Chain saw "mills"?

[johnk]

I've helped a friend with a bandsaw mill, but have no hands on experience with a chain saw mill.

Would you please explain how you make the cuts? It looks like you've added something to your ladder, and I wondered why you restacked the cut boards with spacers.

Attached below is a file on how to make the cuts. I stacked the work like that so it drys without warping. It is stickered every foot or so. Hope this helps\\

 

[2manyrocks]

Thank you. That helps.

 

[Egon]

Finally got around to finding some pictures of the mill I use and some timber baulks that have been cut. It's all home fabricated and does make square cuts if the chain is kept sharp.

It does take a lot of time when you start at cutting the tree.

 

[Oldtrout]

I had several fully loaded band saw mills,"WOODCRAFT",no longer in business,and "TIMBERWOLF",still in business and made in British Columbia. I used these mills on a daily basis,sawing on average of 1500 fbm/ day with the help of one other person. I also sold the Timberwolf sawmills for a couple of years.
I determined pretty fast that,even though I have ample supply of saw logs,on my property,I could not justify the cost of one of the high end mills,cost of mill was 30,000 bucks than there were the other costs,ie fuel,saw bands,labour,log cost,etc. to say nothing about maintaince. Than there was a down turn in the lumber business,and it was actually cheaper for me to buy lumber than to saw it myself. To make a long story short I sold my mill and stopped selling the mills for the manufacturer. Now if I would of had a few million board feet of birds eye maple that would of been a different story,but for sawing construction lumber, it was just an expensive hobby.

The chain saw mills which I have used are suitable to saw a few hundred board feet of lumber a year,however to saw enough lumber to build a fair size barn,yes it can be done but it would take a lot of time and labour. I have built several camps,and out buildings since I sold my mill,and I find it much cheaper to go to a local saw mill and purchase rough lumber. Most of the mills in this area will sell me lumber at wholesale and will in most cases deliver it provided that it is a fair sized order of 1000 + fbm.

Shop around and purchase your lumber at the cheapest price and save yourself some labour and expense....just my 2 cents.

 

[johnk]

Finally got around to finding some pictures of the mill I use and some timber baulks that have been cut. It's all home fabricated and does make square cuts if the chain is kept sharp.

It does take a lot of time when you start at cutting the tree.

Thats a nice mill you made there. What did you use for the clamp to the bar? What size Husky is that? Looks like your mill does a nce job. I use mine to make slabs for benchs, posts and generally just cutting slabs for who needs them for a project.

 

[Egon]

The clamp to the bar is a piece of 1/4 in. strapping with a rod welded to it. The strapping bolts onto the wooden guide.

That was a Husky 351. Currently I use a Husky 365 with a 24 in. bar.

Mine is used mostly for making sawdust and the odd board.

 

[2manyrocks]

How about a close up picture of how that guide attaches to your saw? When I saw the pictures, I thought you had drilled a hole through the bar and run threaded rod all the way through?

 

[czechsonofagun]

I have the small log mill and ripping chain (BTW, Eddie, it can be made from a crosscut chain with chain grinder - just a matter of geometry) and use it for special cases. Like the big down cedar I found and sliced it into dimensional lumber to build an outdoor table.
I would never attempt to cut my own 2x4 but for maple here and oak there, I am happy I have the option to cut my own logs.

But it is a tiresome job and I am always afraid of the chainsaw.

 

[Egon]

How about a close up picture of how that guide attaches to your saw? When I saw the pictures, I thought you had drilled a hole through the bar and run threaded rod all the way through?

Yes, the bar has a hole drilled through it.

Some close up pictures. This is a slightly different design from the previous pictures. It has better stability and makes for better 90 degree angle cuts.

 

[Renze]

But for ground contact I would just buy quality treated posts and be done with it.

