Is it worth while to have a local sawmill cut some or all of my Barn Lumber or even do it myself?

Question:

Aaron-

We have a LOT of eastern red cedars, Tulip Poplars, among other species. If I have a local sawmill cut our pieces for us, would you expect a significant savings overall?

Mark

Yes, if you got a local portable sawmill to come in and cut all your lumber out of cedar and poplar you could save quite a bit.  Portable sawmills often either charge by the hour or the board foot depending on conditions.

If you have a pile of logs neatly trimmed, clean, and of consistent size they will likely charge by the board foot which would be more economical for you.   An experienced logger with modern equipment can log that much material in a day or two. However, it might be difficult to find a logger that will move his equipment for that small amount. A couple guys with a tractor or skid steer and a couple chainsaws would take 1-2 weeks to log that amount of timber. That’s on flatland here in Michigan.

Your local sawyer might be willing to do that work as well, it’s worth asking around. Just a word of caution Logging is dangerous, in peacetime it is statistically the most deadly profession.

Alternatively you could buy a small portable sawmill, like a woodland mills, small wood mizer, or a hudson and do that work yourself. It’s hard work, but very rewarding. I can tell you that with confidence, because I have done all of the above. I was a professional logger for about 5 years using modern equipment, I have owned 3 small portable sawmills and have cut my own lumber for dozens of projects, and have logged my own small wood lots with just a tractor and a chainsaw. In short it’s a trade off, the more hands on you are, the more you will save, but also it will be hard, heavy, difficult work, but very rewarding.

If you can do a lot of the work, I would consider it. Especially if you can do it with family or friends, you might make more money working than you would save for the time you invest, but some things are worth it. You will remember the work you did on this barn a lot longer than the time you would have spent doing your regular work