Looking for advice on slabbing mill

[Matt Thomas]

New to this forum and am just getting into sawing. I've been using a friend's Wood-Mizer to saw live edge slabs but am looking to find something that will allow me to saw the larger diameter logs that I come across. From what I've been reading it sounds like a swingblade mill may be the ticket, as it is portable and much more affordable than a larger capacity bandmill.

I've heard the Lucas and Peterson names mentioned quite a bit--would this be the way to go for a good slabbing mill? How difficult are used mills to come by?

 

[woodsrunner]

I dont think a swing blade is really what you want for cutting live edge slabs. Swing blade saws are made for cutting boards of much smaller widths. However petersen and Lucas do make dedicated slabbers that are what you are looking for. They also make slabbing kits which are made to work with the frames of the swing blade mills.v

 

[BlueRider]

I have a friend with a woodmizer and a lucas and both are set up simi permanent. for slabing logs larger than his woodmizer can handle he bolts a husky 3120 to the underside of the lucas.

Keep in mind the slabing attachement for the lucas cost about the same a what a 3120 and it can only be bolted to the the lucas, my frind can take his 3120 to remote locations and mill on those rare occasions that he can't load the tree on his truck and transport it back to his yard.

The lucas is a great mill for cutting diminsional lumber. I knew of one for sale near me with the slabbing attachment for 10k, not sure which model.

 

[solarguru]

Pm sent to you bluerider... Thx...

 

[Dave Boyt]

How big do you have in mind? Hudson has a band mill that can handle a 52" log. Might check on their web site to see what the throat is, but I'm guessing at least 48". Same mill could handle your conventional cutting, as well. Much faster & less kerf than a CSM.

 

[Matt Thomas]

Thanks for the replies. Dave--I didn't realize a band mill with that capacity is offered for just 14k. The faster cutting and thin kerf would certainly be ideal. I do like, however, like the portability of a csm and don't mind a little slower cutting since I have more time than money at this point.

How would you say the the husky 3120 with an alaskan mill compares to a lucas? I'm assuming the lucas would cut considerably faster with the larger horsepower?

 

[BobL]

How would you say the the husky 3120 with an alaskan mill compares to a lucas? I'm assuming the lucas would cut considerably faster with the larger horsepower?

The lucas is faster but considerably faster using a standard chain, However if the rakers are dropped accordingly it speeds up a bit more.

 

[Dave Boyt]

How would you say the the husky 3120 with an alaskan mill compares to a lucas? I'm assuming the lucas would cut considerably faster with the larger horsepower?

A big plus on the Lucas side is that the frame provides much better support for the bar, and you should get smoother, straighter cuts with less effort. On the other hand, with a sharp chain, the 3120 will chew through about anything, but it will be slower, and cost you more in terms of fuel and maintenance. Just depends on how much cutting you plan to do. I'd keep in mind that whatever you buy, you can sell it if you find something else suits you better. A lightly used Husq 3120 will probably sell for about 80% of the new cost. Probably about the same for the Lucas.

 

[kimosawboy]

Dont forget that if you are going to start playing with bigger stuff (50"+), you are going to need some bigger equipment to back you up.
You cannot just walk into the woods , set up /cut and then walk out with some slabs. Case in point, I have a Stihl 090 with a 84" bar and a stretched alaskan mill that I use once in a blue moon. For any large slab that I cut I need my Unimog (Because it can take some heavy weights on the deck, it has a large crane, also a large winch to either drag me to the slab or vise versa, if the crane cannot reach my cut). For larger cuts time does matter but you also have to figure out how the hell you are going to move that chunk of timber. All of the wood I gather comes from way back in the bush from where most vehicles cannot get to, never mind a trailer with a bandmill. Your situation might be different and you could be one of the lucky ones who gets logs delivered or find them in very accessible areas, if so then a bandmill might be what you need.
I think to each his own but you should seriously consider exactly what you will be using your mill for, then buy accordingly.
G Vavra