What’s it take to make YOU happy? For Steve Litz, TK Owner from Columbia, NJ, it’s a mountain of logs and his 1600 TK mill. Oh, and his Talon Edger, too.
“My involvement with sawing started when I was a little kid. Back in 1952 or so, I was five years old. My father ran a lumber and planing mill in southern Vermont and we’d go up in April or May each year and stay as he sawed lumber until the first snow in October or November.
Growing up, I took quite a few industrial arts classes in school. I was in the service from 1969 to 1971, then ended up driving truck. I did that for 41 years and ‘retired’ about 10 years ago. But I didn’t really retire. A friend had property he wanted cleared so I logged it and did logging for another four years. The price of lumber was down so we stopped but since then, the price has come up. I don’t log any more, just saw milling.
He’s outgrown 2 sawmills…so far
People think of New Jersey as urban but I live in a heavily wooded area just a few miles from a 70,000-acre National Recreation Area on the border of northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Delaware Water Gap. There are very large, old trees around here. I’ve sawed 42” diameter white and red oak, probably 200 years old.
I got a sawmill and started sawing pallet wood and firewood with a friend. We outgrew that mill and, seven years ago, I bought a TimberKing 1400 sawmill. I realized pretty quickly I’d rather have hydraulics so I traded the mill back to TimberKing and got their 1600 mill with hydraulics. I’ve had it now since 2012.
Two years ago, I bought a TimberKing Talon edger. That’s an absolutely fantastic machine. When I have someone help me, I cut my labor time by one-third. I cut slabs on the TimberKing, and the other person runs them through the edger. It edges, but people may not realize you can set this machine up as a gang rip saw. You can mount up to five blades. I’ve cut five 2×4’s at the same time from one wide board. It’s a big time saver. I recently ran an order for 200 2×4’s in a couple short, six-hour days, no problem.
“TimberKing’s on your side when it comes to financing”
TimberKing helped me get started in this business. My credit wasn’t the best but they got me into their financing program so I could get started. It’s like they’re on my side, very fair people. Other mill companies weren’t flexible — they wanted 1/3 down, 1/2 down, or even 100% up front. If you work with TimberKing, they’ll work with you. I’ve had lean times some winters and they’ve been great, moving payments around for me.
A TimberKing mill can pay its own way in earnings. I make, on average, $1,000 a week and my payment for the mill and the edger together is about $540 a month.
I have contracts with a couple different pallet companies and I also do a lot of smaller work — a $200 job here, a $300 job there. Lumber for sheds, purlins, that sort of thing. I do mobile sawing, too. I just got done with a job for someone on their site. I charged $1,600 to go mobile for him. It took 5 days. I moved my mill, edger, and skid steer down to his site.
“I joke around a little with the guys at TimberKing”
I researched a lot of mills and TimberKing was the best deal as far as them wanting to help me get started. They helped me with financing and were the ones you could discuss things with. Their people are A#1. I can’t say enough good about them. I call them up and we joke around a little. You feel like you’re part of the family. With the rapport I have with TimberKing, I wouldn’t buy anything else.
Sure, there are pros and cons to any machinery but at this point in time, I pretty much have carte blanche with TimberKing. When I need a part and am really strapped for time, I can have it here overnight if I need it that fast. Another nice thing is many parts are standard. You can buy some things at a car parts store or a tractor supply store. You can buy parts locally. It’s really a win-win situation.
I’m happy with TimberKing – the people and the mill. The mill’s great. Everything works as designed. My sawing’s sort of a hobby — I’m doing it at 67 because I like to do it and it keeps me in shape. And I’m not the rocking chair on the back porch kind of person. I’m either fishing, hunting, or running my sawmill. I cannot sit in the house, can’t sit on the couch like a lot of folks do in retirement!
Steven’s advice on TK models
I’d wholeheartedly recommend TimberKing to others. My advice: If you want to do sawing as a hobby, their 1220 or 1400 is a good place to start. But don’t handicap yourself. Like they say, ‘bigger is better.’ Smaller mills are great for hobby sawing but if you’re going to do any kind of production work, go at least with the TimberKing 1600. I really work mine hard and it does a great job.”
— Steven Litz, TimberKing 1600 Owner, Columbia NJ
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