Wildly newby questions!!

[A.O.]

So I want to buy a sawmill, to make lumber for building.. buildings and such, decks ,docks, shooting benches and things like that.
The building part I have down pretty good, been doing it most of my life.
The sawmilling/drying part I have no clue except what I've read. This is where I need advice and ideas!
I have 100 acres about 50-60 of those are a pine tree plantation of mixed sized Loblolly pines (southern yellow pine). I want to turn some of these into lumber for building stuff.
Been doing research on sawmills, got a couple threads on that here.
I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore so I went out today to test me and my equipment on taking down one of these trees, about 16" DBH...seemed to go fine, got 3-10foot logs, 2-8 footers and a couple pieces. Me and my tractor did fine I think.
so now I'm ready to pull the trigger on a sawmill...and if I do...
What I need to know is, on the milling process... slicing up the boards 2x4s for instance I know that in reality they are
3 1/2 x 1 3/4 What is a normal size to cut them? And then... how long do they need to dry before using them?
Stickered air dry, solar kiln?
Anything special I need to think about before I jump into this? YES I know its a lot of work, but that's good for me I'm thinking...
So this is the property and the trees...


and a little of my testing myself







And a deerstand treestump!

 

[Marshy]

If making rough cut lumber I would go full dimension, 8/4 thick.

 

[A.O.]

If making rough cut lumber I would go full dimension, 8/4 thick.

Will it actually shrink to useable size or will It all need to be planed to size?

 

[rarefish383]

I looked at several old houses when I was younger. I wanted a big 1850's stone house. They all had true 2X4 studs dividing rooms. I don't know when they went to the planed down sizes, but if I were building a house, with a virtually unlimited supply of wood, I'd go full 2X4, maybe 2X6, for the insulation and sound deadening of the rooms. If I was worried about additions later maybe I'd go with the 3 1/2. A hundred plus years ago I don't think they kiln dried the wood, I know log cabins were built green, and lots of them are still around. If "all" you want to do is build with dimensional lumber, look at the swing mills, that's where they shine. They have one that runs off a big chainsaw power head. Someone on this forum has one. Do a search for Turbo Sawmill, there are others like the Lucas. What ever you, do stay around and show us the pics, Thanks, Joe.

 

[Cease232]

It will shrink but not that much. There's charts and such readily available online that will tell you exactly how much a given species will shrink. I would probably go 1/4" oversized and call it close enough.
I've built many houses where the wood would splash you if you hit it with a hammer.


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[A.O.]

I looked at several old houses when I was younger. I wanted a big 1850's stone house. They all had true 2X4 studs dividing rooms. I don't know when they went to the planed down sizes, but if I were building a house, with a virtually unlimited supply of wood, I'd go full 2X4, maybe 2X6, for the insulation and sound deadening of the rooms. If I was worried about additions later maybe I'd go with the 3 1/2. A hundred plus years ago I don't think they kiln dried the wood, I know log cabins were built green, and lots of them are still around. If "all" you want to do is build with dimensional lumber, look at the swing mills, that's where they shine. They have one that runs off a big chainsaw power head. Someone on this forum has one. Do a search for Turbo Sawmill, there are others like the Lucas. What ever you, do stay around and show us the pics, Thanks, Joe.

So my house is done, with conventional lumber, but I have several out buildings with full sized rough sawn lumber... most of it is uneven (different sizes) of lumber so the interiors of them cannot be sheathed which is what I do not want to end up with. I'm going to have to fir those out to even finish them.
I'll look into a "turbo mill", Something I was not aware of.

 

[Marshy]

If you need or want to control dimensions thst closely then you should consider a Lucas mill or a band saw mill. Chainsaw will get you close and it will be rough. It sounds like you will want to plane them. It all depends how high your standards are and what the project calls for.

 

[rarefish383]

Yeah, I agree with Marshy, the swing mills are the way to go for dimensional lumber, but they might be out of your budget. I took a quick look at the Turbo and it is about $6500. As far as the squareness of your milled lumber, that's on you and the mill you use, or if you get a nice planer and plane every thing to a spec. If you mill 2X4 and it's uneven, then the 3 1/2 are going to be just as uneven. In one of your other threads I asked that you keep it all in one thread, this is why, one person is answering this same question in another thread. SawyerRob does a lot of dimensional milling and can tell you how true you can get with a band mill. I think that if you put the time in on your set up, you can get accurate enough you won't need planing. But, Rob is the one to answer that one, Joe.

