Ha guys, im thinking about getting a mill,in Oss i have found two types a GB Lumber mill or a Granberg Alaskan mill any comments on these and the best place to get one from.I have a large amount of pine logs from a job i did recently.I intend to use my 660 with 36'' bar or 880 with 36'' bar maybe the 50'' one day for some bigger slabs.
The first project is to mill up boards to line the wife's horse stables.
Thanks for your comments.
Firstly, I don't want to sound too negative, but given the fanastic variety of other timber we have in Oz, Alaskan CS milling lots of pine boards sounds about as satisfying as watching paint dry and is really a job for a bandsaw mill or a lucas, or a Norwood rail type mill would also be another. But seeing as you already have the logs and assuming you are going to get a CSM anyway, here's what I would recommend.
The GB comes in two versions, one version clamps to the bar at both ends as does the Granberg. The other GB connects to the bar bolts which is a much all round stronger mill and also provides a bit more cutting width than the other types of mills. If all you ever were going to mill is pine then the dual bar clamp design would be fine but if you intend on also milling Aussie hardwood and the stronger GB is available I would definitely go for one of these.
Next, in terms of saws chains and bars, to cut pine, I would consider a pico lopro 050 3/8 chain on a 36" 050 bar and use the 660. The lopro cuts a slightly narrower kerf, which together with the higher chain speed of the 660 will keep up with the 880s cutting speed in softer wood. Plus the 660 is lighter and toting a CS mill around that is lighter all adds up at the end of the day. If you are after sheer cutting speed an alternative is to run 404 chain with rakers dropped to make a 8 or 9º cutting angle (NB this is not top plate angle) but this will turn a lot of wood into saw dust and generate a rougher finish. If you put a pico lopro chain on the 880, the lopro may stretch it too much and break. The one thing that will prevent you doing the above is that currently there are no rim sprockets that will fit pico lopro chain but fortunately look here
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=144956
I have used lopro on my 24" mill with a 440 using a regular 3/8 sprocket and its not really the best thing for it.
An ideal setup would be to use the 880 running dropped rakers to break up the log into cants, and then the 660 with the lopro to cut boards.
There are lots of other possibilities and I'm sure other members will provide these.