Portable saw mill

[Abbershay]

Do any of you guys use a portable saw mill on tree jobs... i know some of the huge cottonwoods it would seem to me to be good to just mill them right at the job site.

 

[Newfie]

If the clients and neighbors don't mind listening to the roar of the 3120 running WOT for hours on end.

 

[Abbershay]

according to the videio that potable will cut cut a huge piece of wood in no time.

 

[Newfie]

Are you talking portable as in Alaskan mill style powered by a chainsaw, or portable bandsawmill like woodmizer makes?

I started with the Alaskan and it certainly serves a niche and a budget. Just got a LT40 WoodMizer last month and it is night and day. Accurate, much less work and MUCH FASTER! I could definitely see milling with WoodMizer style mill on the job site. Much greater yield once you figure out how to use it.

 

[Abbershay]

actually i was looking at the lucas mill..... i talked to a guy who has one and he says he can set up in 15 minutes... the way it is set up you dont even have to lift the log.... you just set up around it .. This would make the huge elms and cotton woods and oak an ease... rather than having to try to load these huge pieces or chunk them. you could walk away with some good usable product.

 

[ORclimber]

Abbershay, If you haven't already you might check out the Peterson swingblades. They have one similar to the Lucas, but have some advantages. It is more readily upgradable, and you don't have to flip the carriage to doublecut big cants. That entry level Lucas is dirt cheap for what it can do though.

 

[Jacob J.]

Before you go about shopping for mills, you better check and see what the market is doing for the particular species of wood(s) you plan on milling, unless it is for personal use only. I read in Bailey's catalog that two men could cut over 4mbf/day with the 6" swing blade Lucas utilizing medium size logs, which would make that mill well worth your while if you were cutting dimensional lumber that could easily be unloaded for .45-80/bf.

 

[fmueller]

cottonwood

Are you using this wood yourself cause otherwise I doubt there is a market for cottonwood. Its soft and breaks easily after drying. It makes ok fire wood but burns pretty fast. Anyway if there is another use for it please let me know. Cottonwoods here are considered a pita tree cause they get messy with the cotton fluff and all.

 

[mboln52000]

Cottonwood in IN

Same thing here. Me and dad had some cut up some on a wood mizer a few years back, and i think i threw the last of it in the burn pile a few months ago. It is almost imposible to get it to dry flat, and even once its flat, it waprs very badly. And its like you said, once its dry its very brittle. Plus, it gives a foul odor as you mill it, cut, drill it..anything!

Our intent was to use it on cabinet backs, and drawer guts, and any place hidden, but it was just so unsightly and warped, we didnt use it.

Its just me, but i would skip over the cottonwood, for anything except carving, or something like that.

Now I use ash for hidden cabinet wood.

Matt

 

[preach it]

In our area of the northern midwest cottonwood is everywhere. I find that each summer I am called to cut and remove huge trees of them, 5ft DBH is very common. I had some of the same thoughts of using them for boards. I called a lumber mill about 90 mi. from me that cuts only cottonwood. They make pallets from the lumber. They said that they work fine on any thing that won't get wet. If the cut wood gets wet it will quickly rot. There is a smell when it is wet that is gone when it dries. I have dried boards of it and have let people look at them and smell them and they don't know what kind of wood it is. I used an Alasken mill and cut up a couple of them I had cut down. I used the boards to make a work bench in the garage. They did warp a little but that didn't matter, the bench gets beaten and banged and it seems to hold up just fine. The sale of boards of cottonwood is unlikely, but for personal use, where it won't get wet, has a lot of possiblities. Hey, it's cheap.

 

[Oregon_Rob]

I have heard that the horse folks will use some in building stalls. seems that horses won't crib (chew) on cotton wood.