woodbug and carriage CS mill users, I need some advice!

[burwood]

Greetings,

Wanted to arrive at a consensus, or take a poll on the best chainsaw carriage type mill out there.Your input is appreciated. I'm not interested in band mills as my production will be low. I want the flexibility of a carriage set up because I don't enjoy the alaskan experience (I own one). I'm leaning toward a woodbug And will be cutting mostly medium to small tamarak.This mill seems well suited to this application.

Thanks All

 

[Rodney Sinclair]

Don't know about advice, but I'll share my thoughts with you. Back when I was looking at this kind of mill, I looked at the Woodbug. Along with the RipSaw and even the Procut. Back then Hud-Son was still selling a chain saw mill a lot like the ProCut. In the end , I bought the Logosol M7.
Now I'm not going to knock the WoodBug, but some of the reasons I went with the M7 is--It's as simple of a mill as you can get. Not much to go wrong. I don't have to take the saw off the guide to refuel and add oil. I can change to different size bars. Shorter bars cost less and chains are faster to file. It has the crank to pull the saw through the cut. Thats a big plus. And the sawdust comes out the side, not up in your your face.
I also have the BigMill kit that lets me use the guide bar plus the guide bar for the M7 to make a cut up to 26' long and as wide as whatever bar I have on the saw.
By far(I'd say 85-90%) of what I use is the 16" bar. Next would be a 24" bar. Very little above that.
And last, they have a chat board on the Logosol web site that is very helpfull.

Hope all that helps,
Rodney

 

[burwood]

Thanks,

After considering the m7 it looks like a good choice. My next problem is I think I'm a little over powered with a 084. or slightly under powered with a 044. Has anyone used this 084 saw with a m7? Did you have to modify anything?

 

[johnb]

Consider the woodbug

Hi guys I have had a woodbug for about 7 years. I looked at most of the available csm at the time. Including the logosol. I decided on the the woodbug for two main reasons. The First was saw position more specificaly the cut. I felt being vertical made more sense than horizontal because of the weight of the cut piece on your saw and bar. Horizontal forces you to either work harder (pushing) or shim the cut to keep weight off the saw. The second was the fact that the bar on the woodbug is secured on both ends. This makes a truer cut, no wander in the bar and it will cut through knots instead of going around hard spots. Now there are a lot of varibles with csm and the woodbug is not perfect. I recently made a modification to mine to improve is function ( I hope). As with any CSM keep your wood clean and your chain sharp 15/25 hand grind against the chrome. Happy Milling!! The Hoosier

 

[wdsracer]

I just bought a Jobber J100 carriage mill, it suits my needs very well. It is very portable and it comes apart quickly so I can move it. I like the idea that I can quickly remove the saw from the carriage and cut down the next tree, put the saw back on the mill and cut it up. There is a video of the mill in action: cutterschoice.com. It is very inexpensive, at about $1000.

 

[Matildasmate]

M7 Has no bar support

Hi guys I have had a woodbug for about 7 years. I looked at most of the available csm at the time. Including the logosol. I decided on the the woodbug for two main reasons. The First was saw position more specificaly the cut. I felt being vertical made more sense than horizontal because of the weight of the cut piece on your saw and bar. Horizontal forces you to either work harder (pushing) or shim the cut to keep weight off the saw. The second was the fact that the bar on the woodbug is secured on both ends. This makes a truer cut, no wander in the bar and it will cut through knots instead of going around hard spots. Now there are a lot of varibles with csm and the woodbug is not perfect. I recently made a modification to mine to improve is function ( I hope). As with any CSM keep your wood clean and your chain sharp 15/25 hand grind against the chrome. Happy Milling!! The Hoosier

Your absolutely right john , the M7 has no bar support , if you apply a little too much pressure , or your chain start's to get dull , the bar wander's producing crap , I know this from experience with my Logosol style mill , but saddly , you wont get this info from any Logosol owner . Cheer's MM .... With both end's supported this sort of thing never happen's .

