Founded in 1929 under the name "Belsaw," TimberKing is America's oldest manufacturer of one-man sawmills.

TimberKing's original product was the Belsaw circular mill, which was in constant production from 1929 until 1998. Tens of thousands of these mills were sold world-wide.

"It's such a great heritage," says TimberKing President Will Johnson. "Every week we get a call from someone who's still cutting with a Belsaw mill his dad or granddad bought. I want my children to get those calls from my customers' children, saying their fifty-year-old mill is still going strong."

TimberKing began making portable band mills in 1989.

"We were not the first company to make a portable bandmill," Johnson points out. "And this put us at a real advantage: It was easy to look for something simpler, better, stronger than the other designs. Something a guy could hand down to his grandkids."

TimberKing has long been one of the most innovative forces in the portable band mill market. TimberKing was the first portable mill company to introduce hydraulic chain log turners, hydraulic vertical log stops, standard computer set-works and hydraulic roller toe boards. These features that began with TimberKing have since been widely imitated in the Portable Sawmill industry.

Along with constantly improving its larger band mills, TimberKing has remained "the company to watch" in new product innovation:

In 1989, TimberKing came out with the B-20 mill, the first widely-sold portable mill with a 4-Post Cutting Head. The B-20 mill has seen many of TimberKing's most important innovations come to light, including hydraulic chain log turners, hydraulic vertical log stops, standard computer set-works and hydraulic roller toe boards. The B-20 remains TimberKing's best-selling mill.

In 1998, TimberKing introduced the Talon 900 Edger, the first conveyor-feed edger designed for the portable sawmill market.

In 1999, TimberKing brought out the TimberKing 1220, the first "personal" sized bandmill with the same rugged features - solid welded cutting deck, four-post head - that come standard on quality industrial mills.

In 2001, TimberKing unveiled the TimberKing 1600, the first mid-sized bandmill with "basic" hydraulic features: blade feed, blade up/down and available hydraulic log loaders.

Also in 2001, TimberKing began offering the TimberKing Blade System, the first blade and lubrication system which has different blades and lubricants to fit all possible cutting situations.

In 2002, TimberKing began putting a UV-protected powder-coat finish on all of its equipment. This baked-on finish is simply the toughest, most durable finish available, and TimberKing is still the only major portable mill manufacturer to put this finish on their mills. "A sawmill is only as rugged as the paint that's protecting it from the elements," Johnson says.

In 2003, TimberKing brought out their newest mill, the massive 2400. Run by a 49HP oil-cooled diesel motor, the 2400 is designed to handle the very large logs found in older woodlots.

"We want our customers to have the most innovative products available, period," Johnson says. "But we also insist on having the kind of quality and service that has kept us in business for almost 75 years. There are a lot of folks out there today making bandmills, but you have to ask yourself: where were they twenty years ago? Where are they going to be twenty years from now? Along with everything else, the answers to these questions are what set TimberKing apart from the others."