what mill to get?

[JakeG]

Junglesteader.. A few things to think about:

I just sold a good 81cc saw (with great power) for $200. Your MS291 would likely bring a little more money depending on its condition and your local market. Maybe sell it and buy a 70cc+ saw... Or keep it and save your money until funds allow.

I milled a fresh 10-11" diamter, 8'6" long Red Oak log with my Timberjigg and 562xp (60cc pro-saw) with a 16" bar and Oregon LGX chain. Red oak is a very hard wood, that's a fact. It's not "Aussie-Hard", but very hard when compared to pine. I ended up with three 1.5"/6" boards (2x6's). Each cut took about 4 minutes. Unfortunately, the oiler was not up to the task and my bar developed a burn line on the cutting edge. The drive links on my chain are also caked with burnt saw dust. I have since built an auxiliary oiler for the Timberjig for zero dollars but have yet to use it. I have however, tested it thoroughly and can control flow very well.

I've ran the ms290 (same hp as your 291) many many.. Many times. It has considerably less power and oils much less than my 562xp. I can't recommend using your 20" bar for milling.. Even the 16" will be a stretch. BUT, if the fruit wood you plan to mill is softer than red oak, you may be alright

As luck had it, I found a great 394xp (94cc's) to take up milling duty. Should have it Friday!

 

[flashhole]

I mill with a 394 Husky. Did a 20" Ash log today that was just short of 16' long. It does really well with a 36" bar and my 30" mill but in the hard wood I have to fill the tank before I get to the end of a long cut. Seems like I average one tank of gas and one reservoir of oil per cut. The oiler works really well.

My 394 has a couple of quirks. It starts easily on the 3rd or 4th pull when it is cold. Usually will pop on the second pull with the choke out. Push the choke in after it pops, one or two pulls and it is off to the races. If I use the kill switch when it is hot it takes forever to get it started again so I use the choke kill trick. When I shut it down with the choke it will usually start again with one pull, two at the most. I choke it till it dies, then push the choke back in immediately. If it runs out of gas in the cut while hot I have to let it cool down completely before I can start it again.

 

[highrisen]

How long will these slabs last?

Im in the same boat as junglesteader - I dont quite have the equipment to go big yet but I'd like to try my hand at it before buying more.

It may be a stupid question but I've always use treated wood outside (and anyone seen the price of plywood lately)... Any idea how long one could expect 1-2" white pine or oak slabs to last if reasonably protected from rain?

 

[gsp828]

How long untreated lumber will last really depends on how you are using it and how you treat it.
Hirisen, I am sure you could find a barn or shed or even an old house with exposed untreated pine. My father has a shed that has pine slab lap siding that is holding up pretty well to be about 20 years old. If I am remembering correctly he uses a Hudson sprayer to quickly spray on some sealer about every ten years or so(probably should be done more frequently but it is a pretty low priority out building). If you are looking to use it as siding for a shed or some other rustic building my guess would be that you will see a similar if not better lifespan to pressure treated ply. You will have to be a little more careful with it than with pressure treated. You will need some clearance from the ground to avoid termites, other insects, and water (I would still regularly apply pesticide). You have to remember that pressure treating hasn't really been around that long and wood structures have been around for much longer. If you are using it for siding or really any other situation where you would use plywood I would stay away from any 2" thickness. The wood can get heavy in a hurry when it is that thick.

I am in the same boat as well as far as having an underpowered saw. I don't have much problem with pine, but anytime I get into hardwoods I really wish I could afford a larger saw. On that note if anyone has a good milling saw they are looking to unload for a couple of hundred bucks, send me a message.

 

[Chris Holman]

I hope yall can help me, im just getting started in cutting slabs, I've been freehanding these but I need the cheapest chainsaw mill attachment there is that will accomplish my task, i have logs I want to cut even/flat slices out of, can the granberg mini mill be used this way instead of cutting the log length wise?

 

[mad murdock]

i think you would be best served with an Alaskan Mk III, with at least a 70cc saw and a 28-32" bar on a 28-36" mill. With the saw set up to mill with picco or lo profile chain, you will be happy with the results.

 

[arborjockey]

What molokai? Where's da pics?

 

[arborjockey]

Oh and you oil guys.
100 : 1 amsoil sabre only way to go

 

[Climb-Ax™]

We use a Woodmizer LT70 with a Cat Diesel, it works great on hardwood.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I started out with an Alaskan small log mill and played with that for a bit and then ended up trading for a second one. I bought two 36" pieces of 30x30mm aluminum extrusion off ebay and connected the two together to make a regular Alaskan out of them. Works great. Most of what I milled was eastern red cedar, so soft wood was the rule. I did mill a big maple that went about 28-30 inches through the middle, but that was when I had the 076. Then the tablesaw tried to eat my fingers and my woodworking endeavors came to a screeching halt. I broke it out again last year with the 372 to make some raised beds from milled cedar and that worked out fine. Those cedars were about 12".

Ian