#693 

Love the final product from the saw mill im sure it is gratifying to sit back and admire the things you can do with the saw mill !!👍👊

Often doing it yourself does not save much when you factor in equipment expenses. However it's hard to put a price on the satisfaction of doing it yourself and not having to depend on someone else to provide what you need. If you can afford the equipment and truly have a use and need for it, do it! I enjoyed the video Mike, keep them coming.

Thanks for the update on the prices. Happy Valentines to you and your family. Enjoy the day, and God bless.

Mike you looked prettier in yesterday's video.

Mike, this is not the ol’ Outdoors with the Morgan’s. It’s Mike and the Mill. I long for the good ol days.

Great video Mike, you can’t put a price on the peace and tranquility all your work is bringing to you and your family. This endeavor has taken you all so far along it’s unbelievable but you all have proven it and have it documented for all the generations out of THE MORGANS to come. It will be a story worth remembering. Thanks for sharing with us and allowing us to tag along and the OLD DAWG DREAMING along with the other’s dreaming about it appreciate you and your family.

We understand Completely about spouses Spending $’s. 🙄 A Guy I work with said his wife had called and mentioned she “Saved” $ 80.00. He asked his wife how much she “Spent” to “Save” the $ 80.00 and her response was, $ 400.00. I mention tmy wife once Lost her credit card and I didn’t Report it Missing for 3-4 months because the person who found it was spending less than she was. 😬 👍

Decent money at $40 an hour. Time wrapped in rifling through the whole pack of lumber at said HD or Lowes to find three or four half way straight pieces adds up pretty quick to.

I would say if a guy has the time, then its well worth it. Good video. Thanks for sharing. 👍👍

Proficient milling Mike, is Melissa and Hannah in time out?? #692, has my side hurting and I'm still laughing.

I watched another sawer that was sawing 3 logs at a time. It was a bit odd until he got all flats and then he put out the product. You can always get three Cants sized and then go at them. You are doing good.

The enjoyment is priceless.

Mike, I have a price sheet from a mill up by me which is probably a better comparison since it is for rough cut hemlock. Now obviously prices will vary depending on where you are in the country, but since you and I are in the same neck of the woods this should be close. (I picked up a new price sheet on 2/15 so I edited the prices) 2x4x10 $3.00. 2x6x10 $5.00. 2x10x10 $8.50. 1x4x10 $1.70. 1x10x10 $4.75. Now obviously there is some added value to being able to go out and cut what you need when you need it.

Hey Mike, you're wearing Melissa's jacket, hahaha. Great video! God bless you and your family.

Hey Mike, you Forgot to 👏 Clap 👏 at the Very Beginning of your Video. 😬 I think Melissa and Eva “rattled” you in the last video you posted. 😬 👍

DON'T forget about the rounds of the logs can get you Extra money for kindling wood. Up here in Canada we get about $150.00 a hour without cameras. One cutter and one helper per saw of Douglas Fir or Cedar (Red or Yellow).

Happy Valentine's Day morning! Hey guys, get ready for some cold weather. Up here in Traverse City, MI it's 11.5F this morning. And it looks like we'll be sending the cold your way!

Mike thanks for sharing.

working on a large framing project the lumber is s4s but it is not dried it is real wet!! depending on the project youm do need to surface it!!

Mike! I really am enjoying watching how you are preparing for Valentine's Day! 😂😂. Nothing says I love you more than spending time at the Mill and calculating productivity! Hopefully, you have something nice prepared for Melissa 🥰. Happy Valentine's day to you both!

Man I feel sorry for that USPS worker having to deliver a turning blank 16 inches diameter. Lol God bless

From a utility stand point the big box lumber and the rough cut can be substituted up to a point. Where you run into problems with rough cut lumber in construction is where standard construction units (e.g., commodity pre-hung slab doors) are used. Two by four rough cut walls are too thick for stock pre-hung doors intended for 2x4 construction and too thin for those intended for 2x6 construction. Things like fiber glass insulation doesn't fit cavities well either as the space between studs is narrower and thicker with rough cut than it is with store bought lumber. Another place where you run into problems is with inspections. Building inspectors look for grade stamps to insure that the lumber is appropriate for the use. Grading involves species, location and size of knots, wane, and other elements. For example, while about anything could be used for a non-load bearing partition wall you wouldn't want to use a low grade board for a long floor joist. In general a board purchased at a big box store is kiln dried, surfaced on 4 sides, and graded. Coming off your own saw mill... not so much without incurring additional time and money. That said, for out-buildings, lumber sheds, crates, off-grid homesteads, and other things that don't typically face scrutiny from inspectors, or require compatibility with other construction materials, rough cut is fine.

