You won't get rich, but it is a better return than selling the logs to a larger mill.  Around here, good white pine only brings about 250/k, sawing is around 350/k, and I'm guessing he sold the siding for about a dollar a foot.  I do know that the siding was actually part of a trade, so don't know precisely what he got for it, but a dollar is fairly typical around here.  One benefit to me is making something useable out of logs that might not grade high enough to bring much but pulpwood prices. I can work with logs at my own pace when it's just me, and my stacks of lumber in the shed will be there when I need them.  As for drying, pine isn't too bad to shrink, and if used for siding, the standard practice is to put the wide boards on first, and then put the battens on after the siding has dried enough to be stable.  I have boards on my shed that are only held on by two screws each.  Now that they have dried, I will put the battens on and the rest of the screws.