CW Bailey
Client Vision- Dreamed, Designed & Built Tapchan, Sawn with Hud-son, From Halved & Quartered Red Cypress Logs Along With Live Edge Red Cypress Slabs. A Tapchan Is A Raised Platform Used In Central Asia For Relaxing & Reclining Outdoors Functioning As A Table Or A Bed, & Often Has A Smaller Table For Serving Food & Tea And Are Sometimes Used For Outdoor Sleeping On Hot Nights. This Is An Outstanding Example Of A First Class Tajikistan Tapchan.
I purchased your Oscar 18 sawmill on August 1 and I need to tell you how pleased I am with this saw, your product is top line and what a good price also. I purchased the saw from Thick and Thin Lumber in Sabattus, Maine and the staff was #1. I was pleased with the knowledge of owning and operating the sawmill that they showed me, the customer service was great! I’ll let the word out about your fine sawmill and the service I received. Thanks for an affordable and well constructed sawmill!
Paul Muszynski,
Harrison, Maine
I’ll include a link to the channel below if you are interested. I have over a 130 videos at this time with a total of 325,000+ views since January 2017. Here is a brief list of videos:
The 60 has really been working great, I’ve had a lot of monster logs on the deck and producing countless slabs, one western red maple log yielded $2500 worth of slabs. Only took couple hrs. Love the 30″ band wheels. I’ve really got it down running the mill from maximum capabilities to quarter logs to fit TK mill.
If you ever need me as a reference or want to send someone over for demo I will be glad to show it off.
As a sawyer in general I am relatively new to the industry, about 5 years. Over the course of those 5 years I have spent most of my time running the HUD-SON Oscar 60. The larger than normal frame size is the first thing you notice as you approach. On my mill as I presume most of the Oscar 60’s, has a beastly looking 34 h.p. diesel. The fire engine red color pops against the back drop of the trees surrounding my property. Even the sheer size of the heavy duty ground track is impressive. All of this is before you’re even close enough to touch the mill.
After taking all of this in, it’s time to work. On my track sits the most beautiful log, a 52” black walnut, not veneer, oh no. This is an ugly mess from the outside. I know that inside this hunk of wood, that someone had tossed over a bank to rot, lays the key to why I invested in this unit in the first place.
As I tighten my blade and fuel it up, I’m almost shaking with excitement because I know every log is like a treasure hunt. My first cut is very important, so I am taking my time to set my height ever so perfectly. As I engage the clutch the excitement intensifies, as I ease the blade into my cap cut. Before I know it I’m spitting sawdust and envisioning what this beauty has in store for me.
As I exit my first cut, I disengage the clutch and move my mill to the end of the track. The moment of truth, what does it look like? I slide the cap onto a well-positioned forklift to take the top away. And as if I’m an archeologist cleaning the bones of a million year old T-rex, I gently brush away the layer of sawdust that remains. There it is!!! It’s everything I hoped and more. The rich brown color we are all so familiar with, I can’t help but run my hand back and forth across it. The amazing contrast with the light color sap wood only increases the beauty. Of course if anyone is in ear shot I feel the necessity to call them over to see this masterpiece God created. Naturally nobody else cares, at least not as much as I do. “It’s just a piece of wood,” I’ve heard it a hundred times but I know the truth. As the amazement pours out of me, I soon realize the people around me are looking at me like a puppy who heard a noise for the first time. They don’t get it and that’s fine. The select few of us out there who know this feeling, this is probably the reason we all started doing this in the first place.
I am proud to say, that as I write this, I have successfully milled and sold 5 trailer loads of my product to various locations around the country. The joy it brings to people to have a piece of furniture built from a reclaimed log that was destined to disintegrate back to dirt is not easily described. The HUD-SON Oscar 60, looks gargantuan in comparison to most band mills out there, but cuts with the precision expected of a furniture quality machine.
