Three Years of Sawmilling: Is Woodland Mills Worth It?

Okay, gang. Today, review of the Woodland Mills HM-130 Max. After three years of abuse that Jay and I have put this machine through, we are going to tell you exactly what we think about it, and exactly what to expect from an entry-level mill. We're going to go over everything that we've built, all the material we have laying around. We're going to show you what we've done with it, and we're going to go over even the upgrades that you might want to use to make your milling experience great. So today, Woodland Mills Review. Guys, these are no show logs up on the mill. We do this every day. Look at that thing. It's an 18x18. Here's another, I believe, this thing. What do we got here, Jay? It's big. These are the actual beams. That's a 15x12 beam. These are the beams that we use and mill every day on our Woodland Mills. I mean, and this is not the only pile we've done this month. Our second pile of massive oak beams that we can't fit over there. We've been building both of these stacks over the last couple of weeks, getting ready for our timber frame barn. But look at these things. Each one of these is 20 foot plus long. Most of them are 22s. And look, this is our infield logs, my friends. We're not milling. It's not no fake. These are all going through that mill. Yep, this massive pile of hickory is also going through that mill, and some giant red oak as well, and this pile of chestnut oak too, all on that entry-level mill. Guys, a 36x36 utility shed all milled on that Woodland Mills. All the wood that we needed to build our solar kiln so that we can get our wood ready to be used. Not even all the wood to build the solar kiln, all the wood that this thing houses to get ready. So it keeps our wood in the dry and then really dries them. It's almost like a sauna, Jay. A sauna. Let's build a sauna. Let's build a sauna. All of the wood that we built our timber frame shop in. Not just the outside, guys. This is my shop. All the massive beams that you see here. So it's not our first time practicing with some big stuff. Oh, yeah, this little cantilever timber frame shed to keep our tools dry. I've showed this a million times. A giant timber saw shed. Another massive amount of beams, Jay. And we just recently tied on our drying shed. Another 36-foot-long building all cut on the Woodland Mills. Not only that, look at all the wood we've got housed in here, air-drying, waiting to go to the kiln. I forgot all these giant timber frame beams ready for our building. They're just 16-foot so we can get them in the dry here. Whoops, Jay, I almost forgot. 2,000 two-by-sixes waiting to get in the kiln as well. That's a lot of pine. And this entire house, everything that you see on the outside here, all the timber frame, this is a timber frame house, guys. The wood on the deck and everything on the inside, all this white oak decking that we use for our outdoor experience, guys. Everything there, all the timbers for the timber frame that holds up the upstairs deck. And, yeah, I know you guys know this cool timber frame staircase, all milled with the Woodland Mills. Yep. Some more white oak decking upstairs there. And, yeah, all the clapboard siding, all the tongue and groove that we use for our soffits. Come on in. Let's see what we got going on in the inside. All of the hickory flooring that we have actually made. There's nothing in this house that hasn't been cut with the Woodland Mills saw from all of our timbers to build the frame, from our T&G. This is T&G poplar. This is T&G siding. Cedar. Sorry about that. We've got so much stuff going on here. We also made farmwood siding. We made spalted hickory molding. Spalted hickory kitchen cabinets. Guys, everything, everything, everything was cut with the Woodland Mills. The countertop. The farmwood doors that we showed you how to make. Even these little pegs right here. All made with the Woodland Mills saw. I didn't even go without it. Look. Spalted oak mantles. Spalted hickory. I'm sorry. Beautiful. Live edge. Who doesn't want live edge, Jay? Everybody wants live edge. So it doesn't matter. Oak, hickory. Look, cherry up top. I forgot. We've got cherry up top. I tried to mix it up a little bit. But there you go. Blend all your woods. Cut them with your Woodland Mills saw. It's possible. Just for the sheer durability of the frame of this HM 130 Max. Jason and I punish this machine every day. By loading the logs on. Sometimes it doesn't go that smooth. Actually flipping the log. Cutting and throwing our slabs off. So this thing gets beat up. I mean, honestly, guys. For 40 years, I have been testing tools. To get the durability of what the best tools are. And right off the bat. With my timber bunk system. I had the trailer package. Same thing. The trailer package worked perfect for us. So we just needed a little taller. Frame. Sturdy. Sturdy, sturdy. I have broke nothing here. I wore out a few dogs. Not going to lie. Where is it? And honestly, guys. This just happened. Along with the sturdiness of the frame of this unit. Honestly, after three years of dog abuse. I'm going to call it. Don't call the ASPCA. But dog abuse. See, Jason and I. For the first time ever. We wore out a little piece of the dog. So that it won't actually clip strong anymore. But we just don't actually clip them on there. This giant log is there. I'm sorry, Woodland Mills. But we actually might use the dog to inch it in. I mean, that's