Mobile Milling Business help

[Benny360]

Hi all,

I'm looking at different ways to diversify and expand my current tree surgery business and was wondering about the viability of offering a mobile milling service. Starting off with just an an alaskan mill with a view to purchasing a mobile mill. Just looking for some advice from people who run these types of business. Is it something that could stand alone or is it more of a supplemantary income to the main part of your business? Do you generally buy the wood in? Who are your customers? Do you sell the timber as green or dried, or use it to make furniture etc? Any help would be much appreciated.

[Ilnumero]

This is something I have been involved in for years. It’s a hard game trying to sell milled timber .

 

My associates and I have quite a lot of machinery between us; we have a large rack bandsaw, two modern mobile bandsaws and several Alaskan-type mills, so we can cover just about any situation. We also have a stock of about 50 tonnes of good round timber of all sorts of species at any one time.

The few customers that turn up always want it a bit thicker, wider or longer than we have in stock, or a different timber. Nothing ever seems right for them, so milling on spec doesn’t work.

 

We do buy wood in for specific orders but not just because it’s available. For example. I go and buy an oak stem 16’ by 30” for £50. Bring it home, spend two or three hours milling it, cutting the slabwood into firewood (also needs splitting) and stacking the boards or beams and clearing up the waste. I’m now into about £150 or so. Fuel and machinery depreciation not included. I now have some boards or beams of a size that’s just not right for anyone, so that doesn’t work. Okay, you might come across sawlogs as part of your tree work, but one free log to you only saves £50.

 

If I was then to make something from it, garden furniture, fine furniture, log store, sheds, fencing, shepherds’ huts etc, then I will use a lot of time and probably need a lot of workshop machinery and space to do that. And I still don’t have a customer, so that doesn’t work.

 

If you think of milling timber for customers, there are very few who can see the value in that. Who pays £300 for you to go to their site, set up and mill a few logs for a trailerful of planks?

 

It’s finding the customers that’s the hardest part.

 

Having said all that, on a positive note, I find that although our milling machinery doesn’t make a living for us, it’s great to go and mill something for yourself for your own projects. My mill is used several times a week and probably pays for itself in savings through not having to go to Jewsons and buy rubbish. You can’t go to many timber shops and get a few boards of chestnut or beech or ash or cherry. It’s a very rewarding experience but not a profitable one.

 

Please remember, this is Just My Opinion.

 

I am not giving a negative opinion because I could see you as competition, I’m 300 miles away from you.

 

If I had an established arb business like you have I would very much concentrate on building up and expanding that. After all, it’s what you know and are experienced at. If anything, your main business generates arb waste that can be processed into firewood, that’s a direction you might want to expand into.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

This is something I have been involved in for years. It’s a hard game trying to sell milled timber .

 

My associates and I have quite a lot of machinery between us; we have a large rack bandsaw, two modern mobile bandsaws and several Alaskan-type mills, so we can cover just about any situation. We also have a stock of about 50 tonnes of good round timber of all sorts of species at any one time.

The few customers that turn up always want it a bit thicker, wider or longer than we have in stock, or a different timber. Nothing ever seems right for them, so milling on spec doesn’t work.

 

We do buy wood in for specific orders but not just because it’s available. For example. I go and buy an oak stem 16’ by 30” for £50. Bring it home, spend two or three hours milling it, cutting the slabwood into firewood (also needs splitting) and stacking the boards or beams and clearing up the waste. I’m now into about £150 or so. Fuel and machinery depreciation not included. I now have some boards or beams of a size that’s just not right for anyone, so that doesn’t work. Okay, you might come across sawlogs as part of your tree work, but one free log to you only saves £50.

 

If I was then to make something from it, garden furniture, fine furniture, log store, sheds, fencing, shepherds’ huts etc, then I will use a lot of time and probably need a lot of workshop machinery and space to do that. And I still don’t have a customer, so that doesn’t work.

 

If you think of milling timber for customers, there are very few who can see the value in that. Who pays £300 for you to go to their site, set up and mill a few logs for a trailerful of planks?

 

It’s finding the customers that’s the hardest part.

 

Having said all that, on a positive note, I find that although our milling machinery doesn’t make a living for us, it’s great to go and mill something for yourself for your own projects. My mill is used several times a week and probably pays for itself in savings through not having to go to Jewsons and buy rubbish. You can’t go to many timber shops and get a few boards of chestnut or beech or ash or cherry. It’s a very rewarding experience but not a profitable one.

 

Please remember, this is Just My Opinion.

