Portable SawMill service? Who'd be interested?

Okanogan and Ferry County cabin folks: How likely is it you'd be interested in having someone haul their portable sawmill to your place to mill up some of your trees?

I'm seriously considering putting my Woodmizer LT10 onto a trailer and starting a business sawing logs in that area (Okanogan, Omac, Tonasket, Oreville, Republic etc). I may upgrade to a larger mill if I find the work is there.

[Edit -- upgrades to the mill have improved some things] What I can do now: Up to 24" diameter logs 18 feet in length (~18'6") to pretty much any dimension you want. I can mill anything from 1/4" thickness (actually smaller but can't imagine anyone wanting that small -- heck, smaller then 3/8" might have me scratching my head) to anything above that. So doing 5/8" roughsawn lumber is easy as asking and anything larger is just faster -- so dimensional lumber from your pine, fir or Tamarack is easy enough (actually any kind of wood suitable for your needs is fine).

With one assistant I can usually mill around 150 to 250 board feet an hour which means you'd be paying about 25 cents per board foot -- and will get about 50% MORE out of your logs then if a traditional mill saws them up. However, the smaller the logs the less efficient the process so I won't saw logs smaller then about 8" in diameter if I can help it -- milling 6-8" logs could get a little spendy (perhaps more then $1/bf) but then again, if you wanted them milled I'd probably be willing to do it. My preference is stuff in the 15 to 20 inch diameter range as they produce very well on the mill.

Larger then 24" would have to be slabbed down by the customer to 24" or less so it will fit on the mill.

The more I look into this the more I'm considering it.

Rates will be $50 setup and delivery within 20 miles (additional fees may incur for longer distances) and $50/hr milling rate with a likely minimum of 4 hours of milling (not much point in dragging the mill out for two logs unless the customer is willing to pay for it).

[Edit -- production rates are much higher then I first estimated] So if the possibility of getting 600-1000 board feet of lumber for $450 (if only a 4 hour job) interests you -- out of your own trees that is -- then let me know.

Also, for those out of the area, please chime in as it would be interesting to see what others think too.

Changed the title as the original might have been a little misleading or at least lacking in details enough to get folks to see it.

Had to make a few edits since I originally posted this.

1. Production rates can be as high as 250 board feet an hour -- or greater even -- but depend on log sizes, placement of logs on site when I arrive, helper (all portable mills I've seen advertised are mill and operator only and the customer provides the help to load and offload the mill -- so, busy owner means higher production rates -- or an owner willing to pay an additional fee for a helper -- one of my boys).

2. The mill is now being installed onto a new trailer http://countryplans.com/smf/Smileys/default/smilesm.gif So it will be ready to tow right up to your remote location.

3. Just ordered the bed extension too, so I can now mill just over 18 foot logs http://countryplans.com/smf/Smileys/default/smilesm.gif

4. Cost per board foot may be as low as 20 cents! Considering big box stores charge as much as $3 per board foot you really can't lose having someone mill lumber out of your own trees!

Those seem like competitive rates. I wish you the best of luck with that. I was just looking at a Craigslist ad here in the Charlotte, NC area and a fellow is advertising his portable sawmill with a $125 trip/setup charge and $55 per hour for one experienced sawyer plus a helper. The lot I just bought is very wooded and I have thought about thinning out some trees in one part of the land anyway. Using them for lumber interests me a lot.

In your expert opinion, how would a layperson such as myself scout out suitable trees for milling into lumber? Any tips would be appreciated.