• Michigan

Portable Sawmill Service in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

HD Cuts brings the mill to your property and turns your U.P. timber into usable lumber. No hauling. No hassle.

HD Cuts is based in Iron Mountain and serves property owners throughout the Upper Peninsula, from the western tip to the eastern shore. The U.P. covers a lot of ground and we know it well.

In the western U.P., we regularly work in and around Iron Mountain, Iron River, Crystal Falls, Ironwood, and Wakefield. This is home country for us. If you’re in Dickinson, Iron, or Gogebic County and you’ve got logs on the ground, we can typically get to you quickly.

Further north along the Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Country, we serve the Houghton, Hancock, and L’Anse areas, including Baraga County. This part of the U.P. grows excellent hardwoods and we make regular trips up through the region.

In central and northern U.P. communities like Marquette, Munising, and the surrounding areas, we schedule jobs throughout the season. Marquette County alone has a tremendous amount of wooded private land and we see strong demand for milling work throughout the region.

In the eastern U.P., including Escanaba, Menominee, Newberry, St. Ignace, and Sault Ste. Marie, we schedule jobs based on demand and proximity. If you’re in this part of the peninsula and have a solid log pile, reach out and we’ll work out the logistics.

What Grows in the U.P. and What It’s Good For

The Upper Peninsula produces a wide range of hardwoods and softwoods, and most of them are worth milling if the log is in decent shape. Here’s what we commonly work with across the region and what each species tends to produce:

Species	Character	Best Uses
Hard Maple	Dense, tight grain, often with figure and curl	Furniture, flooring, live edge slabs, tabletops
Soft Maple	Lighter than hard maple, still strong and workable	Shelving, cabinets, interior millwork
Oak	Heavy, strong, prominent grain	Beams, flooring, mantels, tables
Birch	Light colored, smooth grain, takes finish well	Cabinetry, furniture, decorative pieces
White Pine	Straight, lightweight, easy to work with	Barn boards, framing, cabin interiors, paneling
Cedar	Aromatic, naturally rot-resistant	Outdoor structures, siding, decking, closet lining
Tamarack	Tough, dense, naturally rot-resistant	Fence posts, decking, structural applications

Not sure what species you have or whether it’s worth milling? Send us a message and we’ll help you figure it out.

What U.P. Landowners Are Building

Property owners across the Upper Peninsula are putting their timber to work in all kinds of ways. Here’s what we see most often:

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Hunting cabins and camps

Pine and cedar from the property milled into boards for walls, floors, and trim. There’s something about a cabin built from its own land that just feels right.

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Pole barns and outbuildings

Dimensional lumber cut from on-site logs keeps build costs down and makes use of wood that would otherwise sit and rot.

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Live edge furniture

U.P. maple in particular produces slabs with incredible figure and character. Dining tables, kitchen islands, and bar tops cut from trees that grew right outside the back door.

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Fireplace mantels

A mantel cut from a tree on your property is the kind of detail that stays in a room for generations.

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Flooring and interior finishing

Hard maple and oak from the U.P. produce beautiful flooring and wall paneling for cabins, homes, and lodges.

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Beams for timber frame projects

Big diameter oak and pine logs produce structural and decorative beams at a fraction of what they’d cost at a lumber yard.

Not sure if your logs are worth milling? Send us a message and we’ll help you figure it out.

What a Milling Job Looks Like in the U.P.

The Upper Peninsula is a big place and every property is a little different. Some jobs are right off a two-track, easy in and easy out. Others are deeper in the woods and take a bit more planning to access. Either way, here’s what you can expect when HD Cuts comes out to your U.P. property:

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You reach out

with your location and a description of your logs. Species, rough size, how many you’ve got, and what you’re hoping to cut from them.

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We talk through it

honestly. If your logs are worth milling, we’ll tell you. If they’re not, we’ll tell you that too.

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We get on the schedule

and figure out the best time to come out based on your location and the time of year. U.P. winters and mud season are real considerations and we plan around them.

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We come to your property

with the portable sawmill loaded and ready. No need to move your logs anywhere.

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We mill on-site

and stack your lumber so it’s ready for drying and your next project.

Most U.P. jobs are scheduled within a few weeks depending on the season. Spring and summer book up fast, so if you’ve got logs on the ground, it’s worth reaching out sooner rather than later.

13 Years Working with U.P. Timber.

Hunter Ayers grew up in Iron County and has spent over a decade milling lumber across the Upper Peninsula. He knows the local species, understands how U.P. hardwoods behave on the mill, and can tell you with confidence what your logs are likely to produce before a single cut is made. That kind of regional knowledge makes a real difference in the quality of the lumber you walk away with.

Have Logs in the U.P.? Let’s Talk.

Reach out and tell us what you’ve got. We’ll give you a straight answer about what your logs could produce and get you on the schedule.

Get a Quote

906-221-3743

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