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chain saw mill.

Started by KGNC, January 16, 2006, 03:16:02 PM

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KGNC

Hello folks.
I'm fairly new to the forestry forum but love all the cool info here.
I've always wanted a portable mill but really can't justify it. I do hate cutting up good looking oaks, locust and maples into firewood.  I have also had a number of poplars and white pines that have rotted because no body will saw one or two logs. So I'm thinking about a chain saw mill.
After reading some of the information it looks like my saw is not big enough to do any real sawing on a chain saw system. My question, does anyone  make a chainsaw type mill that uses a regular 4 cycle engine? I can buy a 10-12 hp gas engine for the price of the larger chainsaws.
I can see making a fun project out of building a smple chain mill.
Also anyone know what speed ripping chain needs to run?
Any thoughts or suggestions?

TinMan

I have c;ut quite a bit of lumber with a 372 husky. Bigger would be better of course, but it worked pretty good. What saw do you have?

Tracy

KGNC

I've got a Stihl MS310. Great firewood saw, but I'm afraid it might be a bit of a dog ripping.

Ianab

Quotedoes anyone  make a chainsaw type mill that uses a regular 4 cycle engine?

Yes...
http://www.petersonsawmills.com/products_dws.htm

I believe the Peterson machine uses an idler shaft to gear up the chain speed and take some of the stress off the engine bearings. But it's not a cheap mill. It's designed for slabbing up BIG logs into table tops, something most portable mills cant do. For normal milling the bandsaw, circle or swingblade is much more efficient. Building a bandsaw may be an option, several members have done that with good results. Unless you need the wide cut of the DWS or the portability of an Alaskan then the other mills work so much better. I just think that by the time you build all the mill structure it's almost as simple / cheap to make a car tyre based band mill that will cut 5 times faster?
If you do go with a chain mill I think you want the sprocket turning at chainsaw speeds (8,000+ rpm) as opposed to small 4 stroke (~4,000 rpm), hence the gearing on the DWS.

Cheers

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Quote from: KGNC on January 16, 2006, 03:59:07 PM
I've got a Stihl MS310. Great firewood saw, but I'm afraid it might be a bit of a dog ripping.

I've got a MS310 too, not enough saw for any serious milling  ;)

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

KGNC

Quote from: Ianab on January 16, 2006, 04:04:36 PM
I've got a MS310 too, not enough saw for any serious milling  ;)

Ian

Thats what I have been told, certainly haven't tryed it.  Have you used your 310 in a ripping mill? Think I could cut up one or two white pine logs into beams on a Saturday morning with it?
My other concern is doing regular bucking. If I only have the one saw I am going to be changing bars and chains a lot. sounds like a pain.

KGNC

The Peterson Slabbing system looks great but it would be expensive for what I need. I think that if I were to spend that much I would go for the swing blade mill. Seems like the swing blade would make the most of the wood for a operation without an edger.

Ianab

QuoteHave you used your 310 in a ripping mill?

Nope... I like my 310 too much to subject it to that sort of torture  :D
My 090 could hack it but thats powering the swingblade, much better cutting.

The DWS is a serious piece of machinery, but to make a practical chain mill you are going to have to build something along those lines, maybe scaled down a bit. It needs rails / a carriage / height adjustment etc. By the time you have build all that you may as well put a couple of wheels on it and have a bandsaw  ::)

For normal milling the swingblade is MUCH faster than the chainsaw type.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

snowman

  hi kgnc, " I feel your pain", Im in same boat as you, want to use my trees for lumber but dang those mills are spendy.Check logosol sight, im considering one, 2500 for the mill. Fortunately I have a Husky 395 I used for falling before my ummm, semi retirement. Only has one season on it, should be able to cut a few boards with it still. Baileys has these  for around 850 I think, even if you have to by a saw too your money ahead. Or then again I may buy a Peterson or a Wood Mizer , a Baker a...........

oldsaw

KGNC, there are a few chainsaw mill fans here, and I am one of them.  I live in the suburbs, and have no place to store a bandmill, don't have the budget for one, and don't have enough wood to really make use of one anyway (I've got a friend that has one, but we still need the chainsaw mill to get many of the logs down to bandmill size).  So, I have an 066 that I can use for felling and bucking, then, within minutes, I have a mill that can slice up a decent size log in not a whole bunch of time.  Okay, it's loud, dirty, and can be stinky on bad wind days (none, or wrong direction), kind of slow, and it's a lot of work, but I like it.  If you can tolerate that, then you will have a mill that you have when you need it, can carry it in the back of your car, can easily take the mill to the log, and maintain a decent stock of wood that you cut yourself, and you have a big saw when you need it.  You can laugh at that one, but the minute you get used to using a big saw, you will be hooked.  Power is a very cool thing.

