Saws and mills

[OutdoorLovin]

Good morning, new member with some Q's for those with more experience. I am getting older... better than not getting older, so looking for easier lighter equipment.

Logs to work are all 12" and under: (at this point)

1. I am interested in purchase of Granberg Alaskan chain saw mill to take 4 small round "edge" slabs off logs to square up as for post/beams, Can my little 40 yr old/40cc husky 16" chainsaw accomplish this "easy" task? Do I need a ripping chain? I would rather not purchase a dedicated large "mill saw", but I may need to replace my old one at some point with a similar saw for felling/bucking. I am retired, so time is not a big deal, and number of logs is not large (maybe 30 max felled at a time ... from 10-20 trees). If my saw will not work, what would be some smaller, less expensive recommendations?
2. Would love to go electric. Any thoughts on using battery chain saw for felling/bucking trees? I only work for several hours at a time so 2 batteries might work. Are there saws with adequate chain speed, torque, and battery life?
3. Above mentioned battery saw would free up old gas saw for use in Q#1
Thanks for your input.
-David

[woodman52]

First- chainsaw Milling is not an "easy task". It is hard on the operator and on the equipment.  It would likely kill your small saw in short order. Doable but not recommended. I would use the chainsaw to cut the trees and find a small band mill to saw the posts.

[OutdoorLovin]

Definitely not "easy" (hence the quotes). I will not need anything finely finished/dried. I am just looking to square off small logs to be more useful for rough projects around the property. I do have a local guy who has a mill and has taken some logs in the past and made dimensional lumber for me.
I have never used a chain saw mill. Just wondering if old small saw might work or recommendations for smaller/lighter new saw.

How about electric for felling/bucking?

[Big_eddy]

#2
There are professional grade battery saws that are more than capable of felling and bucking up 12" diameter trees, 20-30 at a time. Search for recent threads referencing 535i, 540i, 542i. I started one thread as did dhansen.

They won't be as fast as a 60cc saw, but likely just as fast as your 40.

[Ron Wenrich]

I had a few cedar logs that I wanted to saw.  I have an Alaskan small log mill made by Granberg.  I used a 12' ladder for the initial cut.  I built a "mill" to put the log on and made the ends so it could support the ladder and made it adjustable.  It will handle only an 8' log.  You'll want to get the log up and at a comfortable working height to save your back.  You'll have to figure out some sort of dogging system, either wedges or the like that will prevent the log from rolling. 

I used a Stihl Farm Boss chainsaw and put on an 18" bar. Seemed to be underpowered mill for the operation.  But, I don't have any use for a larger saw, so I struggled through it.  It took about 5 minutes to make a cut.  I did buy ripping chain, but it didn't make much of a difference. 

If I had a good deal of cutting and still wanted to use a chainsaw mill, I would look at getting a slabber type of saw.  Granberg makes some 30-84" mill.  The 30" takes a minimum of a 75cc saw.  The 84" takes a 120 cc saw.  There are others on the market.  It gives you an idea of the size of saw you'll need.

I have a weed wacker that is 40v.  I have put attachments on it that have worked pretty good.  One is a pole saw, and it works adequate for the job.  I also bought a 40v chainsaw, but it is pretty much light duty.  After you put the battery on it, it weighs as much as a comparable gas saw.  It works just as well as a small saw.

There are some 80v saws out there.  Most have an 18 or 20" blade.  They look pretty good and are supposed to be as good as a gas saw.  Its a lot quieter than a gas saw, always starts, and no gas to mix.  I found that my weed wacker runs about 45 min before the battery needs charged.  That's about all the weed wacking I really want to do at a time.  You'll get longer running time with a saw, since you're not running it constantly like a weed wacker.  But, if you want more than an hour or two, you'll need another battery or two.

[OutdoorLovin]

Thank you for all your responses. Very good info and a great starting point for me as a newbie.

[Nebraska]

I started the saw milling bug with a beam machine. Then a chainsaw mill, next a manual mill. I'm on basic hydraulics now. Some day setworks and a board drag back.

Beware it's a slippery slope. 

[scsmith42]

At my age (65) I have no interest in running a granberg type chainsaw mill. It is a LOT of work. My dedicated slabber is not so bad, but it has a self feed mechanism.

If you're serious about milling look into a used LT15, Norwood, etc. 

[customsawyer]

Hire the milling done and use your time for other things. Nothing easy about a chainsaw mill.

[SawyerTed]

I'm 62 now, 10 years ago I tried a chainsaw mill for a couple of years for exactly what the OP mentioned, a few 2x6s and 2x8s and to square up some pine logs for posts.  

Using a chainsaw mill for very long is some hard, HARD WORK.  Any number of additional 4 letter words could be inserted into that sentence.

Production is LOW for the effort involved. It is disappointing how many times a chain has to be sharpened, how many times a saw has to be refueled and how many times you have to fiddle with the guide on each of 3 faces.  All the messing around with the process takes ALOT of time!   

For what a proper chainsaw mill complete setup costs, a fellow could BUY 50 6x6x10 treated posts or could put a good down payment on a new small manual band mill.  

A chainsaw mill can be a useful tool but if a band mill is available, I concur with customsawyer, hire the mill.  

