"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Devin Lavign wrote:So for a homesteader who might want to get a chance to use one of these saws, or have limited use for such a powerful saw but an immediate need, a cheap option that could get them a saw they might not be able to afford otherwise could be highly useful.
My online educational sites:
https://www.pinterest.ca/joelbc/homestead-methods-tools-equipment/
https://www.pinterest.ca/joelbc/mixed-shops/
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
"Study books and observe nature; if they do not agree, throw away the books." ~ William A. Albrecht
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants with dirt under their nails
Tj Jefferson wrote:Saws (any tool really) are two things, design and materials.
My online educational sites:
https://www.pinterest.ca/joelbc/homestead-methods-tools-equipment/
https://www.pinterest.ca/joelbc/mixed-shops/
A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
Cristo Balete wrote:One more thing about always ordering equipment/parts over the internet from foreign countries....they get shipped to the US in ships that use the worst possible diesel fuel on the planet. It pollutes the most, it floats on top of the water as it is used. And we get a belt, a chain, whatever part off Amazon or some site, one small thing adds to the terrible pollution. Then it gets delivered by a truck run on diesel fuel. Neighborhoods these days have diesel trucks coming through, to each house, day after day after day. How can that be good for the air where the kids play and we have windows open? We create the market for products that have a downside.
What's the point of driving an electric vehicle when we create a demand for vehicles using diesel to jump in use to the point that it starts affecting the planet we live on?
A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902
Tj Jefferson wrote:My only piece of free advice (worth less than half what you pay for it) is that using a 90cc saw or bigger is frankly nuts unless you are using saws enough to make the real deal worth it. They are monsters and the guy in the video has a comically small bar on that massive powerhead. With a reasonable bar, that is a very heavy saw and challenging ergonomically. I use a 71cc saw for the big stuff, and that will run a 48" bar if you are really good at it, but easily run a skip chain on a 36" at a reasonable load for milling if you aren't mashing it. I normally run a 24" bar on that saw, but 90% of my cuts are with a smaller saw. My uncle is a very fit professional arborist (not logger) and that is the largest saw he owns, and he recommended to me to stay with smaller saws, and I've spent hundreds of hours on saws the last few years. If you are milling bigger logs, a bandsaw would start making sense, and you can often get someone to bring one to you and operate it (depending on your location of course). It is a safe option.
If you really would benefit from an Alaska Mill, but likely occasional use, and have determined to get a big saw for that purpose, I would totally go for the knockoff 660 or 441 from a purely economic standpoint. If you are occasionally cutting some bigger stuff and it adds safety to make one cut through the trunk, I would consider a knockoff 441 if you can handle a 20lb saw/bar (and you have to be honest with yourself). For the occasional user the smaller saws seem like a good idea at their prices. And I'm a total Stihl fanboy.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Timothy Markus wrote:Like you, I know it's usually best to buy the best tools, but I don't become blind to cost effectiveness. I've bought many "off-brand" tools in my life. Some are every bit as good as the name brand tools, and some are definitely inferior, but were much more cost effective. I've bought some really cheap, kinda crappy tools over the years because I was only going to use them once or twice and they were cheaper than used. Often, with these, I've had to spend up to an hour going over them to make sure everything is tight and aligned, but they can do the job. I once bought a tile saw, new, for $20 on sale at a local surplus store (my favourite store ever!). I knew it was crappy, but I only had a bathroom and hearth to tile. That was over 15 years ago and I've done several more tiling jobs with it and still use it in combination with my other tile saw that I got for bigger jobs. I actually think I like the $20 one better.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Walt Chase wrote:Devin as far as your chainsaw mill. I completely understand about the expense of the thing. Have you ever run a chainsaw mill? It, from what I understand is back breaking work and they are pretty hard on a chainsaw too. I want to suggest that you go to the forestry forum ( http://forestryforum.com/ ) and do some reading in the sawmills and sawing section there. Most of the guys have Woodmizer or one of the other big name brands, but there are some that have some of the lower priced mills and have had good luck with them. I'll also suggest that you look at the Woodmizer LT15 mills. While more expensive than your chainsaw mill I think you would be better served by saving your pennies a bit longer and getting one of them. I personally have a Woodmizer LT28. Was planning on a LT15, but when weighing the pros and cons decided to go with the LT 28. Yes it was expensive, but has not given me a minutes trouble and from what I understand the customer service, which I have yet to use, it second to none. One other thing I have gleaned from the Forestry forum is that if and when you decide you no longer need a sawmill the Woodmizer has an excellent resale value.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902
And each and every Norwood is quality-built in the USA and Canada (not China, Taiwan or Poland). Make no mistake – every single custom-fabricated component in every Norwood is precision-made in US & Canadian facilities (they’re not just assembled out of foreign-made parts).
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Devin Lavign wrote:Timothy, you might want to check out Norwood, I am pretty sure they are a Canadian own company. Why import a Woodmizer, or Alaskian chainsaw mill, when Norwood is locally made.
