having big trouble narrowing down brands of portable mills

[chaikwa]

Tell me, what did you do for log dogs and/or vertical posts ????

If I get time today, I'll go out and take a few pics or maybe a video of them.

 

[qbilder]

I agree with the Linn comments, even the bed part. I was a bit nervous about the bed but it seems fine. Here it is getting ready to cut a rather large cherry (5 logs one tree) & it didn't flex or buckle like I was worried about. All I had under it was a few ties here & there to keep it out of mud. I cut mostly hard maple but have cut lots of mesquite, desert ironwood, mulberry, oaks, etc. & have had no troubles at all except blades dulling out on the hard stuff. I think i'm gonna have to try WM's razor tip blades. A lot of stuff I saw is either dead & dry and/or pulled from the desert floor and full of grit. I bought mine for around $5G's from a fellow in Michigan. The Amish assemble them & he sells them. Mine came with the axle, 20' bed, & a 16hp electric start. It is the 1900A with 30" adjust throat. Happy as a two peckered puppy

A nicely stained & figured hard maple bulge area:

Bundled up on axle ready for tow or storage. Fits easy into garage:

 

[qbilder]

This is my neighbors farm stand.It started with a pencil drawing and transformed into a cut list. We are kind of proud of this.

That is impressive and inspiring!!! Thanks for posting. I'm planning to build a cabin similar to that and was nervous about using my manual mill, afraid it would be more project than I figured on. But seeing this is encouraging Nice job!!!!

 

[Tim L]

Thanks , I like your set up also and your co-worker is much easier on the eyes than my crew.We were working off the land of the farm so we had it pretty good.He (Pustizzi fruit farm) had a logger working out back so he brought us loads of Hemlock to where we set the mill up.We had a cut list on a clipboard so we knew what boards were needed.If we were doing 2x12's for example and we couldn't get anymore but we could get 2x8 x8' we would do that and subtract it from the cut list.Joe had a big equipment trrailer where we stickered the lumber so when we were done it could be hauled down to the stand location.If you got to the Pustizzi fruit farm website last I knew he had pics of the stand going up if that helps.He is also on facebook but I think it's just greenhouse photo's there.It was a lot of work but everday I drive by it it still gives me "swelling".Also thats my Jack Russell on the porch ,her name is Rosie.Joe Pustizzi is standing by the sign,I took the pictures after all it's his name on the building.People come in and are amazed to find that the building was made from scratch right on the property.He documented the stand in pictures which he displays in the stand.Check out his site just for the interior pics,it's beautiful.Joe drew a picture wirh a pencil and showed it to our neighbor Mark Wyman and Mark said"yeah, I know what you want" and came up with the cut list and design.The posts inside are not for structure, Joe thought it would look cool so thats what we did.Hope you like it and good luck with yours.Oh the interior of this structure is 18x26 not including the porches front and back.Now there are ramps going up to all doors so that Joe can back his Polaris Ranger up to any door.

 

[Tim L]

here's a front view ,different angle

 

[TraditionalTool]

Here it is getting ready to cut a rather large cherry (5 logs one tree) & it didn't flex or buckle like I was worried about. All I had under it was a few ties here & there to keep it out of mud.

Not for nothing, but that is NOT a large log. It was before you cut it up into a bunch of 8'-10' sections, but it is not that big the way you are working it. When you start tossing 30' logs on your sawmill that are 32" DBH, then you'll stress that small bed much more. However, you don't have the capability to cut a 30' log. Most small sawmills have a limitation of the width they can actually cut, 24" being pretty common and what mine will cut. This limits you to approx. 32" DBH to have clearance. You can cut larger logs if you manually trim them up with a chainsaw, but I'm speaking in general. I can cut up to about 28' comfortably, that is probably almost twice what your sawmill will cut. You need to have machinery to handle logs like that, a cant hook gets old fast with a 28' log.

There is nothing your sawmill can't do in regards to building a cabin. All of that timber in the cabin pictured is milled, so no problem. If you were building out of solid log, that would be a different story, because length/weight would bite you in the end. Of course you'll need patience as your engine is small, and that requires patience to get a decent cut. Entry level sawmills are just that, most everyone would prefer 20+ hp for ANY sawmill, even entry level. I have 23 HP and often wish I had more power.

