Rod Sipe tells us, “My son, Jason, and I have been working together over the last 10 years, building a business from the ground up. Doing this together is extremely rewarding for both of us. We’re very lucky every day to have that simple connection in this complicated world.”
Ron’s son, Jason, offered his perspective. “Coming home turned out to be one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. It’s given me an opportunity to give back to my father in ways I didn’t know I could ever do.”
Here’s the Sipes’ story…
Starting from scratch, learning as we go
“Jason and I are building a business from scratch. We have a 1400 TimberKing sawmill that’ll handle cuts up to 30-1/2” wide. We use cut and sticker live-edge slab lumber we use to make live-edge furniture. We also sell slabs to others – woodworkers, do-it-yourselfers, and builders.
Here in Oklahoma, we’re surrounded by old-growth forests. White oak, cherry, black walnut, and more. It’s everywhere. My son, Jason, has a working relationship with the local power company. They’re cutting walnut trees 10” to 20” diameter so they can install power lines. They cut trees and nobody wants them.We pull out the logs and saw them into 1-1/2” slabs to make live edge benches, bookcases, tables, and more. Jason’s making an Adirondack chair now. We’ve also discovered you can go to commercial sawmill and sometimes buy logs cheap.
Unexpected business opportunity
People are buying our lumber since the price of commercial lumber has fluctuated greatly. And many folks buy since they started building D-I-Y projects during the pandemic. Others are interested in locally-sourced wood. And homebuilding is picking up, too. We make walnut mantles, brackets, and more for builders.
This all started as a way to source our own lumber. But we quickly realized owning this portable sawmill gave us a great business opportunity. Our young business is word-of-mouth only. We’ll get to the point of wanting a website and maybe do some local advertising.
Figuring out the business as we go
We’re really just figuring out the business as we go. Jason runs the mill, I’m in the shop. We’re both scheming what’s next. One thought about markets is local furniture stores.
Besides our TimberKing, we have a Kubota 2800 tractor with a grapple rather than a bucket. The grapple is just great. We have a big trailer, too. We sticker our lumber and air dry it. I wish we had a dry kiln; maybe that’s what we need to do next.
Portability is key
We live just 2-1/2 hours from the TimberKing factory in Kansas City. Jason and I drove over and got the full factory tour and saw all the sawmill models. We chose the TimberKing 1400 because it’s real portable. It’s more or less on the high end of TimberKing’s entry-level mills so you get some power assist without the cost of hydraulics. And we wanted to see if sawing really worked out for us. If we continue to get this business off the ground, we’ll probably upgrade with a bigger mill, bigger skid steer, and a bigger truck.
We couldn’t be happier with TimberKing. The equipment works great and has done everything we need it to. I’ve had foreign-made equipment – big mistake. Not even in the same ballpark as American-made machinery. Buy American!
You just gotta go — that’s how we got started
It just seemed natural to get a sawmill. We talked about it, got it, and started cutting. Jason and I are learning the business as we’re growing it. You can plan forever but at some point you just gotta go. If you’re motivated enough to threaten to get a mill, do it. Just take the plunge. Buy and entry level mill and go from there. That’s how I got going in boat building, woodworking, and sawing. It’s transformed my life.”
— Rod and Jason Sipe, TimberKing 1400 Owners, Grove OK
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