I use an Alaskan, but there are others out there.  My only regrets?  I want a bigger saw, and I don't have enough time to use it.  I've got a guy trying to sell me a Husky 3120....120ccs....with a 95cc "back-up"....life would be good.

Mark
So many trees, so little money, even less time.

Stihl 066, Husky 262, Husky 350 (warmed over), Homelite Super XL, Homelite 150A

KGNC

Thanks for all the feed back.  I'm just too cheap sometimes, at least that is what my wife says.  ;)
At first look it doesn't seem like it should be so expensive to put together a small system. But when you get into it there are a lot of details that can cause grief on a do it yourself project. I just need to figure out what I really need and get it.

Danny_S

This one is affordable, although you need a second man to operate it.....



:D :D
Plasma cutting at Craig Manufacturing

solodan

When I bought my Alaskan, the biggest saw I had was a Husky268. Just not big enough, but I could not justify buying a bigger saw. Well I cut a mantel for myself the day I got the thing and got addicted. A few days later  a contractor asked me to cut a live edge bar top for his new log home. Well I cut it and sold it for $1300 and bought a 3120 the next day.
I now have a lucas 827 but still love my Alaskan for certain tasks, especially cutting slabs in extremely remote locations. I would try to find a big used saw for starters. Also I would buy a mini mill for edging. I still use my mini mill for cutting notches and straight end cuts on large slabs.

Treasures

KGNC, This is my first post I run the stihl310 with the alaskan small log mill. I have milled 2 White ash trees about 20in.dia at the base,also 1 shagbark hickory about 18in.dia. It can be done but it is slow.  :-\ Just wanted to say Hello to everyone here and say that this is by far the best site of its kind. Thanks to all the great members. Tim
Small Alaskan Mill, 310 Stihl, Solar kiln,and small 1 man cabinet shop.

Snag

This doesnt really answer your question about 4cycle, but....  When I was in the same boat, not able or wanting to spend alot on a mill, I ended up going the chainsaw route rather than building the 4 cycle for a couple reasons.  1)  I liked the portability of the alaskan due to the lack of equipment to handle logs.  2) To use a 4cycle I would have to build track and carriage like a procut and the price of steel aint cheap right now.  By the time the thing would be built the money would have added up..  3)  a big saw for milling can be taken of when it needs to be used for big bucking or when you just want more hp. 

This was just my personal exp.  Everyone has a different set of circumstances and needs.

Snag

Welcome to the forum Tim....

Treasures

Thanks SNAG, is Putnum Station anywhere near Putnum Pond in the adirondacks.
Small Alaskan Mill, 310 Stihl, Solar kiln,and small 1 man cabinet shop.

Snag

Yep, thats the place.  Putnam Pond is actually in Ticonderoga.  Putnam Station borders Ticonderoga to the south.  I used to work out of Albany and lived in Saratoga for awhile, but was eventually able to move/work farther north.  If I remember where Westerlo is, you are probably around 2+ hours from here.....

oldsaw

Quote from: KGNC on January 18, 2006, 12:00:58 PM
Thanks for all the feed back.  I'm just too cheap sometimes, at least that is what my wife says.  ;)
At first look it doesn't seem like it should be so expensive to put together a small system. But when you get into it there are a lot of details that can cause grief on a do it yourself project. I just need to figure out what I really need and get it.

So am I.  I got the Alaskan for $129, the 066 for $400 which came with 2 36" bars, two loops of rip chain for about $70 or so.  About $600 total.  My first two days of milling, I got a couple of hundred board feet of oak and about 300 board feet of walnut from free trees that I dropped.  Discounting the labor (fun?), what's that, about $1.20/bft and I got the saw/mill/chain for "free".  Essentially, the set-up paid for itself on my first stash of logs in two days.