real. So, three years of abuse. Pushing 4,000 plus logs. I think it lasted pretty good. Might last you guys a lifetime if you're pine guys. Let's talk extensions on the mill. You think you're going to mow some big stuff down. You get yourself the extensions. I know for the HM130 Max. I'm 26 foot long. I know for a fact. I can cut 20 to 4. Without any funky chain work. And I just make all my buildings work with that 22 foot number. But if you want an extension. Very simple operation. Same as your bunks. If you're only looking for a shorter beam. I believe it's 16 foot when you get to here. So, that's this mill. Not sure about the other guys. Let's add on some more. I'm thinking going right through that wood shed, Jay. Let's do it. Key thing, guys, about actually keeping your cuts straight. Is to actually keep your bunks level. Perfectly level with one another. Now, I've showed this before in the past. We actually just use a string across here. And actually the giant beams that Jason and I use. I say that I check it once a week. But when I find out I got a bad cut. We stop and we check it. But honestly, at least once a month. If I'm not having any problems at all. I'm checking to make sure that everything is perfect. If you got cuts on the different end. You got bows in the middle. Very simple operation. You know, especially for the guys on feet. On bunks, on slabs. You're just in here. You're just leveling your feet back and forth. And I don't use any high-tech lasers or anything like that. A piece of string. And a good knot on the end. My friend, I get mine straight as an arrow. So, check your bunks. And it's really simple. Let's talk about some toe boards, Jay. Okay, we have had actually, believe it or not. Really good luck with these toe boards here. Now, if you guys are not milling anything of this size. Definitely get yourself the toe board. I recently actually just broke this one. But I am lifting a 4,000 pound log. Come to talk to the tax. And I'm only supposed to use a 1,000 pound log. So, my fault. But lasted a long, long time. Unfortunately, with our daily abuse. We upgraded to a 10 ton toe jack. I'll lift it in place. And maybe take the strain off my toe board. When I got these giant monsters on the mill. Another upgrade from the Woodland Mills. That you should actually definitely consider. Because you know you're always going to have your cant hook. Is this cant hook lever. And honestly guys, you're working alone. This is an easy way to stabilize your log. Move it in. Push it in. I'm actually ordering another one from the back. So, I don't have to use my dogs to move it in. But this thing is strong. So, I love it. Jay does love it. Now, you know this is his side of the table. So, I actually never used this before. You can get a lot. You can push a lot of weight around. You can push a lot of weight on it. Definitely something. It's something for safety. Especially when you're working alone. Something for moving. Something to ease your back. That's the whole deal of this stuff. How easy can this fun stuff be? Okay guys. An upgrade that you might want to consider. Are the Pro Bunks. And the Pro Posts. Now, I can't give a review on that. Because I did not put them on there. But if you don't have yourself a building here. And you're working outside. And you want to roll even the smallest logs. From what I've heard. They're going to help you out. But us, we do everything mechanically. And I didn't really want to test them with this log. The absolute best upgrade for the 2025. And Jay's old shoulder. Woodland Mills Powerhead. Guys, if you have the availability to get the Powerhead. Get it with your unit. Don't start with the Cranker. I did that for two years. I didn't think that this thing would be accurate enough. To do our timber framing cuts that we with. We cut within a sixteenth of an inch. Accurate, fellas. Easy to use. No shoulder problems, man. And I made fun of that in the beginning. I thought I didn't need it. And you know what? You needed it. I was so, so wrong. He was wrong. I was wrong. To be honest, not to. They didn't have this when I bought my mill. But did not upgrade sooner. Because quite honestly. What Jay's doing something else. I don't wait for him. I just push the button. Love it. Number one. Number one upgrade for your mill. Okay. The Woodland Mills hour meter here. Comes with everybody's thing. I don't know. If that could possibly be right. Because it's telling me on my mill. I've got 259 hours. Now, we're hoping it's correct. Because we actually use it to time all the different blades. We're using at any time. And when they need to be sharpened. But. If. What we got going on here. Within 259 hours. I believe that we're at least sawing 5,000 board foot a minute guys. No high production mill can keep up with that. Honest review. Everybody told me. Got to get a tack meter. To make sure that you're cutting perfectly straight. And hey. For mechanics. And everybody that's super inclined on tuning up their mill. Yeah. When we put this on. Our mill was actually running perfectly. Throughout the entire cut. Until two days later. And. Yeah. This thing gave up. So. All I can say is. Yeah. No. As far as I'm concerned. Unless you're having super problems cutting. Or hearing the motor chug. If that thing's running. You should be able to use your ears. And feel it as this thing is going. But. That's my honest review. I'm no mechanic. I don't even change the oil. I