Anyone have a Chainsaw Mill

Wondering if anyone has any experience with a small chainsaw mill? Would like to here the pro's and con's.
https://www.amazon.com/chainsaw-Por...hy=9021187&hvtargid=pla-749842702790

I have one of those sitting in my garage I bought new more than twenty years ago. I've never used it. I bought one of these and used it to build my cabin.

Posco, that would be the unit to get but I just have a small job here and there I could use it on. I beleive if I remember right, I seen some of your build and seen your setup in pictures here on TM that mill.

Pros:

• cheap

Cons:(as opposed to band saw)

• hard work
• really rough cut
• lots of waste with huge kerf

You have seen it here. I set up a forty foot long rail system for mine because I was working with logs approaching that length. There's nothing stopping you from building an eight foot rail, or a rail of any length you choose. Either mill you use, you're going to need some sort of rail. Mine happens to be quite precise over the length of the cut. I wasn't using it to mill lumber, just milling the top and bottom surfaces of the logs.

With a little ingenuity, I'm sure you can come up with a rail system using the Granberg mill.

I have two. An Alaskan, and a woodbug. I've cut literally thousands of board feet with them over the years. The key is learning how to sharpen your chain. Properly done, a chainsaw mill will cut as smooth as a bandsaw. I have one of those too, and its sure a lot less work than the chainsaw mills.

Chainsaw mills can do a great job if you take your time but progress is measured in seconds per foot and not feet per second. They are slow and laborious.

Done a lot with an alaska mill. Portable, light and makes good lumber especially with a good ripping chain. As mentioned, slow and lots of waste with the wide kerf

I depends on what wood you are cutting as well. Cutting cedar is a breeze. Dead white oak not so much. That stuff can make ya break out in a sweat to the tune of 2 beers per board. Also, you will need a saw with dome wroooom to it as ripping like that takes quite a bit more power than a cross cut. I run an Alaskan mill with a Stihl 661 and a 36 inch bar.In oak I meed every horse that saw has got

Great advise and thanks. I'm thinking strongly of getting one like the link shows. It wouldn't be a problem to build a rail it could be made and be a stationary unit at the ranch where it stay.

I can see the waste and being slow. I've ripped enough logs that using a chainsaw isn't a fast game.

That is true on type of wood being cut. Mine would be cedar, pine and cottonwood that I want to cut some planks and slabs.

Have some pre-emptive back surgery done first. They do work but not as hard as you will.

Just cut the slabs and do the rest on the table saw.

Thanks scuba1. Yes all I need is rough cut 3/4 or 1 inch slabs for fencing and small jobs/projects etc..

Here ya go. Thats this old Kraut cutting up some oak slabs. Gives you an idea of how much fun you can have with one of those things. Just to add. This is with a big saw and a chain that I have ground for the purpose. If you tried this say with a rancher type saw and a normal chain it would take you easily 3 times as long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-aHOmWyzWg

I tried it with power poles.
My best suggestion. DON'T
just

Well they are impregnated with salts to slow the rotting. Those salts form small granules inside the wood and will dull a chain as soon as you look at the stuff. Railman sleepers are the same. Don't ask me how I know that

I always wanted to get a small mill, and with the price of lumber these days it wouldn’t take long to pay for one lol. I bought 2”x6”x10’ boards at Home Depot the other day, $12 a piece. If you could crank out two an hour that’s decent wages lol. Heck it’s $5 for a dang 2x4 stud!

People pay very good money for live edge slabs these days. I sold one slab of white oak that I cut for a guy 9 foot by 24" and 9 quarter thick for 350 bucks. I am not building that saw mill just to cut the lumber for my house. Have a walnut tree that I cut down in the fall that once its cut into slabs will pay for the material I ned for the mill.

A few years ago, I tried to rip a couple short power poles in half for a neighbor with my small band mill. The blade didn't make through the second cut. I agree. Best not to try it.



I hear you there. I spent more on lumber last fall to build a 225 sq ft deck than I did the previous year for the lumber to frame and sheath nearly 600 sq ft of house.

The payoff in owning your own mill can also depend on your application. If the lumber you need can be put together rough, then added cost post-milling is minimal, but if you're looking for finish quality wood, then make sure you consider added time and effort in processing your rough cut lumber. The hours of work at the jointer and planer can add up quickly, as can the cost of planer knives, especially working with something like seasoned oak. Personally, I enjoy the work, the look of the finished product, and the ability to do things for myself, so I don't mind the extra effort. The payoff for owning the mill, for me, is in the process and the product, not just in my pocketbook.

Have you priced the materials you will need to build your mill Scuba?

ttt

The only really pro for a chainsaw mill. Is that it’s easy too take the mill too the log.

If you have equipment too move the log to an actual mill. Don’t even try a chainsaw mill.

If you can’t move the log than a chainsaw mill is the best option.

A few years ago, I tried to rip a couple short power poles in half for a neighbor with my small band mill. The blade didn't make through the second cut. I agree. Best not to try it.



I hear you there. I spent more on lumber last fall to build a 225 sq ft deck than I did the previous year for the lumber to frame and sheath nearly 600 sq ft of house.

The payoff in owning your own mill can also depend on your application. If the lumber you need can be put together rough, then added cost post-milling is minimal, but if you're looking for finish quality wood, then make sure you consider added time and effort in processing your rough cut lumber. The hours of work at the jointer and planer can add up quickly, as can the cost of planer knives, especially working with something like seasoned oak. Personally, I enjoy the work, the look of the finished product, and the ability to do things for myself, so I don't mind the extra effort. The payoff for owning the mill, for me, is in the process and the product, not just in my pocketbook.[/quote]

Yeah I can see where it would start to get pretty labor intensive. I was thinking it would be great to have just for lumber for framing things like barns and sheds and fence posts and stuff like that. Those wouldn’t have to be nice, finished lumber. Personally I kinda like to look of rough lumber anyways, even though it’s not practical for a lot of things

My father had a bandsaw one.Worked slick.

No matter what type of mill you have, you need to move the logs. I think that's a fifty footer in the pic. Tractors make things a lot easier.

Don't forget, that price isn't for rough sawn lumber, you're also paying for grading, planing and drying. When you get set up to plane and dry lumber, your cost per board will go up a smidge

How many times I've wished I had a tractor! Every cabin you see on our website was done by hand. All of it, and that includes moving the logs. We used log tongs. These are a two man torture device. One guy gets on either side and you skid the logs out. We did use a chainsaw winch on some of the longer stuff, but it was so slow we used tongs most of the time. I've moved a lot of logs on the trapline with snowmachines and atvs over the years too. I have a log arch now, and that makes moving logs much easier.

Yup I realize that, but a guy doesn’t need #1 grade lumber to frame a goat barn or build corrals, things of that nature. sure would save a lot of money on stuff like that, especially since a lot of livestock likes the chew on boards, they won’t look nice after a week anyway lol

I've tried it. They are slow. My 72 cc saw runs a 82 inch board in 5 minutes. That 880 is for the big stuff. Takes 2 to hang on to. I habe done it alone.

If you have the saw, your way past half way.

I have not as I am using and repurposing a lot of stuff I have on hand. I cut up an old boat trailer for the engine and saw support frame. I have V- Twin gas engine out of a ATV I am making the rollers and shafts myself out of an old boat prop shaft etc. In my world, there is not such thing as scrap. Only a lack of imagination.

But at a rough estimate I should have it up and running with a 24' bed for under 2000 bucks