Grandberg Saw Mill

[Scott Coffelt]

Anyone have or tried one of these?

I have 3 or 4 trees on my property that I would like to mill up when they excuvate for the house and shop that are around 20" in diameter. If this works, I could see it getting some occasional work.

Thanks

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I am not quite sure what that is :) Grandberg sells chainsaw mills, so that is what I assume it is. I read an article a while back about chansaw mills. Basically the author said that they require a lot of brute force and they do waste a good chunk of the log due to the width of the chain. If the drawbacks are okay they do the job, it is just HARD work. If this is going to be a one time deal, you may be able to pay a bandmill to come on site for about the same as buying a chainsaw mill.

[James Carmichael]

Scott,

I've been doing a lot of research on sawmills lately as I've got a lot of timbered property. The LogSol Timberjig looks much better, IMO. It costs $165 and comes with hardware to build a guide-rail to mount to the log. I believe you can later purchase guide-rails for it to turn it into a mill. Their M7 and WW CS mills actually raise the log to the cut so you don't have to bend, a much better system than the Alaskan mills, IMO, as you have a fence guiding every cut and don't have to bend. The Alaskan mills all have a guide-rail that attaches to the log. After the first cut, you remove it and index cuts off of the flat of the log using a guide-bar on the saw. That's probably more than you need for 3 trees, but it might be good to have if you want to start milling later on.

I've talked to some CS mill owners, you do need a very robust chainsaw for any kind of serious milling, about 70cc minimum with a rip chain. Most favor the Stihl 066.

Here's the link to the TimberJig product page:

http://www.logosol.com/webb/sawmills/2002a-timberjig.php

[Scott Coffelt]

Thanks for the input. I am still trying to track down some saw mills locally, really want to avoid just having the trees cut and disposed of, when i will have space to store the material when all done.

[everett lowell]

Scott, I bought the mill you have pictured for my fathers chainsaw. He took down a cherry tree on his property that I used to play in when I was a kid so of course I wanted to save the wood! We also bought two ripping chains- in case I hit a nail or something, I could keep on working(not that I would ever hammer a nail into a tree when I was a kid!:rolleyes: ) If yor only going to use this mill occasionally I think its works well. I dont know about hardcore use all the time. I also found this to be a very rewarding experiance.:) :)

[James Carmichael]

Everett,

What was the diameter of the cherry log, and how big is your father's CS? Everyone I've spoken to who uses a CS mill recommends a Stihl 400-series (formerly 040) or bigger, with the 066 being the favorite.

Just trying to figure out how big I really need to go. As always, it's probably better to have more power and not need it thant vice-versa, though it's going to be tough to persuade LOML I really "need" a $600-$900 CS ;)

[everett lowell]

Everett,

What was the diameter of the cherry log, and how big is your father's CS? Everyone I've spoken to who uses a CS mill recommends a Stihl 400-series (formerly 040) or bigger, with the 066 being the favorite.

Just trying to figure out how big I really need to go. As always, it's probably better to have more power and not need it thant vice-versa, though it's going to be tough to persuade LOML I really "need" a $600-$900 CS ;)James, Its been a couple years now but I think his saw was/is a 035?with an 18'' bar.the section of log I cut up was about 15'' in diameter . It is much slower going when your ripping , instead of crosscutting.I belive we had sufficent power to cut the 1'' thick slabs. Next time i think im going to cut them a little thicker so i have more meat to joint and plane next time due to some cupping and twisting.:(

[James Carmichael]

I wouldn't think the thickness of the slab would matter, it's the size of the log and density of the wood that's going to determine CS power needs. The folks I've consulted who mill their own wood with the Logsols prefer logs no more than 8' because that's about the max mill size that can be hauled easily on a trailer. Plus I think the LogSol mill has something like an 1100 lb max load. But none of them would dream of using anything less than a Stihl 066 for milling.

[Mike Monroe]

I have one and have used it 3-4 times. It's hard dirty work, but rewarding. I've got so much wood on hand, I doubt I'll use it again unless a "special" tree came along. I borrowed a friends Stihl 034, and it was tough sledding. I now own a 066 and an 036 that I use for firewood production. I'd also advise getting the biggest saw you can find. For a intial cut sled I took a 2x10 8' long and mounted 2 pieces of angle iron on the bottom outside edges. The cut sled gets screwed to the log and the mill slides over the top, getting you a flat surface on the log. I've also had logs milled by a local Woodmizer guy, much easier and faster. Good luck.