Mike you should get a 2 or 3 foot discharge chute for your saw mill to put the sawdust pile far enough away that you do not have to climb the pile of sawdust to push mill head down the rails

I enjoyed how you got the most Lumber with the fewest passes with The Miser. Excellent job Mike!

$40 an hour, 🤔 not bad wages for where I live. The satisfaction I get from my mill.........priceless! Keep sawin’ brother!

Years ago, we bought one of those automatic bread makers...cost about 100 bucks... Cost of ingredients per loaf was about 25 cents... So using deductive reasoning ... First loaf cost $100.25... There after our bread was only 25 cents per loaf...and it tasted so much better than store bought. Enjoy your sawmill........🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

*Brace yourself, Mike.* Some constructive criticism coming your way. #1 Now that you're milling, you should better appreciate loggers felling timber with the Humboldt face cut. (As a friend here that owns a large lumber company likes to say, *"An inch at the butt is worth a foot at the top."*) #2 Practice the Humboldt on trees destined for firewood until you're consistently good at leaving log ends the mills demand. Devour Buckin' vids for tips. ;)

Mike; You can not put a value on the enjoyment side of what you are doing. I'm a deer hunter and if I figured the price of all that goes into harvesting a deer I would be better off driving to Nebraska and buying a Angus steer. What you do is priceless.

That’s really not apple’s to apple’s up here a 2x6=10 green would be 4.50 .45 cents a board foot hemlock or pine up here by Tionesta pa

Very interesting you can't use the lumber you cut from your own saw mill to build a house hear in CANADA building codes would not allow you too !!! But you can use it for out buildings! Just a thought Mike but why not band your slabs and sell them that way for wood they do that here in ONTARIO all saw mills do just thought it might work for you great video

I think you Save Money! I bought an economical log mill a few years ago. I hauled in some 4 year old Dry pine from the local forest where these trees died from a forest fire. The bark was burned but the inside were solid. I build a deck 16'x36' w/ railings all from these logs i hauled in 16inch round to 20"... the only thing i bought from Homedepot were the Treated Lumber for the main frame. save me some $$ on 2x6's.. and the railings ...

Hey Mike, wondering how quickly you can use that pine... Does it have to dry for a long period or are you able to use it right away? I have this question for beams, dimensional as well as the siding... I assume back in the days of the colonials they didn't have drying sheds but probably dealt with warping as that was just a way of life. Wondering for instance, if you mill down a bunch of wood how quickly could you get your mill under roof... the funny part of my questions is i always have more i want to do than I actually have time... haha... Looking forward to that spreadsheet business plan template on your website... :-) . I love your rationale... (bad credit card, slow patrons, traffic, etc...) I see you have that mastered with Melissa... haha when i want something i can make the numbers and rationale work. Thanks for the great videos! - Josh

Hey Mike , have ya ever thought about putting your mill in a shed type of cover and also putting legs under your mill to get it off the ground ???

that is some good looking wood!!!!!! mike look good you r a hard working man.!!!!!

You can't put a dollar amount on what you love doing. Great video Mike, who made the log at the end of the video. I'm in Connecticut still not winter here either.

The lumber you cut looks very nice with a tight grain. You don’t find lumber like that at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

The price of lumber anymore is ridiculous.

Just having the ability to cut any lumber at any size, and at True dimensions is PRICELESS and lowes can't match that. PJ in O-HI-O

Hey Mike, do you have powder post beetles down there?

What I appreciate what you do is that every piece of lumber you make is less live trees that are harvested from the forests. Less environmental impact too😃

Good morning Morgan's.

Don/t forget the quality of the wood plus you know where it comes from. That's worth quite a bit on its own

Not to mention that $40 an hour is tax free, thumbs up

GOOD EVENING MIKE . SEE YOU HAVE GROWN A BEARD HAD A HAIR CUT AND PUT ON SOME WEIGHT SINCE VIDEO #692 hahahahahahaha THE GIRLS WERE GREAT REALLY ENJOYED THE FUN VIDEO . AND MOST OF ALL THANK YOU FOR POSTING

Hey Mike. So I'm planning a pole barn for this summer and have been doing the same thing - breaking down the numbers. I have yet to purchase the sawmill but its basically going to cost me $5k. If i wanted to buy the wood for this project it will cost me over 12k. And that is just for only one project of 5 that I'm planning to do on the property. [Canadian or American funds is irrelevant, the ratio of cost between the sawmill vs lumber stays the same in both countries]. Rather than breaking it down by hours, try breaking it down strictly by material costs vs machinery cost. You mentioned you like crunching the numbers, try this - average the cost of all lumber 2x4,2x6,2x10,2x12 per linear foot, then figure out how many L/Ft of wood you would have paid Lowes for that wood to get you to the break even point of purchasing your sawmill, then take another step and figure out roughly how many trees you would need for that linear footage. But lets face it, if it was only about the numbers, you wouldn't be cutting the wood. I also enjoy the outdoors and working on the land is a hobby. I've recently come to realize I don't need to be flying across the lake on my snowmobile or boat to be enjoying the outdoors. A tractor and sawmill suit me just fine. Damn, i must be getting old. lol.