 

[chaikwa]

TraditionalTool, sorry I didn't get out to the mill today to take pics of my dog system. I'll try again tomorrow I promise.

I bought mine for around $5G's from a fellow in Michigan. The Amish assemble them & he sells them. Mine came with the axle, 20' bed, & a 16hp electric start. It is the 1900A with 30" adjust throat.

I don't mean this to come across as a criticism of you, so please don't take it that way, but I have a real problem with that 'fellow in Michigan' if it's who I think it is. He sells Linn mills on ebay illegally. He bought a set of plans from Gary and thinks that gives him license to build the mills and still put the Linn name on them. If he called them something else Gary would have no problem with it, but it opens him up to all kinds of liability with the Linn name on them. That idiot also has copied the plans, which are copyrighted, and the DVD and is selling them as a Linn product as well. My biggest gripe is that he couldn't do this on his own so he essentially stole everything from Gary after all the work was done and is now profiting at Gary's expense. Not real ethical in my book, not to mention illegal.

 

[TraditionalTool]

TraditionalTool, sorry I didn't get out to the mill today to take pics of my dog system. I'll try again tomorrow I promise.

No problem, when you get a chance I would love to see what you did.

I don't mean this to come across as a criticism of you, so please don't take it that way, but I have a real problem with that 'fellow in Michigan' if it's who I think it is. He sells Linn mills on ebay illegally. He bought a set of plans from Gary and thinks that gives him license to build the mills and still put the Linn name on them. If he called them something else Gary would have no problem with it, but it opens him up to all kinds of liability with the Linn name on them. That idiot also has copied the plans, which are copyrighted, and the DVD and is selling them as a Linn product as well. My biggest gripe is that he couldn't do this on his own so he essentially stole everything from Gary after all the work was done and is now profiting at Gary's expense. Not real ethical in my book, not to mention illegal.

Honestly, that would be awful if this is true. AFAICT he doesn't sell them as Linn mills, at least in his ads. Are you sure they have the Linn name on them?

Even using the same design is actually a violation, AFAIK, but IANAL.

 

[chaikwa]

Honestly, that would be awful if this is true. AFAICT he doesn't sell them as Linn mills, at least in his ads. Are you sure they have the Linn name on them?

I don't know if he is still listing them as a Linn, but he was. I tried to curtail that on Gary's behalf, but there was only so much I could do as I'm not an attorney. I did manage to get him off ebay for awhile but he came back in a month or so. I don't know if he can legally sell the mills that Linn has designed if there is no Linn name on them. Gary was most concerned from the liability aspect of something that had his name on it that he did not build and didn't really care if the guy sold a machine of the same design. The guy is a real idiot tho and still sells the copyrighted plans, but Gary doesn't have the resources to go thru the legal process that would remedy the situation.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't know if he is still listing them as a Linn, but he was. I tried to curtail that on Gary's behalf, but there was only so much I could do as I'm not an attorney. I did manage to get him off ebay for awhile but he came back in a month or so. I don't know if he can legally sell the mills that Linn has designed if there is no Linn name on them. Gary was most concerned from the liability aspect of something that had his name on it that he did not build and didn't really care if the guy sold a machine of the same design. The guy is a real idiot tho and still sells the copyrighted plans, but Gary doesn't have the resources to go thru the legal process that would remedy the situation.

Same thing happened to Norwood, a company copied the LM2000 and sold them under a similar name, "Morwood" i think? Norwood sued them, won the case and the guy made a few changes in the mill to get by selling it. The mill is still being built under the new name.

They stole the whole design from Norwood, and they were Norwood a dealer when they stole the design!

Rob

 

[qbilder]

Not for nothing, but that is NOT a large log. It was before you cut it up into a bunch of 8'-10' sections, but it is not that big the way you are working it. When you start tossing 30' logs on your sawmill that are 32" DBH, then you'll stress that small bed much more. However, you don't have the capability to cut a 30' log. Most small sawmills have a limitation of the width they can actually cut, 24" being pretty common and what mine will cut. This limits you to approx. 32" DBH to have clearance. You can cut larger logs if you manually trim them up with a chainsaw, but I'm speaking in general. I can cut up to about 28' comfortably, that is probably almost twice what your sawmill will cut. You need to have machinery to handle logs like that, a cant hook gets old fast with a 28' log.

