#693

Using our Woodmizer LX 150 Sawmill, Today we put some dollar amounts on some of the lumber we are sawing to determine if you can really save money sawing your own lumber buying your own sawmill.
#outdoorgans #woodmizer #sawmill
Our Address: Mike Morgan
P.O. Box 2140
Cranberry Twp. Pa 16066
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Equipment that we use on the Property:
Woodmizer LX 150 Sawmill
RK 24 Subcompact Tractor Loader, Backhoe & 54" Granite Grapple
RK 37 Compact Tractor With Loader and 72" Granite Grapple
RK 55 Compact Tractor With Loader
Polaris 900 Crew Side x Side
Wolfe Ridge Compact Commercial Log Splitter
Black Diamond 22 ton Log Splitter
RK by King Kutter 1.5 Ton Dump Trailer
Attachments:
Brush Hogs
Tiller
Box Blade
Land Plane
Disc
Post Hole Digger

[@kens.3729]

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. 😬 👍

[@scottfrazelle]

PRAY your wife doesn't see your message!!!!!!

[@TKCL]

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.

[@DrakeMiester]

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.

[@larryselfridge6733]

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

[@thomasryan8218]

Mike you looked prettier in yesterday's video.

[@archiescott2229]

lol

[@thomasdesmond2248]

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

[@johngrossbohlin7582]

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.

[@russellbowman8051]

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 !!👍👊

[@donlatimer5114]

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

[@Fulltimer]

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.

[@geoffreykail9129]

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.

[@funpupps]

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

[@OutdoorsWithTheMorgans]

?

[@bobfuchs3627]

You forgot to include your happiness and peace of mind. Keeping busy doing something you love is priceless. Keep it up

[@johnfroese7158]

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

[@donbowersock9564]

The enjoyment is priceless.

[@HTPJohn]

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.

[@jeffreyarmstrong2800]

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!!!!

[@garybelcher8259]

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........🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@earlhollar1906]

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

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

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.

[@stevereed9680]

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

[@jacquespapillon1154]

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.

[@RagsdaleCreek]

Mike thanks for sharing.

[@matthewsims359]

There are many benefits that come along with the estimated $40/hr. You are making/saving money doing something that you really enjoy doing. Not to mention the fact that you are managing your property to be a money making property for years to come. I think its well worth the money and time invested. Very smart if ya ask me. Say hey to the family and yall HAVE A DAY 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ronaldtowns7291]

Your saving money and who don’t like that. If I had a mill I would be saw all my trees into lumber and burning the slab wood. Keep up the great videos. Glad evea is doing much better. Let’s all be kind and do something for others. 👍❤️

[@FMcanada]

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.

[@OldVermontGuy]

Greetings from No. VT - Mike, great video. I like your conservative approach to costing out the framing/siding lumber and you are correct that with your supply of blow downs and dead trees you have made a very smart move to mill up the good softwood stuff. From watching your videos for the last year or so it appears that you would sill have more than enough gnarly, curved, and junk hardwood to supply the firewood customers.

[@Iowaflyboy1]

Super interesting video! Thank you.

[@dickhansen8594]

$40.00/hr for having a blast. Yeahh. Gifts from heaven. Nice video. Thank you for sharing. What a day

[@billk8780]

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!

[@alkaufmann2039]

Mike, there is a way to build a really nice "hot tub" out of white oak. What a great project for you, Melissa and the viewers to enjoy. It would be a fantastic belated birthday gift for Melissa!...

[@aldredske6197]

Hi Mike and Mallisa!!😀😀 Glad to see you are sawing up the red pine. I told you at Buckinstock that it made great lumber!! Those are definitely some really nice trees for lumber. Take care my friends!!😀😀❤ Logger Al

[@gregritter377]

nice job Mike that was informative

[@merlewarnsholz2094]

Mike - Thanks for sharing. Great instructional video once again. Thanks for posting #692 - made me laugh out loud. Then had to explain to my bride what had me tickled. Say hi to Hunter and the girls. Blessings to all from the retired pastor in Davenport, Iowa.

[@sgbradley]

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).

[@martineastburn3679]

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.

[@SMichaelDeHart]

Good morning Morgan's.

[@michaelmclarry1409]

You got a lot of clean up this spring next to the saw mill....

[@jimp.4531]

Melissa, has some great high speed Dance moves.

[@tomscott3939]

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!!

[@rickytaylor6954]

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

[@douglashedrick4904]

Liked this video! the best video in gee I don't know without going back and checking each, keep them coming.

[@ronwhite6719]

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

[@mhoskie2640]

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 ...

[@jasone9]

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.

[@ibfgarage9365]

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

[@wlsteffen]

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

[@georgevangordonjr8963]

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

[@polycat7670]

Nice ending!

[@brianagnew7634]

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😃

[@jeffreylane6098]

Good logic Mike......I love the fact that you pretty much know every piece of wood you have cut.....can't buy that fact in Lowes!!!

[@TwoJeremysWoodworking]

I would happily drive from Utah to get some of that beautiful western Pennsylvania hardwood.

