Sawyer in Western NC

[Douglas Robinson]

Hank Knight is looking for sawyer in Western NC. Anyone have a recommendation? Here is his inquiry in his own words:

"A close friend has offered me as much hardwood timber as I want from his farm in Western North Carolina. He has oak, maple, poplar, hickory - all of the Southern hardwoods. It's standing timber. I need to fell it and have it milled. There's a great sawmill, Edward's Sawmill in Iron Station, about 45 miles away. They custom mill and will dry lumber they mill. I could have the timber felled and hauled to Edwards, or I could hire someone with a bandsaw mill to mill it on site. If I have it milled onsite, I have to find a way to dry it. I will also have to find a place to store it since I have limited space at my home. I've never done this before, but this sounds like an opportunity I can't pass up. Any recommendations for getting the best yield without spending a fortune in the process?
Thanks for any suggestions."

Doug

[McRabbet]

Doug,

Without reservation, I would recommend Mountain Sawyers, LLC of Fairview, NC (just south of Asheville). They have a website at www.mountainsawyers.com and can be reached by phone at 828-713-5851. They probably will not cut the trees, but they have an excellent band mill and if there is sufficient lumber to be milled, I certain they will do it on site for a reasonable fee. They can also arrange to have any hardwoods kiln-dried through another hardwoods dealer in the area, Bee Tree Hardwoods in Swannanoa.

My recommendation is based on personal experience -- I have had cherry milled by Wes and Steve Keull and they arranged to have it kiln-dried as well. Very good folks. Wes is a member of this site (wkeull) and you can PM him or send him an e-mail at wkeull @ mountainsawyers.com -- just reference my name if you would.

[walnutjerry]

I know a guy in Spruce Pine, NC that does custom sawing. If that is closer to Hank and you want more information , PM me.

Jerry

[scsmith42]

Doug, the best place to store lumber is in the tree. If you're going to have unlimited access to your friends trees, you might want to leave them in place until a few months before you need the wood.

Of all of the activities, kiln drying will probably be the gating factor. You will have the least amount of degrade if you log on day 1, mill on day 2, and get the boards into the kiln on day 3. As you extend the timeframes between these tasks, the ultimate amount of waste wood usually increases.

Many kiln operators have minimum amounts that they will dry, and you will need to provide similar thicknesses and species for drying.

So, if you locate your kiln operator first, and learn from them what quantity, species, and thicknesses will be most economically advantageous to dry, you can then make some informed decisions regarding when to log and what to log. You might be able to mix small amounts of your own lumber into their existing loads, but again you will need to provide similar species and thicknesses (as well as initial moisture contents) in order to safely mix them with their loads.

As an example, you might want to log 2000 bd ft of oak, have it milled and dried, and then work off of that stockpile. Or, if you know that in three weeks your kiln operator will be drying a load of 4/4 maple, then you can harvest a few hundred board feet of maple and have it milled to 4/4 to augment their previously scheduled load.

Another option - if you locate someone with a solar kiln, is to log a smaller amount of mixed species and run them all together in the solar kiln. For a hobbiest, this may be your best approach (and most cost effective). Solar kilns work best in the May - September timeframe.

Kyle Edwards is a super fellow, and he can both mill and dry your lumber, so that's an advantage over using someone with just a mill (and you'll find 100 available sawmills for every kiln).

As a side note, there is a tremendous amount of work involved with felling and handling logs. Logging has a high amount of injuries associated with it; and if you choose to do it yourself there are some good publications that can help you learn how to log in the safest manner.

There's also a lot of work involved with moving a couple of thousand board feet of green lumber. For most folks, it's easier to move the sawmill to the log and then load the lumber board by board, as compared with moving the log to the sawmill.

It can be extremely rewarding to harvest your own timber and take it all the way through the milling, drying and manufacturing process into finished lumber, but it's a lot of hard work! At the end of the day it's not usually "cheaper" to do it yourself, but more personally satisfying.

Scott

[Kyle]

I agree with Scott. Determine your woodworking needs and or goals and cut the specific trees you think you will need in the next couple of years. Leave the balance standing until you need it.

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by McRabbet

Doug,

Without reservation, I would recommend Mountain Sawyers, LLC of Fairview, NC (just south of Asheville). They have a website at www.mountainsawyers.com and can be reached by phone at 828-713-5851. They probably will not cut the trees, but they have an excellent band mill and if there is sufficient lumber to be milled, I certain they will do it on site for a reasonable fee. They can also arrange to have any hardwoods kiln-dried through another hardwoods dealer in the area, Bee Tree Hardwoods in Swannanoa.

My recommendation is based on personal experience -- I have had cherry milled by Wes and Steve Keull and they arranged to have it kiln-dried as well. Very good folks. Wes is a member of this site (wkeull) and you can PM him or send him an e-mail at wkeull @ mountainsawyers.com -- just reference my name if you would.

Rob I really like the website @ http://www.mountainsawyers.com It's cleanly designed and gets to the point without a lot of fluff... Thanks for posting it