Woodland Mills HM126 – Milling Tips and Long Term Review

Hey it's Brock here with Rock Hill Farms And I'm here visiting my friend Larry From Full Circle Ozarks on YouTube He's got a pretty cool Channel about all The work they do here on the property But I'm visiting today because I've been In the market for a sawmill for the last Year and a half and I've been traveling Around using different brands and Different models of Sawmills trying to Decide what's right for me so Larry you Sure you did your research first too I Did so why did you buy a Woodland Mills With all the options on the market I Looked at a bunch of different meals but What I liked about this one here what The it was at the price range that I was Looking for and it could handle the Lumber size with that log size without Any issues so so it has all the features That I that I was looking for anyway There's a lot of things you can look for On a sawmill and Most of those don't really matter to me I've got two concerns really I guess I Would say three number one is the size Of log it can handle number two is the Price and that might be number one Because I'm not a full-time logging Operation so spending you know twenty Thousand dollars on a Sawmills probably Not the smartest thing and then the Third thing you know Reliability is it a well-built machine

So right now we're gonna Mill up a log And then Larry's gonna give his review As a long time user I'll be honored to Do that with you bro [Music] All right Larry so the first question For me is always the process of of how You want to rotate the log and make your Cuts so what are you going to use this Lumber for I want to be building a a Chicken coop so I need some need some Actual two befores we're actually Nicknamed it The Coop DeVille so I saw That on one of your videos so um in that Case we're going to Make our cut flip it over and and make a Square can't and go all the way through That yep almost ever saw you're one of The first things they'll do they'll take A log and turn it into some type of Account and then and then then from There they'll go ahead and cut the Timber out of it the only exception Obviously being if you want Live Edge Right we have quite a bit of taper from One end to the other are you going to to Factor that in to try to Center the pith We are we are matter of fact I have a I Have a special Jack for it we'll measure The small in the log we'll begin the log And we'll we'll get that pith level Across the log nice little Jack makes it Makes it nice so this log does have a Lot of taper but the pith just happens

To be off center towards the bottom so The distance from our our bed up to the Pith is almost the same on each side He's just slightly raised this end and That just means we'll be taking more off The other end as we cut these come with Two different lengths of log stops right You have uh Or it's got like a little built-in stop For when you get down to the cant yeah And that this one now actually actually Has three I put the stainless steel bump Covers on This is an option that you can get but The bunk covers themselves have a small Log stop built into these Uh what comes as a you know standard you Have the big I think these are 18 inches And then you have a shorter one it's About six inches and the the biggest Difference is if this is mounted on the Ground then you can't get these out get Them down yeah there's advantages and Disadvantages about having the Sawmill You know at waist Heights uh when you Have a big log then you have to come on The opposite side and walk around just Just to lower these yeah I definitely Think I want to get mine set up high Like this Find this clamping system works pretty Well It works reasonably well It takes a little bit to get used to it

That that little uh logo Sawmill I've Been using the one thing I learned is Check your stops after every cut because They can vibrate loose That feel sturdy for you yeah well I Have a routine where you always shake it And you go that ain't going nowhere One of the things that's a little bit Different today I'm not going to be Cutting with any liquid these logs got a Lot of rain in them they're pretty damp Already that's something else I've been Told is that you don't always it depends On the species of wood you don't Necessarily always need a lubricant what Do you normally use when you are Lubricating water water just regular Water but the Red Oaks the White Oaks Which is primarily what I've been Building in most cases if you milled it While it's uh less than a year old you Don't need anything so I'm guessing this Is a pull start it is the newest one I Think they have the electric start Option but and then with the horsepower On the this engine this is a this is a 14 horsepower engine this one the hm-126 Comes with I think it's a nine Horsepower standard or you can go the 14 Horsepower option I went ahead and added The 14 horse because I knew I'd be Milling primarily Oak yeah yeah that's a Good good size engine for this And uh again this particular 14 horse uh

