On a clear day, you can see Montreal, Canada from the town Fred Hapgood lives in. It’s just south of the Canadian border and just north of New York State’s heavily forested, 6,000,000 acre Adirondack Park. Let’s just say Fred lives in a remote, heavily wooded area…and he’s making it pay with his TimberKing 2200 sawmill. Here’s Fred’s story…
Remote area…no jobs…but millions of trees
“I’m 27 years old. I grew up in the woods — my folks own 76 acres of woodland. I went to college in the Adirondacks and earned a degree in surveying and one in forestry. There are really no jobs in this area in the winter, but plenty of trees. So I decided to start a sawing business.
TimberKing sells factory-direct but there’s also a TimberKing dealer just 45 minutes away from me. I bought a 1600 TimberKing. I used it for a year and put on about 1,600 hours. It’s a good machine but, where I was headed in business, I needed a bigger one that would take longer logs. I traded up to a TimberKing 2000. It was a perfect sawmill and I used it for two years. But I still needed to go bigger to a saw that would handle 24’ logs so I traded my 2000 for a TimberKing 2200. The dealer was great and Will Johnson, TimberKing’s president, helped me, too.
Part-time became full-time
I started out part time – surveying two or three days a week and sawing two or three. I developed some regular sawing customers and started sawing full time. I’ve completely supported myself with sawing lumber for the last three years.
My busy season is mid-March to early December. In the winter, I saw for a pallet company. And I do a lot of logging then, too. Warm weather, it gets busy and customers will call and want it ASAP. So sometimes I buy logs. I do some cutting and skidding, some buying.
Most of what I cut is white pine but there’s also hemlock, cedar, and mixed hardwoods like maple, birch, beech, oak, and ash. I get steady work from the pallet company, and I sell green lumber to four lumberyards. Then I sell to some local businesses and I tow the TimberKing to job sites within half an hour or so of home. I do two or three on-site jobs of 2,000 to 8,000 board feet a year.
Once you own a diesel, you’ll never go back to gas
Yes, I like TimberKing – I’ve owned three of them! I like that my 2200 is all hydraulic because it’s very simple. I can get parts locally at NAPA. Hydro has a good feel while you run it. It’s smooth. There’s no delay when you work the controls. And it has the Kubota diesel engine. Once you own a diesel, you’ll never go back to a gas engine. It’s very powerful and has tremendous torque. The only way it bogs down is if I push it too hard.
I like the bi-directional Log Turners. I’ve never had a log I couldn’t turn. They’ll lift more than my tractor will. And the Computer Setworks are great. I can set everything and see the settings on the readout screen. Once it’s set, it’ll cut board after board automatically. If it’s set to cut 1” boards, it’ll cut one, automatically adjust for the next cut’s 1/8” kerf, and cut the next board at 1”. I don’t have to figure the adjustments in my head. Really, I like everything about the TimberKing.
Saw and sell, saw and sell, saw and sell
My business plan is to fell trees and saw lumber. This business is working well. I’m plenty busy so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing without trying to expand. I’ll let my equipment pay for itself. I’ll saw and sell, saw and sell, saw and sell.
I do need to expand my sawing building, though, to accommodate my 2200. It has the Board Return System that speeds up taking boards off the mill. That increases production by 500 board feet a day. No waiting or chasing boards – but I need a bigger building to use it.
95% of what I sell is green lumber fresh off the mill. The more green lumber I sell, the more I make, without having to kiln dry it or finish it. My plan is to fell trees December through March and stockpile enough logs to saw out 30,000 to 40,000 board feet of lumber in the rest of the year.
Value-added opportunities beyond sawing
I bought a Woodmaster Planer from Will, too. I’ve planed a good number of pine boards with it. It’s handy to have and does a great job custom planing for others and for my own work. I am thinking about getting into making grade stakes used by highway departments, landscapers, surveyors. If I add a Gang Ripsaw attachment to the planer, I can turn my green lumber into grade stakes and make three times as much. (Editor’s note: read more about a grade stake business.)
Sawing makes a lot of sawdust and I sell that to farmers and horse people. It makes a lot of slabs, too. People buy hardwood slabs for firewood all the time but softwood slabs are a little harder. I have sold bundles to campgrounds and to individuals. I’m thinking about getting a big chipper to turn the slabs into woodchips I can sell.
Get the size sawmill you want
If others are thinking about a mill, here’s what I’ve learned. The wood products you want to saw out should determine the size mill you get. But don’t be afraid to spend a little more money on your first mill. You’re better off getting the one you want rather the one you can afford. Sure, the financing payments are big and scary at first but, for me, after the first six months sawing with the TimberKing 1600, I realized I should have bought a bigger one. Same thing when I got my 2000 – I still needed a bigger one.
TimberKing, keep doing what you’re doing. I’ve got no complaints, no issues. I have a good working relationship with Will, the president, and if I ever do have problems, he’ll be the first to know!”
— Fred Hapgood, TimberKing Owner, Hapgood Hardwood Products, Mooers NY
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