“I’ve worked in the petrochemical industry for years. I made lots of money but it never gave me any satisfaction. Yeah, I had racing cars, shiny street cars, boats; all the toys and things people strive for, but none of it ever made me happy. And on top of that I was in debt.
“Mom says I remind her of a duck”
I guess I’ve stumbled through life and always done pretty well at what I got into but my mom always said I reminded her of a duck: peaceful-looking on the surface but paddling my butt off underneath.
In the last five or six years, though, I’ve made big changes so I could stop paddling and enjoy floating. I guess you could say I’m finding myself.
For 10 or 15 years, I worked as a fabricator, welder, supervisor, and more. I ran fabrication shops, built structures to get coal, oil and gas. I’d be on the job site 18 months to two years, then off for five or six months. That work pays great but it’s exhausting.
Money can’t buy happiness….but SAWING can
Five or six years ago, I took a year off and made a plan. I always wanted to live the country lifestyle like my grandparents did. I sold everything I owned — house, furniture, vehicles. I turned it all into cash and paid off some debt. I left my driveway with just my dually pickup, two dogs, and a camper. I moved to Texas where my folks have a ranch.
I had to have a different way to live and earn a living. I’ve built things of wood all my life and I’ve always found it deeply rewarding. It’s not about the money — it’s something deeper. Maybe it’s the creativity. Or seeing the grain inside a tree when you open it up. I’ve worked hard all my life with heavy equipment, and done a lot of building, and I knew I could do this.
The more I researched, the more I realized I could do with a sawmill. I could build my own home with a TimberKing. I could build a barn, make fence posts, make rustic furniture, I could sell lumber to farmers for fencing, stalls, and more. The more I looked, the sawing business avenue just got wider and wider.
He did his homework — studied sawmills for 2 years
I looked at sawmills for two years. I watched guys sawing lumber and I searched online. I started looking at chainsaw mills but you have to physically lift logs to load them. I looked at Wood-Mizer® mills but the stopper was their cantilever design. They swear the head won’t wiggle up and down as you saw but good sense says that’s just not so. Then I talked to other sawmill owners and eventually found TimberKing.
I’ve been in construction all my life and I understand the logic of TimberKing’s welded 4-Post Head vs. Wood-Mizer’s® cantilever head. TimberKing’s design is important to me because I know I’ve got something that is true and will last. I’ve sawn 40” diameter logs on my TimberKing 1600! Some up to 42” and 44” if I chainsawed off a bit of width first. I’ve definitely taken my TimberKing to its limits!
I called TimberKing 10 times or more before I bought. I talked with Matt and did my research. I talked with a lot of sawyers. I’d ask them, ‘Why’d you get into sawing? Why’d buy this mill and not that one?’ I got a real education.
I bought the TimberKing 1600 because it was the only one I could afford at the time. I asked TimberKing to put computer setworks on it and they did. That computer is a great investment. I’ve thought about trading up to the TimberKing 2000 because it has more hydraulics. I’d love to have a 2000 but I know my 1600 inside and out and I’m happy with it.
He thought through the entire sawing business process
Before I bought, though, I started thinking about the whole sawing business process. I knew I could get into the pallet wood business with just a TimberKing. I searched for just the right wooded property so I could cut my own trees. And I researched pallet manufacturing companies that are friendly to the independent sawyer. I wanted 20 wooded acres near companies that would buy pallet wood I’d saw.
I’ve ended up with 10 acres in Arkansas with 60 to 75-foot tall hardwoods. I’m working on buying 10 more acres next to me. It was clear cut 6 years ago but I plan to clear the brush and put six or eight head of cattle on it. I’ll butcher the two-year olds, fill the freezer, and sell some beef to friends cheaper than stores.
I plan to have solar power. I planted 16 fruit trees and I’ll do my own canning and preserving. I’m making rustic furniture — chairs, porch swings, and so on — and selling them at sale barns. I do it on my time, on my own schedule, with wood from my own land, with nobody telling me what to do.
Billy’s lifestyle? Simplify and live in the moment
I’m becoming self-sufficient off the grid but it’s really about more than self-sufficiency. I’m simplifying my life so I can enjoy it more. I try every day to live in the moment and appreciate what I have.
I guess you’d say I’m semi-retired. I do take on projects in my old industry from time to time. That gives me the incredible opportunity to live the lifestyle I want.
I tell my white-collar friends they’re running around and around on a hamster wheel with the government’s hand in their pockets. For anyone thinking of living my kind of lifestyle, I’d say do your homework. Take time and do your research. Think of what you’re going to do with a saw and pick the right one to accomplish what you want. The same way you’d choose a pickup truck vs. a sedan — what are you going to do with it?
Me? I looked at what I wanted to do with a sawmill, what I was capable of doing, what would it cost me, and how it was built. For me, it was simple: TimberKing.”
— Billy Jay Dove, TimberKing 1600 Owner, Austin AR
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