There is nothing your sawmill can't do in regards to building a cabin. All of that timber in the cabin pictured is milled, so no problem. If you were building out of solid log, that would be a different story, because length/weight would bite you in the end. Of course you'll need patience as your engine is small, and that requires patience to get a decent cut. Entry level sawmills are just that, most everyone would prefer 20+ hp for ANY sawmill, even entry level. I have 23 HP and often wish I had more power.

The butt log was 30" x 10'. That's LARGE for only me with no loading equip. It didn't buckle or bow within that 10', so i'm not sure why it would over a longer log. It may. I don't know. But logic tells me if the cross bars can support that size of a log, then the length wouldn't matter. The cross bars, not the rails, are what supports the weight. If they are evenly spaced along the length of the track, then they'll support any length log that fits. Not arguing, just don't really see what you're saying. The track is supported from under, with continuity to the earth. It's not on an axle with jacks on the corners to support the weight. If that were the case, i'd be welding some rectangle tube under the length of the track to give that sag support.

 

[qbilder]

I don't mean this to come across as a criticism of you, so please don't take it that way, but I have a real problem with that 'fellow in Michigan' if it's who I think it is. He sells Linn mills on ebay illegally. He bought a set of plans from Gary and thinks that gives him license to build the mills and still put the Linn name on them. If he called them something else Gary would have no problem with it, but it opens him up to all kinds of liability with the Linn name on them. That idiot also has copied the plans, which are copyrighted, and the DVD and is selling them as a Linn product as well. My biggest gripe is that he couldn't do this on his own so he essentially stole everything from Gary after all the work was done and is now profiting at Gary's expense. Not real ethical in my book, not to mention illegal.

Wow. I had no idea. Ebay is exactly where I found the mill. That's really a bad situation with Linn. Being a Linn design was never advertised & the name is nowhere on the mill. If I wasn't already familiar with a Linn mill from my days of being a farm hand, i'd have never known it was a Linn design. I inquired about it being a Linn and it was explained to me how the machine uses Linn design & parts, but is assembled by some local Amish. I was under the impression that they were buying kits from Linn and assembling, then selling. Building a mill from a Linn kit was a serious consideration for me at the time when I found this mill. I figured up the cost of the kits vs. cost of this machine, figured they were assembling it for low profit, and I bought it because the time i'd have tied up in building my own would be worth more to me than the profit margin I had figured they were making. Had I been aware there were legal issues, i'd have steered completely clear. If what you say is accurate, that's really terrible for the Linn company. It sounds as if you may be friends or family with the owner of Linn. I offer my most sincere apology if I contributed to the mess or hurt anybody in any way.

 

[chaikwa]

Same thing happened to Norwood, a company copied the LM2000 and sold them under a similar name, "Morwood" i think? Norwood sued them, won the case and the guy made a few changes in the mill to get by selling it. The mill is still being built under the new name.

They stole the whole design from Norwood, and they were Norwood a dealer when they stole the design!

Rob

I HATE that stuff, I really do! People who don't possess the ability to do something on their own and have to resort to stealing from someone else to get ahead in life should be culled from the gene pool as far as I'm concerned.

Had I been aware there were legal issues, i'd have steered completely clear.

I don't blame you one bit for buying from that guy. And I, as well as Gary I'm sure, appreciate the thought that you wouldn't have bought it had you known the story.

It sounds as if you may be friends or family with the owner of Linn. I offer my most sincere apology if I contributed to the mess or hurt anybody in any way.

Thanks for the apology but there's no need. You, and anyone else, who bought from the guy haven't contributed to anything negative in regards to Linn. I say this because most people don't know what's going on with him and no one, (except the idiot selling the mills), is doing anything on purpose to damage Linn.

I'm not related to the owner of Linn, Gary Boyd, but here's the story of why I'm so loyal to him;
When I had decided to build a mill, and also decided to use Linn plans and parts, I ordered the plans and DVD. When I started building, the plans were somewhat 'murky', like they had been reduced from a blueprint to fit on regular sized paper and I couldn't see details of some of the pieces. Consequently, I ended up calling Gary MANY times. :msp_biggrin: Each time he was more than accommodating, and if anyone had a reason to get sick of me, it would have been Gary!