 

I am not giving a negative opinion because I could see you as competition, I’m 300 miles away from you.

 

If I had an established arb business like you have I would very much concentrate on building up and expanding that. After all, it’s what you know and are experienced at. If anything, your main business generates arb waste that can be processed into firewood, that’s a direction you might want to expand into.

 

Wise words....!

[54gka]

Second all that. It is hard work trying to sell milled timber. Iv'e got lumber stored everywhere even indoors from small to large boards, bowl blanks, spindles, beams, posts, rustic garden furniture, coffee tables etc etc etc. Just started to sell some bowl blanks but given the time from log to blank i'm still losing money. Just treating it as a hobby and if i can get a bit of money it's a bonus and I'll use that for more tools and running costs etc. It is a shame to log decent wood for firewood but at the end of the day we all got bills to pay.

[Forest2Furniture]

You'll be hard pushed to make a living out of it unless you're going into it on a big scale.

Otherwise it'll supplement your normal day to day work.

[skc101fc]

I do mobile milling as my sole business. I'm lucky in that I have no mortgage, loans or kids. - all money pits of varying degrees. All my equipment is paid for in cash, if I can't afford it I can't have it. I work probably 2 days per week averaged out over the year and live a relatively simple life . If my living requirements were any higher than this I'd be looking at a different occupation, I could always do with more customers, they just aren't there.

I read a motto from an American site that I often quote back to myself- "if you want to make a million dollars as a sawmiller , start off with two " !

But at the end of the day, I love what I do, I meet some amazing, forward thinking people and I see some beautiful parts of the country.

Shaun

 

http://www.sawmilling.ie

 

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Arbtalk mobile app

[Ilnumero]

Yes, I understand that there are always exceptions to every rule, and we don't often have the support of the Local Enterprise Office or are able to obtain a Business Development grant to buy a mill for us.

 

My comments were aimed at the OP who is probably financing his own purchases and also probably has a mortgage (or rent) to pay, and maybe some children to look out for.

 

As I said, it really is tough to earn a living from milling timber as a sole source of income.

[skc101fc]

If only it was the case that my mill had been bought for me.

I had to save hard, and sell other stuff to buy the mill outright before a grant was given, this itself took almost 6 months of writing and rewriting business plans, jumping through constant political hoops and stonewalls, to get a 1/6th reimbursement as an 0 interest loan over 3years with constant scrutiny, so climb back down, - a freebie it most definitely wasn't.

If we hadn't made the decision 20 year ago to leave England and start a new life from absolute rock bottom and crawl and scrape every bit of a job we could find to keep climbing the ladder ,I would not be in the position where I am now. I advertise hard, I go to cattle markets trying to increase my visibility to other customers, most of whom arent even aware that mobile milling is a viable option to their timber needs. I'm out quoting, site visits on jobs where client have magnificent and unattainable dreams or don't have either an end use or a market for their timber, so no, not just sat on my arse dreaming about work, I have to generate it . - Some jobs turn into absolute gems, you just never can tell.

Combine that with the pi$$ing wet west coast irish weather, mud and stone encrusted logs where the clients have skidded them behind a weak and knackered tractor, blade repairs etc all add up to a less than easy peasey job.

The one thing we do agree on is that if you have an existing tree work business then the mobile mill is a usefull and viable added value item to consider, just don't be looking for it to instantly turn you into the most successful entrepreneur ever, and if you have other high overheads to meet don't tie up your capital in a sawmill that isn't earning its keep every day. Shiny new kit isn't necessarily an indicator of success.- nice to look at but if it's preventing a fulfilling life is it worth it?

 

Sent from my GT-P5100 using Arbtalk mobile app

Edited January 27, 2017 by skc101fc

[Rob D]

Hi all,

I'm looking at different ways to diversify and expand my current tree surgery business and was wondering about the viability of offering a mobile milling service. Starting off with just an an alaskan mill with a view to purchasing a mobile mill. Just looking for some advice from people who run these types of business. Is it something that could stand alone or is it more of a supplemantary income to the main part of your business? Do you generally buy the wood in? Who are your customers? Do you sell the timber as green or dried, or use it to make furniture etc? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

I would go down the route of offering a service to others - selling timber is the hardest thing to do.

[gobbypunk]

Hi guys , most of you seem to be saying its hard to make any good money milling so why are the 3 small sawmills near me doing a roaring trade in the on its like a 3 week waite for cut timber , I cant get my hands on a bandmill quick enough , anyone got one they dont want anymore do give me a ring ,

Cheers Mark