history of sawmill maintenance in a small Rite in the Rain (all-weather) notebook. Keeping track of how much you saw every day helps you to know when to change dull blades and when to change oil and filters on the sawmill motor. In my most recent year of sawing, I was able to saw 11,700 board feet of lumber in 64 days 
of sawing, for an average of 185 board feet/day. Keep in mind that this does not include the felling and skidding of the logs to the sawmill site; most of my logs are at least ½ of a mile from my sawmill. It does include bucking the logs, staging them at the mill, sawing the logs, tailing (removing the edge trimmings, lumber, and slab wood) from the mill and moving and stacking the lumber at the drying site.

To get an idea of how many individual logs I was able to saw in the past year, let’s evaluate the most common species that I saw. Of the 11,700 board feet of lumber that was sawn, 6,400 of that was red pine, so 55% of the lumber that was sawn was red pine. The remainder of the lumber, 5,300 BF, was sawn from eight other species. When the red pine is felled, it is usually cut into a 22’ butt log and the remaining top of the trees is cut to a 33’ log. These logs are then skidded to the to the sawmill site and bucked into 11’ logs, as I prefer to saw softwood logs into 10’ lumber. I know that my red pine logs average 185 board feet per tree. So if we take 6400 board feet of lumber and divide it by the 185 average total board feet of lumber per tree, this equals approximately thirty-five red pine trees sawn. If we estimate that there are five logs per tree, this means that roughly 175-11’ red pine logs were sawn in the past year. If red pine was about half of the timber sawn, then I was able to saw around 350 logs in the last year.

With about 75 acres of woods on our property, I have no trouble being able to secure 350 logs to saw every year. My overstocked red pine stand covers five acres and in five years of sawing, I have probably cut only one acre of it. Last year 22% of what was sawn was ash, as I am trying to remove ash before the emerald ash borer makes it too dangerous to fell these dying trees. The remainder of the sawlogs were butt logs from TSI thinnings, with the tops of the trees becoming firewood, and a small number of logs that were trailered to the property. So in most woodlots beyond a certain minimum size (10 acres?), and with at least some degree of overstocking, it is fairly easy to have enough logs to saw.

Next to consider is the proper equipment to harvest and move the logs. If you are going to fell your own trees, the most important thing to have is proper safety training, with perhaps the best example of this being Game of Logging (GOL) training. GOL training emphasizes safe chainsaw operation and teaches you things such as directional felling, a technique that allows you to place a tree right where you want it, even if it might be leaning in the wrong direction. GOL training is well worth the time and effort, which is demonstrated by the fact that the classes fill up rapidly. Send an email to chainsawsafety@bassett.org to learn about dates and locations.

An absolute necessity when operating a chainsaw is the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE consists of a helmet for head protection which incorporates hearing protection and a screen for the front of the helmet. Safety glasses are a good idea to protect your eyes from flying debris, chainsaw chaps or pants to protect your legs, and suitable footwear, preferably with steel toes, to protect your feet. It is preferable to have long sleeves to protect your arms, a sturdy pair of gloves to dampen vibrations to your hands, and a high-visibility safety vest so you are easily visible to everyone else working on the site.

The next thing to consider is moving the logs from the felling site to the sawmill. I use a small (48 hp) tractor and a Farmi skidding winch to bring the logs to the mill site to be bucked to length. The advantage of the skidding winch is the 130 ft. cable that allows you to gain access to logs in difficult locations that preclude driving the tractor directly to them. Before I obtained my skidding winch, I used to move logs using a tractor, logging chains, and the 3-point hitch on the tractor, but to do this, you have to be able to get much closer to the logs. Using a tractor this way, you can usually only move one or two logs at a time. With the skidding winch I can move up to six logs at a time, depending upon the size of the logs. One final thing to consider regarding equipment is that you may be able to share with your neighbors, trading equipment use for lumber, making things more economical for all involved.

Next on this list is finding a suitable site to set up your sawmill. A large flat area is required, because when you are sawing, your mill needs to be level. You also want to be able to stage your logs right next to the mill. To illustrate how much room is required, we could look at how I set up log handling in my sawmill building.  The building is 30’ X 56’, with a covered lean-to 12’ X 56’ on the south side of the building.  On the north side of the building is a 19’ wide opening for bringing logs into the building with my tractor and pallet forks and on the south side of the building is a 16’ opening. Across the 30’ width of the building, I have placed three 30’ long 4” x 4”s with 1” X 1” stickers screwed to the top of them about 3’ apart. I can stage about sixty logs indoors out of the weather on these 4 x 4’s. The sawmill sits on the 12’ X 56’ pad whose floor is set 6” below the floor of the main building. Setting the sawmill slightly below the floor of the main building allows easy log loading with a peavey to the hydraulic arms of the mill.

Placing the logs on top of the 1” X 1” stickers makes it very easy to move them with a peavey. When the mill was located outdoors, I set up three rows of  6” diameter logs perpendicular to the mill and staged my saw logs on top of these logs. If you mill is not equipped with hydraulics, you could consider staging your mill into a cut made in a slight rise of small hill, allowing you to easily peavey your logs on to the deck of the mill. Staging your sawlogs on small logs perpendicular to your sawlogs makes them easy to move and keeps them out of the mud.