My Oscar 36 was delivered on 14 January, 2006 @ 1605 hours … about five minutes late. I can accept the delay, because of the inclement weather, and because Tom is probably related to you, by blood or marriage … after all, Hud-Son is a family affair. Besides that, a drop in temperature was the reason I did not assemble the mill until Monday, 16 January 2006, when the morning temperature was 5 F. Even under those conditions, the Oscar 36 went together rather easily, taking a total of about four hours. After lunch, I double checked all the fluids, dimensions, etc, then rolled on the most bony pine log I could find. The 16 HP Vanguard fired right up; the blade lube dripped just fine; so I set the log dogs and ran the carriage down the ways …. I was impressed! Contrary to the congratulations given on the cover of the service manual provided with my Oscar 36, I am not wise… only practical, and I have found that your band saw mill is the best on the market for that price. I know, because I’ve done my homework and have seen a lot of mills in the last 30 years, including the 52″ Lane with a D-6 Cat engine that sawed out my log cabin in 1973. The Oscar 36 I bought from you is the most accurate and efficient mill I have seen, and I will proudly use it to cut quality lumber. Your grandfather must be proud …
Sincerely yours,
John Stockman
Just wanted to send you a note to say how much I’m enjoying my new mill. So far it has done everything I expected and is even easier than I had imagined to operate. I am still cleaning up storm damaged timber from hurricane Ivan which did heavy damage to my timber land in south central Alabama. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be able to salvage this down timber and make really good looking lumber out of it. Thanks for making a product that lives up to it’s advertising. My Oscar 28 is big where it needs to be and still portable enough to move around with ease.
Bruce Bennett,
Pine Apple, Alabama
I have always liked woodworking however the price of lumber is a real setback to some craftsmen. This is why I took a chance and bought an OSCAR 18 this sawmill is perfect for the avid woodworker. I have enclosed a picture of the first project I built with my OSCAR 18. This is a solid cherry heirloom bookcase that I constructed from a log I had cut two years ago and never had the heart to cut it up for firewood so when I bought my OSCAR I was thrilled to find how much lumber was in this one log. This bookcase is constructed of solid 3/4 cherry the only plywood used was for the backer other than that its solid cherry I even carved the Cabriole legs. I also do a lot of Intarsia I have enclosed a few pictures of my work. I find that now I have my OSCAR 18 I can saw the lumber to the thickness I need which saves a lot on my plainer and also on wood waste. I really recommend to anyone who crafts with wood and is fortunate enough to buy an OSCAR, to do so. I am totally amazed with mine.
Sincerely –
Craig Lohr,
Santa Clara, NY
In September 2011 we had the largest fire in Texas in Bastrop County. After running another brand of sawmill to recover the pine wood from the fire. I decided that I wanted to get a sawmill that I could have at the ranch to recover logs. I wanted a simple sawmill that would mill logs without a lot of extras. We did a lot of research trying to find out who had the best sawmill. We came to the conclusion that Hud-Son Forest Equipment had the best sawmill products. All of the other manufacturers did not have a sawmill built with the quality that I was looking for nor did they have a sawmill built that did not required a long lead time. It seemed they wanted my money but could not produce a sawmill for several weeks. The final thing was that they didn’t have a sawmill in my price range. Hud-Son has sales people willing to answer my many questions. They had the sawmill in stock and ready to ship on the next day after payment.
We decided to buy the HFE 36. This saw has done everything we have needed it to do. Pushing the saw head down the track is like pushing a shopping cart in the grocery store. The easy to read ruler system works well with the hand crank sawmill head and it will let me cut logs to within 1/8″. I have only had issues with 2 blade bearings which Hud-Son was quick to support me with new bearings.
For a one man operation, the sawmill does more than what I can keep up with. I cut pine, oak, cedar, and mesquite. After running another brand of sawmill, I would not trade my Hud-Son sawmill for anything.
Thanks Hud-Son Forest Equipment for the great sawmill.
From the Hillbilly Sawmill
Best Sawyer South of the Colorado River.
Custom Sawmilling Available – Sawmilling priced by the board foot.
Keith Waters
512-922-3078