Moving small amount of logs from land to mill and back

[danf26]

Hi all,

So Im building a small cabin and am using lumber from the land. Ive milled a number of timbers myself with a chainsaw mill, intend to hew more, and had been intending to mill/hew them all myself. But, after some difficulties with the mill (see the post called: Trouble with Alaskan Mill, especially Mini Mill), Im thinking about bringing some logs to a mill and having them do it for me. Money may be the prohibitive factor here, but if another mill cut them for me, I think I will get 1) squarer timbers (key since I’ll be timber framing), 2) less resource/energy intensive – and I hypothesize this may even be true with the energy it would take to get the wood there and back, and 3) more wood than just the timbers (with the chainsaw mill, when Im milling for a large timber, its not always possible or efficient to get smaller boards as well, meaning theres lots of “waste”). Money is the only concern, as milling them myself with the chainsaw mill only costs the price of gas (of which is uses a lot), and takes lots of my time.

So, my questions for you all are:
1. What are cheap ways to get my logs to a place where a truck could pick them up and bring them to a mill? I don’t have any power equipment myself, so Im talking about a winch, or a skidder. Preferably a winch as some of the logs are less accessible, and I don’t necessarily want to cut a skidder trail just for them. Where would I find someone able to come and help me with this (a logging company?)
2. How could I get the logs to the mill? Do mills sometimes have vehicles themselves? Would I rent a flatbed truck?
3. What do sawyers generally charge when they mill your own wood? How common is it that they may need another helper and could reduce their rate if I acted as their second pair of hands?

I guess that’s it. I know these questions are often location specific, and I live in Western Massachusetts, but writing them down is helpful for me, and maybe one or two of you has some good answers.

Thanks . . .

 

[bitzer]

It sounds like you're going to have a pile more money into it then you are going to want. Call around to mills in the area to see what cost will be and who would even do that for you. I have a guy here who will run just about anything on his bandsaw mill, but he just does that on the side. My guess is that you are looking for a guy like that.

So you have to skid the logs out of the woods and load them up? Do you know anyone with any equipment or can you rent some? Hiring someone is going to kill your cost. How is your ground? A tractor can skid some decent logs out with the right set-up and know how. What size logs? Something with forks at the landing and a flatbed will get you loaded and out. A decent sized tractor backhoe with forks would probably get most of the work done, that is if the land is willing.

 

[Dalmatian90]

I'd start by looking for a "portable saw mill" or "bandmill" or "bandsaw mill" operation in your area, and then you can ask them for some advice.

I know there's a couple in my area from driving around. Poking around on Craigslist might help, but I suspect you'll get better luck asking around town for who might run one, or if you see some loggers or folks who sell a lot of firewood.

These guys are often part-timers and fill a niche like yours.

Some will come to site, those who don't should have contact with local truckers to move the lumber to and from your site.

Bringing the wood to the landing cheap, that might involve "skid cones" and winches and maybe a pickup truck, I'll let you google that some more on your own

 

[outdoorsman0490]

30 years ago in the buckland area, there were many small mills, mom and pop types. When my dad cleared our building lot, there were several people only a couple miles away, he had one pick up the logs, mill them and bring them back, for cheaper than if he bought the wood outright from a larger mill. Unfortunately, none of them are active anymore. Since it sounds like you are looking for a smaller mill, when you are driving around, go down some back roads and look for a pile of boards stacked up near someone's driveway, it could be the sawyer you are looking for, or the sawyer you are looking for may have brought it there.