“This is an incredible piece of equipment enabling you to turn logs into lumber. It’s that simple. Setup is a breeze and it’s built to last. If you are thinking about getting into the portable sawmill game don’t hesitate. Go big right away and do yourself a favor and buy the OS35!”
“Overall, its a decent saw especially for the price. Ive processed several large pines and some smaller hardwoods so far. Full disclosure this is my first saw mill. All of my previous woodworking experience is with smaller table saws, hand saws, etc. My experience:
The good:
- the price, for the size of wood this saw can handle it was one of the most affordable on the market while not being a sketchy brand
- you can get really high quality cuts off of this saw, it took some dialing in likely from my personal inexperience, but was able to get almost perfect smooth cuts consistently with effectively no saw marks
- in general the construction of the saw is solid, heavy duty metal parts used all over, but I do have some specific complaints (see the bad section)
- the mobility is nice, and I have used it in a very limited manner, but I wouldnt say this saw is setup for continuously moving around
The bad:
- assembly was a bear, I watched several of the youtube videos of other people assembling and tried to follow the instructions as best I could, I like to think im fairly competent and handy, but this one wasnt easy. I found several scenarios where I didnt have the right number of bolts or size of bolts and ended up mixing and matching with what I was sent to get over the finish line. One of the major challenges was not all of the hardware bags were clearly labeled or labeled at all. I was also randomly sent parts for a kitchen faucet with my saw which really threw me for a loop
- overall build quality is pretty good but there are some things that really stick out as poor. The biggest concern for me are the jackstands for supporting the saw up off the trailer. The stands are very wobbly and flimsy and I have noticed the saw move substantially when loading logs, ive done my best to create a flat stable landing pad for each of the stands but this is still a major miss, The trailer fenders for the wheels might as well not be installed. They are so flimsy and loosely connected when assembled that I would be afraid they would fall off if actually moving the saw on a road. The crank handle for the saw head to move up and down has already broken off on me as well. Not critical but definitely frustrating.
- I did have a drive belt go bad very early on, and with my lack of experience, ended up ruining 2-3 blades because they kept getting thrown off the drive wheels. The belt ended up twisting in on itself which caused the blade to jump off. I cant fully blame the belt for ruining those blades, but also disappointed that a belt would fail that early in operation. To Frontiers credit, they sent me a free replacement belt once I figured out the issue and called them.
- Not sure if this is on me still, but I do notice quite a bit of saw dust tends to build up inside the drive housing, I do end up having to clean it out usually once or twice per log being cut
Overall, the saw works and you can get good cuts off of it. Its not going to be the top of the line saw with all the frills and best quality you can imagine but its also not the most expensive saw out there.”
“For an entry level cost mill, it is working good. Very much like the horsepower and electric start. I am milling large diameter cottonwood for unique projects and so far I am happy with the mill. I would buy it again.”
“I bought an OS35 with 2 extensions and the mobility kit and the hydraulic kit. It was about $18k not including financing costs.
The saw head so far is good and it is simple. The carriage is a good.
The issues are with the assembly of the hydraulic kit onto/with the trailer kit.
With an extension, you need to move the hydraulic kit more towards the middle of the track assembly.(the manual says nothing about it and there are no bolt holes to do it, drill baby drill)
The hydraulic kit adds a lot of weight to the trailer assembly. I have not weighed it yet, when putting the weight of the saw mill onto the tounge of the hitch, the hitch flexes about a foot, I will not tow it on the highway the way it is. I do think it is to heavy for the trailer kit the way it is from the factory.(I will share weight if I am allowed to update, I will wait to do other reviews (like google) until I can share the weight)
The manual (I have two different editions) says,"If your sawmill is equipped with the optional mobility package: See "Operation Instructions: Towing the mill with the optional Mobility/Support Leg Kit". There is no additional information, the section that is referenced does not exist in any of my manuals.
If you read other reviews for Frontier Sawmills, the manuals are quite bad. I actually drilled over 100 holes making the track carriage and trailer kit and the hydraulic kit work. I welded extra supports onto the trailer frame because of how much it flexes. A few other things: the nuts and bolts are a mixed assortment of SAE and Metric sizes, the paint affects the assembly of the hydraulic kit, I had to dissasemle and grind. I had a few bolts that were too short, the plate that holds the trailer hitch was just off and I just welded it together. I received different hoses from what the manual said and Frontier did ship fittings to correct.
The hydraulic kit is very new, so there are early product issues that all companies must correct. The people I spoke to are nice but you can tell that the management isn't really thinking this product out very well; the manuals and the lack of thought with the hydraulic kit and the trailer kit is very evident.
I have seen reviews for the smaller sawmills and people are happy. I am over all satisfied with the mill but I have a welder and a shop and a tractor to help with assembly and so I could make the necessary modifications and some later.
Would I buy it again? Yes. What will I do for my next mill? I will build my own. I will get more experience using this one and I will build my own. You can't finance a homemade sawmill or any other type of machine, so I had to buy a factory made one that I could afford and it needed to be big.”