[barbender]

I've never ran a chainsaw mill. I will say this- I spent the day yesterday hand limbing and bucking, and a bit of hand falling. It was a short day, about 6 hours. Because that's all I could handle🤦 It's been a long time since I've done much of that work, and it kicked my butt. I can't imagine how I'd feel after 6 hours of chainsaw milling😬

[welderskelter]

take your chainsaw and split a log the size you are going to saw . That will tell you what you want to know. Its a chore but once in a while I split a crotch with my saw so I can get it in my stove. I use an 066 stihl and it is still slow cutting with the grain. But I do own a sawmill. Harold

[Ianab]

Decent battery chainsaws are now good enough to fall / limb / buck smaller trees. No worries there. If you aren't keeping up with a skidder and have to haul logs out with an arch / small tractor etc then it will be fine. Your day will only be an hour or 2 of actual saw run time. 

Like the others suggest, look for a small band mill with a reliable 4 stroke engine that can chug away all day, making it's ~13 hp, and will cut smaller logs just fine. A 40cc chainsaw might be ~3 hp, but has to cut 3x the amount of wood because of the chain kerf. So you can figure out how much slower it's going to cut. And not to mention die 10X faster.

[SwampDonkey]

Local tractor dealers around here have basic sawmills for under $3000. A big chainsaw is nearly $2000. I'd rather run a basic sawmill. They add more $$ once you put wheels and hydraulics and all the other stuff on. But one project can be a cement slab or simply, packed gravel, to be stationary and build a roof over it. A lot easier to be on cement when cleaning out sawdust. Cut posts and boards to your hearts content. 

[OutdoorLovin]

Thank you all for the thoughts. Seems harder than I thought? I may give it a try just cause I'm stubborn ...or foolish? 😕

[GAB]

Thank you all for the thoughts. Seems harder than I thought? I may give it a try just cause I'm stubborn ...or foolish? 😕

Learn from the experiences of others.  I doubt you will live long enough to experience all of the experiences by yourself.  Stubborness and foolishness are soon sorted.
GAB

[YellowHammer]

I had an Alaskan chainsaw mill - I called it the "puker" because I ran it everyday until my stomach cramped enough where I wanted to throw up.  

Cutting a log with a chainsaw mill is about like poking a stick in your eye - about the second time, you decide to quit.

You can get a cheap mill for the prices of a good chainsaw.  Don't worry if you get the cheapest band mill known to man, it will still cut faster and easier than a chainsaw mill, even with the band on backwards.

    

[rusticretreater]

Even a Harbor Freight Sawmill would run circles around a chainsaw mill.

[customsawyer]

And it will be more enjoyable.

[SwampDonkey]

It will be a hard lesson, anyway. 

[SawyerTed]

Thank you all for the thoughts. Seems harder than I thought? I may give it a try just cause I'm stubborn ...or foolish? 😕

I have yet to see a homestead show on TV or a YouTube video of chainsaw milling that isn't edited to make it look easy.   

A log has to have a guide setup on the top for the CSM to slide on.  It takes 4 or 5 minutes to get that set.  Then if making a 6x6x8 it will take 8 minutes to cut off one slab if you can saw a foot per minute.  So to cut one side flat is 12 minutes.  Repeat 4 times.  That's nearly an hour making a post.  

With a small manual mill, I'm thinking 1/4 to 1/3 the time  to produce the same post.  Sawing speed will be significantly faster..  The product will have a chance to be higher quality.  

The biggest advantages of a small band mill are the log deck doesn't have to be adjusted on every log and a small band mill will have a horsepower advantage with the apparatus to control and direct the power.  

The highest hp chainsaw I'm aware of is around 8.5 hp.  Thats s $2,400 chainsaw and that's not all the other stuff needed.  Most guys try to start chainsaw milling with a 4 or 5 hp chainsaw, they will cut but it's hard on a saw. 

A small band mill will start out with higher hp, most have 9.9 hp with options for up to 25 hp. 

The only thing controlling and directing the power of a chainsaw mill is arms, legs and back. 

A Woodland Mills base mill is less than $2,500 and a Woodmizer is less than $3,000.  Avoiding back surgery... priceless.  

[Big_eddy]

Do yourself a big favour and before you spend any money on a chainsaw mill, set one of your logs on saw horses and freehand rip it from end to end. Use a sharp chain and "noodle" the log. Then flip it on the flat side and do it again. It'll give you a good feel for the amount of work required, even if you don't get a straight post out of it

[YellowHammer]

I took my high dollar "Pro grade" chainsaw off the chainsaw mill, carried it to my dealer to trade up for a new one.  My dealer looked at it, and exclaimed "What the heck have you been doing with this?  It's ruined!"  I told him I'd been using it on a chainsaw mill, and he said, "Yeah, oh...stop doing that."  

[OutdoorLovin]

Thank you all for the advice. I will try to rip a log freehand to see the toil involved and saw power needed. What I thought would be a useful and enjoyable way to use my thinnings might not be such a good idea. Your experiences are what I am looking for as a newbie.

Thanks.

[jpassardi]

It may seem like guys are just being negative but most of us started with a CSM.  My CSM is hung up in the barn, likely to never be used again. The advise to just get an affordable band mill is spot on.
Good luck with whatever you decide.