looking for updated info

[EJCB]

Newbie here. Wondered if there was any newer reviews on the CSM from Norwood, BSM from Harbor Freight, Panther, or anything similiar. I'm not flush with cash. I've looked at past posts and see most of them older ones. Any improvements on any of these? Warnings? Thanks

 

[BIG JAKE]

I'm not flush with cash either, so I built the saw in this thread:
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/small-bandsaw-mill.156857/page-2#post-2703839
I had to wheel and deal over time to round up a good 13hp honda taken off of a high end Landa pressure washer. The guy I bought that from for 200 bucks also had two briggs 6.5 motors for 30 dollars each. One of those went on the pressure washer and I sold the other for 100 bucks. So now I have the pressure washer I can blast the dirt off of the logs with and the 13hp honda gx390 went on the mill. It took a while to get everything together but it came to around 600 bucks or so. I just milled a 28"diameter 13' douglas fir log with it two days ago(my first). I took pics and will be adding them to that thread when I have time, but it all came out pretty nice. I can't remember what the max width my mill will cut, but I had to shave that log to get it to fit. My mill had plenty of power for the job and the slabs came out nice.

There are nay-sayers out there that will steer you clear of bandsaws with tires, but in my experience they work very well. Additionally, Turner Mills makes mills using pneumatic tires for their bandwheels and their mills are rated very highly by their owners. Also, the owner of Turner Mills has done quite admirably in mill-off competitions against some other big name mills-at least that's what I've read. But to build one of these you need to be able to cut and weld steel, and do some fabricating. If you can't do that then this probably not the project for you.

Just another route you might consider. Somewhere in that thread I think around page 4 is a link to a you tube video that shows one in action. In my case, I don't have access to heavy equipment, so a smaller mill was the way to go and way faster than my chainsaw mill, which I still use in certain situations-they each have their place.