My father quit keeping dairy cows to focus on pigs in 1979. He started horse breeding back then, to put the land to use.
Somewhere in 1990 we replaced all of our old barbed wire fencing with double, smooth wire fencing, on 4 foot instead of 3 foot posts.
Most of those posts have already rotten off at ground level, these were creosote (tar) treated pine posts, 12 cm in diameter (4 inch)

Couple of summers ago, we removed some overgrown fence near the bush, which my grandfather has placed over 40 years ago. He used untreated oak posts, all he did was remove the bark with an axe. they were getting thin, but the core was so hard that it would still bend nails. We had to pull out out with a tractor.
I rebuilt my muck spreader 5 years ago with boards from a big oak tree, cut on the WoodMizer bandsaw of a local agricultural contractor.
After 5 years in the sh?t, no singn of wood rot yet...

Oaks are so tough that they hardly require any treatment... I just rub them in with old engine oil.


If i ever have enough time, i want to build a band saw. We have a lot of overgrown woodlots that havent been cut for the last 30 years, ever since we got central heating
Looking at lumber prices today, it would be such a waste to just burn them heavy logs in the stove or shop heater...

 

[em14]

Does any one have experince with this mill ... it looks like a nice set up! Portable Sawmills manufactured by Peterson Portable Sawmills
Leo

 

[Reg]

Does any one have experince with this mill ... it looks like a nice set up! Portable Sawmills manufactured by Peterson Portable Sawmills
Leo

Yes, I have the big one, that is what I meant earlier when I said I have a swing blade mill.
Do you have specific questions ?

 

[em14]

Yes, I have the big one, that is what I meant earlier when I said I have a swing blade mill.
Do you have specific questions ?

Sorry I missed the reference you made to "Swing Mills" .... How do you like your mill? They look like a very good way to go as apposed to the chain saw mills.
Leo

 

[Reg]

Sorry I missed the reference you made to "Swing Mills" .... How do you like your mill? They look like a very good way to go as apposed to the chain saw mills.
Leo

I like it a lot.
Not everyone likes/wants to do so much walking, but it doesn't bother me.
The band vs swing blade argument has turned out to be pretty much true, if anything the fact that each board comes off the mill already edged is one of the most 'pleasant' features, even if not the most important.
I've seen band mill guys juggle and giggle around to put boards on edge, then take them out of the stack as they edge each size, then put them back and flip them for the other edge.... on and on, or they run a separate edger.
BLEAH !!!

Not often I want or NEED to cut anything over 10 1/2 x 10 1/2.
If ever SLABS became a big thing for me I guess I could put a 5 ft. slabbing bar on it and compete with the chain mills.
I would rather be running a 4 stroke V-twin 24 horse Honda than a couple of big Stihl or Husky heads, besides, I stand UP for most of it (-:

 

[em14]

Thank you very much ... this confirming my thoughs!
Leo

 

[2manyrocks]

Thank you, Egon, for posting the close up pictures.

 

[Egon]

Happy to post the pictures.

 

[jimgerken]

Swing blade mills are very cool in operation. My Dad bought one a few years ago and operating it is a blast. Every trip down and back produces a board or plank, whatever size you want up to 8x8 inches x 20 feet. And the thing is so easy to transport. One day he and I took it apart, put it in a horse trailer, hauled it a few miles away to the river where a giant cottonwood tree had been pulled out by the DNR, sawed over 1200 2x4s and hauled it all home again that afternoon. It would have been even faster but we had to answer about a thousand questions of curious people driving by. The log never had to be lifted or moved, the mill is simply set up over the log. Here is the new version of what we own:

Bailey's - Complete 8" Lucas Model 830 Portable Sawmill Package

Ours is slightly less engine power, otherwise same mill. With it is all accesories like included blade sharpener, safety equip, etc., and some other equip related. I think there are four or five blades included, all in serviceable condition, one or two brand new. This unit is for sale now that Dad passed on. I think my sister will sell it for about half price ( I think she said $6500 for all of it). I know there aren't 100 hours on it. If anybody is interested in it, send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE. I am in southern Minnesota, fyi.