Santa Cruz Portable Sawmill and Custom Logging Service
Portable Sawmill
The sawmill business was started in 1994 to saw on site redwood logs in to lumber of all sizes. It is presently a father and son operation.
Logs
Normally, I saw redwood logs into decking, fencing, posts and timbers of all sizes. But the versatility of the sawmill has lent itself to other applications:
Bonny Doon: Here I was called in to produce full-dimension lumber to rebuild a house lost in the Martin Road fire. Since it was a permitted job, a grader was called in to stamp the lumber. This was a satisfying job because the owner was able to use trees that would have otherwise gone to waste.
La Selva: A cabinetmaker had me resurface old railroad ties recovered from dismantled narrow gauge railroad for an antique reproduction project. I had to use an extra hard cobalt tipped blade because of the abrasive nature of the work.
Lake Lexington: I squared off and resurfaced redwood barrel staves from an old water tank. The owner used them to build a virgin redwood deck.
Monte Sereno: A contractor needed the machine to straighten out some old oak timbers he needed for a remodel. They were 20 feet long and the bow and twist was to extreme to use in original form.
Los Gatos: A local tree company had to remove a redwood tree planted in the 1950′s that threatened the house foundation. I set up right in the street and make 6×6 and 3×8 to use for an all redwood retaining wall.
Stanford University: An old oak tree on the site of the Herbert Hoover house had to be removed and to which there was some sentimental attachment. I sawed it into 2″ thick lumber for use in furniture projects.
Watsonville: An architectural millwork company needed a large quantity of Indonesian hardwood broken down into smaller sizes. Because of the silica embedded within the wood, I had to use a carbide tipped bandsaw blade.
Services
On site lumber manufacturing Redwood, fir, hardwoods.
Resawing timbers, straightening, sizing, thicknessing.
Wholesale redwood for sale: Fencing, posts, beams, slabs.
Tractor service:
Log recovery
Debris cleanup
Light grading
Loading
Drilling
Forklift
Dump trailer, aggregates, haul away.
Old Growth Log
Treework:
Subcontracting, log removal, cleanup, permits, sawmill.
More Examples
A neighbor gave me 20 fir trees which I sawed into 30,000 board feet. Sent to Big Creek for planing and grading. Then sent half of that to Modesto for pressure treating. Used for retaining wall, sold some and have the rest for the next job.
I sawed 100 redwood trees in Boulder Creek. Stickered and dried it then sent to Big Creek to make exterior air dried v-rustic and bevel siding. After using it in a building project, I sold the rest to owners and contractors wholesale.
Sent a truckload of 2×8 rough fir to be made into 2×8 T&G decking for open ceilings and floors which is not normally stocked at the lumber yard.
Contact
Dave Smith 831-234-8407
E-mail: david@santacruzsawmill.com
Website: www.santacruzsawmill.com
Recommended by Michael Hartrich Design-Build
Please contact David Smith directly via the contact info on his member page. This space is for testimonials and feedback. Thank you.
Taking two large redwood trees Out and wanted to find out about milling the wood
Please check out my blog post describing Dave’s work on my project. Great work!
David acted as mill operator during on-site milling operations leading up to custom redwood timber framing. I have employed six different mills to do similar work and Dave’s attitude, patience and knowledge all came into play during the six day milling process. His bandsaw mill was the perfect match for redwood 6×12, and smaller timbers.
I would recommend him in the future to those wanting to mill wood off their own property and produce high quality wood products!
Karl Bareis
PG&E line protection program required that a number of redwood and fir trees be removed from our property. Instead of PG&E chopping up and hauling the material away, I contracted with David to mill the lumber into fencing material to be used on the property. The job was quick, clean and efficiently completed.
Thank you David
David Smith is:
> DEPENDABLE, he does what he says he will do!
> AFFORDABLE, you get your money’s worth and then some!
> EXPERIENCED, he’s been doing this for a long time (but he doesn’t look his age)!
> KNOWLEDGEABLE, he knows his ‘stuff’, and county regulations (even more than the county)!
> FRIENDLY, mild mannered with a great personality!
Obviously I am a bit prejudiced, he’s worked for me before and has become a good friend. But he is well known in this county and well respected, even by county personnel.