norwood 2000 sawmill - Woodworking Talk

greg4269ub · 09-03-2009, 12:13 AM

hey guys,

i found darens websit a few weeks back and he suggested i join your forum for some insight to milling. i haven't purchased a mill yet however i am leaning towards a norwood 2000 which comes standard with a 13 hp engine. any info on this or other compareable saws would be awesome!! i would like to saw a few logs before the snow flies here in SE wisconsin so i gotta make a purchase soon. i am also willing to pony up some free labor around anyones shop in exchange for some log cutting lessons if you live near me.

thanks a bunch

Sawmilllawyer · 09-03-2009, 12:40 AM

I have been looking at the Norwood 2000 for some time although I do not own a mill yet I think that they are the best bang for the dollar.

**Daren** · 09-03-2009, 08:38 AM

Hey Greg welcome. I am petty sure a couple of the guys here have ran that model saw and will chime in soon.

dirtclod · 09-03-2009, 09:55 PM

I've used the 2000 w/Briggs 23 for several years and can tell you it's a good mill. The bed does hold up to heavy loads but many of the accessories don't. If you're handy with welding and fabrication, or know someone who is, you're better off building all the accessories to heavier specs and improved designs. There's a few things on the basic mill that could use improving but there's easy ways to fix them. If you're not pushing the mill's capacity like we do then much of this is a moot point. There's a lot to choose from in that range but many are of lesser quality or are much more expensive. Overall, it's hard to find another mill with it's capabilities at that price. But there's a few that look good. If you think you might need hydraulics then you might look at Turner Mills as a competitive starting point.

**TexasTimbers** · 09-03-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtclod

If you're handy with welding and fabrication, or know someone who is, you're better off building all the accessories to heavier specs and improved designs.

I agree with this a 100%. I had one for a couple of years and unlike most LM2000 I quickly became frustrated with the frame also, so I built my own. I saved the frame of course though and when I resold it it was like new.

I also had the 23HP Briggs and would suggest avoiding anything smaller. Customer service is great, but some of the accessories are way overpriced IMO. Don;t let the little plastic gas tank get stolen. $80 before shipping and that was 4 years ago. I rigged my own from a $12 Walmart can and $3 parts from the hardware store. Worked fine and had 1 extra gallon capacity.

That's just an example but it was a fairly common theme with replacemnt parts/accessories from my memory. I used to say the LM2000 was the best bang for the buck too, but in hindsight I'm not sure I agree with that any longer. I will say you can;t hardly go wring buying one though, but that doesn;t mean there aren't better deals out there. The manual mills, even the hydraulic mills, they are not complex, fixing 99% of what goes wrong is easy as working on a 1970 Camaro.

P.S. Any LM 2000 owners that need/want a brand new clutch for the 23 Briggs to keep on hand let me know.