Old Mill in need of retrofit best new guides , Cooks, Woodmizer or Timber Wolf

[Rock Ridge]

I am new to the site and from what I have read I can see there are many experienced bandsaw mill operators out there with some excellent advice, as for me I am as green as they come.
I have an older Woodcraft Bandsaw mill built by CSI , it is driven by a 30HP Wisconsin engine ( that loves to drink the fuel ) it is a fully hydraulic mill and  overall in very good condition. The Mill has been sitting for a few years and  I would like to upgrade the the blade guides to some better modern quality guides to either Cooks,Woodmizer ,Timber Wolf  and open to  other suggestions .
I will be cutting mostly Spruce,Pine and some Poplar , feedback on the best blade for the application would also be appreciated.
I am also  looking for advice on the best lubrication to use and would like some advice for this mill and the wood I will be cutting

regards

Rock Ridge

[ladylake]

 
Cooks has a good selection of roller guides.  I get the best results cutting spruce with 3/4 tooth spacing  4° hook  and lots of set, a 10°  7/8 pitch blade doesn't work unless you have small spruce. Pine and poplar any blade you want.  Steve

[thecfarm]

Rock Ridge,welcome to the forum.
Been around a sawmill before? What's all the lumber going to be used for?

[tnaz]

Rock Ridge, welcome to the Forestry Forum. 

Terry

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Rock Ridge!

[fat olde elf]

cooks.....

[Rock Ridge]

Thanks for the reply guys , most of the reviews I have read so far seem to all point to cooks yet I want to hear directly from guys are using them or know of some  in use. Dealers / salesman are in the business of selling their products and usually make their product out to be the best thing since sliced bread which is fine but I only want to buy once and hopefully have a set of guides that work the best for me and my mill.
My story is that I bought this mill about 14 years ago and then went overseas to work and I hope to settle down soon and get my Mill up and cutting.
Before I left Canada I did run it and cut a couple trees and really it was a disaster I did not know what I was doing but since then I have been getting a lot of education on this site and on the net ( I have lots to learn ).
The reason I origionally bought it was to build my own cabin in the woods , to cut  pine trees 3 sided leaving the round edge on the outside and also cutting boards for the roof,floor decking etc.
and that's my story !!

[Percy]

Can't comment on timberwolfbut if they are anything like wm or cooks, they should be fine. Hard to tell them apart

[AlaskaLes]

I upgraded the guides on our mill with Cook's.
it was a simple process as steel fab goes...mostly measuring and re-measuring so that I knew exactly where I wanted them to end up.
Cut off the old guides and brackets and gave them to a friend to make his manual mill one step better.
Measured again...you seeing a trend here yet?...and then welded them into place.
Now, after many logs, I still think they Rock!, and I am very happy that I went this route.
I should tell you, just because we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves...after all that measuring...One of them still needs moved a bit.  It runs fine, but it's at the limit of one adjustment and I'd rather have it centered with room to tune.
I grease them as recommended and they work WAY better than my factory guides did.
No regrets!
Hope this helps you.

[Kbeitz]

Cooks is the only thing I've used but so far they are working fine.