Swedish Homestead Series: How to Afford Your Dream Sawmill

A Swedish homesteader shares three tips that he learned from his father and his own experience to make the right decision when you purchase a sawmill.

Let us introduce a Swedish Homestead series of home making movies telling about a three-generation German-American family as they build their lives on a large farm in the heart of the Swedish countryside. In 2002, the parents, Helmut and Susanne Fuchs, relocated from Germany to fulfill their lifelong dream of purchasing and maintaining an old farm. Eventually, their seven children began to share the same passion and now continue the legacy. The Swedish Homestead Channel shares helpful tips, heartwarming stories, generational wisdom, and more for truly living life “on the farm.”

Simeon learned from his father, Helmut, that a sawmill is a valuable investment. When Helmut purchased an LT40 Super, he knew that he would have to prove to himself that his sawmill was worth the price. Years later, Simeon and his father see how the benefits of the sawmill, the quality of the lumber, and the hard work they invested into milling and building with their own logs helped to create a hobby that paid for itself—and more.

Simeon discusses three things you need to know before purchasing your dream sawmill. Unlike most hobbies, sawmilling brings great returns on investment. Swedish Homestead uses their sawmill extensively for their own needs, but also finds value in fulfilling the needs of others.

The second reason Simeon shares for purchasing a sawmill is that a sawmill lasts. His father’s 15-year old LT40 Super has milled for over 5,000 hours. Through the hard work of the Swedish Homestead family, their sawmill has eventually paid for itself and allowed the family to teach themselves the valuable art of milling and building with wood.

Most importantly, Simeon and his family were able to increase the value of their LT40 Super sawmill by ten times more than what they paid for it. They started out with a loan, but have long since paid it off that loan and, as Simeon says, “fulfilled our dream of working with nature.”

Shared with permission from Swedish Homestead.

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