[@mikemike2864]

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 .

[@chriskythreotis4686]

Pricing up to build a workshop for my son in the uk.....$10 ..8ft..3x2.....soft wood....☹️. Loving your work on the woodmiser mike 👍🇬🇧

[@stevenrichey5068]

Just ran across this...Linda's sawmill cinema. .. That will give Melissa a workout.... Be safe... 😄

[@wyattearp1418]

Hey !! How are y’all , just playing catch up. Enjoying the marathon of "Outdoors with The Morgans" today.

[@PatrickCPalmer]

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! ✋🏻👴🏻

[@timwilcoxsr2712]

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.

[@FLEETWOODFLYERS]

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

[@griromero]

you can do a "cash flow analysis" of your wood-lumber operation. It is basically what you're doing, but putting a cash value to everything; including your time, financial costs, equipment depreciation, etc, etc. I would be interested in seeing that and in addition, it is fun and educational to do.

[@hartlow946]

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.

[@richardscudds4753]

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 ???

[@wyattearp1418]

Hey that store just like ours !

[@BillB23]

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.

[@davidb.beasley7359]

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.

[@kwspreu]

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.

[@thomasdesmond2248]

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

[@weaverkevin5462]

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

[@haroldschmidlap8487]

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

[@sodbuster3401]

Great job on that sawmill , cant wait till you start selling some of that wood.

[@dananderson8254]

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

[@jasonfarris8421]

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

[@melhebert2419]

also walnut.

[@jamesburke5709]

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

[@kens.3729]

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. 😬 👍

[@jimmyandkathyharrell]

Good music!

[@richhiway]

I see a lot of it is not kiln dried comments. Properly stacked soft woods dry quickly and with out much loss. For most out buldings and cabins there isn't much differnce.The wood ends up being at the moisture level of it's enviroment. It becomes more important for harwoods for furniture and woods that will be in the interior of a heated home,like flooring.

[@bigbuck1074]

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.

[@joshwerner652]

I love these sawmill videos. How much shrinkage should you expect after the lumber has finally finished drying? Also, how long does the drying process take?

[@neilmacleod5371]

Cutting 1 inch or 2 inch , I highly recommend the woodmizer two saw edger , greatest little edger I've ever seen . Ours had the return rolls on top so part of the side cut could be returned to the front of the edger, Two men , one off bearer that sorted and graded and a feeder that also ran the loader would get an easy 25,000 boardfeet in a 7 hour shift . I'M NOT PAID BY WOODMIZER TO SAY THIS LOL

[@bobtjart3399]

I think you meant to say 2500 board feet

[@neilmacleod5371]

@@bobtjart3399 no . It was 25,000 bd ft . All the slabs had already been cut on the band saw , we were cutting timbers for post and beam homes . It was a vertical band saw . All the side cuts were 1 inch ( very few , no money in 1 inch ) and two inch .. the grade was so good they started cutting the 2x4,2x6,2x8,2x10,and 2x12 into flooring at a mill in New York, the state . We would save up the 2 inch slabs , order in a couple of trucks , shut down the band saw and run two or three days of slabs . Two guys , my son at the controls , his friend stacking and sorting to grade and size . Then back to cutting timbers . All indoors , ten ton overhead trolly winch to handle the timbers and to load the logs onto the carriage . I loved that little woodmizer edger , sizes were perfect ,easy to change and power feed rolls . Not really fast , but the pieces could be fed end to end . Carriage could handle logs up to 32 feet long .

[@larryfowler4558]

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

[@largolarry]

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

[@bentleyrichardson4283]

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

[@michaelmcneal654]

Don't forget the entertainment value,...

[@SDBloxham]

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

[@dograngler1]

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

[@richhiway]

Saw mills also shine in timber frame construction. It is not all about saving $$$. It is the satifaction of building things that money can not buy.

[@802louis]

Very nice video 😳😊😀👍👍

[@MIKES-nh9xr]

When are you gonna show the finished cabin

[@tomstud2481]

take the cuttoff slabs that are big enough and split them at 16ins. and add them to hunters deluxe firewood . its good hardwood and will dry in about a year .

[@earlhollar1906]

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.

[@chucktintera9029]

Should you allow for not having ideal logs?

[@randykovack4472]

what is done with starting cuts and off cuts

[@95SLE]

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.

[@95SLE]

@@Morgansunleashed I understand perfectly. I always thought the mill was purchased for private use and not as a company asset. The printed medium leaves a lot to be desired and is never the same as a face to face or a phone conversation. As a new viewer, sort of, I did not know that the pool was sacrificed for the saw. I sincerely pray that the finances come together for a pool in the families future. One thing that I do know is good things usually happen to good people.

[@memyselfandifarmer]

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

[@Twangg1]

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.

[@jimarsenault6558]

Mike I have a hard time putting a monetary value on something that I really enjoy

[@SwimCoach8]

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.

[@traindudeacw]

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

[@michaelwhiteoldtimer7648]

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