newbie sawmill ?

[northernstiks]

Hello everyone i have reading all the forums the last few weeks and this site is great.I need some advice on a sawmill purchase i have been looking at a chainsaw mil (logosol m8) or a hudson bandsaw mill my budget is 3000 I am cutting cottonwood,ash ,pine mostly for my furniture and for resale of roughcut lumber any advice would be great

 

[mikeb1079]

my personal preference would be a bandsaw mill over a chainsaw mill any day. faster, quieter, and less wasteful. that said, i've been surprised by some nice reviews of logosol products by owners that i've read. it seems that logosol makes a quality product (i've not seen one). i'd be looking at a woodmizer lt10 for 3200. just my thoughts....

 

[northernstiks]

Thanks mike how portable is the woosmizer most of the places I are
remote and i need to take the mill to
the log

 

[mad murdock]

Logosol will be the most portable. They have an impressive line up of machines. Their key to faster milling wih a CSM is using thin kerf ripping chain, it really makes a difference. I have outfitted my saw with it on my Alaskan mill, big improvement.

 

[Dave Boyt]

It depends a lot on what you're cutting and how much. I've used both chain saw and band mills, and would rather have a good chain saw mill than a small band saw mill. Partly because it justifies a big chain saw, and I like big chain saws! If you're squaring logs for a cabin or doing a limited amount of cutting, the chain saw mill is fine. You'll still use the chain saw to break down the big logs when you do finally get a band mill. By portability do you mean pulling with a pickup truck (band saw mill) or packing it in with an ATV, boat, or float plane (chain saw mill)? Norwood has a little chain saw mill that's pretty slick. I run a Norwood band mill & been very pleased with my dealings with them.

 

[gemniii]

Hello everyone i have reading all the forums the last few weeks and this site is great.I need some advice on a sawmill purchase i have been looking at a chainsaw mil (logosol m8) or a hudson bandsaw mill my budget is 3000 I am cutting cottonwood,ash ,pine mostly for my furniture and for resale of roughcut lumber any advice would be great

Thanks mike how portable is the woosmizer most of the places I are
remote and i need to take the mill to
the log

If you are going to be taking the mill to THE log (as in 1 log) most BSM's are too big to be portable WITHOUT a trailer, truck, or tractor. So it's not very effective for 1 log unless it's a LARGE log.

For my PLANNED operations I'm going to be transporting my LT10 to a site with my tractor and then milling a dozen or so trees in a small area as I make food plots etc. Then with some nails the lumber becomes deer stands. As of the first year I haven't been able to mill my way out of my backyard

What size (DBH and length) logs will you be milling? 10" DBH and 5' long requires a lot less than 24"DBH and 12'

What species? Softwoods cut much easier

What size wood do you need for your furniture?

Give us more info and we'll help you out.

 

[sachsmo]

Hello everyone i have reading all the forums the last few weeks and this site is great.I need some advice on a sawmill purchase i have been looking at a chainsaw mil (logosol m8) or a hudson bandsaw mill my budget is 3000 I am cutting cottonwood,ash ,pine mostly for my furniture and for resale of roughcut lumber any advice would be great

You got more than enough jack to do what you wish.


But like they say "Money can't buy you Love.


Milling is quite an adventure, but it don't come easy.

 

[Brian Harnett]

I have a cs mill it is great for the one off log in a field or yard. I put it in the truck with my straightedge and at the end of the day I have a load of milled wood. A cs mill can cut logs in spots no one would bother with.

I have a friend with a band mill I use for bigger volume jobs.

Just remember for furniture you still need to dry it.

Check out the home kiln threads for that.

 

[mikeb1079]

yes don't get me wrong about chainsaw mills. i started out with a 50cc chainsaw and a crappy jig. i loved it!! BUT when i built my bandsaw mill and ran my first logs through.....i was like AHHHHH....now that's milling!!

one thing you could do is have both. you have enough cash that if you're savvy you could find a used 70+cc saw and alaskan jig for the remote logs and still have enough to buy an entry level bandsaw mill. you'd just have to be patient and wait to find a decent deal.

 

[AaronB]

I was in this battle when I started, I first got the CM because it was cheaper but after doing more and more logs I started looking at other alternatives, then I found the ProCut and got one of those, still uses the same size bar as my CM and same saw, but has some operation of a bandsaw mill, plus if I can't get the log to the ProCut I still can use the CM

Here is my Procut when I first got it.

Then I put a shed over it

 

[danthe]

Check out the different mills from panther pro. They have both CS slabmill and CS railmill at very affordable prices.

 

[landroverbill]

If you get a chainsaw mill, then you will find out if you like to mill wood. Some people fall in love with milling, some just want to fall in love. If you do fall for it , then you will for sure have a good saw which you can still use if you were to move to a BSM. Some smaller BSMs can't mill very big logs, You would still have the CSM to break the odd larger log down. If you don't fall for milling, then with a CSM still leaves you with a good chainsaw.
However, the BSM option would leave you with a big piece of equipment sitting around waiting to be sold. If you know you are in love with milling, then you already have a chainsaw(s) now. If so, I would get a BSM.
I bought the M7. I did fall, and I am looking at a n LT 35 . But then, I have the space to store all that stuff when not using it, and like to look at all the stuff I have stored.