Ripsaw mill or GB/Alaska CSM?

[Adkpk]

woodsrover... the ideal situation, as others have siad, is to have a csm to mill the large logs into cants, and then slice them into boards with the Ripsaw. That is what I have been doing for several years with great success. If you havn't read the following thread yet, it explains that in great detail.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=19709

However, even though you are limited to a 14" wide cut, you CAN attack up to a 20" dia tree with just a Ripsaw and nothing else. I have done it. It will be a slower process as you take slabs off the outside of the log, rotate and slab another. You do waste a little of the wood as you tend to end up with slabs that resemble large wedges in the beginning. But that is minimal, and the least of the downsides to not having a csm. The worst is that extra time it takes on a very large log. Set up, make a cut, then rotate and set up again, make a cut, rotate again etc etc. With a csm, you generally do that only three or four times as you quarter or slab into huge cants for the Ripsaw. Also, the bandmill blades tend to dull much faster in bark than a chain does. With a csm, you can slab the log down to bare cants with no bark to saw through, thus saving blades. Having to add a csm to the mix after buying a Ripsaw though, is only a matter or less than 200 bucks more (36" Mark IV alaskan from baileys) if you are willing to swap saws back and forth from the two mills. A 460 on the Ripsaw is overkill, but not a problem using it other than the extra weight of that big saw. Swapping mills is a somewhat tedious process that takes about 15 minutes, but then you do have the best of both worlds. Large 32" capacity for the big logs, and then when gotten into cants, smoother boards, less waste and less gas/oil if you use a smaller 60cc sized saw for the Ripsaw, which is all it actually needs. Oh, and the Ripsaw is also bit faster going down the log than the csm.

The man's a genius I tell you. Glad he's on our side.

 

[scottr]

Nice looking red oak, I bet that crotch would have made a nice tabletop. It's hard to say which saw would be the best. A ripsaw will do a better job cutting up the cants but that tree would have been hard to cut up without a csm also.

I'd buy a csm and run the 460 on it to see if it's something you like first, it would keep the investment down until your sure. The 460 will handle a fair size cut if your patient and keep a sharp chain on it. I think it would handle tree's the size of the one in that picture.

As far as the ripsaw goes, I run a 361 and it has more than enough power. In fact, if I ever use mine again , I'm going to try a ms260 on it and see how it does. The small kerf and 14" max cut just doesn't require a lot of hp as long as you keep a sharp blade on it and don't feed it too fast. I'll have to dust the cobwebs off mine and give that 260 a try.

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Figured I might want to clairify wanting to try the 260. In a thread over on the chainsaw forum, there was talk about needing to run a saw at wot and get the rpm down in the max torque range by adjusting the feed rate in the cut. This was to make sure the fuel circuits were delivering the proper fuel rate consistantly. (hope I got that right) I usually run the 361 less than wot to keep from having to force the ripsaw thru the cut to keep the rpm's from getting to high. Maybe the 260 will have enough hp to run the ripsaw at wot and be able to keepup with a decent feed rate.

Kevin , I'll bet the 260 will work fine . I remember a 026 having 3.6hp . Did you adjust the H needle richer on your 361 to lower the rpm ?

 

[flht01]

Kevin , I'll bet the 260 will work fine . I remember a 026 having 3.6hp . Did you adjust the H needle richer on your 361 to lower the rpm ?

Haven't made any adjustments to the 361, it's still unmolested
Just recently picked up a tach to set my saws with so I should be able to get a few before/after readings with both saws. I never pulled wot with the 361 until it was in the cut, and then throttled it to keep the rpm in the range that sounded about right.

 

[Railomatic]

For speed, ease of use and much less waste, the Ripsaw all day.

For tired arms but bigger cutting capacity the Alaskan CSM.

For the best of both worlds, both units are needed to do just about any size of tree, use the CSM to convert the big stuff down to a managable size for the Ripsaw.

 

[stihladdicted]

Alaskan or ripsaw?

Get both.... Pick up a used 066 on ebay 400-$500. This will save you 500.00. I think the ripsaw and the Alaskan compliment each other. Ripsaws guide beam system is pretty sweet (a little expensive). I actually use it for the guide beam for my Granberg works better than the upright 2x4's that Granberg recommends.