Got one of these about year ago. Just started using it recently and had questions on the blade, how it was cutting and how the dogs where clamping. When I called, This guy took the time to go through my questions and offer suggestions. Pretty nice to talk to the person who actually puts them together and not some "support" guy reading a manual.

I recently purchased this mill and did the assembly myself. First let me say if you are doing the assembly GO SLOW AND TAKE YOUR TIME. In the end you will find that this is an excellent hobby mill for guys like me! The paper instructions suck but the video is excellent. I suggest watching the video several times before starting assembly. I had some questions when I was assembling the mill and when i called customer service i spoke to Wayne. He knew EXACTLY how to solve the problems i was having. He was patient and very helpful. GO WAYNE!! The only real problem was that even when the lift cables were adjusted the mill head wanted to bind a little when raising and lowering the mill head. With a little thought and some common sense it worked fine. Once the unit was assembled and on the track i milled a small (8"dia) log. After making a few adjustments, I milled a 9' long, 21" dia (including the bark) fresh cut black walnut log. I made several cuts and then rolled the log over to finish. It has about 19" between the guides and i must say it did very well cutting. The motor starts easy and runs well. I read in some reviews that people were concerned with the aluminum rails vs steel but i don't see any problems with the aluminum rails. Make sure the rails are level all the way around before you put the mill on the rails. I will be cutting the log dogs in half so the clamp and stop side can move independently. I also will be adding a "pin" on the end of the stop side to better reach into the bark and hold logs. This will be especially helpful when you set the clamp down low on the log near the rail. ALL IN ALL I GIVE THIS MILL A 9 OUT OF 10 STARS. The price is right and the lumber i cut from my first walnut log will pay for the mill. EXCELLENT JOB HUD-SON.

Just purchased this sawmill about a month ago. I opted to assemble the Sawmill myself and have a few comments on this. If you opt to assemble it yourself it will take time, patience, and a mechanical understanding. Expect that what you receive will not be perfectly welded, perfectly square, holes perfectly drilled etc. When it is assembled at the factory, they have the know-how, skills and tools to make the needed adjustments during assembly. With that said, it took my son and I sometime to assemble it properly. We needed to make adjustments as we assembled it, specifically, the mill head was twisted, not a big twist but enough so that getting the wheels to align properly was a tough task (it included sliding the wheels on the bearings shaft) but we were able to get them aligned perfectly. I personally can't emphasize enough that everything is kept and maintained level and plum during the assembly process, once we leveled the frame we clamped it down so it would stay level. The mounting bracket for the idling wheel was bent and twisted upon arrival and we added a piece of 3/8 steel to prevent further bending or twisting with a much shorter slot to put the bolt through. My only suggestion for Hud-Son would be a better printed assembly manual and video. The assembly instructions NEEDS to have pictures, arrows etc and the video is presented as if all is good and all you will need to do as add a washer or shim to adjust things. I would not recommend self assembly unless you are mechanically inclined and have access to a broad set of tools and have a lot of patience. My Son and I have over 40yrs of mechanical experience combined and he works on equipment daily that use the identical wheels and pulleys. I know we could have called Hud-Son to help us get through all the adjustments we had to make and I know they have seen these thing before, but I was extremely confident that we could get the unit assembled properly and working properly just by taking our time, following the video instructions (with many pauses to see exactly what was happening) and a good sense of humor - With Age Come Wisdom :) Thank you Hud-Son we are so looking forward to milling some trees in the next few days. Rick

