Starting Lumber Tycoon 2: what to buy first

Buy a Basic Hatchet, sell nearby wood, then get land and a small sawmill working. Add a truck when carrying wood is slowing you down. Those four purchases cost $642 together; you earn and spend along the way, rather than saving the entire amount first.

A grey sawmill and roller conveyor on an orange land plot — Your first goal is a place to mill wood and load it for sale.

A practical first purchase order

Get the Basic Hatchet for $12. Carry its box to the Wood R Us counter, buy it and open it. Cut nearby Oak or Cherry and move the wood to the Wood Dropoff beside the shop. Sell raw wood until you can buy your plot.
Buy your first plot for $100. Talk to the Land Store clerk and choose a vacant plot. Follow the land purchase steps and save to a slot before investing in machinery.
Place the Shabby Sawmill for $130. Feed in branches small enough to fit, then sell the planks. Oak uses a rate of $3.5 per unit as a log and $10 as a plank. These are rates for wood volume, not a fixed payout for each tree.
Add the Utility Vehicle for $400. Put its spawner on your land. Load a manageable amount of wood, drive to your mill, then take the planks to the dropoff. If carrying is already your biggest delay, buy the truck before the sawmill and mill as soon as you can.

What is left to buy?

Tick the equipment you already own. This shopping list excludes optional axe upgrades, conveyors and travel costs.

Already owned	Purchase	Price	Job
Already own Basic Hatchet	Basic Hatchet	$12	Start cutting nearby Oak and Cherry.
Already own First land plot	First land plot	$100	A place for your sawmill and vehicle spawner.
Already own Shabby Sawmill	Shabby Sawmill	$130	Mill branches before selling them.
Already own Utility Vehicle	Utility Vehicle	$400	Carry more wood in one local trip.

Money you have now ($)

Remaining shopping cost: $642.

Add your balance to see the amount still needed.

Upgrade the part that is holding you back

Problem	Next purchase or change
Chopping takes too long	Compare a shop axe upgrade before buying more land.
Logs will not fit the mill	Cut them smaller or upgrade the sawmill intake.
Too many trips carrying wood	Use your truck first; compare larger beds and trailers only when the load needs them.
Planks scatter after milling	Add a short conveyor run into your truck, then learn basic wiring when you need remote control.

Shop axe prices

You do not have to buy every axe in sequence. A cheap intermediate upgrade can make chopping less tiring; skipping one leaves more money for the mill and vehicle.

Plain Axe: $90.
Steel Axe: $190.
Hardened Axe: $550.
Silver Axe: $2,040.

Compare their actual damage and cooldown on the axe table. A specialist or collectible is a different purchase from a general wood-cutting upgrade.

Watch the opening loop

**The ULTIMATE GUIDE for Beginners in Lumber Tycoon 2...**JackUK · 16:00A fresh-start walkthrough through buying an axe, land, a vehicle and a sawmill. Its purchase order also shows the truck-before-mill alternative.

Before going after expensive wood

Keep a working mill, a usable vehicle and an axe you can afford to replace. Practise loading and selling local wood first. The region guide and Frost Wood route are the next steps once you can handle travel and hauling. A high sale rate does not help if you cannot bring the tree home.

Use the wood value calculator to compare equal volumes and subtract trip expenses. Do not budget around a promised hourly income or a fixed number of trees: size, cutting time and losses all change the result.