Sawmill Used for Additional Income

Use Your Portable Sawmill for Additional Income

Here's a sawmill success story that makes me want to go out and start sawing myself. Larry Lindsey is a true entrepreneur.

I appreciate his spirit to improve and solve problems. To add an extension to cut longer logs broadens his market and allows him to change more for a special product. Sometimes this is the difference in really getting ahead.

Larry’s ingenuity in adding a starter motor to raise the blade is wonderful. He spent some time thinking and came up with a good solution to a need he had. Now he can saw more lumber easier. Upon his suggestion we are now offering an option that will allow new sawmill owners to raise their mill head with the push of a button. Of course we have been offering extensions and a winch to load and turn your logs.

But as with Larry we are always glad to have customers who will think and if they desire, spend their time to make something fit their need even better. We love to see people succeed and it is great to be able to make a living helping others succeed. We are all in this together. You will not only save money, but we believe you will make much more money with our machines than what we made selling it to you. With that said, here's Larry's story ~ Stephen

Larry writes ~

I purchased my portable Cooks MP-32 sawmill in June of 2002, and have had great success with it. I purchased my portable sawmill primarily to be an extension of my existing construction business.

Over the years, I have seen many good logs wasted or cut into firewood that I could have made use of by being able to cut my own lumber. I now have to purchase very little lumber for my construction business, as I am able to produce not only what I use, but also additional lumber which I sell to other customers.

I have enjoyed the added good fortune of not having to purchase logs. Not only do I harvest what once would have been wasted in the process of clearing for new construction, I also have logs given to me on an almost daily basis. Other contractors and property owners share my desire to see good wood put to good use.

My portable sawmill has now become as much a source of income for me as construction once was, and is gradually becoming my primary business. My sawmill being portable serves as excellent advertisement for me, as I frequently have people run me down to ask if I can come to their place to saw for them. I am becoming increasingly able to profit in this way every time I take my sawmill out somewhere.

In addition to producing most of the lumber that I need, I have sawn on site for numerous customers’ projects. I have sawn complete home packages, timbers and lumber for barns and metal buildings, timbers for a bridge and some I’m not sure what it was being used for!

I recently sawed timbers and lumber for a pole barn out of old power line poles. I also saw lots of custom orders for local woodcrafters, and for my wife, who builds furniture and home storage and decorating items. We can now produce the wood she needs for her business, totally eliminating the need for her to purchase any. She has been thrilled that the free advertisement I mentioned my sawmill generating for me has resulted in my being given numerous cedar, walnut and even a couple of cherry lots of trees, thus saving her the expense of having to purchase those more expensive and hard to find types.

I am very happy that I chose the MP-32 Sawmill. I have talked to several owners of other makes of sawmills, and am convinced that my Accu-Trac cuts more accurately and reliably than any of theirs, even the hydraulic ones.

My mill is a 32-inch manual sawmill, but I have added several features to simplify and speed up my operation. I added a flywheel and Toyota started to automate raising the head of the saw, and an electric wench to the undercarriage that I use to pull the logs up the ramps to the mill.

I also added an extra squaring arm in order to be able to cut as short as 3’ material, and constructed a 10’ extension that slides into the back of the rails to enable me to cut longer than 16’ stock. I am now able to cut a full 26’ log, which is important to my business because log homes and pole barns are very popular here in East Tennessee. I am now the only portable sawmill in this area, that I am aware of, that can supply long one-piece beams for these structures. Even with my extension, I can still have my mill fully set up and operable in 30 minutes.

We all know that the old adage “time is money” is never more true than for the independent businessman, especially if he “is” the business, which is true in my case. So it is of the utmost importance for me, as I assume it is for any of you that desire to produce a profit with your sawmill, to make the most money that I can with the least amount of time and effort on my part. The modifications that I have made to my sawmill are a direct result of this pursuit.

But I have learned that the best way to earn the most money for my investment of time and energy is ultimately to charge the customer enough to be able to take my time. My desire is not to be able to produce large quantities of lumber in the shortest amount of time, as some sawmill operators strive to do. But to provide good quality, accurately sized lumber, which will meet the needs of my customers, the best way that I have found to achieve this is by keeping a good sharp blade on the saw, which insures true and accurate cuts, and to charge a fair price.

My customers deserve what they pay for, and charging a fair, yet adequate amount insures that I can take the time necessary to meet my quality standards. Producing satisfied customers has been doubly rewarding in that the best advertisement for my business has always been word of mouth referrals, which only come from satisfied customers.

A satisfied customer is what you can call me too. As you probably have decided by now, I am very pleased with my decision to purchase an Cooks MP-32 sawmill. I have achieved all I intended to accomplish when I purchased it, and more. Yet, as with any success story, there are always challenges and obstacles to be overcome along the way.

The biggest challenge that I have encountered has been what to do with the logs that I receive that aren’t fit for lumber, and all the slabs and odd sized log ends that sawing the lumber produces. The most inexpensive way that I have chosen to dispose of them is to cut them up and sell them for firewood. I have even found that I can use my sawmill to split the firewood, thus eliminating the need for a splitter. So in the end, even overcoming the obstacles has provided another use for my sawmill, and source of income for me. Yet another reason that I am a successful and happy Accu-Trac owner!

Larry Lindsey

New Market, TN