Okay, so I too had just purchased the Hunter Sawmill, unassembled. I have had several setbacks when assembling, like the winch is a totally different winch than pictured in the video where the handle installs and appears to operate different. I worked on adjusting the mill head for almost 2 hours trying to get the mill to lift up and down while staying level. I final accomplished that task but, don't ask me how! I got the blade wheels on and leveled as described, blade tracking without moving forward or backward. I'm down to my (what I hope is the last) issue. I started the motor and cranked it up to speed. While the motor running it was going along great, then I noticed the drive belt started to flip over. It never jumped the wheel just rolled. This caused the blade to begin to jump and skip. I shut it down and removed the covers, blade and adjusted the belt tension, checked the wheels for alignment, all was good from what I learned in the video. So I started the motor up again and gave it some juice. AGAIN, it ran great for about 1- minutes and the belt flipped over again! Can anyone explain why this is doing this and how to fix it? Otherwise Hud-Son, I was impressed with packing the mill. Everything seemed to be in order and labeled clearly. Directions are very lacking in information for assembly and the video was a good help also, but still lacking on a few technical calibration issues (i.e. Mill head adjustment and Wheel alignment). The other thing I found to be and possibly a future major issue is the LOG DOGs. They seem to me, how do I want to put this, Useless, as far as them used as a log stop. I can not roll a log onto the mill frame with the log dog up because there is no way to move the locking side of the dog out of the way. Is there any way that the locking side of the dogs can be adjustable independently? Maybe use round-stock instead of square, so you can roll the locking side down while the log stop is up to keep your logs from rolling off the back side while loading or turning the log over to make another cut?!?! I think this is all I have for now. Looking forward to hearing some responses.

After being able to see all the parts and how stuff goes together in the video, this seems like a much better designed entry level sawmill than the Harbor Freight one. I really like the 4 post design and the sturdy looking central mount for the motor and band wheels.

I like the mill, but why do you use aluminum track? It seems like they would wear easily.

I purchased this mill two years ago. I also chose to assemble myself and bought killed myself doing it, I got so frustrated. Some issues I still haven’t gotten corrected and as a result not getting to use the mill like I wanted. I don’t do well with instructions over the phone cause I don’t understand the language or I should say terms used. One wheel is a floater just slightly thought. I can’t get the blade head level, when I try and do one side the other is off. I’m probably gonna try and call Wayne and hope he has time like maybe three hours to explain this as I do it. Hahaha

That looks like a well made piece of equipment with thick steel. Nice job!

Great vid. If I can get my local HudSon dealer to order in a Freedom mill, Hunter . This vid will be super handy.

What type of grease is that?

Hello, started assembling today and got as far as testing the engine but it wouldn't even turn over. Any ideas? yes, it has gas, oil, levers in correct position (choke, gas line, etc). Thank you

Do you sell replacement parts such as guide bearings and drive wheels. I was hoping to fabricate a sawmill? Thanks. 🇺🇸

I can see now that torquing the bolts isn’t going to happen?

the blade is running on naked steel wheel? like it can be seen on [13:36] ?

Good video thanks Bro

Cable clams installed with saddle on dead end, this is incorrect. " Never saddle a dead horse"

That hillbilly background music is so appropriate for this assembly video.

what is the price of these saw mills unassembled

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How much ?

Pick a side to video from. One side. Makes it very hard to follow the instructions when the aspects change

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This video has much to be desired unless you have lots of knowledge of this mill already, a nice big garage in which to assemble everything, and the ability to read between the lines of very hastily given, and in many ways incomplete instructions. What would solve this is a good diagram of how it should be done. The only help in assembling this besides this video are written instructions that are foggy to any green horn. I am sure a good diagram added to the package would certainly alleviate much assembly trauma in setting up this mill. Otherwise, it is without question the best their is as many mills are not built nearly as well costing much more money.

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I dismissed these mill designs after finding the mickey mouse manuals which scream "Made and Printed in China". Can't really tell quality from the pitiful manual but the video here confirms my suspicion. Looks like a high school welding project which earned a C-. Add to that the ghastly paint job which is more appropriate for a parade down main street and it boggles the mind who would buy one of these monstrosities. If forced to buy a mill I'd probably choose the HF which is at least designed/constructed better and is a larger, more powerful mill. But frankly I'd otherwise pass on both.