I am new to milling looking for tips

[treeclimbersam]

I have never done any milling, but i want to start doing it. I am wondering if there is any good books I can read about it. I have access to a lot of pine, oak, and other trees we take down on our tree jobs. I have a ms 880 and a 395xp I can use so I am wondering what kind of chainsaw mill would be good to buy? I am totally green at this so I am looking for some tips. Its a shame seeing all those nice logs just turned into firewood! Thanks a lot guys!

 

[jimdad07]

There is a very good book you can download for free called Making Lumber with a Chainsaw (I think, I just went to find it on my desktop and it is not there:censored. There will be someone along shortly I am sure who will give you the address. An Alaskan would be perfect for the saws you have, check out Baileys on-line, they have a good selection of mills. You can also make your own, that is what I did.

 

[BobL]

Read the Milling 101 sticky and then start asking specific questions. Don't worry about how dumb you might think they are, we're afriendly bunch of rascals

 

[mtngun]

I have never done any milling, but i want to start doing it. I am wondering if there is any good books I can read about it. I have access to a lot of pine, oak, and other trees we take down on our tree jobs. I have a ms 880 and a 395xp I can use so I am wondering what kind of chainsaw mill would be good to buy?

There is a dated, out-of-print book by Will Malloff. An illegal copy of Will's book has been known to pop up on the net from time to time (thanks Brmorgan ). In any event, it's a old-timey book, excellent for its day, but the technology here on AS is much more up to date.

The AS milling forum goes back several years, lots and lots of reading material right here, no need for a book.

If you have an 880 and a 395, then you are way ahead of the game. You merely need to pick up an Alaskan, a couple of loops of milling chain, and some kind of guide board.

You'll need a dry place to store your green lumber -- perhaps for as long as 2 years to dry, plus however long it takes you to find time to make something out of it. Most of us either have a storage shed for our wood, or else we are working on building a shed. Tarps work for a while, but require constant maintenance, and don't let air circulate.

You'll need some kind of sealer on the ends of the boards. Anchorseal or Bailey's sealer work very well, latex paint is better than nothing.

Come back when you have a specific question. All of us here are still learning.