Hey everyone, you guys were extremely helpful in helping me find a 395xp to mill with. I went ahead and purchased a 36" bar and ripping chains to mill with. My question is, can I buy the 48" Alaskan mill but only use my 36" setup or do I have to buy the 36" mill. On the 48" Alaskan mill description, it says for a 48" bar or smaller, so I'm guessing I can use a 36"? Thanks again guys!
You got it. The longer mill will work with the shorter bar. It might be a bit more awkward and ungainly to handle but it'll work.
I would expect a max cut of about 30" with your setup.
I have a 36" alaskan, powered by a 395xp as well. I currently have a 32" bar and if I really stretch it, I can cut 26" wide.
Thank you celliot. That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say. I want to have the ability to go bigger when needed. My father in law has some 4ft popular on his land. I'm assuming I can go up to about 42" with a 48" Alaskan with a 48" bar. I'm sure it'll be torturous and slow going at that size, but to have access to all that lumber cut the way I want is pretty priceless in my book. 😃
Ihave a 42 inch bar and i take the log dog's off the saw i can cut39 inch 8)
Cliff,
I'm using a Stihl MS 660 and a 36" bar with 36" Alaskan mill, if I remove the log dogs I can get 34" width of cut, with the log dogs I can get a 32" cut.
Greg
Good info guys. I've read somewhere on a post that you can't go quite as big with a husqvarna because of the bar setup. Even with the dogs off I don't I'll get as much as your 660.
Quote from: cliffreaves on May 24, 2016, 02:49:13 PM
Good info guys. I've read somewhere on a post that you can't go quite as big with a husqvarna because of the bar setup. Even with the dogs off I don't I'll get as much as you 660.
Must be, for some reason. My 26'' cut w\32'' bar is with the bucking spikes removed, and stretching the front clamp as far as I can on the sprocket nose of the bar.
I'm going with the 48" panther 2 mill. The price was definitely right for me and it looks like a solid little mill. Anyone here use one?
I have a 30" granberg csm and have thought about purchasing the bars to extend it. I like what Panther offers and may just get a larger mill from them. Their prices look good and they have quite a few options. I also need to look for a larger chainsaw. The old Makita has been good but strains with the csm jobs.
Thanks.
These Panther and other manufacturer mills look interesting however, the BIG cost is in purchasing a saw to run on these mills. Already have a band saw mill, limited to 29" cut. I often come up with much larger trees, 44" to 56" and would love to cut these into slabs. Big problem for me, just a hobby and what to do with all the slabs. I do not sell anything, at least not yet and really do not want to get into "the business" aspect. Not really a question here, just commenting and thinking.......................
Yeah, if you've got a good band mill, then you're set. I only went the chainsaw route due to cost. I found a 395 for $510 and the 48"mill is just $189. Even with all the other little things, i.e. can't hook, hand winch, chaps, helmet, bars & chains, I'm still at $1000 for everything. That's hard to beat. The tables I build go for $500 - $2000 each and with 1 30" inch tree, I can build at least 3 6-8ft tables ($1000-$1500 per). 1 tree and a lot of hard work, and I'm making money. 😁.
PS - I'm gonna have to wait 2yrs for the 2" slabs to dry. 😥