 

[TedChristiansen]

Your absolutely right john , the M7 has no bar support , if you apply a little too much pressure , or your chain start's to get dull , the bar wander's producing crap , I know this from experience with my Logosol style mill , but saddly , you wont get this info from any Logosol owner . Cheer's MM

I had the problem you are describing when I first got my Woodworkers Mill - the bar was diving during the cut. The problem turned out to be the clutch cover on the saw, which forced the bar out of parallel with the guide rail. Once I shimmed the carriage I never had this problem again, even when the chain gets dull.

Ted

 

[Rodney Sinclair]

I felt being vertical made more sense than horizontal because of the weight of the cut piece on your saw and bar. Horizontal forces you to either work harder (pushing) or shim the cut to keep weight off the saw.

I guess I just don't understand this train of thought since I've never had this problem. Even on the bandsaw. If I did, I'd be looking somewhere other than the kerf. But like Ted, I have my sled shimmed out.

Rodney

 

[Matildasmate]

I had the problem you are describing when I first got my Woodworkers Mill - the bar was diving during the cut. The problem turned out to be the clutch cover on the saw, which forced the bar out of parallel with the guide rail. Once I shimmed the carriage I never had this problem again, even when the chain gets dull.

Ted

Thank's Ted for you positive response , it is much appreciated . Cheer's MM

 

[dustytools]

I posted these about a year or so ago on here. They are pictures of a home-made carriage and rails that I put together from leftovers and spare bicycle parts. If you are maybe looking at building something instead of buying,these might give you an idea or two. I made it to clamp the Alaskan to the elevating piece of the carriage.View attachment 61546

View attachment 61547

View attachment 61548

View attachment 61549

 

[Matildasmate]

I posted these about a year or so ago on here. They are pictures of a home-made carriage and rails that I put together from leftovers and spare bicycle parts. If you are maybe looking at building something instead of buying,these might give you an idea or two. I made it to clamp the Alaskan to the elevating piece of the carriage.View attachment 61546

View attachment 61547

View attachment 61548

View attachment 61549

Hi Dusty ...... Great idea mate , I have seen a couple of setup's similar to this , on this forum , I like the idea of having the bar supported at both end's , very similar idea to a bandsaw , only a couple of thing's I would like to do with it though , one put leg's on it to raise it off the ground to a good working height , like the Logosol (my back and knee's aint great) and reverse the adjustment from lifting and lowering of the saw , to lifting the log so the saw always remain's at a good height , basicaly a cross between your setup and Trigger-time's setup , both exelent idea's . Lifting the log's onto the sawmill is no big deal as I already have to do this now . Cheer's MM

 

[Matildasmate]

I posted these about a year or so ago on here. They are pictures of a home-made carriage and rails that I put together from leftovers and spare bicycle parts. If you are maybe looking at building something instead of buying,these might give you an idea or two. I made it to clamp the Alaskan to the elevating piece of the carriage.View attachment 61546

View attachment 61547

View attachment 61548

View attachment 61549

Hi Dusty any chance we could see some pick's of the saw mounted on your setup thank's . Cheer's for now MM

 

[dustytools]

Hi Dusty any chance we could see some pick's of the saw mounted on your setup thank's . Cheer's for now MM

As of right now it is set-up to clamp my alaskan to the elevator. When time permits Im gonna fix it to where I can clamp a bar directly to the carriage. Dont have any pictures of it now but If I can find time I will take some this weekend.

 

[dustytools]

Hi Dusty ...... Great idea mate , I have seen a couple of setup's similar to this , on this forum , I like the idea of having the bar supported at both end's , very similar idea to a bandsaw , only a couple of thing's I would like to do with it though , one put leg's on it to raise it off the ground to a good working height , like the Logosol (my back and knee's aint great) and reverse the adjustment from lifting and lowering of the saw , to lifting the log so the saw always remain's at a good height , basicaly a cross between your setup and Trigger-time's setup , both exelent idea's . Lifting the log's onto the sawmill is no big deal as I already have to do this now . Cheer's MM

I built it low to the ground to keep from lifting the logs so high. I am working on my remote throttle set-up so that I can stand up and just push the carriage along the rails. My back and knees have seen better days as well.

