New to Granberg mill need some info

[turnbuckle1]

Have a 461 stihl skip tooth chain , ripping , from the dealer. Slabbing a 22 in pine . Started with the ladder on the leveling cut , then to the 1st cut 2.5 in. Took forever , was a real battle , the mill guide kept jamming on the log , the chain pulling it in , I could not get the leverage I needed to push.
Step 2.... attach a boat winch solved problem??..not quite , back to the drawing board
Step 3 ...off to lee valley for 2 small offset casters , installed on the bottom of mill , sharpened chain which was 25/. degree ripping chain , took rakers down a bit , made a lot of difference from the other slabs and a better cut.
Question now is the chain.... do I get this taken down to 10 and what difference will it make and why?? do I keep it a skip tooth?

 

[BobL]

The problem with winches in that position is that they tend to want to tip/rack the mill over -this causes unnecessary friction and the problems you describe .
The best place for a winch rope to pull on the mill is level with the bar - Will Mallof shows how to do it this way in his book.
But if you slope the log, and mill downhill the mill should slide down on its own weight and only a light guiding hand is needed on the mill - no which needed just a little more effort to get the mill up higher onto the start of the log.

The wheels you installed will work cutting the top half of the log but may not make contact when milling the lower half of the log - then you need wheels above the bar.
My BIL mill has both wheels above and below. The top ones are also adjustable. On mis small mill I have adjustable wheels than can be easily switched to be above or below the bar.

I would take the chain down to 10º over successive sharpening.

 

[IyaMan]

BobL, I agree that it looks like the winch position would be tipping the saw and creating friction. I don't (yet) have Will Mallof's book, but would it help to have the rope go through a small pulley placed at the edge of the mill guide as close to the wood as possible? Also, it seems from the picture that the end of the rope is attached (outside the picture) rather high up. So attaching the far end of the rope level or below the log would also keep the mill flat.

And Turnbuckle1, this is the book Bob's mentioning. http://www.amazon.com/Chainsaw-Lumbermaking-Will-Malloff/dp/1626548447

 

[BobL]

Malloff's method is to put a rope either side of the bar up to a yoke attached to the front of the log and stand at the end of the log and crank the winch from that position.
There is an added manual remote throttle incorporated into the ropes

like this


Personally I ;ike to be close up near the power head to feel what is going on

 

[turnbuckle1]

Malloff's method is to put a rope either side of the bar up to a yoke attached to the front of the log and stand at the end of the log and crank the winch from that position.
There is an added manual remote throttle incorporated into the ropes

like this
View attachment 495209

Personally I ;ike to be close up near the power head to feel what is going on

Yep , that remote thing is questionable , but I do like the set up...... u saw my sawDUST pile , am I expecting too much , I tho't I would see bigger "chunks " in the waste pile , chain was pretty sharp

HUTCH

 

[BobL]

Yep , that remote thing is questionable , but I do like the set up......

You can also run another pulley across the top of the log back to the mil and turn the winch from there.

Remote is fine if you know you saw well and also gets you further away from the smoke and dust but I find the feel of the saw is most instructive as the what is going on.

u saw my sawDUST pile , am I expecting too much , I tho't I would see bigger "chunks " in the waste pile , chain was pretty sharp

It looks OK and is typical of a new chain
You could try slowly and systematically dropping the rakers just a couple of swipes of a file at a time till the chain starts to grab too much. Then you know what the saw can do.
Bear in mind if you go to a wider cut the saw may completely bog down with rakers set too low.
There will also be more vide and more B&C wear.