# Hudson hfe 21



## alexdom_89 (Jul 10, 2013)

What's wrong with wanting to do a little milling? So I have been looking long and hard at the Hudson brand sawmill for a little over a year now and have acquired the funds to buy one just want to know if anyone has run a Hudson hfe 21 there seems to be good reviews but what about my fellow woodbarter friends?


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 10, 2013)

There's a couple of guys here that run em, one is a dealer if I remember right. :dunno:


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## sprucegum (Jul 10, 2013)

alexdom_89 said:


> What's wrong with wanting to do a little milling? So I have been looking long and hard at the Hudson brand sawmill for a little over a year now and have acquired the funds to buy one just want to know if anyone has run a Hudson hfe 21 there seems to be good reviews but what about my fellow woodbarter friends?



I have a Hudson oscar 236 it is a Ok mill for the money. I had the opportunity to look at all of the hudson mills when I bought mine from a stocking dealer. If you are looking for a personal mill to saw small logs I am sure the 21 will work just fine for you. If you have many logs that are close to the 21" capacity of the hef 21 I would get a little bit bigger mill. My 236 has a 36" capacity and I have sawed 36" maple on it but it is a real challenge, the log must be strait and placed on the mill perfectly and then it is hard to dog. 
Here is the logic I used when I bought my mill. At least in my area there is a good demand for used low cost mills they seem to get bought up as soon as they hit the market. My mill was almost $8000 with a few options and a box of blades. The price of cabinet grade wood is $2/bdft and up so I really don't need to produce and sell or use much wood to recoup my costs and I am well on my way to doing that. If I decide to up grade or stop sawing altogether my mill will be a quick sale in the $5000 range.


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## alexdom_89 (Jul 10, 2013)

I am thinking that I may sell a few boards to the school for projects and keep the rest for projects of my own so I am not worried about to much production I've looked into keeping up with log demand and have found a few sources that could keep me a steady amount of work. I just hope the machine will hold up other then a few logs!!!


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## sprucegum (Jul 16, 2013)

alexdom_89 said:


> I am thinking that I may sell a few boards to the school for projects and keep the rest for projects of my own so I am not worried about to much production I've looked into keeping up with log demand and have found a few sources that could keep me a steady amount of work. I just hope the machine will hold up other then a few logs!!!



Just a follow up on my other post. The last time I started my mill it was running very rough and I determined that one cylinder was not firing. It was getting good spark so I did a compression test the non working cylinder had almost no compression. I called the dealer he said take it to a Briggs and Stratton service center which I did. A quick check revealed that one push rod was missing which meant it was in the crank case somewhere. I then called the Hudson factory and asked for a new engine since mine has way under 100 hours on it. They had no interest in replacing my engine they said I must have it fixed by a briggs service center. So now I will have a almost new mill with a POS rebuilt engine my only hope is that it is beyond repair in which case B&S will ship the service center a new short block. I stand by what I said about the mill being a good mill for the money but I expected a little more satisfaction from the company. I would not buy another 23 HP B&S vanguard on any piece of equipment. :fit: One thing for sure my mill will be for sale before the 3 year guarantee is up on the enjine.


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## Kevin (Jul 16, 2013)

sprucegum said:


> ,,,I would not buy another 23 HP B&S vanguard on any piece of equipment. ...



My Norwood LM 2000 had the same exact engine, and while it gave me great service I didn't put that many hours on it before selling it. But I do not like Brigs/Stratton anymore in fact when I replaced my JD zero turn radius mower last month because the B&S POS lost power and started smoking like a mosquito truck I decided any mower I bought would have anything but a B&S. I looked at mowers with Kohler and have had Kohlers in the past and never had any trouble, but I ended up buying a Hustler Raptor with a 23HP Kawasaki. 

This Kawasaki sounds and feels solid as a rock. I know that's highly subjective but the thing just sounds like quality and oh yeah they get rave reviews based on reliability and longevity. Time will tell. As for a sawmill go diesel if you can. If not consider an electric unless you need to be mobile. If I keep my mill I'm going to pull the diesel and convert it to electric.


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 16, 2013)

Japanese kohler's are good, kawasaki's are great and used to power tons of lawn equipment all day long, Honda's are great too but pricey. One thing I like about the kohler's is automtive style hydraulic valve lifters = no maintenance. The problem with engines dropping the push rods is a lack of maintenance, there is usually a readjust period right after break in. The japanese v twin vangaurds are not a bad engine, sorry you had a problem with yours, I have run them for years on landscape power equipment and never had a problem. The shop I work at part time sells a ton of vanguards because they are a cheap option for a repower.


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## Treecycle Hardwoods (Jul 16, 2013)

It is amazing 2 different engines made here in Wisconsin have different qualities to them... (briggs may not be here any more harley davidson is in their old factory in the falls here now. Woodmizers run kohlers on their non-diesel models. Now that my mill is inside I wish I had a honda on mine.


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## sprucegum (Jul 17, 2013)

woodtickgreg said:


> Japanese kohler's are good, kawasaki's are great and used to power tons of lawn equipment all day long, Honda's are great too but pricey. One thing I like about the kohler's is automtive style hydraulic valve lifters = no maintenance. The problem with engines dropping the push rods is a lack of maintenance, there is usually a readjust period right after break in. The japanese v twin vangaurds are not a bad engine, sorry you had a problem with yours, I have run them for years on landscape power equipment and never had a problem. The shop I work at part time sells a ton of vanguards because they are a cheap option for a repower.



What I am hearing from the local hudson dealer is that he has sold hundreds of them and never had a problem untill this year. One of them being his own mill. As for readjustment after break in my mill has sawed less than 4000 ft. which cant be more than 40 hours of actual run time. I wish I had kept track of the fuel used but if memory serves I think I was on my third five gallon can. I had planed to change the oil the first time this week. If it was a valve adjustment problem I would say it originated at the factory.


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 17, 2013)

sprucegum said:


> woodtickgreg said:
> 
> 
> > Japanese kohler's are good, kawasaki's are great and used to power tons of lawn equipment all day long, Honda's are great too but pricey. One thing I like about the kohler's is automtive style hydraulic valve lifters = no maintenance. The problem with engines dropping the push rods is a lack of maintenance, there is usually a readjust period right after break in. The japanese v twin vangaurds are not a bad engine, sorry you had a problem with yours, I have run them for years on landscape power equipment and never had a problem. The shop I work at part time sells a ton of vanguards because they are a cheap option for a repower.
> ...



Agreed, definitely sounds like a manufacturer defect. I wonder if that is a chinese engine? No problems until this year? That's good to know, they obviously changed something. I would bet where it's made.


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