Howdy Mike first off I did some hitchhiking on this video. It is great to source material from your own property to build buildings and retail as you plan. However Mike I think you have some fuzzy math there or perhaps I am just looking at it from the devil advocates side. I believe you costs are a bit higher. At what rate per hour do you value your time? What is cost per hour for a tractor with a winch? What is cost per hour for chainsaw? What is cost per hour for sawmill to run? Fuel costs for equipment if not included in hourly rate? Insurance costs? Leave out all the unfunded government mandates such as workers compensation etc. etc. What would it cost to kiln dry lumber if you chose to do so? Actually Mike it is all something to think about however none of it really matters. You are living your life creating your own piece of heaven. Sourcing materials with your hands. Building with your own hands. Allowing others to participate with you and yours through your videos, enriching their lives. Appears you are living your American Dream and I applaud you for doing that. Have A Day!

Mike, in my personal opinion the lumber you checked for prices is dried so for rough cut wet lumber I'd say half of the cost of what the lumber yard states.

nice job Mike that was informative

Great video as usual Mike! But I thought in particular that the exiting clip was very cool. Somebody put some time into that. And to not take any credit. ... Very interesting :-)

Mike with enjoyment you get on muddy days that saw mill pays for its self. God bless

And that is crappy lumber from the retail store. Thanks for the video Mike and Melisa.

if you buy logs, you don't have the time and costs of harvesting the trees... you cannot do cost analysis on ONE tree... or really, even one day.. run it for three days on decked wood and that will tell you something about the cost of operation of the mill.

Mike, when you cut the cant,judt cut all the boards and take the whole stack off the mill at once. The less you can handle each board the better. Rich.

Nice ending!

Question: Can you save money by sawing your own lumber instead of Buying Retail? 10 Acre Woodlot: $38,000 Sawmill: $12,000 Tractor: $32,000 Chainsaw(s): $2,000 Pickup Truck: $54,000 Other Stuff: $12,000 So far $150,000...............

$161 USD is great... in Canada, you can double that and most likely the trees were cut in Canada, trucked to the states to get cut up, then trucked back to a Canadian retail store that is most likely American owned. The same mill you bought sure costs a lot more than what you paid here and before taxes $19,593.00 CAD. :)

rough sawed wood not dried compared to dried (smooth finished) Dimensional lumber. Looking for the apples to apples comparison where the trees are free.

Hello Mike and Melissa, just to give you an other way to look. 2 guys beside my house are milling with an old Woodmizer and an electric motor, they ask me 50$/per hour to mill my logs and they are inside and well organized and working fast. I'm carrying my logs directly there with my tractor and 2 loads of 16 logs per trip 12' long, they milled that in 3 hours. On my way back I had one very full load of: 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x3, 2x4,2x6, 2x8. So 2 loads of logs for one load of boards. Next time I wish to explain you: I get my own bandsaw mill or I continue to pass a few hours per year with friends owners of that sawmill. LOL take care friends Cheers.

OK here you go ,You got me fired up on Home Depot/ Lowe's. The lumber is OK If you want build a round room > Lumber sucks, Employees are STUPID, Some of them know what they are doing. The Stores are nasty dirty. They are just very unorganized. From what i hear Lowe;s is going out Just venting I wish i could have a mill or be close to you guys so i could come get some wood milled. Mike Question Why do you stop and start the blade when you back up?? Isn't that hard on the blade clutch.

Very educational video, thanks for taking the time to explain and share. But you did forget one additional factor into the whole equation, the fun factor. Milling your own lumber from your own trees is a lot more fun than digging through the big box store lumber for decent pieces ... and healthier! 👴🏻👍🏻 Hey Hunter! ✋🏻👴🏻

It's difficult to put a dollar figure on your own resources and labor. If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing for extra income. Fuel, equipment, trails and driveway work & material; etc. The bottom line is; it's a hobby and you enjoy doing it. One day the expense will be paid and then some.