A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
Standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants with dirt under their nails
Timothy Markus wrote:
Devin Lavign wrote:Timothy, you might want to check out Norwood, I am pretty sure they are a Canadian own company. Why import a Woodmizer, or Alaskian chainsaw mill, when Norwood is locally made.
Yeah, they're only 3-4 hours from me. I did a lot of houses up in their area the last couple of years. I'm almost sure I'll end up out east, NB or NS, so I'll have to see what works when I'm ready for it. If I can find something local or in Maine, that's used I'd probably go for that.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Tj Jefferson wrote:Devin,
Sorry for the assumption you were new at the game. I cut/moved about 2 cords of wood today for mushrooms (yum!!!) and I am SORE!!! This picture is everything wrong about saw milling. To make that stack was tens of hours of back pain, I was chuckling at the visual, way easier to move the setup to smaller piles. Assuming you are not employed at a very marginal wage, a bandsaw pays for itself very quickly, and can be sold for a small margin used (I know I've been looking for one! They are tough to find.) If you can afford to hold a $2000 investment for a year, it generates a whole lot of lumber very quickly. I have zero experience making hexagonal cuts, but with the dogs on a standard bandsaw, I would expect much more precise cuts than the chainsaw mill pictured.
I am clearly a proponent of the bandsaw, but I am very interested in your results. I have a huge stack of cedars I plan on milling for my Wobaaati (sheep barn) and am interested in how many chains and hours it takes to do it, so please report back. I have the saws, and my decision is between having a portable mill for the day (and loading it myself to maximize utilitization) versus a hybrid mill like that. The portables here are generally $50 setup and $50/hr, so roughly $500/day. For a house with three cuts per upright it starts eating into that for sure and may make it worth losing wood on the kerf. I have a lot of marginal width cedars and plans to use the slabs for siding. It does depend on your design.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
List of Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series Threads We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet.
Bryant RedHawk wrote:That clone brand isn't so bad, BUT be sure that you will be able to get replacement parts and service when you need them.
Bryant RedHawk wrote:Love that mill set up you have shown and the straight logs.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Come join me at www.peacockorchard.com
Learn to dance in the rain.
www.serenityhillhomestead.com
Learn to dance in the rain.
www.serenityhillhomestead.com
Devin Lavign wrote:
Bryant RedHawk wrote:That clone brand isn't so bad, BUT be sure that you will be able to get replacement parts and service when you need them.
Yep, good thing is you can buy the whole parts kits for replacement parts. The service issue might be a trickier one, since if you take it to a Stihl service center they will likely get all indignant about it being a clone. So I will likely have to find someone skilled but not too brand loyal.
Or if I go the route of building from the parts kit, it would force me to learn enough about the mechanics to do most servicing on my own. Though at this point it is a chicken before the egg scenario. I don't have a shop built yet to really work on a saw, and need the saw to build the shop. LOL I do have a small work benchin my little cabin connected to the RV carport that I could possible do a saw build on. But it would be tight.
'Theoretically this level of creeping Orwellian dynamics should ramp up our awareness, but what happens instead is that each alert becomes less and less effective because we're incredibly stupid.' - Jerry Holkins
James 1:19-20
Not all those who wander are lost - J. R. R. Tolkien
Learn to dance in the rain.
www.serenityhillhomestead.com
Dillon Nichols wrote:Are the clones close enough to interchange parts with the genuine thing?
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
Caleb Mayfield wrote:Worst case you spend what, $300-$500? on a setup that tells you if this really is the approach you want to take and gives you the ability to break down large logs small enough to go on a less costly bandsaw mill. Like one of those from Harbor Freight, or to fit them on your tracked chainsaw mill. Pick a small project and mill up the lumber you need for it. How much finish work do you have to do with a board chainsaw milled?
Caleb Mayfield wrote:When you get ripping chain, buy it by the spool and make your own chains. When I started I think I figured out that by my 3rd chain the spool paid for itself and I could still make another 3-4 chains.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
James 1:19-20
Not all those who wander are lost - J. R. R. Tolkien
Caleb Mayfield wrote:Devin,
You might not want to totally count out the Norwood. Depending on how you feel about working outside liability specs, I believe you can use a bigger bar and thus mill larger logs. I have an Alaskan Small Mill that only attaches to one end of the bar. Granberg says it can only use up to a 20" bar. Well, if you want the piece of plexi to cover the whole bar then yes. Only use a 20" bar. Have I used a 28" bar to mill logs? Yes. It works fine, but it does require some additional consideration for where that unshielded bar sticks out. Looking at the Norwood and watching the video I would hazard an assumption that the same can be done with it. The bar is just going to stick out farther than that guard.
"Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at which you will finally stop running, at which you will finally fight back." (Derrick Jensen)
It's just a flesh wound! Or a tiny ad:
permaculture and gardener gifts (stocking stuffers?)
https://permies.com/wiki/permaculture-gifts-stocking-stuffers
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