A Small Sawmill Business

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If you're the type of person who prefers the clean smell of fresh sawdust to the scent of expensive cologne, if you can imagine the beauty of the sudden quiet when a saw is shut down after a long morning's workout, and if you like the idea of pocketing an honest profit as a happy customer drives away with a pickup load of lumber . . . then it might be worth your while to explore the possibility of owning and operating your own family sawmill.

Don't be mistaken, though . . . sawyering is not an easy profession to take up. Far from it . . . it demands muscle-straining, back-taxing work! Still, since it does allow you to be your own boss—and to earn as much (or as little) as your energy, ambition, and luck will permit—cutting lumber for a living can sure beat the heck out of working for someone else . . . either in a stuffy factory or an air-conditioned office.

Furthermore, despite the weakness of the economy and the mounting power of the large lumber "factories" (which are causing the demise of small operations everywhere), a few well-organized, intelligently run, independent sawmills are somehow managing to remain financially solvent—and even to thrive—during these difficult times.

But why not learn the facts from "them that's doin' "? Here are a few brief profiles of folks who are now successful small-scale sawyers . . some observations as to why they're making a go of it when others are facing bankruptcy . . . and a number of suggestions as to how, if you've a mind to, you might do the same.

HIGH ACHIEVERS

To supplement the income of his working Ohio farm, Ronald H. bought—in 1978—a Mobile Dimension saw that he could hitch to the back of his pickup and haul out into the woods to log and cut boards for his neighbors. He chose the portable outfit, rather than a larger circular saw, because he knew that he'd be cutting only during off farming seasons. Currently, still working only a few months a year with his Mobile saw, Ron is pleased to say that he and his mini-mill can make as much as $200 a day, which is double what he was able to earn when he started out.

Ralph J. and his two sons quit raising goats in the Blue Ridge Mountains when government regulations became too restrictive. At the time, they decided to settle back and catch up on their homestead projects until they could figure out another way to make their land work for them. So, in order to cut down on the land-clearing and construction costs that faced them, the family purchased a used Mobile saw.

After learning—from local old-time saw; yers—just how to go about cutting wood properly, Ralph started to clear his land. But when folks discovered that his mill was up and running, he soon found himself unable to get his house built because too many people were asking to buy boards from him!

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