 

[Matildasmate]

I built it low to the ground to keep from lifting the logs so high. I am working on my remote throttle set-up so that I can stand up and just push the carriage along the rails. My back and knees have seen better days as well.

Sound's good mate , thank's very much Dusty . Cheer's MM

 

[Matildasmate]

I built it low to the ground to keep from lifting the logs so high. I am working on my remote throttle set-up so that I can stand up and just push the carriage along the rails. My back and knees have seen better days as well.

Hi Dusty ...... Yeah I had a think about your setup today mate , your absolutely right mate that's an excellent idea and a fair bit smarter than lifting log's , I think this idea is way better and probably far superior than any Logosol type sawmill including mine . What can be simpler roll your log on , no log lifting , bar is alway's supported at both end's , the cant is alway's supported no matter how thin it is and as you pointed out , working at a standing position , also I think there would be no problem setting up a winch if anyone needed one. I have been considering building a bandmill , but I really like the csm type mill's , even if they are a little slow . I love your idea mate . Thank's again Dusty mate , It really is a brilliant idea . Cheer's MM

 

[VT-Woodchuck]

Hey MM,

I'm sure you have seen the Woodbug set-up. There are pro's and con's to every CSM and I suspect that few have used them all. I have used an Alaskan a couple of times. I have not used the Logosol so I can only speculate. I have cut several mbf with the Woodbug and feel that I can be objective about this mill.

With the WB you stand up fairly straight and the log can be rolled on to the mill. The carriage does limit the size of the log that you can mill. Several times I have been able to square off a log enough to be able to mill it. The sawdust is brought up so wind can be your friend or not! You do have to take the saw off the mill to refuel - no biggie.

The unit can be moved easily with a pick -up or trailer. I built an extention for this mill that bolts on so that I can mill up to 13 ft now.

This is still labor intensive but not as much as the Alaskan type mill. I would like to try the Logosol so I could compare the two. I think the WB is somewhat cheaper.

Enjoy the process

 

[Matildasmate]

Hey MM,

I'm sure you have seen the Woodbug set-up. There are pro's and con's to every CSM and I suspect that few have used them all. I have used an Alaskan a couple of times. I have not used the Logosol so I can only speculate. I have cut several mbf with the Woodbug and feel that I can be objective about this mill.

With the WB you stand up fairly straight and the log can be rolled on to the mill. The carriage does limit the size of the log that you can mill. Several times I have been able to square off a log enough to be able to mill it. The sawdust is brought up so wind can be your friend or not! You do have to take the saw off the mill to refuel - no biggie.

The unit can be moved easily with a pick -up or trailer. I built an extention for this mill that bolts on so that I can mill up to 13 ft now.

This is still labor intensive but not as much as the Alaskan type mill. I would like to try the Logosol so I could compare the two. I think the WB is somewhat cheaper.

Enjoy the process

I havnt used the woodbug , so I cant coment on it , I would imagine the sawdust would be a pain on occasions , can it be set up with a remote trigger and long handle or a winch , that way dust wont be an issue , I have to say I like the design of the woodbug . After having a Logosol type mill for quite some time , as far as I'm concerned it's a piece of sheet , just way too many bug's or design fault's and I intend to build one similar to Dusty's setup , it is basicaly a Logosol type mill anyway , but way better , like your mill it support's the bar at both end's , I intend to build mine to accept a bar length of up to 48" , I am not interested in anything bigger than that , but it will still be adjustable to shorter bar's , which should cover most size log's and as with the Logosol , on the Dustymill the saw glide's along on a rail and no lifting of the log , also you are working at a good height and also away from the exaust gase's. Sorry I cant comment on the woodbug . Do you have anymore larger photo's we can see , it would be appreciated . Cheer's MM