Owning and operating a sawmill may not seem like a typical enterprise for farmers and ranchers, but increasingly, sawmills have become an important tool on the farm for helping to utilize wood resources.

For ranchers logging their own overgrown, invasive red cedar trees, or landowners hoping to mill some of their own woodlands or custom-mill as an extra income resource, owning a sawmill has become a goal.

But where do you start? And how do you decide what type of mill to purchase?

I personally know several landowners who own portable mills that they can set up on their farms, but also move into the woods, if necessary, to be closer to the resources they are milling. Farm Progress asked Kim Slezak, Nebraska Forest Service forest products and utilization specialist, for recommendations on purchasing a sawmill for the farm.

What are your goals?

Slezak says that it depends on what the main goal is for the mill owner and operator. “Are you wanting to mill your own lumber for siding, furniture, fencing or other nonstructural uses? Then, any mill will work, but I would lean toward a chainsaw mill if this is going to be a short duration project,” she says.

“If hobby milling for a longer time span, an entry-level bandsaw mill or hydraulic, if you don’t have other support equipment,” Slezak advises. “Logs and long boards or thick boards are heavy, so hydraulic mills can save your back from loading or turning logs. Having a trailer next to the mill to slide the boards off onto with minimal lifting is a plus.”

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Slezak says that if a landowner wants a side business, they should purchase the largest hydraulic mill they can afford. “Setup is key to production milling,” she says. “Log storage, loading, offloading, stacking and drying can be a dream or a nightmare if not set up in an organized and efficient manner.”

Least expensive

“The least expensive, maybe, would be a variation of a chainsaw mill like a Granberg Alaskan Sawmill or Logosol Timberjig, or perhaps raise that log up a bit with a Norwood Portamill PM14,” Slezak notes, “and have easier and consistent setup on a track. Raise it even higher with a Logosol F2. These can be very portable and inexpensive if you already have a hefty chainsaw.”

For smaller mills, chainsaw bars up to 20 inches need a 3.8-cubic-inch (60-cc) chainsaw, she says. Medium mills need the largest saw you can have, at a minimum of 5 cubic inches (80 cc). Cutting any logs over 36 inches in diameter will need the largest chainsaw made. The Logosol Timberjig, for instance, lists a minimum requirement of a 4.27-cubic-inch (70-cc) chainsaw, Slezak says.

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If you don’t need portability to carry it into the backwoods, an entry-level bandsaw can cost about the same as the jigs and chainsaw combined. “And a bandsaw makes less sawdust than a chainsaw mill, and the less sawdust there is, means more wood,” she adds.

Learn more by emailing Slezak at [email protected].