Sawmilling Logs into Lumber
Logs are dropped off at the sawmill after an average 1/2 mile haul from the stump
Harvested logs are still low in value and perishable. We choose to sell our annual timber harvest in a more valuable form.
Our Wood-Mizer sawmill, edger saw and resaw (to the right)
As a fresh graduate from the UW-Madison Forestry program in 1976, I immediately infuriated the sawmill industry in SW Wisconsin with my new and better ways of doing things. One old sawmill owner, chewed me over one day and gruffly said, "If you want to learn to be a forester - Get A Sawmill!" Old Bert was right - operating my sawmill was where I really learned about trees and how they grew.
I learned sawmilling watching one of Bert's ol buddies - Ted Sawle here in Spring Green. I would stand for hours behind Ted, watching the four foot diameter circular saw blade chew the logs up into boards and railroad ties. Any chance to watch a sawyer still fascinates me - I love wood!
Sawing a dead oak log on the Electric Wood-Mizer
We bought our first Wood-Mizer in 1988 - a 24 hp gas engine with hydraulic log handling features. Over the summer of 2005, we upgraded to an electric mill. The first thing I did was take off the wheels from this portable sawmill. A trailer has wheels a sawmill should be bolted down to a concrete floor with a roof overhead (my opinion only).
Quartersawing Logs on a Band Sawmill
Quartersawing Red Oak Logs - March, 2007 Live Sawing Logs - March, 2007
Sawmilling Small Diameter Logs