I'm probably cheaper than you, but I couldn't say "no" to that deal.  These logs were down in a bit of a ravine, and I had no real way of getting them out whole.  Either I took them, or they would get buried.

Mark

So many trees, so little money, even less time.

Stihl 066, Husky 262, Husky 350 (warmed over), Homelite Super XL, Homelite 150A

dail_h

   KG,
   Wher are youy in NC? Maybe me 'n ole "Nevermiss" could get you outta tha jam wif them logs. I'm in northeast NC
World Champion Wildcat Sorter,1999 2002 2004 2005
      Volume Discount At ER
Singing The Song Of Circle Again

ozhank53

I run a husky 3120 on a Procut Sawmill that I built myself. It's slow cutting compared to Lucas mill, but a whole lot cheaper. I've cut all the timber (white cypress and ironbark) for my house and shed with it. It's great for small logs to take top and bottom off for building log cabin type walls.

tcsmpsi

KGNC,

I have recently gone through a similar dielmma.  I have some trees.  Had some broken and downed during Rita.  Always building something.  Can't stand to see all that wood going to firewood, rotting, and/or just in the way.


Been that way for a while.  Actually, for a LONG while.  This was/is the year that itch HAD to be scratched. 

This internet thing, being such an open window of information, I began to search. 

My 'fleet' of chainsaws, being only two Poulan 18" and an old Poulan 66 with a bow blade (whom I have to take very good care of since I have depleted any parts in this part of the world some time ago), right away I could see I would need chainsaw(s) for a chainsaw mill.
(by the way, that old 66 will rattle the panes right out of a window when she goes to dancing and singing)

I found, what I thought, were some very good chainsaw mills, and looked at that very thoroughly.  For myself personally, when it came down to it, what I saw (no pun), was taking a tool (of notable necessary machine tolerances) and using it for something it wasn't particularly, or specifically designed to do.  Then, to get set up as I thought I should to be able to best utilize that method. was not going to be 'cheap', nor could I see it being a low maintence proposition, if there was going to be much cutting at all. 

Went through everything of relevance on related product, and (though I had been looking at possibility of log milling for about 25-30 yrs, or maybe even more....happens sometimes when I think about what year it actually is)...where was I? ....oh yeah...mills....anyhow, I found bandsaw mills. 

I inspected the various circular mills (I mean, those were the only kind I had seen in operation, or had any thought of existence), bandsaws, chainsaws, no saws, forget the whole thing, etc.

I ain't rich, by no means (moneywise, anyhow), and any expenditure in the 4 digits or more, is going to take some serious consideration and resolution.
Anyway, for me, to get any setup that I would feel reasonably secure with, was going to cost me at least $2-3K.  Not what I normally have laying around. 

I'm gathering more in depth information, videos, found THE FORESTRY FORUM (or, it found me, or something), checking finances, talking to my permanent female partner (I've heard some refer to these as, 'wives'), checking credit, etc.  If I'm going to finance, I might as well look from that aspect and look more at my particular need, return...and want.

I ended up ordering a small, portable, manual, heavy duty, 30" throat, 22' bandsaw w/my applied options for $600 down and will cost less than $175 a mo. 

However, I do have enough trees that loggers have been trying to get me to let them come in, I am in business and do have intent of working milling into the business, and do have several trees that are going to HAVE to be taken down VERY soon.

And yet, I still think of having chainsaw milling attachment for roughing out some logs.  With all the cutting I am going to have to do this year, I am probably going to bigger/newer saw, anyhow.  ;D
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

KGNC

dail_h, Sorry i did not respond sooner. I miss your message. I'm near Boone, NC. Thanks for the offer, I've got a couple of local sawmill guys I have traded with in the past. Just like the idea of doing it myself.

tcsmpsi, I think that I would end up in the same situation as you. so right now I will just keep hiring the sawing done. but may just have to build a mill some day.

jpgreen

That Procut is a cool mill for chainsaw power.

Seems like a real nice guy, but I had to get a kick out of his free plans offer.  That's directly out of the old Popular Mechanics Encylopedia I have sitting on my shelf..  :D
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

JPM

i started with a procut , it was good to learn to weld but slow then  i saw a timber harvester band and i was hooked . put a oscar 28 on the procut bed  ;D and i still have the 3120

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