David Carpenter is a TimberKing sawyer in the Texas Hill Country. Since 2002, he’s sawn hundreds of thousands of board feet of cypress, mesquite, and longleaf pine, making and marketing mantles, beams, and lumber. When his town was devastated by flooding, he jumped in to help…
David and his Redemption Mill helped his community recover after a disastrous flood…
“I awakened on the morning of July 3, 2025 to heavy rain, thunder, and lightning – and a raging, 100-year storm that caused catastrophic flooding and devastating wreckage in my town, Kerrville, in the heart of Texas Hill Country.
Reports said there were a million gallons per second flooding the Guadalupe River that runs through town, equal to two Niagara Falls, tearing through buildings and ripping out trees at 40 miles an hour.
The river jumped its banks and flooded everywhere, causing terrible damage and destruction to homes and businesses, bridges, tearing out dozens and dozens of huge, cypress trees as much as 400 years old, creating enormous tangles of flood debris. Sadly, many lives were lost.
David prayed for help…and help poured in
I grabbed my 4′ chainsaw and jumped in to help clear snarls of debris. I prayed for more help, and God sent us the best. Help poured in with helicopters, excavators, dozers, grapples, and more. Firefighters, local police, state troopers, local volunteers, and even SEAL Team Six were there, all working together to clear the debris and do search and rescue.
Redemption – turning something bad into something good
After helping clear tangled mountains of trees and debris, I began sawing ruined cypress trees into lumber with my older sawmill, much of the work for free, especially for families that had lost loved ones. I gave a lot of lumber to the town to be auctioned, with full proceeds going to the town’s reconstruction. I believe this was an act of redemption – turning something that would be burned or dumped into something beautiful and useful.
My old cantilever mill vs. TimberKing
My old sawmill was one of those orange, cantilever-style mills. The way it was set up, the saw head moved down the log at the speed you set, but the return speed was frustratingly slow, given all the sawing that was needed. I needed a much bigger, faster, and more powerful mill.
A friend and neighbor jumped in to help. I knew TimberKing makes robust mills, and he immediately purchased a TimberKing 2020. The TimberKing company was even able to give us deeply reduced pricing and super-fast delivery on a unit that had been returned. I put the TimberKing to work and sawed thousands of board feet of cypress lumber to benefit the community.
I’m not comfortable with cantilever mills
I’ve built mills and run different mills, and I like TimberKing over all the others. Their mills get great reviews. The quick-set computer and 4-post head systems are great. The hydraulics are fast and efficient, much better than mills that rely wholly on electric systems. TimberKing’s log turners are nice, and the head return speed saves hours over cantilever mills. I’m not comfortable with cantilever mills with one side open. TimberKing’s safer because you stand back at the control panel as the head moves up and down the log.
Mobile mill, custom sawing, retail sales
Today, with the 2025 crisis behind us, I put the mill to work in my lumber business. My friend owns the mill; I have full use of it and am paying him back at 0% interest from my earnings as a sawyer. I do a lot of mobile milling, towing the machine to customers’ job sites. Or people bring me their logs and I custom-saw them so they can make furniture. I saw and sell mantles, beams, barn board, and more, often from reclaimed antique barn construction materials.
Running a sawmill is very gratifying. You take a raw log and add great value by turning it into lumber. You open a log, and you’re the first to see what’s inside; the grain, how the tree grew, and how it may have been impacted by lightning strikes and storms.
Sawing is good, honest work based on a handshake.
If you’re shopping for a mill, talk to other sawyers. Make sure there’s good customer service and that you can get tech help, blades, or parts quickly. Those are things I like about TimberKing.
Sawing as a business takes certain skills. You need to be able to work with equipment. You need to be physically and mentally ready to work. It’s a straightforward job, but there’s a learning curve, too. It’s good, honest work, and deals are sealed with a handshake. And one thing’s sure – after a day of sawing, you’ll sleep well!”
— David Carpenter – TimberKing 2020, Redemption Mill, Kerrville, TX
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