What's mill would you buy ?

[GIVEITAGALLON]

Would like to know what chainsaw mill would be beat for me . We would like to build a out house , chicken coop , and wood shack . Saw will be a 440 or 660 running it . I truly have no clue on what to try to start with . I saw some on baileys site real cheap but do they work ok .
Thanks for any suggestions !

 

[DavdH]

Weekend Warrior

 

[jrhannum]

I've been there

Three years ago I had the big saw and a few logs; wanted a mill, but was short on dollars and welding skills; here's what I've done. (sorry about the duplicates).

 

[mad murdock]

First you need to know what is the average size log you will be dealing with. I would say if you are going to be 24" and under, look long and hard at the Timberjig. If you are going to be doing the occasional
Larger log (30"+) I would consider an Alaskan ar least a 28". I have both, an Alaskan that I modified to 36", was 24" when I bought it new. And most recently I have a Timberjig. For smaller logs I prefer the Timberjig, quicker setup and a smaller package.

 

[mesupra]

What about the harbor freight band saw mill, seems like they can be had for around $1620 shipped, given the cost and additional wear and tear on those nice saws it might be a good alternative, heck you could even sell one of those beasts to help fund a bandsaw purchase. Just a thought.

 

[Jim Timber]

The timberjig looks amazing for doing flooring - or butcher block.

 

[steve easy]

Weekend warrior. Can do any diameter log, simple set up ,easy one man operation.

 

[KiwiBro]

Steve,

Even though Jake and I have talked and emailed, I love what he's doing and the ideas he and Carl bring to the table, and I have looked very seriously at both his warrior and gladiator mills in the past, unfortunately I can't help but feel he has pitched the price of the warrior mill not far enough off that of a used regular swingblade or even bandsaw mill. That was a deal-breaker for me (I'd have been one of the first to own a warrior mill if it weren't for that). The only time I could see it being better for dimensional lumber than a small, used peterson/lucus/rimu is when when having to pack the gear a long way or over difficult terrain and I don't do enough of that to justify the price, even though I have a few big old saws I could use on it - so the cost of powering it wouldn't be much to me.

In short, it just didn't seem to stack up financially. When people say they have paid for their warrior mill easily in earnings or lumber costs saved, I can't help but think they'd have done so far easier with alternatives. I'm certainly not trying to blow wind up anyones skirt, but if the OP is looking for dimensional lumber and I'm mistaken about the warrior mill, I'd be delighted to be corrected.

 

[steve easy]

I know what your saying, for the guy who has a good log supply warrior wouldnt be the best. For the single trees here and there the warrior is great no need for a loader just drive up to log and 15 mins later your milling. I have a early carl peterson mill thats a good mill too but unless theres a quantity of logs its not worth shifting it and if you do you need a loader to load mill, sure you can set up a deck and roll them in to get away from having a loader on site but the logs never end up in between the tracks with the shake where you want it, with the warrior roll the log to where it needs to be and shuffle the mill over it easy. Havnt used a bandsaw mill before so dont really know, i looked around at different options for awhile not much around for 7k that is as portable as alaskan mill.

 

[mesupra]

I ended up ordering a hf sawmill, it was $1600 to the door, given we now have a local hf I figured it would be worth a shot if I needed to return the saw. I have not yet heard back with a tracking number so it's hard telling how long it will be before the mill is actually delivered, back ordering seems to be an issue wig these mills.

 

[Trever]

Belsaw circular sawmill.... And GB (alaskan sawmill) and mini mill for edging boards and/or quartering logs. My pennies worth.

Trever

 

[KiwiBro]

For the single trees here and there the warrior is great no need for a loader just drive up to log and 15 mins later your milling.

That sounds like exactly the sort of thing it would excel at. However, for someone doing one-offs and low volume, it probably doesn't matter much whether setup is 15 or 40 mins because it's more about not letting a log go to waste or just the pride and experience of pulling lumber out of a log. Experienced people can break down and setup many of the other mills over logs reasonably easily, some of the older portbles not so easily, but still possible. A used rimu was going for $6k near me last Summer and it was in good nick but I suspected it was hot so passed on it. There's currently one on TM with bidding at $1k.

Add or share the price of a few (comparing the expected hours of CS powerheads to 4-strokes or small diesel engines) 70+cc powerheads to the cost of a warrior mill and we are in the same vicinity or, to my mind, not far enough under to justify buying one instead of the alternatives.

There's no doubt in my mind the warrior mill is a brilliant concept, especially for breaking down one-off large logs in areas inaccessible to other gear or for when other gear is not an option. I think Jake has been itching to put something like this out for a while - I think he may have been behind the lil' skilmill that Peterson came up with but then shelved many years ago - but as is often the case with product from low volume, innovative NZ manufacturers, there isn't the economies of scale to get the pricing down to where it becomes a no-brainer for many people. It's not a matter of me being a tight-arse, although I am. It's more about pitching the mill at a price that compares with alternatives and I think that's where the warrior falls over.

I only hope the foray into USA and other markets builds the volume to allow Jake to lower prices while maintaining an acceptable margin, before China comes up with a copy or someone like DR gets their teeth into it. There's often a way around patents and I doubt Jake wants to go down the road of fighting to protect any he has, having seen the drama unfold and the financial toll it exacted on Carl when fighting and winning against Lucas a few years ago. Nasty road to head down, for everyone except the lawyers.

 

[steve easy]

I dont think its overpriced. Even if you started with a second hand 66 for $500 your into it for 7.5k , i think you would be lucky to get into a second hand mill like you mentioned for under 10k, then your looking at additional machinery to feed it so you could easily spend that again ,then you have to cart it all from job to job. Carls mill sat in my drive for 6mths, had logs to mill just couldnt cart and set mill up easily by myself and then the problem of loading logs into it. With the warrior carting and setting up is so simple and your not restricted to log size which was a big factor for me. Set up is that easy i have been using the mill to take the top off logs so i can slab them. I guess its personal choice to what mill suits your operation.

 

[Dave Boyt]

Norwood's Porta-mill chain saw mill has a few interesting features. It uses a ladder for a track, sets up next to the log, and has a remote throttle control so that the operator stands upright and away from the chain saw while it is cutting. I've played with one a little and, with a good saw, is the easiest chain saw mill I've tried.

 

[KiwiBro]

I dont think its overpriced

and you are a happy customer, so at the end of the day that's really all that matters I guess. The opinions of people like me who won't buy it at it's current pricing really doesn't matter much in the overall scheme of things. To each their own I guess. Probably one of those 'your mileage may vary' things.

 

[KiwiBro]

Norwood's Porta-mill chain saw mill has a few interesting features. It uses a ladder for a track, sets up next to the log, and has a remote throttle control so that the operator stands upright and away from the chain saw while it is cutting. I've played with one a little and, with a good saw, is the easiest chain saw mill I've tried.

Trx250r180 likes his too.

 

[steve easy]

 

[danthe]

I'm just getty ready to order a panther pro carriage mill. I do not have large wood so an 18 in or 22 in would be sufficient. I only want to cut rough lumber for garage, camp and bridge decking. But it seem like the panther pro website is not running. Hope it"s only temporary.

Danthe

 

[Trx250r180]

For An inexpensive mill ,i can get some decent lumber pretty quick without breaking a sweat with this one ,this is a 16 foot doug fir beam i milled 2 nights ago for my front porch ,great for a homeowner ,for commercial use i would get a band mill ,my max is 13-6 beam with a 16 foot ladder ,but i cheated and milled 13-6 first then slid the beam down the rollers and did the last 3 feet

 

[mad murdock]

Nice work on that beam Trx ! Pretty uniform looking piece.