It really makes us
at Cooks
Saw feel proud that our machine along with the help and information
we give has played a part in someone becoming self employed and making
a living doing what he really enjoys. Craig has used good judgment mixed
with a tremendous amount of hard work and persistence to make his business
a reality.
You will enjoy and be inspired by his story and the pictures of what
he has accomplished. ~
Stephen
Craig writes ~
In 1998 I was looking for a way to supplement my income. I was working
at a local chemical plant as a chemical operator. There were and still
are a lot of portable sawmills around my area. I first thought there
was too much competition for me to profit here. After more consideration
I decided that there was an opportunity for me to set up a stationary
sawmill to custom saw for people that only have a few logs to be sawn.
The guys with portable mills won’t go out for just a few logs
but the people with just a few logs will bring them to my sawmill. I
also figured that it would be better for me to stay in one place to
saw my own logs and sell the lumber.
I looked at several saw mills and settled on the Accu-Trac fully hydraulic
stationary sawmill. I wanted a sawmill equipped with an electric motor, but I had no
three phase current. The guys at Cooks saw solved that problem with
an AE-60 phase converter. This let me run the three phase motor off
of single phase 220 volt current.
Shortly after purchasing the Accu-Trac stationary sawmill
I realized that I had a problem that was costing me a lot of time. I
worked alone most of the time and the problem was the amount of time
that it took to trim the side boards. This problem was solved with a used
Miner Edger that I also bought from Cooks saw.
They had taken it
on a trade and added laser lines to it so that I can make straight cuts
and know exactly how to line the board up to enter the saws. The edger
increased my production and my yield. Shortly after the sawmill got into
production it began to pay for itself. I only ran the mill 3 days a
week at the most. Within 3 years the mill had paid for itself as well
as save me money on several projects and put money in my pocket to boot.
I built a 40 x 100 lumber drying shed. The Accu-Trac stationary sawmill cut all the lumber
for this building. The building contained 6x10x20 top plates, 6x6x18
poles to support building. There was 2,600 linear feet of 2x6 for lathing
and 40 foot clear span metal trusses. I have cut lumber for several
people in my area to build their entire houses. I cut everything from
sills to the rafters, floor joist and siding.
After experiencing success I decided to take my business to the next
level. I had read about value adding to products. This is to take an
existing product and doing something to it to make it worth more money.
I knew this is what I needed to do.
In 2002, I used lumber that I had
cut to build a duel cell kiln building. The kiln was fired with slabs
from my sawmill. I use a Hardy wood burning furnace to heat the kiln and
it also heats my house. To process the lumber after I dried it I purchased
a Logosol planer moulded.
Now I could take the board I was already sawing
and add value to it by making all types of moulding and flooring. This
makes the same piece of wood pay me more that double what it normally
would pay.
Business grew and consumed more and more of my time. I quickly started
getting more than I could handle. My reputation for sawing more accurate
lumber and greater yield keeps my custom sawing service growing and
I have great repeat business. I now custom saw, dry and plane.
I manufacture
long leaf pine timber into heart pine flooring. I also manufacture v-joint,
bead and various other patterns of moulding and paneling. In August
of 2002, I resigned from my chemical job to run the business full time.
I really enjoy running my Accu-Trac stationary sawmill and making products for my customers
and myself.
Craig Howard
Alabama
