“You could say my career as a sawyer started in 2021 when a windstorm blew down a 175 year old ponderosa pine through the roof of a home I owned. I’d run it for 15 years as a foster home for elderly and disabled folks. I had to close the business, repair the home, and get it relicensed. That whole process was extremely difficult, time consuming, with miles of red tape. So I looked for another career.
I found my new career in Oregon’s forest. Much of Oregon is heavily wooded with lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, juniper, and more evergreens. Where I live, trees are being taken down to prevent them falling on houses (like mine!), to make way for new construction, or to create ‘Defensible Zones’ for safety from wildfires.
I started shopping for sawmills
So I started shopping for sawmills. I’d heard good things about the orange cantilever-style sawmills. But they turned out to be the third-worst company I’ve ever done business with.
The cantilever-mill company said they were six to eight months out from delivery. I thought it would probably be 10 months but I ordered one of their mills anyway. That was June of 2021. In November of 2022 – a year and a half after I ordered – they called and said it was ready. I couldn’t pick it up right then and suggested they let the next guy in line have it. They said if I wanted to re-order, I’d have to go back to the end of the line.
Instead, I bought a TimberKing sawmill…then a second one!
Then I looked at TimberKing sawmills. Their 4-post head design is structurally far better than the cantilever design. And TimberKing’s log turner is superior, too. I bought the 1620 model. It’s a really great mill with very strong features. But I realized I want a fully hydraulic mill – I’m getting to the age where I just want to stand at one end of the mill and operate the levers. I still own the 1620 but I recently got a TimberKing 2220, specifically because it’s fully hydraulic. I got the extension bed so I can actually saw a 30’ log. I’m quite pleased with TimberKing.
I have 5 Woodmaster Molder/Planers, too
I also have five Woodmaster Molder/Planers manufactured by TimberKing’s sister company. I’m a yard sale kind of guy and found all of them at good prices at yard sales. I got the idea of owning several Woodmasters when I read the story on Woodmaster’s blog about a man who builds doghouses with high efficiency thanks to his NINE dedicated Woodmasters. Mine came with accessories like Woodmaster’s ProPack, dual router, molding head and knives, drum sander head, helical head, and more.
I trade my sawing services for logs
I get sawlogs by trading my sawing services for logs. For example, I talk with homeowners or contractors on job sites where trees are being taken down. ‘What are your plans for the logs lying here? I have a portable TimberKing sawmill, can we work something out?’ The owner gets rid of logs, he gets free lumber, and I get free logs.
And I demonstrate saw milling at our local 4th of July fair. They get thousands and thousands of visitors, many of whom probably never even thought of what they can do with their trees. People love to watch me saw. Those demos, and the flyers I hand out, lead to a lot of trades, swaps, and business for me!
I also make furniture pieces with logs I take in trade – picnic tables, coffee tables, nightstands, live edge and straight dimensional lumber, countertops, slabs, log cabin siding, shiplap, tongue and groove flooring, paneling, baseboard, window molding, trim, and more.
My plan for the future
My plan is to cut wood! Maybe I’ll work three-quarters time and supply materials to finish carpenters. I’ll keep showing people how to reduce fire danger. And I’ll do what I can to help affordable housing – I find I can make stain-grade pine crown molding for about fifty cents a foot.”
— Mike Lantz, TimberKing 1600 & 2220 Owner, La Pine OR
HAVE QUESTIONS? 3 ways we can help you
• Email us [email protected]
• Call us 1-800-942-4406
• Visit us on Facebook