Now that you have decided that you have sufficient timber on your property, proper equipment to fell and move logs safely, and a suitable level location to set a mill, you need to decide what kind of mill would work best for your particular situation. Sawmills for the small landowner can be divided into 3 general types; chainsaw mills, manual or non-hydraulic mills, and hydraulic mills.

In the past the most common sawmill was a 52” circular stationary mill with the log being moved on a carriage into the spinning saw blade. These mills have a ¼” kerf, double the size of a bandsaw mill. This means that on a larger log, the thinner kerf of a bandsaw mill would allow you to gain an extra board for every eight boards you cut, so it’s easy to see why circular mills are not used very much today. These mills were also very dangerous, and while there are still some of this type being manufactured today (generally with much smaller diameter blades), they are far less prevalent than band mills.

 Chainsaw mills are basically a guide frame that clamps to your chainsaw bar and uses the chainsaw to cut boards from a log lying horizontally on the ground. The initial cut on each log requires an additional guide that sits flat over the full length of a log; the mill frame rides on this guide to ensure a flat and level surface of this first cut which then provides the flat surface for all future cuts to ride across. These guide rails can either be purchased, or can be home-made out of lumber or even a repurposed section of aluminum extension ladder, as long as they are truly flat and straight along their entire length. A benefit of a home-made version is that they can be customized to fit any size of log.

Chainsaw mills work best with larger chainsaws. A general recommendation is to use a saw with at least 3.8 cubic inches (60 cc) of displacement, though the more powerful the better. If your saw is underpowered, stick with the shortest bar possible for the logs to be milled to maximize the power that it does have. 

Normally when we use a chainsaw to cut firewood, we are cross-cutting, which is cutting across the grain of a log. When using a chainsaw mill, we would be cutting in the same direction as the grain of the log, which is a ripping cut. Most table saws that we use in our home woodshops come equipped with a combination blade, which has some features of a cross-cut blade and a ripping blade. If you are going to do a lot of long cuts with a table saw, it is wise to purchase a ripping blade. With a chainsaw mill, since you are actually using your chainsaw to make ripping cuts to cut lumber instead of crosscuts to cut firewood, it is a good idea to purchase a ripping chain, it will cut much faster than the current crosscut chain on your chainsaw. Chainsaw mills are a good economical way to start cutting your own lumber. There are a variety of chainsaw mills available, with prices ranging from $75 to $250 for the basic mill attachment; the saw powerhead, bar, ripping chain, and guide rails will of course add to the cost.

 
Non-hydraulic bandsaw mills are the next type of sawmill that the small forest owner could consider. These mills usually come with a gasoline or diesel motor, though there are some new models that come with an electric motor and there is even a newer battery-operated sawmill available. These sawmills come with a platform to manually load and secure the logs and the operator then pushes the sawmill motor and blade into the log to cut the lumber.

Operating a manual or non-hydraulic sawmill means that the operator has to manually load the log onto the sawmill bed and turn the log after each slab wood cut (initial cuts to turn a log into a square timber known as a ‘cant’ before cutting boards at a desired thickness). Turning the log can be done with a long-handled peavey or a cant hook. A peavey has a small moveable hook at one end, with a point at the very end of the tool. The point at the end of the peavey was originally used to separate logs. The cant hook also has a small moveable hook at one end, with a small hooked toe at the end of the tool which provides a second lifting edge. The purpose of this extra toe at the end of the handle is to provide a better grip on the log for canting or turning over a cant or log.

The last type of sawmill that a person could consider is the hydraulic mill. Hydraulic mills use a hydraulic pump to power mechanisms to load the log onto the deck of the mill, turn the log on the deck after every cut, and to securely clamp the log before each cut. I invested in a hydraulic mill because at my age, I didn’t want to take any chances with injuring my back. This has turned out to be an extremely wise investment, as I fortunately do not have any back issues so far. I get enough of a workout with my back just tailing the mill, removing edgings, lumber and slabs from the deck of the mill after each cut.

As for the cost of a new mill, non-hydraulic bandsaw mills can range in price from $2,500 to $23,000, depending on the size of the mill you want and the features that you select. Hydraulic mills can range in price from $28,000 to $70,000. There are a great number of manufacturers of both styles of mills. Some of the brands of mills I have seen in New York include: Baker, Cooks, Hud-son, Norwood and Wood-Mizer. All seem to make an excellent product that gets the job done. In my area, Wood-Mizer is the most common mill that you will find. Part of the reason for this may be because Wood-Mizer has a distribution center in central New York, making it easy to get parts and attend seminars. The second most common mills that I see are Hud-son mills, which are manufactured in near Utica, NY. 

One option worth considering for adding to either a non-hydraulic or hydraulic mill is a debarker.  A debarker is a small wheel that rides in front of your bandsaw blade and cuts a kerf ~ ¼” wide on the face of the log, removing bark and any dirt and stones that might be embedded in the bark. Since most bandsaws have a 1/8” kerf, this ensures that the blade is cutting into clean wood. Bandsaw blades rapidly become dull when they hit dirt or stones, so this allows you to cut much more lumber with each blade. I have found the debarker on my bandsaw to be well worth the cost.

In the second part of this series, we will review selecting logs for milling, how to efficiently process a log on the mill to produce the high quality lumber we desire, and how to handle and dry the lumber after it is sawn.

Ed Neuhauser is NYFOA’s president. He saws lumber from his Groton, NY woodlot with a hydraulic Wood-Mizer LT35.