Mobile Sawmilling

Our mobile sawmilling service is intended to make it economical to produce useable timber from trees in gardens and small woods by milling them in-situ using hand held equipment. It is how I get the timber for our furniture which means you can rest assured that I know how to get the best timber from your tree.

If we can walk to the tree, we can mill it. We do not need heavy equipment to extract the milled timber either, we just carry it out.  We can also mill parts of a tree that a large scale mill is not interested in, crotches and large branch unions do not make great timber for factory use but can make fantastic slabs for tables and bar tops. We can also mill much wider timber than can be tackled with a mobile bandsaw or swing saw. These can mill timber up to around 76cm in diameter where we can and often do, mill up to a massive 1.5m

Most milled wood needs some degree of drying prior to use.  I can guide you though this process or undertake it for you.  I recommend that all freshly milled wood goes through a period of air drying.  In most instances this involves sealing the ends of the timber and stacking it on spacers (known as stickers) to allow air to circulate, out of the direct sun and rain, though some species like a brief period of vertical drying first just to get rid of the free water before stacking.  The duration required is dependent upon the species, the location and the thickness of the wood, it can be as little as a few months or as much as a few years.  For indoor use, the wood then needs to be brought down to a lower moisture content than air drying alone can achieve.  I can undertake this process for you too using our own sustainably powered kiln to gently bring the moisture content down and leave you with fine furniture grade timber.

What does all this cost?  Well, it is a bit of a piece of string. A basic milling operation will take a day for a single, decent sized, hardwood tree and cost around £500.  This would include all costs and leave you with a pile of timber adjacent to the felled tree ready for you to debark, seal, stack and dry yourself. Obviously, site conditions, location, tree type, etc. can all make a difference to our productivity but I will be happy to visit in advance and give you a more detailed estimate.  If you would like us to take the timber away and dry it for you or prepare and stack it for you on your premises this would be at additional cost.

If you do not need all of the timber derived from your tree, we may well be interested. So, the overall cost could come down and don’t forget that if you have not got the skills, equipment or time to make something from your tree, I can undertake that for you too. Finally of course if you just want the tree removed and would rather the timber went somewhere other than up a chimney, let us know. We are often happy to mill the timber and take it away for our own use and you can be happy knowing that it has gone to a good cause.

I am always happy to discuss your requirements and the different ways in which we can help. Just contact me for a chat.