 

[A.O.]

If you need or want to control dimensions thst closely then you should consider a Lucas mill or a band saw mill. Chainsaw will get you close and it will be rough. It sounds like you will want to plane them. It all depends how high your standards are and what the project calls for.

Yes, mainly looking at a Bandsaw mill, wouldn't even consider a chainsaw mill..

 

[A.O.]

Yeah, I agree with Marshy, the swing mills are the way to go for dimensional lumber, but they might be out of your budget. I took a quick look at the Turbo and it is about $6500. As far as the squareness of your milled lumber, that's on you and the mill you use, or if you get a nice planer and plane every thing to a spec. If you mill 2X4 and it's uneven, then the 3 1/2 are going to be just as uneven. In one of your other threads I asked that you keep it all in one thread, this is why, one person is answering this same question in another thread. SawyerRob does a lot of dimensional milling and can tell you how true you can get with a band mill. I think that if you put the time in on your set up, you can get accurate enough you won't need planing. But, Rob is the one to answer that one, Joe.

Yeah, $6500 is over double the budget. I've got a decent planer, just not wanting to plane everything I cut, and are you going to whine about my multiple post every time you come on???

 

[A.O.]

And another question.. how soon after you fell a tree do you saw it up? Right away, or do you wait a few days, weeks, months??

 

[paco_06]

I could type for days on this subject, it's what I do for a living.... Just pm me your phone number and I'll give you a call when I get a chance. Or vice versa. 15 minute phone call will save me an hour of typing!

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[A.O.]

I could type for days on this subject, it's what I do for a living.... Just pm me your phone number and I'll give you a call when I get a chance. Or vice versa. 15 minute phone call will save me an hour of typing!

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I just did this on your profile page, Thanks.

 

[rarefish383]

Sorry AO if I try to make things easy for you, I gave you the info on the turbo, I found the the website for the little Norwood for you. I looked up the price for you, Don't know why you keep whining about not knowing anything about milling. People give you answers to your question on one thread then you ask the same question on another thread. No wonder you don't know anything, you don't pay attention to what people tell you to questions you already asked. I'm sure there's a Home Depot down the street from you, for $3195 you can buy a lot of nice straight 2X4's, Joe.

 

[A.O.]

Sorry AO if I try to make things easy for you, I gave you the info on the turbo, I found the the website for the little Norwood for you. I looked up the price for you, Don't know why you keep whining about not knowing anything about milling. People give you answers to your question on one thread then you ask the same question on another thread. No wonder you don't know anything, you don't pay attention to what people tell you to questions you already asked. I'm sure there's a Home Depot down the street from you, for $3195 you can buy a lot of nice straight 2X4's, Joe.

Wow you are just so wonderful, how could this forum even survive without you?? I bet you just hang around here to rub everyone's logs to make them bigger!!

 

[paco_06]

I just did this on your profile page, Thanks.

Sorry, I don't see anything?

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[SeMoTony]

And another question.. how soon after you fell a tree do you saw it up? Right away, or do you wait a few days, weeks, months??

In practice the end of the log drys, splits and gets harder to cut. So short answer it's better to mill soon after dropping the tree. I chainsaw mill to be able to get slices like the ash stump/table top under my arm in avatar
Stay safe and warm Folks

 

[A.O.]

Sorry, I don't see anything?

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Hmmm, I just went there and its still there, click on your name on post, then click profile page..

 

[cre73]

Haven't seen your other posts, so Im not sure if this has been mentioned. As for your logs you will want to seal the ends of the logs as soon as possible to reduce checking and cracks. Anchorseal is highly recommended, but many use latex paint. Anything to keep the ends of the logs from drying to quickly.

 

[A.O.]

Haven't seen your other posts, so Im not sure if this has been mentioned. As for your logs you will want to seal the ends of the logs as soon as possible to reduce checking and cracks. Anchorseal is highly recommended, but many use latex paint. Anything to keep the ends of the logs from drying to quickly.

Thanks, got lots of latex paint around here...