Mobile Sawmill Helps Homeowners Turn Downed Trees into Lumber Products in N.W. Florida

Mike Smidt owns a mobile sawmill. With the help of his sons and father they have been working every weekend since Hurricane Sally hit Northwest Florida and toppled a lot of tree. The beauty of Smidt’s mobile sawmill, is that instead of the logs going from the homeowner’s land to a mill, the sawmill comes to the homeowner. Smidt has been processing Southern Pine, Cedar, Cypress and several species of hardwoods logs. The wood is being used for everything from lumber for a barn or room addition, to fencing and some clients are actually going to make furniture. Smidt said, “I can average about 1,000 board feet a day, it depends on what the person wants, it also depends on the trees, pine mills a little faster than oak.” Smidt says that thanks to Hurricane Sally he is booked solid for the next four months.