The year I bought this one which was a Couple of years ago they didn't offer The electric start in the 126. it was Only the full start the hm-130 Has the electric start you have leveled This out so deciding how high to start Is easier you don't have to worry your Blades going to walk out of the log as You go or anything So you're you're deciding how high you Want to start Based on just what it looks like it's Going to take to square this off yeah It's definitely just a just a visual Here sometimes you take my tape measure And I'm shooting for at least a good Four four inches at the top And then after that you're you're Wanting to buy lumber so you're going to Cut it maybe two and a quarter or are You using like the four quarter scale on Here eight quarter normally what I try To do is just cut it actually right Right at a one and a half for the the Projects that I'm using it on then uh a One and a half inch two two before I mean it's plenty Stout so uh But yeah some people try to match the Fact that they may mix in some Store-bought Lumber and then some people Want the true two inch so just curious What you were going for and you know That that's definitely definitely a big Issue you know if you're going to be

Trying to match Lumber you know the Actual dimensional Lumber you need to Factor that in so and it also factor in A little bit of time for for dry time if You're uh because you cut this normally About a one in five eighths and then Once it once it dries then uh it's gonna Pretty much match dimensional yeah I've Got a bunch of lumber I've been drawing Out for the last year and it's ready to Go now a lot of people also use it Without drying it because depending on What you're doing it might not matter That much some things consent shrink and Expand outside all they want we've we've Built Barns out of you know out of the Fresh cut Lumber in green Lumber and uh Some of them's been up for years and Years so It just depends on what you're what You're going for So before I make you forget anything are We ready to start up and cut we are Ready to start this so And the other thing that I would add Like what I what I typically What I typically do uh rather than doing A lot of measuring I actually count the Turns there's several different Techniques some people they put a drill On these so you can it's a digital scale I may do that in in the future but for Me what works out better is just just Count the turns yep I I know some people

Even put like a torque wrench in here But I've talked to a couple other people That prefer that it's simple it's the Same every time yeah The other thing I'm going to do on the Ho126 With the 14 horsepower engine has the Adjustable plate plate guys I want to Slide this in if you're new to Milling You want that blade guide as close to The log as possible because the The Wider that is the more ability to flex It has You know Probably rage attorney Larry's trying to give me some good Information here off the camera we got To get this recorded because I didn't Know until recently there's different Pitches on a sawmill blade and what were You saying about your preference on that I'm actually cutting with a seven degree Blade and that provides a real fine cut For especially for hardwood uh there's a Multi-purpose blade that normally is at 10 degrees you know if you're going to Be cutting some cedar or some Pine and Occasional Oak a 10 degree blade will Cut Oak and Hickory but uh it's a seven Seven degree blade is much much better So works for mo better for most of what You do seven degrees and I found I can Do a seven degree on all different kinds Of lumber so okay I want I want to bring

These right here up okay Foreign And also I will show you show you Another tilt When you're working with a big log this Is not big by no means but you put a 22 Inch log 24 inch log on there it can be hard to Turn but you can set these on it And this this Helped a lot so just just while you turn It okay I was hoping you didn't have an easy way I like to struggle and fight with things There you go I'm kind of okay For this particular cup we're still Going to need to be on that so that will Be okay Okay because that's why I said it kind Of rolled out from under it yeah it's Pretty critical that you're flush with That Okay so push that up against it and just Tighten it down that's not too high is It no huh And even this one here don't really have To be tight but just it's kind of got a Little bit of Leverage that holds it in Place right So once you get down to a cant you don't Want your big log stops you want Something really small it's built into These stainless steel plates if you