What I would do is sketch out the part I had questions about so I'd have it in front of me, then call him and mark up my drawing as he explained what I needed to know. After about the 10th call to him I suggested that I re-draw his plans for him as I built my mill and put them in a format that could be easily read by his customers. He agreed and that's exactly what I did. Took me about 4 months to both build and re-write the plans, but the result was two-fold; I had an EXCELLENT understanding of the engineering of the mill and Gary got a set of EXCELLENT, (at least I think!), plans.

About every other time I called him, Gary would ask me about paying me for doing the plans, but I had no intention of taking any money. (at this point he hadn't even seen my re-drawn plans, so he was taking a big risk by offering to pay me sight-unseen) Heck, I was happy that he'd still talk to me after all my questions!

As my mill progressed I decided to buy a few Linn parts to make everything work like it should the FIRST time instead of scabbing something together to save a few dollars. I ordered saw guide rollers, the bronze blocks for the Acme rods, the hydraulic tensioner, a clutch and an electric raise/lower kit. Wasn't I surprised when he absolutely refused to take any money for those parts! What I did for him in re-drawing the plans wasn't even close in value to the parts he had given me.

So besides the fact that we've become pretty good friends, I feel he went above and beyond in giving me those parts not to mention all the advice and knowledge I garnered from him, so I try to do all I can for him whenever I'm able. I'll continue to do so because he's an upstanding person who honestly cares about his customers and people in general. Even if you're not a customer, you can call and ask questions about anything mill related and he'll give you any information he's able to. That's the way businesses USED to be run and it's rare these days to still be able to find that.

So there's the story of me and Linn! There's a lot of other mills out there that are probably every bit as good as a Linn, but I don't think you could find better customer support with any of them.

 

[Tim L]

Sounds like a stand up guy.

 

[chaikwa]

Sounds like a stand up guy.

He is as far as I'm concerned!

On an unrelated side note; I come from your neck of the woods. Born and raised in Merrimac Massachusetts, moved out here to Michigan in 2002 after a 20 year career as a firefighter and welder/fabricator. Used to work for a huge sawmill in NH performing contract maintenance. I took that job just to get some sawmill experience and what I learned there has helped me in my own milling endeavors. I still get back to New England a few times a year and would love to see what you're milling with.

 

[Tim L]

Merrimac Mass is a beautiful area, My Boss lived there. You must have worked either for Forestal sawmills or CMC.

 

[Tim L]

I used to weld for Sandy Talmage in Merrimac.

 

[Tim L]

Im sorry, I listed sawmill manufacturing companies.Was it Goosebay ?

 

[TraditionalTool]

So there's the story of me and Linn! There's a lot of other mills out there that are probably every bit as good as a Linn, but I don't think you could find better customer support with any of them.

IMO most all the small sawmills work well. If you ask 10 different sawmill owners, the majority would tell you that the sawmill they have is what you should look for. Most all the small sawmills work pretty good. As an example, we rarely see sawmills with tires on them these days, most all have moved to pulleys and v-belts or similar. Most sawmills have similar engines on them, either Honda, B&S, or a host of other common brands. Also, parts are available for most of the common entry level sawmills.

 

[chaikwa]

Merrimac Mass is a beautiful area, My Boss lived there. You must have worked either for Forestal sawmills or CMC.

Merrimac WAS a beautiful area before all the city people moved in and changed the whole town. A lot of New England is that way now. I worked for Cousineau Brothers. They took over a sawmill in Plaistow NH that an older gentleman had built and ran for YEARS. I had actually started working for him, then he sold to Cousineau. It was pretty interesting. He had built the whole place to operate on gravity. The green chain and debarker was about 20 feet in the air, then everything traveled downhill via vibratory conveyors from there. They had 3 gang bandsaws downstream of the main headrig that would saw 5 boards at a time each, then an automatic sorting system after that. The main saw was a double sided 14" vertical stationary bandsaw and the log sat on a trolley that moved back and forth thru the saw. I have always missed working there.

I used to weld for Sandy Talmage in Merrimac.

I know that name but can't put a face to it. What were you welding? Did you live in Merrimac too?