“My wife and I are retired. We live in north woods in Wisconsin, a mile or so out of town in a sparsely populated area. We own 60 acres across the road. 40 of those are a red pine plantation and 20 acres are hardwoods. Then we have ten wooded acres on this side of the road where our house is.
For last six years I’ve been building houses with my son who lives a quarter-mile down the road. We’ve built two houses and various structures with my TimberKing 1600. I’ve built several houses in my lifetime. Now my son is coming up with good building ideas.
I’m on my second TimberKing sawmill. With the first one, I built a 12’ x 12’ tool shed for my son. Then I built four 8’ x 8’ deer stands for myself, my son, and my son-in-law. Then I built a 12’ x 12’ entranceway for my house. Four years ago, I started adding onto my house and to my son’s. I built a 20’ x 20’ two-story structure connecting to the house and the entryway. And my son and I built a 20’ x 30’ one-story addition to his house.
“I build with green lumber, no problem”
I cut all the floor joists, sills, and timbers with my TimberKing. I build with green wood right off the mill. The building takes time so the frame air dries as I cut the rest of the lumber. Building with green wood and letting it dry in place is no problem. I take shrinkage into consideration and there’s no shifting, cracking, or splitting.
How’d I get into sawing? It was my wife’s fault! A friend of hers showed her all the handiwork her husband did with his sawmill. My wife got that idea got in her head but it took me two more years to get my interest perked enough to research it.
Unimpressed by other saws
I figured we have land, pine trees, and hardwoods. I had a tractor and I got forks for it to lift logs around so I started researching sawmills. Quite a few people in this area have small mills and I saw some in operation. Some are Wood-Mizers but I don’t like the cantilever head hanging off one side of the mill. It just bobbles up and down and doesn’t seem sturdy. I watched a fellow cut with one and every board was a different thickness — from 3/4” to 1-1/4” thick. I don’t know if he was just sawing fast to impress me or what but I wasn’t impressed at all.
Two key TK features
I went online and compared mills and decided on TimberKing. I started watching their videos and I liked what I saw. I never saw a TimberKing mill in person, just online and that was enough for me. It has features other mills don’t. Two main features attracted me: the four-post head, and the stationary command post. I liked that I can stand in one place and operate everything without having to walk up and down the log.
I bought the 1600 TimberKing and a 900 Talon Edger. That edger – it’s definitely a timesaver. I cut the slabs off a log by sawing off 1” ‘sheet boards’ until I get down to the cant size I want. Then I stack and stage the sheet boards and put them through the Talon.
Originally I was looking at a bigger TimberKing but I wanted an edger, too, so I dropped back to the 1600 and got my edger at same time. That was in ’05 and I ran it for 10 years. Then we had a fire and everything burned to the ground but I wasn’t done building! I called TimberKing and bought another 1600. This new one is upgraded from the older 1600 I had and has the features I wanted in a bigger mill. It has everything I want including the ability to take up to a 20-foot log.
Straight off the mill, TK boards are smooth
I’m using this mill 100% for personal use. I have neighbors who sometimes bring logs but I’m not in business. I saw floor joists, 2x4s, roof rafters, 1” sheet boards, lap siding, and more, start to finish. I buy specialty stuff, some plywood, and so on, but If I can build it out of rough lumber, that’s what I do. But even ‘rough lumber’ the TimberKing cuts isn’t rough. 99% of the boards I cut never see a sander or planer. They come straight off mill and onto what I’m building. As long as you keep the blades sharp, boards come off the mill nice and clean and even.
Yahoo! I got the first part done
The guys at TimberKing have done a really good job for me. If I have a problem, I can call and talk with them and they give me advice and tell me what to do to fix it. If anybody’s looking for a mill, I’d say research them online, compare one to another. For me, the TimberKing spoke for itself. Why would I not go that route? With its stationary command center, hydraulics, 4-post head rig, it’s so stable. For me, it’s a no-brainer.”
— Lynn Bellamy, Laona WI – TK 1600 & Talon Edger owner
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