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Thread: Chainsaw sawmills

  1. #1
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    Arrow Chainsaw sawmills

    I'm looking at buying a chainsaw sawmill for use around the house. As an example i've got a nice 18"dia 15' long black walnut tree laying in my back yard that i'd like to cut into boards. I remember seeing one somewhere that used a 2x6 as a guide and was fairly cheap but accurate.

    Anyone got any experience?

    Thanks
    Brian
    The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

    The penalty for inaccuracy is more work

  2. #2
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    First of all, dont expect a lot from one of the portables. They are used around this neck of the woods to rough cut very thick slabs. I am not impressed.

    Second, my chainsaw is the most powerful saw that is still considered portable or carryable. Its the one selected for the hot shot teams and I bought it on recommendation of the Rocky Moutain Hot Shots. When you live in the middle of a moutainous rual ponderosa forrest, your always worried about that tourist with a cigaratte or match!

    What I found was that as powerful as my saw is, its not powerful enough. My saw is a Stiel MS 460 Magnum with compression release and a 30 inch bar. And its no way powerful enough to saw planks. Wow! The 088 is often used for this and its too heavy to hump around the rockies with. I would suggest something in the 066 or 077 range. The newer models changed the names from 046 to MS 460. Eventually the 088 will change over to the MS 880 but that may take some time.

    Then you need to consider blades. The typical chain saw has a cross cut blade and you need a rip blade. You can buy narrow kef rip chains and bars for saws. But now you need to swap these out each time you go to cut lumber.

    I did see the logosol chain saw mill at the woodworking show. ITs built from structual steel tube and welded and bolted together. You attach your chain saw to this rig. For what it is, I was rather impressed. Can it hold its own against a woodmizer? NO WAY! But its a ton cheaper and represents a workable compromise between a woodmizer and an alaskan saw mill jig.
    Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.

  3. #3
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    I agree with what Dev says.
    To do any serious chainsaw milling you will want a big saw (90cc+) and ripping chain (the teeth are ground differently for rip cutting). Milling is hard on a saw as you are running it full throttle for several minutes. You could use the Beam Machine type guides to break the log down into managable 'beams' to resaw , but you aren't going to get a precise cut with them. Next step up would be the Alaskan type mill, a bigger guide that bolts to the saw bar and lets you cut accurately (but slowly ) thru a log. After that there are machines like the Logosol, chainsaw on rails. Works OK, but much slower than a bandsaw and again, needs a big chainsaw.
    By now you are getting close in price to a small manual band sawmill .

    Can it be done.. Yes.

    Can it be done by bolting a homeowner grade chainsaw to a guide.. Nope

    My portable sawmill is actually powered by a chainsaw power head, but it drives a big circle blade, so it's a whole other kettle of fish

    Cheers

    Ian

  4. #4
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    In addition to Ian's and Dev's comments, I'll add that you'll want to join the local health club NOW to bulk up...chainsaw mills require a lot of hard work to use.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
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    You guys have lowered my expectations

    I wasn't expecting sawmill quality boards, but...... Sounds like i should spend the money for a bandsaw mill or take my logs to a real mill.

    Thanks for the input, you may have saved me some money!

    Brian
    Last edited by Brian Hale; 05-30-2005 at 8:40 PM.
    The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

    The penalty for inaccuracy is more work

  6. #6
    Brian, I've been running chainsaws for the past 25 years also, mainly hardwoods...Aside from the comments above, these portable mills are desperate hard on the engines, they are not made to run flat out for hours at a time so you can expect a much shorter life from your saw.

    Do they work, yes, given the right saw, blade,bar and operator, I have seen them do some pretty impressive work but IMO, it is not worth the expense or the work, buy, rent or hire a portable mill, you will be in, in the long run.

    If you are looking for a chainsaw that I've seen do the job, look at the Husqvarna 3120XP.

    Andy

  7. #7
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    Or just call a Sawyer

    I was thinking about doing what you were, everyone told me to just call a Sawyer. Sawyers come to your location with a truck drawn saw mill and saw at your location. Prices run between $30 & $60 per hour. If you can get the logs to them you may get a little better deal.

    If you go to Woodweb they have a list of Sawyers by state/city. You can also call Woodmizer they maintain a customer list and will give you the names and phone numbers for people who have their saws in your area.

    I have about 20 logs on the ground, some may be a little too small and not the best species. I have the place to put the lumber pretty well set up. I am working on what size, sawing techniques etc. I want for which logs. I am thinking about dropping another tree or two to have a good variety of woods. I am also trying to find someone who has a hydraulic turner on their saw mill. I want some quarter sawn boards and I hear they are much easier with saws equipped with hydraulic turners.

    A couple guys gave me lists of things to do to get ready for a sawyer so you may want to check my recent post if you are thinking about going that route.

  8. #8
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    I have seen a band mill that is under $3 grand. At the show it looked reasonable for the price. Hudon or something similar for the name. It is what you are going to spend for a good chainsaw, a couple of rip blades and some sort of Alaskan or Logosol setup. It appears to be a hobbiest tool but can get the job done. Just a thought.

