jonsered chainsaw mill ?

[snowshoveler]

hi folks...
i work at a small chainsaw repair shop here in eastern Canada.
im hooked on making sawdust and have purchased an alaskan mklll mill
i have made up about 500 feet of pine and a coiple hundred feet of fir.
im using a 372xpg and a 440 magnum.
both saws work quite well for me for the size wood im milling.
i average maybe 12 inch tops.
first thing i did was to build a bench to put the log in so i could stand up to operate the saw.
this made operating it so much easier.
i would like to have a band mill but they are just a little out of reach right now.
the wood im milling isnt anything special so i dont feel bad about making a lot of it into sawdust.
i consider it all experience.
i have about 4 acres of fir and pine and its so thick you can hardley walk through it .
so im thining it out and and milling it up.
im trying to leave the better wood grow and will continue to remove the dead and dying.
fir here dosent last very long, if i dont mill it it would just go for pulp wood and thats just a waste to me .dosent pay to cut it.
so heres my question.
im somewhat interested in a jonsered chainsawmill.
there are 2 different styles.
on the first the chainsaw is mounted with the bar at about a 75 degree angle and the log is under it.
this machine is pretty simple and would appear to do a decent job.
the second style has the conventional carrage like a band mil and the saw is mounted on the horizontal and the log is set up normal.
this machine is almost 3 times the price 5500 vs 2200.
these are cost prices at my shop.
i know the band mill would be better in the long run but its just not in the budget right now.
im leaning toward the cheaper model .
it should be much better than the alaskan and by the time i get my property cleaned up then i can work at another property with 250 acres.
if i was going top mill the better logs i would for sure get the band mill but for now i will just mill up the crappy stuff .
im building a firewood storage house and then a little garage to put my tractors in.
anyone seen a jonsered mill in person or have you used one .could you give an opinion
sorry to babble on so much but i try to explain as best i can .
thanks chris

[jpgreen]

Welcome to sawdust heaven Chris.. 

Never saw a Johnsered.  My first mill was a woodbug built in Canada.  Good Mill.

www.woogbug.com

But for the money you mentioned you could darn near get a Norwood couldn't you? Guys like those band mills, specially for the money..  8)

[simon]

If your just gonna mill smaller logs, I bought the Hud-son Oscar 18, cost was $2500 US. plus tax.
Real happy with it, and with a little patience, one can saw a 20" log with it.

[Raphael]

  I've got a Logosol M7 I'm totally hooked on.
Without the saw they are US $2400 ($2000 for the Wood Workers version).
  I don't think the Canadian website is up to date, (is the Stihl 066 still available up there?) they don't list any of the electric power heads currently available in the US and price the mill at CAD 3495.00???

  The M7 is very precise and has great flexability.
For my house/office I ripped 14' long tapered rafters, five sided peak purlins and triangular timbers for infill at the eaves.  I've also produced a wide variety of dimensional lumber and timbers.
  People are milling 6 to 60"+ diameter logs with them and they are easily, economically and infinitely extendable (a real plus for a timber framer, I plan on extending my cut length to slighty beyond 32' or 35' eventually).

[Shamus]

Hi Chris,
     I have used a Jonsered chainsaw mill before (the horizontal saw setup), and it turned out some right pretty lumber. I don't remember it being so expensive though, but it was not my mill. I think that the Logosol is a better setup, and better company (just my opinion). I ended up building a Procut style mill for about $1500 (without saw). For small logs, where most of the cuts are removing outer slabs, you can get decent production (eg up to 400-500 bd ft per day). The main drawbacks are slow cuts, heavy fuel consumption, breathing fumes and sawdust, and tedious, frequent sharpening of the chain. Now since you work in a saw shop, the sharpening probably isn't a big deal, getting it right is critical though. If your needs for lumber are minimal, stick with the alaskan until a good used band or circle mill comes along. Bottom line, pretty much everybody that starts milling with a chainsaw ends up upgrading to bigger and better sooner than later, and the chainsaw mill ends up just sitting around, wondering what the heck happened.

[Raphael]

Bottom line, pretty much everybody that starts milling with a chainsaw ends up upgrading to bigger and better sooner than later, and the chainsaw mill ends up just sitting around, wondering what the heck happened.

  Logosol's new bandsaw powerhead will bridge that gap for me (eventually), that way I'll get full use of the mill even if the chainsaw has been relegated to the woods, unless of course a fully loaded WM just falls into my lap.  ;)

  I had trouble getting the Jonsered site to cooperate with my browser but they appear to offer a bandsaw as well, does it run the same track as the horizontal chainsaw setup?

  Squaring the cant with a chainsaw is a good way to protect those bandsaw blades from hidden steel.  Might be worth shaking the dust off one of those chainsaw mills when dealing with a blown down monster yard tree.