Portable Sawmill Services

I offer portable sawmill services to landowners located within 25 miles of Fireside Farm --which includes most of Durham and Chapel Hill, and stretches north/south from Burlington to Pittsboro. Each milling job is unique— based on site accessibility, lumber type, and desired dimensions— so I like to chat on the phone before any milling takes place. In that call, I’ll let you know if I need to do a site visit prior to milling. My cell is 919-698-1228 and you can call/text me anytime. 

Below, I’ve provided a basic overview of my pricing. Here’s an even shorter version. Please note that I do not cut down trees and I do not barter milling services for lumber. If you need an arborist, see my Local Contacts page.

Project Estimate: Free

When we talk on the phone, I will ask you about the dimensions of the trees you wish to have milled, their condition, your project goals, and your site. I can then provide you with a rough estimate of the lumber’s value, the project costs, alternative options, and the timeframe when you can expect to have them milled. I do not have a minimum fee, so you can choose to do as little or as much of your project as you like. Sometimes folks set a budget and I work within that figure.

Milling Capacities

In general, I can mill any size of log. My two main sawmills cut logs up to 36” inches in diameter and up to 20’ long. My largest sawmill cuts logs up to 72” in diameter and 12’ long. My two main log movers (a track loader and skid steer) can move logs up to 4000lbs. My largest skid steer moves logs up to 6000 lbs. My fleet also includes a log truck, dump trailer, chainsaws that can cut 60”, log arches, winches, two kilns, etc. My goal is to help my neighbors with all of their logs-to-lumber needs– whether that means cutting a slab into two 1” boards or milling an acre of hardwoods. My speciality is multi-day jobs wherein we use trees from homesite clearings for code-approved home and barn construction and milling for general purpose or furniture projects.   

Project Cost Formula

Each portable mill job includes three costs— mobile set-up fee, milling by the hour, and blade cost. Set-up includes setting up and taking down the mill. The hourly milling rate begins when the sawing begins and it ends when I shut the engine off. I do not charge for time related to machine down-time, set-up, consultations, breaks, or mechanical adjustments. The per-blade charge allows me to differentiate between those jobs that may require only one blade per day (softwoods, such as cedar and pine) and those jobs that may require one blade per log (3-year-old 36” wide hickory).

Estimating Project Time

Many people ask me how long it takes to mill a log. And, unfortunately, it’s highly variable: If everything is stacked well, I can process a log every 10 minutes. I’ve also spent an entire morning quartersawing one oak log. It all depends. Some general rules of thumb are as follows: the cleaner, greener, softer, and more cylindrical a log, the faster I can go. A 24” diameter 10’ pine log might take me and my mill 20 minutes to process. The fewer cuts I have to make, the faster I go (cutting four 6x6s from a 12x12 cant goes a lot faster than cutting twenty-four 1x6s). If I have helpers pulling the slabs off the mill as soon as the blade exits the log, I can work quicker. Anything over 36” in diameter is doable, but gets a little more complicated. A hardwood that has been down over a year may require an extra blade change. However, in most cases, it’s safe to assume a ballpark of 45 minutes per log.

Estimating Project Yield and Profitability

My fastest sawmill (a 2023 LT-50) can process up to 1000 board feet per hour. This is especially the case with large diameter softwoods, such as pine. Larger diameter oaks can yield this much or more. With pine prices at $1.50/bf, it’s easy to see how a portable sawmill can generate over $1000 worth of framing lumber per hour. When you consider costs of specialty hardwoods, such as white oak for $10.50/bf, you can see how it’s easy to generate thousands of dollars worth of lumber in a few hours.

Ballpark Project Costs

Portable sawmill jobs include three costs— setup/delivery of the sawmill and track loader ($500 flat fee), milling ($140/hr), and blade charge ($25/blade). Note that the hourly rate includes both the sawmill and track loader. So, if you have two logs that require my track loader to move out of the woods, and my LT-40 sawmill one hour and one blade to process, then your cost would be $665 ($500 setup, $140/hr, $25/blade). For folks wanting to do a deep dive, this table shows common price configurations by project time. Sometimes my clients set a budget (eg, $750) and I mill the best/highest ROI logs until we reach that amount. 

For logs brought to our sawmill facility in Saxapahaw, I run my fastest mill (LT-50) at $140/hr and $25 per-blade use. There is no set-up fee at the facility. So, if you bring me two logs, and they take me one hour to mill, then your milling cost is $165 ($140/hr and $25/blade).