have to have someone else do that. That's me. So thumbs down. Thumbs down. Okay. Not a Woodland Mills upgrade for your saw mill. But a laser my friends. You do any sort of cutting. Even when you're alone. I mean. I love my laser. My little volt converter went out the other day. The laser was off. I had to shut the mill down. I was confused. Once you start using this. Your cuts will get better and better. I'll leave a link down in the description. Where you can get one. With a discount we got for all you guys. Woodland Mills ruler gauge guys. We don't have some fancy smart set. We don't have any DRO micromanaging. Everything that I do. If you read this ruler. The same place. Every time. It comes out perfect. I mean one one hundredth of an inch. Are you really going to be that concerned? Sometimes guys are planing it. But yeah. I'm perfectly happy. Woodland Mills ruler. I don't even have a new upgraded one they have. Maybe we'll check in with them about that. It's so easy Jason can use it. He can. There's no well lines in there. It's only corners. Once we get to 516. My head explodes. Let's talk about posts. Okay guys this is a manual mill. These posts don't automatically. Get themselves out of the way. So yeah you might hit a few posts. Here or there. But what we found. Is the biggest upgrade to your mill. Is to actually. Join the two guys timber framing. Post cutters club. And we'll send you a magnet. We'll be waiting for you. We know you're already here. Okay guys I'll show you. What Jason and I. Have had to replace. So what is actually broken. Or just basically wore out. From the abuse that we've got going on here. We have never. Changed this bearing. I actually did have to change the bearing. On my drive wheel right here. Naturally guys. Your belts are going to wear out. You're also going to have to replace. Your guide rollers here. And maybe every once in a while. Replace these. Also guides. But honestly. It's. What else we got Jay. The water meter. We had to replace our drip system. Here once. And I could probably be. From a lot of reasons. The dirt and stuff like that. I've seen a lot of guys. Put like a fuel filter in here. Where you don't get dust. With the water. We've had the same problem. Every once in a while. You got to take your tank off. Wash it out. You might have calcium. Something built up here on the screen. That's not allowing it to work properly. I know you hear a lot of guys. Talking about drip. Drip. We've turned that water on. That thing is running. It's actually meant to lubricate. Your blades. There's a lot of pine. So I actually use. Only water in mine. Works great through the hardwood. Keeps everything going where it needs to be. Now also this unit is simple. Simple, simple, simple. If you want to change your blades. You can actually get the blades. That are inch and a half wide. You can get them thicker. They're very simple adjustments right here. And Jason and I changed these blades. We don't put a blade on. And maybe run it for three hours. Sometimes I'm using older blades. Skinning my logs. Putting my newer blades back on. We're always rotating them. And that's probably why. I don't want to say it. It's probably why I broke. The little guard handle guide here. Honestly we don't use it. It was another step. Of taking it on and off. I don't suggest that you do that. But for us it seemed to be. A little bit simpler. In my mind I'm like. I'm going to cut here. So the time it saves me. From changing blades back and forth. We might put a blade on. Make two cuts. Change it. Put another blade on. Make four cuts. Change it. And we're actually changing the guides. Sometimes a lot of times. Very simple to do. Easy. And they've lasted long. But you do. Problem here. And it was squeaky. And they sent me a new clutch. And assembly. And it was actually just the bearing. That was holding this wheel in place. And honestly guys. I couldn't get the clutch off. To change it and put the new one on. So I'm actually using my old clutch. With the new wheel that they gave me. I don't have a problem. I've never had it slip. So that's three years. Of beating on this thing. At some point. I'm figuring it's going to go bad. I got that back up. I was never able to get in. And I'll figure a way in there. We'll get it. We're hard on stuff Dan. We are hard on stuff Jay. That's why I think this is an honest review. Of how you can beat a mill. And it's still running perfect. So after all the things we showed you. What you can actually do. With your Woodland Mills HM130 Max. Not only what you can do. I promise it's going to work for you. And you're going to be just as satisfied. As we are with our big buildings. If your building is shed. Something for your daughter. Something for your wife. Or you just want to cut wood. And the best, best thing. About the Woodland Mills. Is the service that you're going to get. From the Woodland Mills people. You got a question? Boom! They are right on the phone with you. And they're going to get the parts that you need. And they're going to get you fixed up and running. Not only the Woodland Mills people. But the community. Is one of our favorite things. And that's why we do this. Because we love showing new sawyers. What can be done. On an entry level mill. And the Woodland Mills mill. Now this thing after what we just showed you. In my honest opinion. Is one tough monster. The community is great. The people of Woodland Mills are great. And we love it.