portable chainsaw mill

[Tom Dunlap]

i have an alaskan that i've never used

the only reason that i would chainsawmill would be for odd shaped/curved logs

for lumber the logs go to a proper mill

i have a copy of malloff's book

http://www.amazon.com/Chainsaw-Lumbermaking-Will-Malloff/dp/0918804124

that is excellent! too bad Taunton Press doesn't reprint it. used copies sell for high dollar

 

[Kevin]

Setting up the first cut is the most important.
I use a Husqvarna 262 with the mini mill to edge the cant and the Alaskan with the Stihl 066 to mill the lumber.
My primary logs are pine and cedar.

This was a pine that the township pushed over and left to rot.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

[ QUOTE ]

Our first powerhead was older 066. It burned up irreparably with about 12 hours use. We then used an old 044, which bit the dust after about 6 hours run time.


[/ QUOTE ]

I've only milled a tad, but know a lot about saws.

Milling is hard on saws. They should be tuned a tad rich, and run with at least 40-1 mix ratio, preferably with a good full synthetic mix, even as rich as 32-1. The chain must be sharp...best if it is a ripping chain. Not hard to customize a stock chain.

The muffler should also be ported, which will give more power, and allow the saw to run cooler.

Run only the best gas, which, here on the west coast is Chevron, then Shell, premium of course.

If you were running the newer 660 and 440, which you weren't, they have incredibly tiny and restrictive muffler ports, which robs power, and make the saws run lean and hot. Bad bad bad.

The saws may well be rebuildable. Good chance there was little cylinder damage, just a lot of transferred piston aluminum, which makes the cylinder look like shi t.... but can be cleaned up.

 

[TreeBarber]

The saw i'm using is a 660 I bought new just for milling. I have the ported muffler that is available from Stihl. Like Roger mentioned I run 40 to 1 oil. I have two air filters that I swap out while milling. They get really dirty. I let the saw idle for a while before I turn it off after a long cut. I use the ripping chains from Bailey's and have a Cranberg chain sharpener gig that makes for quick touch ups. I have gotten very good service out of the saw. I even get to use it once and a while on big take downs.
Another thing that I think helps is I use lots of wedges, to keep the slab from pinching the aft side of the bar as I'm cutting. I have several small oak wedges that fit in my back pocket and I put them in the kerf as I make my way down the log.
Its slow, make lots of dust, but for the investment I think I have gotten a very good return.
There is three BIG spruce (4 DBH) behind my house that blew down a few weeks ago in our 107 MPH wind storm. They are on state property, if I can get permission I plan on milling them up. OH that will be fun!!!!!
Happy New Year
Pat.

 

[Zac]

the state probably doesn't know the trees are even there, cut away! It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission...

If you ask them, they will think they are worth something, haul them away and let them rot somewhere.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

[ QUOTE ]

There is three BIG spruce (4 DBH) behind my house that blew down a few weeks ago in our 107 MPH wind storm. They are on state property, if I can get permission I plan on milling them up. OH that will be fun!!!!!
Happy New Year
Pat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like a job for a Lucas Mill.....if you could get it to the logs..

107 mph? when was that? There's been only a couple little blows here around Seattle.....40-50 mph, tops...

 

[TreeBarber]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

There is three BIG spruce (4 DBH) behind my house that blew down a few weeks ago in our 107 MPH wind storm. They are on state property, if I can get permission I plan on milling them up. OH that will be fun!!!!!
Happy New Year
Pat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like a job for a Lucas Mill.....if you could get it to the logs..

107 mph? when was that? There's been only a couple little blows here around Seattle.....40-50 mph, tops...

[/ QUOTE ]

Roger,
You can't get any thing but an ATV or motorcycle to the trees. I cant even skid them out with my tractor. The big storm was Nov 18, 120 MPH winds in Mt. Pleasant area. My neighbors wind anemometer pegged at 107.

Here is a link to one of the new articles. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20091120/NEWS/311209988

Our place is at 1000 feet, it seems the higher up the higher the winds.

Attached is a picture of me hugging one of the spruce blow-downs.

Pat
:edited for spelling correction.

 

[AmericanArborist]

This is quite an old thread but I just started to chainsaw mill some slabs so I thought I would revive it. My father is now retired and wanted to do some more woodworking. We built a solar kiln to dry the wood. For me its nice to see some choice logs not turned into mulch. I posted a picture to my personal facebook and got a huge response. Dozens of people replied wanting to buy some of the wood. So I think we will start selling some small slabs on the side. Not a main money source but to me its fun to see the wood put to use and puts a few bucks in my pocket.




Pin oak slab.


I've got the throttle locked and can simply sit on the angled log and guide the bar straight thru the cut with my feet. Works really well and saves a lot of energy.

need a little work on the stickering, but have the boards stacked in the solar kiln ready to dry.

 

[frashdog]

Guys, there is serious money in slabs...
Check out http://www.berkshireproducts.com

Local furniture builder I worked for turned me onto the value of slabs...they make $5-8k dressers and such. The top slab in these is the money. Look at the eastern cotton wood and elm slabs for tables! Some of the slabs are $4k+ per slab for tables that are sold for $20k. Must be kiln dried/stable. Not hard to do, but not the way you kiln dimensional lumber or flooring.
Looked at all those mills. Buddy has a Lucas I can borrow for some of the bigger stuff we are accumulating. Paid a guy with a fully hydraulic wood miser $50/hr to mill up 5,000bdft of grade A white pine. Mostly 2x14, 2x12, and 2x10. Cost me $1500. The big hard wood we may have may get milled this winter. Gonna build a kiln in the next year or two, gotta figure out the heat source....wood chips?

 

[colb]

Can anyone comment on how long a bar is too long? Realistically, I'll be milling <60" trunks, so +6" for dogs and sprocket to gets up to 66". If I get a 96" double-ended bar, is that going to sag, or be otherwise untenable while milling say, 40" diameter?

 

[southsoundtree]

Two different bars and chains


...$.02

 

[Scheffa]

Different length bars, my biggest is an 84” gb titanium bar ran on ms880

 

[Anawan]

It depends on how big trees get where you are, in NC I haven’t seen much more than 5’, and that’s always a silver maple. I run a gb 48” on an 880 which covers 95% of what I’d want to mill... and that’s fine with me. A 36” would handle more than half and I’m considering setting up with that as well to save energy. One thing I didn’t realize was how much of a liability a long bar can be towards the bottom of the log, you have to watch the tip like a hawk to keep from hitting dirt etc... and if you have uneven ground it’s a big headache at the end.

One thing I’ve wondered, would it cut faster with a smaller bar or a larger bar? Less chain to move? My instinct is that a smaller bar would cut faster.

 

[colb]

One thing I’ve wondered, would it cut faster with a smaller bar or a larger bar? Less chain to move? My instinct is that a smaller bar would cut faster.

Great question. I imagine that it depends on other things, like how much power is being applied (1 or 2 powerheads, powerhead size), how often the chain is sharpened on the shorter chains since there are more links to share the cutting on the bigger chains, and probably some other stuff...