  9. #9
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    Also have to warn you that sawing up logs is VERY addictive
    If you start with any sort of sawmill you will get hooked (even worse than normal woodworking) . "I'll just cut up one more log, just to see what the grain is like"
    You have been warned

    Ian

  10. #10
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    Mike....

    The going rate for sawyers with bandmills in my neck of the woods is $75 dollars per hour portal to portal. This is really frustrating as it is effectively a rip off. To make matters worse, the band mills are not woodmizers nor are they hydraulic. About 110 miles from here, there is a gentleman who owns an LT40 hydraulic woodmizer and charges $70 dollars per hour and the clock starts when he drops the mizer. No portal to portal.

    Why is all this important? Good Question. First of all, a hydraulic band mill with a much more powerful motor can produce massively more lumber per hour than a 2 banger with manual feed and manual log turners. So unless you get a huge discount on NON-Hydraulic saw mills, dont even consider it. Around here, I have seen 15 HP two cylinder manual hudsons charging the same as LT40 hydraulics. This is insane!

    Secondly, you have to look at the design of the mill. If the sawyer begins charging the clock at the time he drops the mill, you have to consider that non mizer type mills have to be perfectly leveled. Most band mills are four post designs and if the two way rails are not leveled, your boards are not true. Woodmizers on the other hand do not have this issue. They use a cantelever band mill which runs along a main body beam made of 4 inch by 8 inch heavy structural steel tube. The band mill always tracks this tube so if I am parked on a slight hill, that will not make a difference. I have heard all the arguments and spent many hours investigating this issue and have actually run both types of mills. My money is on the wood mizer. So a mizer can be ejecting boards within a few minutes of arrival on site whereas the hudson and timber kings and so on are still dialing in the levels at $75 dollars per hour.

    If the logs are tapered, then you need to adjust them to level. Hydraulics have hydraulic levelers or toe boards to do this.

    So the smallest mill I would hire to cut lumber is the LT-40 hydraulic and I would work on the $75 dollar per hour figure reduced. Also make sure there is no setup fee or portal to portal fees. Also note that if the operator shows up alone, you will want to help him in the role of an offloader. Your job will be to remove the new board and stack it as soon as the head rig clears the log.

    As Ian says, running these machines is about as fun as a barrel full of monkeys. Its real easy to get hooked esp. if you get your hands on some good stuff. I was totally bummed out last summer when the huricanes came calling and tore down all those trees. Folks were cutting hardwood logs into firewood. For us cowboys who are hardwood challenged, this was devesitating. Some of the nicest quarter sawn american sycamore that I have had a chance to get my fingers on came from such an urban reject tree.

    So one of my projects is building my own band mill. Hopefully this summer I will get some more done on my own creation. As much as I like the woodmizer, they are too expensive and are lacking in a few details. In my case, I am trying to use a 4 cylinder diesel engine along with a rockford clutch and a main beam that is 4 in by 10 in. It would be nice to replace the moving gas motor with a smaller hydraulic motor but that would mean trailing the hoses behind the head rig. All ideas I am still working on. I really wish that there were 48 hours per day and 14 days per week!

    Best of luck in your quest...
    Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.

  11. Get the Logosol.
    I did.
    Costs about $2,000.

    No need to "bulk up", either. I'm only 5' 7", and a computer programmer by day, and sawdust maker on the weekends (in other words, I'm a whimp).

    The Logosol only weighs 85 pounds, and so you can take it anywhere. Try that with a band mill.

    I use mine with a Stihl 066, and it cuts great, with minimul effort. It's nothing at all like the effort of an Alaskan mill. If you need to make an occasional cross-cut, there's no need to change chains. The ripping chains will cross-cut, absolutly fine. Matter of fact, you'll hardly notice any difference in speed, plus you'll gave greatly reduced kickback.

    I've been milling, and milling with mine, with hundreds of logs to go...and loving every minute of it.

    If you've got a larger vertical bandsaw, consider using the Logosol to cut very thick boards, and then resaw them in your shop.

  12. #12
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    Dev, "my local guy" charges $55 hr for his Woodmizer Super Hydaulic Plus 1/2 hr for transport and $25 per blade ruined by embedded metal.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
    My guy charges $45.00 an hour Canadian, $35.00 for blades that are ruined, $15.00 per blade used, flat $50.00 to and from running a LT70.

    If I make sure everything is properly sorted and stacked before he gets there, between the two of us and my son, we saw on average 600 board feet an hour....depends on the wood and log size, the lowest we have ever done was 300 and the most around 750.....makes very short order of a wood pile. If you have the logs, what an experienced person can do in a day with a little help will give you enough wood to last a very long time. I also have a loader at the woodlot which is a tremendous help and keeps things organized.

    Andy

  14. #14
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    Andy & JIm...

    This is what I am talking about! Your prices are more inline with the rest of the world and in Andy's case, the guy is running an LT70 which is the top of the line for woodmizers. This thing most likely has a turbocharged 4 cylinder catapiller motor, remote console and optimizing software. I think its a joke to compare the $75 dollar per hour hudson against your $45 CD per hour LT70. The LT70 will be back on the road by the time the hudson just gets going.
    Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.

  15. #15
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    I won't say what I pay, but it is less them everyone else.....

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