Mike, your sawing a quality wood that far exceeds anything you'll find at Lowes. Customizing sizes to suit your needs.....Ask Lowes to do that one! If you can control your drying, you won't be rooting through piles of lumber as crooked as a dogs hind leg. If you buy a pick-up load of wood from Lowes or HD you always take some stock that's a little inferior. When you have your own wood lot, the intangibles are what make a wood mizer worth while.

Hard to put a price tag on money saved. Obviously the more you cut the more you save. When does the money saved equal the money you would spend is hard to determine if you figure in your labor cost to the time spent going to the store and buying the lumber. You can argue that the cost is already covered with the enjoyment you and Melissa have received using the saw. Once the lumber drying building is complete the savings will be even greater.

After reading most of the comments about the number crunching. On linear or board feet and pricing tween finished and kiln-dried and rough cut air-dried. I was kind of glad that my uncle's were the Carpenters. And I just worked for them. I was more into science, chemistry, physics, Anatomy that sort of stuff. The question I have is for taxation purposes, when selling the lumber will it be attached to your firewood business or will they have to be separate? The manner in which some branches of our government spend our tax dollars? I have the tendency to find all the deductions I can.

Another calculation would be $14,000 (cost of LX 150) divided by $160 (your result) = 90. So if you do what you did in this video and retailed all of it 90 times you would be cost neutral less your labor but if it's fun for you then labor is not a factor

Ok Mike stop trying to justify you mill purchase :) The mill is worth it as you get outside, exercise, save money on projects and just plain have fun. But if you going to do your numbers do not forget the money you are saving is TAX free. How much money do you have to earn to spend that $40. See its not $40 its more like $53 or more depending on the taxes you pay. On another note when your cutting for a project if you trying to save on lumber consider cutting to you own spec's on what you need. I built a mini cabin and actually cut at 1.25 x 2.75 to save on lumber do to the fact most of my trees are not very big. Also look into Green Lumber Construction. Driving nails is easier and if you screw off the ends and corners you should be able to stop most twisting. Put a roof on and then let it dry out in the wind. Even if you close in the outside walls it will still dry. You will have less waste as when you air dry you will lose some of you wood. Guessing at least 5% or more. My mill has paid for itself not even counting on the money saved on building projects. Plus I have sold about $ 3100 in rough saw bird houses and feeders. :)

How bout fuel costs, insurance and taxes on the property....however if you sell lumber from your land can you apply for farm taxes in PA?

That hemlock you sawed is better wood than the pine at Lowe's. I grew up in upstate NY and my Dad built our house and cut hemlock for the framing lumber and pine for the remainder. There was absolutely no plywood in that house.

Don’t forget about the glory of taking it from a tree to lumber to glory to finished project wish I could do it got to be very gratifieing

Mike great video as always just love watching and learning from you guys I always love new ideas. Also does anyone kno the music playing Mike maybe you could list the music

More costs would be planing to demential size, cost of blades, maintenance costs of all equipment. And labor time. You have to remember the quality of life this brings you including making a useful products where otherwise would be waste. Thank you for the insight on this. Wayne from Wisconsin

Big timber is where the money is 6x6 plus etc. 2x4’s are cheap try buying a nice 12x12 quality post.

Pay a young buck $100 and in an eight hour day of busting ass you would have a YUGE pile of wood especially if you know what you want to cut ahead of time so you are not making a lot of decisions. Personally for me I like doing a long day and seeing a huge result. Gives a lot of satisfaction.

that lumber in big box stores is not always straight, takes a long time to find good ones

If it makes you happy and you enjoy doing it then it’s totally worth it. And we all love watching your videos.

Mike, I like what you're doing but you are way way off on your savings. What you have produced is rough cut green lumber. It sells for a fraction of what finished lumber sells for. Your lumber is not agency stamped and therefor cannot be used for house construction in any area with building codes. While you alluded to the cost of other equipment, you did not account for the time to cut, move and handle the logs nor the time and cost of stacking, drying, handling and moving the lumber you have cut. How about the cost of consumables, repairs and fuel/oil for all that equipment? I'm sure your lumber is probably as good as or better than Lowe's but, it is not comparable. Anyone complaining about standing in line should just call their order in. As a contractor, I typically dealt more with my local lumber yard and just let them deliver it. It was typically cheaper than the box stores and better quality.

Get that mill up off the ground. Its much easier and safer to Not do everything bent over , your just asking for body problems with the mill in that low position.

