Portable sawmill manual#
Portable sawmill portable#

Portable sawmill portable#

The remaining 40В percent of owners indicated that they earned no moneyВ from portable sawmilling. Another 10 percent earned 26 to 100В percent of their income from a sawmill. When it comes to income generation, almost half ofВ portable sawmill operators surveyed reported less than 25 percent of their household income from products producedВ from a sawmill. This service demands a premium priceВ because of the unique skill and equipment it requires.

Sometimes homeowners may wish to processВ and purchase lumber from yard trees that have certainВ sentimental value. In residential neighborhoods,В homeowners are often willing to pay to have a fallen treeВ removed, providing income even before the trees canВ be milled. Many owners depend solely on salvagedВ trees to supply their mill. Portable sawmill owners are able to reduce wasteВ by using trees cleared for construction or damaged byВ insects or storms. These are two examples of high-valueВ products that are often unavailable in the marketplace.Д¬onservation is another major reason for the purchase ofВ sawmills. In the Southeast, owners produce rough cutВ lumber from specific tree species such as oak, pine, maple,В cherry, walnut, and cedar, which are often sought after byВ furniture makers. Some owners haveВ found success producing odd-sized turning blanks forВ woodworkers. One of the most profitable uses of a portable sawmill is inВ the production of specialty products. A low upвЂђfront investmentВ coupled with the ability to maximize returns on timberВ make this type of harvest attractive from many perspectives. Farmers can produceВ lumber for their own use and sell the surplus or offerВ custom sawing for neighbors. Portable sawmills are a particularly attractive microenterpriseВ for small farms, which may already have supportingВ equipment and easily accessible trees. However, after initiallypurchasing a sawmill, almost half of the owners found thatthey were able to earn some part-time or full-time incomefrom their operations. Most people first invest in a portable sawmill as a hobby toВ complete a project, such as building a barn or outbuilding,В around their home or farm. Moving lumber instead of whole logs is a major benefit of operating a portable sawmill. In this publication, we willВ highlight some of the findings from that survey including whyВ people invest in portable sawmills, potential returns and costs,В sources of timber, and typical sawmill products. In 2010, a survey of portable sawmill owners and operatorsВ was conducted by the Auburn University Department ofAgricultural Economics and Rural Sociology and the SchoolВ of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. For hobbyists and entrepreneurs,В individual landowners and communities, they allow for theВ maximum return on a valuable timber product that mightВ otherwise be lost.

In addition toВ being profitable on a small scale, portable sawmill operatorsВ also can use trees damaged by storms or insects, makingВ them a valuable management tool in a forest as well as in aВ residential neighborhood. PortableВ sawmills allow for the processing from smaller acreages ofВ individual trees and timber that may not be practical economicallyВ to transport to a larger processing facility. Therefore, if small scale forest owners are able to have their timber harvested atВ all, they may be forced to accept lower prices for it. Small-scale forestВ landowners often own smaller parcels that are not economicalВ for larger logging operations to harvest. However,В there is also potential for these mills to process timberВ owned by small-scale private forest landowners that mayВ otherwise go unused, providing landowners and entrepreneursВ with alternative income opportunities and filling theВ niche that large-scale operations cannot fill.Д®conomic constraints on conventional logging operations canВ make harvesting small tracts cost prohibitive. PortableВ sawmills are currently popular for the ability to processВ timber into lumber that can then be used for specialty woodВ products and other hobby uses by their owners.

Portable sawmill manual#

Modern models vary-ranging fromВ small manual mills that cost just a few thousand dollars toВ fully hydraulic ones priced at more than $20,000. Today, portable sawmills are trulyВ portable and are easily moved on trailers that can be pulledВ behind pickup trucks. These вЂњone-man farmerвЂ™sВ sawmillsвЂќ may have been either water or steam poweredВ and could be dismantled by a small work crew and movedВ to the next location. First popularВ in the late 1800s, portable saw milling was used to bring theВ mill close to the timber harvest site. Portable sawmills may provide that alternative. Portable sawmills can be moved to the location where trees will be harvested, eliminating the need to transport logs.