A.O.
ArboristSite Lurker
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!
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!