Great video Mike. Just wanted to say, you don't have to sell lumber to pay for the mill. When I had a sawmill I never really sold any lumber. I had a portable mill and mostly custom cut other peoples timber. No sawdust or slabs to clean up. Wouldn't end up with a bunch of side lumber that I have to get rid of that also comes out of the timber that is not part of the order. The odd time I would take half the lumber in stead of payment for the cutting.

Don't forget to include your time for choosing the tree, getting it to the mill, cleanup of slash and sawdust, stacking and stickering to prevent mold and mildew on the finished material.

When we started this video, Crystal said "Mike's a math geek". Congrats, you proved that statement at the end. Very interesting topic, we enjoyed learning a point of view that applies to our property too. Thanks Mike. God Bless.

Lumber is tricky And more work then a person might think. But yes I believe if a person has enough potential building projects or can sell lumber it’s absolutely better to saw your own material not to mention the fact you can create some beautiful pieces if you have to proper tools

@ $40 hr. Divide by the cost of the mill , should give the amount of time to pay-off the mill ?! So if the mill cost $4,000 it would take 100 hours to pay it off ? Am I looking at it correctly ?

I remarked to myself earlier that the hemlock is too pretty for framing lumber. It's really gorgeous. It's also very hard to put a dollar value on joy. If you try I suspect your soul is shrivelling like a fruit left behind in the desert.

For hardwood and furniture grade wood, like cherry and oak, if you have it growing on your property, purchasing or renting a saw mill makes sense. For rough sawn lumber non-kiln dried lumber, not in my book. I've got a saw mill less than 2 miles from my house as well as a real lumber yard that delivers for free. The saw mill has a kiln if you want dried lumber or they'll you as sawn wood. I've got a load of hemlock scheduled for a fence build early April. For dimensional lumber, I call up my Mike at the lumber yard, tell him what I want and when I want it delivered, and the truck shows up, and they place the lumber exactly where I want it. No dealing with Lowes or Home Depot for lumber, and better prices to boot.

dont know why you would saw inch and a half not two that to me is the value when i build with it i know i have true 2 inch strength lots stronger think you will find as a whole your lumber is way better than lumberyard stuff youll have some almost clear stuff the money isnt in framing lumber its in the hardwood see what they want for it will knock your socks off and theirs will be no where as nice as yours

Sounds good to cut your only lumber, NOT, it depends on what you use it for, Framing or furniture, it if is framing Check your state build code to see if you can use rough cut lumber for framing, most states will tell you it must be Graded Lumber #2 or better and must be Stamped with the mill no. and grade on each board, todays saw mills cut Framing Lumber for small project, tool sheds, pole barns and out builds, hardly every for a House or Other building a permit will be needed on, money made on a saw mill is by Cutting Hardwoods for Furniture, trim, fencing and other projects.

You can’t put a price/cost on a sense of accomplishment and the satisfaction you get from it

Your quality of lumber is better controlled The enjoyment milling the lumber from your own trees also has value. Thank you for the great videos!!!!

Mike, may I suggest keeping a ledger of the boards you mill to include the number of boards by size, and the time involved and the current retail price. The price for a larger quantity will be more meaningful and help include the cost of the mill, gasoline, etc. I think you want to mill irregardless of the price. Good luck.

You are cutting full dimensional lumber also. Can’t buy that at lowes

we buy them slabs around here for 35 bucks a big ol bundle to burn in the shop stoves around here-mid missouri

Loved the tunes Mr Mike great video. Did you say you use Epidemic music?

Hello Mike first off you cut it into a inch and a half boards instead of true two bys and down here in east Tennessee the local building inspectors won't let us cut our own lumber for a house here they say that we have to use Loves lumber for the structural part of the houses and we can use the sawmill lumber for the siding of it now here and yes it does save a crap ton of money if you can saw your own lumber out and use it too and a friend of mine here has the woodmizer that has the wheels on it too and if you get on that thing and lay into it you can cut probably around thousand board feet an hour through it too but that's not letting any grass grow under your feet either now too that's humping it too now have a good day now and I'll be waiting on the next video from ya here too

Time for Mike to roll out to the Wood's for another jig of wood according to Melissa. So Mike what did you think of the parody ? I thought it was spot on

One thing you forgot to figure in as far as money goes is the cut off blanks .Those can be cut up later for firewood so your cost goes down .

you also need to consider that you are maintaining the forest especially if the logs are down, dead or widow makers.

So sorry, I feel asleep half way through. I'll watch it again

Just pick up the framing square..........

When are you gonna show the finished cabin

Mike: I think you may have underestimated your lumber. Most of what you cut is full 4/4 or 8/4 lumber. I believe that would be a special order at the big box store; I've never seen 4/4 or 8/4 at home depot.