Don't have that This drops all the way in And it would go around around this way Here And there's your low stop [Music] [Music] Now he has an eight inch square can't And he's going to cut it in half to four Inches then we'll flip the two pieces Over and then start slicing it into two By fours [Music] Okay We got a nice little stack of lumber Didn't take that long no but I got a Couple questions that as a guy who's Thinking about buying a mill is you've Had one for a little while first is There's a tendency with some like Equipment purchases or new hobbies to Think well boy if I had that I'd make All this Lumber and then you buy it and Never use it would you buy a sawmill Again do you think this was a good Investment for you it was definitely a Good investment I've already the Bill's Already paid for itself uh in the Background there's a what we call the Bacon Shack that that we built uh so I'll milled the cedar from that and if You if I went and bought the lumber to Build that Especially when you get into a more

Premium wood like Cedar as opposed to to Pine but even just going to the lumber Yard and buying Pine is expensive yes it Is and then there's probably An important factor is if you like being Out here doing stuff this is this is a Hobby for me I'm doing it because I Enjoy it it's a it's a lot of fun and uh One of the things I want to get into is Taking stuff like that putting it in a Key on I I've got that on my list of Things to do is get me a kiln belt and But I want to make some outdoor Furniture and maybe make some some Oak Bed frames and different things like That yeah and I've done a few where I've Dried the lumber naturally and I've been Drying it now inside of my building Where it's a little bit climate Controlled and then I've got a thickness Planer and some woodworking equipment And I just built my wife a a wooden Frame swing for the grandkids and it's It's a lot of fun it's a lot of fun so That's a general idea of um if you would Still recommend or if you would still Buy a sawmill but what do you think About Woodland Mills has this been Quality has it been felt like good for What you paid I feel like I really have got my money's Worth uh the only issue at all if I were To count it an issue is the magnetic Scale that's on these they will weather

So you have to replace them periodically I haven't replaced mine yet but but I'm At a place where I need need to replace Them and with the with the type of woods Here that you what you have on your Property the the 26 is a good size for You Definitely uh if I if I if I was going To go bigger I probably would want a Bigger tractor and uh in addition to That I I would want a hydraulic Mill Again if you put a 26 inch 16 foot log On here it takes it takes a horse to Turn it I've done it the first one of These I had out was a hm-130 and the log We put on it weighed 4 000 pounds and it Took us a half day to get that on there Because I didn't have the skid loader Yet my tractor couldn't pick it up he Had a homemade Trailer but he couldn't that would lift The log but he couldn't drive with it Hardly and so it was an ordeal so I'm Focusing on the ability to handle a Bigger log but you got to be able to get Them on there first you got to be able To get in there it's a good way to hurt Your back trying to mess with those it Is you know it's one of the things some People will argue bigger is better and Uh that's true to an extent but you get A bigger tractor then you get a bigger Truck then you get a bigger trailer and Then if you get a bigger meal you do

Bigger logs and and uh and a minute ago We said it was a hobby it's a hobby when It's when it becomes more than a hobby It's not fun anymore so so anyway for For what this one here does uh probably The the thing that I questioned myself The most on is a 14 horsepower Kohler I Wasn't for sure how easy it would be to Start because that's not that doesn't Have a electric start but I've been so Pleased with that once you'll get it Warmed up just one crank they probably Saw it in the video but just like one Crank and it will all start almost all Day is that a pretty big price jump to Get that bigger I don't remember the Exact amount but it was it was very Minimal very minimal So If I was buying a mill today it's Probably be a Woodland Mills I really Appreciate you taking time to show me This and and we've got a few other Projects we're going to play with now so Larry's Channel full circle Ozarks so You want to give them the 32nd idea of What you guys are about and what you do On your channel I'd be honored to we're Actually building a homestead I'm I'm Retired Air Force I went from retired Air Force and I had Another career in I.T and now we're just Back out here building our Homestead From scratch and uh we're just this is

Our retirement life what we do out here We kind of do it for fun and uh so you Know we're going to have some farm Animals a few chickens a couple of goats And different things like that but we're Just out here enjoying ourselves having The time of our life and if you watch They talk About faith and family and machines and It's a lot of fun so I appreciate you Taking time to watch I'll put links on The screen to more of our videos we'll See you next time thanks