A Note on Stacking and Site Clean-Up

All sawmill services are for processing only. You can keep your costs down if you or a helper pull the lumber off the mill. Unless you are using your lumber immediately, you will need “stickers” or thin wood strips that go between your drying lumber. We can cut these from softwoods on your property or you can buy them from me or the hardware store. If you are going to buy them at the store, I recommend kiln-dried, untreated 1x2x8 “furring strips.” If you buy them from me, I sell kiln-dried 1x1x3s for $1. Here is my overview about how to stack your lumber. If we are processing your lumber on my main portable sawmill (LT-40) the boards will likely be coming off the mill faster than you or helpers can stack it— so it’s OK to pile the lumber on mill day then stack it after I leave. Also, after milling, there will likely be a pile of edging material (flitches or slabs) and sawdust. I can clean this up for you, but I would do so at my regular milling rate; therefore, I recommend that you do it or hire someone to save money.

Striking an Object in Log -- $35/$100

My sawmill is designed to process clean logs. I use a metal detector to check for objects in yard trees, but its range is limited to 4” deep. I also use a debarker to clear the blade’s path on dirty logs. If I hit an object, such as a rock or nail, then I charge $35 for that blade instead of $25 to recoup the damaged blade’s cost. The possible presence of metal should not necessarily dissuade you from having your log milled. If there is $1000 worth of lumber in your log, an additional $10 is not too onerous a fee. When using the Lucas Slab Mill or the chainsaw mill, I charge $100 per instance of hitting a metal object.

Lucas Slab Mill -- $250/hr

If you have logs larger than 36” in diameter, I can mill them using my Lucas Slab Mill (with a 72” wide capacity). Usually, the most cost effective way to mill these large logs is to have them delivered to my sawmill facility in Saxapahaw on the day you have the tree processed. There, I run the Lucas Mill at $250/hr, with a two hour minimum, and $100/blade used. What’s great about having your large diameter logs delivered is you don’t pay any set-up/deliveries fees— and you get the benefits of both my largest slab mill (Lucas) and my fastest bandsaw (LT-50) at reasonable hourly rates. You can do as little or as much milling as you like.

If you prefer to have the Lucas Mill brought to you, then I mill at a flat rate of $3600/day. This includes the Lucas Mill, LT-40, Track Loader, and two helpers. The Slab Mill is built around the log, like a giant jig, or the log is rolled into the mill’s open frame.

Getting Logs Delivered to my Log Yard

If you want to have your logs delivered and milled at my log yard, you have three options. (1) You can deliver them yourself with a truck and/or trailer. (2) You can work with your arborist to have the logs delivered on the same day the tree is cut. This is often the best option as it balances cost and convenience, especially if your arborist has a dump truck or trailer. (3) I can pick them up for you with my track loader and log truck. Here’s a breakdown of prices for log pickups.

Once your logs are at my log yard, I can mill as little or as much as you like. I mill at $140/hr with my main sawmill (the LT-50). This is a great option if you just want a small amount of your tree as a keepsake, such as a table slab. To get the lumber back to you, you can pick up or I can also redeliver the lumber to you. Here’s a breakdown of prices for lumber delivery. Note that it may be cheaper for you to rent a truck, or even a box truck, and pick up your load after milling.

Selling and Picking Up Your Logs 

I get at least three calls a day from people asking me if I want to pick up their logs in exchange for the lumber. Unfortunately, the answer is almost always no. The exceptions are walnut, cherry, or high volumes of pine, poplar, or cedar. But, in general, I get it: trees are valuable and hauling them to the dump seems blasphemous. The context people need to know is that I have logs delivered to my sawmill daily for free or cheaply ($15-30/log) so I can’t afford to I put my equipment and staff on a full day job that results in $100 worth of logs. 

What I do offer is log pick-up services at the flat rate of $650/half day or $1300/full day that is discounted by the value of the logs. So, if you have twenty poplar logs that I’m buying at $75/ton, and their value is $750, and it takes me three hours to pickup and load them ($650), then I will remove the logs and pay you the difference ($100). If the value of the logs is less than my cost to move them (eg, 10 logs/$500 log value vs $650 hauling cost) then I would haul them away and you would pay me the difference ($150). 

Please feel to call or text with any questions. 919-698-1228. Thanks! Randall