picture of chain saw mill

[mackie]

heres a picture of a hudson track mounted sawmill. i built the 24' track out of 3"x3" 3/16" angle iron (1/4" is better< but heavier) i had to haul the tracks in by hand before i had a driveway so i used 3/16". the carriage is manufactured by hudson and was $1200 used with a 42" bar.

i have powered the mill with a hvy 394 and 2100 (2100 pictured) and as soon as i get my new bar (thanks dean aka klickitatrat) i will set it up with the 090. the p.o.s. hvy 55 is shown for scale.

these are about as big as the trees get at 10,700 feet, Al.

mark

 

[whatsnext]

Just curious but how do you keep the track square. 24' of 3x3x3/16 angle would seem a little flexy.
John........

 

[Al Smith]

these are about as big as the trees get at 10,700 feet, Al.

mark[/QUOTE] Yea,buddy,you're right up there with the eagles.Those pictures bring back a lot of memorys.It's been over 20 years since I've been in the mts.,I'm about due again.

 

[Mange]

Looks as you like it!

 

[eyeinstine]

WOW!!!!

A real live mountain man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Really though... Looks like a dream come true up there! That takes dedication to haul that stuff into the middle of no where.. Actually, it looks like you skied into the middle of now where!

Keep us posted on the progress!


Ron

 

[rb_in_va]

Al,
Cool pics! I had never considered mounting a saw to a bandsaw carriage. How do you accurately adjust the depth of cut?

 

[Lawn Masters]

Awesome looking saw set you got there.

 

[mackie]

the tracks are a bit flexy, thats why i would recommend 1/4" angle iron. the foundations are 8"x8" cmu blocks filled with concrete set 5 feet on center, with an anchor bolt set into the top. the rails can be adjusted up and down on the anchor bolts to get them perfectly flat.

the carraige is very similar to a bandsaw carriage, but speciafically made for a chainsaw, and much lighter than a bandsaw carriage. it is the same width as a hudson bandsaw mill, so a bandsaw carriage will fit on this same track.

it is much more work than a bandsaw, but only about $2000 -$3000 to get set up as compared to more than $5000 for a bandsaw, plus its a good excuse to have cool chainsaws like the 090.

 

[rb_in_va]

it is much more work than a bandsaw, but only about $2000 -$3000 to get set up as compared to more than $5000 for a bandsaw, plus its a good excuse to have cool chainsaws like the 090.

Who needs an excuse? How fast are you milling with that setup?

 

[Molecule]

nice rig!!

From the pictures it looks like the ends of the bar are raised and lowered together, by a crank? If so, that's a real nice design! I also like the way the bar is angled at maybe 25° or so to the cut--otherwise the dust would be gagging up the airfilters.

thanks for the pics!

--

afterthought -- ever thought of trying a 5/16 wire cable, put underneath the rails, with a 2:1 pulley and a handcrank, as a modified comealong, to crank the saw thru the cut -- you'd probably need something to counteract the torque between the pull of the cable and the resistance of the bar, which would tend to rotate the frame upward, especially when just starting a new log -- maybe putting a removable weight on top of the frame would be enought to keep the front wheels down hard on the rails -- or maybe add guide wheel to ride underneath the existing front wheel, which would ride on the bottom of the rail instead of the top, to prevent lifting.

 

[whatsnext]

You should use that mill to make yourself a nice snowboard. You could get rid of those nutty long things you're currently using to get down the hill, dude.
John........

 

[Al Smith]

That carriage is similar to the one shown on the "proworks" model,which is a homebuilt.It's basicaly a lighter version of a 4 post bandsaw carriage,with the saw inside the carriage,instead of in front like a bandsaw.It would certainly be easier to operate than the "Alaska" mill I made such a futile attempt with.I don't think I'm aloud to put a link on here,but here is a hint,the word milling and masters.

 

[mackie]

those skiis are relics and are just for show, they were in the back of a truck i bought, nobody can ski those things.

somebody mentioned that the bar should be angled the other way, so the saw pulls itself into the log, which makes sense to me.

with the hvy 394, the thing will mill 3-6 feet per minute average, i'm hoping to get up to 10 feet per minute with the 090.

its not so hard to push that i would need a winch.