Well, the mill showed up beginning of June. I went with a Woodland Mills HM126 Woodlander capable of handling 16’11” logs with a 26” diameter. I’ve had just over 16’ on it so far.
Pretty pleased with the mill. The shipping not so much! Some hack forklift operator decided to punch a few holes in my boxes. Ended up bending one of the track rails so the assembly was put off for about 2 weeks until a new one could be shipped out. He also dented the gas tank and the flywheel cover on the engine. Everything runs fine and the tank doesn’t leak so I decided to grin and bear it.
Finally got the mill up and running for the July 4th weekend. Been going after a few quaking aspens that came down in the wind last fall and this spring. The Mill cuts them like butter. I’ll use this lumber for a wood drying shelter and storage of the mill when not in use. It’s the most abundant tree on our property. Not the best for construction lumber but good enough for an out building.
I’ve got and integrated trailer system with log ramps and a hand wench to get the logs on the bed if the mill. The trailer system allows me to pull the the mill to the fell sight of the tree/trees with our ranger SxS. Our land is pretty flat and it only takes about 10 minutes to level the mill with 6 Jack stands.
I’ve got 5 - 10’ post and a number of 2x8’s ready to go in the pile of lumber in the pic. I’ve got 2 piles going. The second 16’ pile isn’t in the pic. Got some 5’ - 4x4’s and about 100 1x2 stickers for the drying stacks cut up with the mill. I’m not worried about sticker stain for the aspen and they should be plenty dry by the time I start stacking better quality lumber. 3 more posts and I’ll be able to start construction on the shelter.
Once the shelter is complete I got my eye one a few ash trees for future call making. I’ve also spied a number of pines that will becoming down for a garage and miscellaneous lumber. We’ve also got a number of suger maple on the property and some white and red oak mixed in. Possible hard wood flooring, trim boards, and of course call wood from the oak. Not sure about the maple for calls as I’ve read it’s pretty finicky when it comes to moisture.
I’ve got a lap siding attachment for the mill and have been reading the aspen makes decent siding if you coat it with a primer and acrylic latex paint. Over 10 years in Wisconsin and still in great shape when the study ended. I think it will do just fine for an exterior covering the of the future wood shop.
All in all I’m very happy. It’s a little bit of work but it’s keeping me a in shape for duck season this fall and of course turkeys next spring.
Forum Board
