I'd like to hire a mill without a bloke!

[agg221]

For the tree in France I think you are going to have to be very lucky to find a solution other than buying yourself a chainsaw mill.

 

Your reasons for favouring a swing mill are all valid, however your original post suggests that you are not speaking from personal experience of chainsaw mills. As such, you may find that in practices the relative down sides are not as big as you are perceiving them to be.

 

A suggestion. Hire someone with an Alaskan for a day in London and work with them. You will then have a sense of how to use one to produce the type of timber you are looking for in the most efficient fashion possible (chainsaw mills don't just do wide boards), and an idea of what kit you would need and how hard it really is.

 

I can do Greenwich easily enough if it helps.

 

Alec

[Relative amateur]

Thanks for the advice, all.

[Forest2Furniture]

Anyone willing to hire you their set up would have to take insurance into account.

Although chainsaw and any other sort of milling is relatively safe, you do need to understand the machine you're using and how it works but more importantly what to do if all goes tits up.

Experience is everything and unfortunately you can't hirer it

[Relative amateur]

I've taken the advice on board, and am working with Alec (AGG221) shortly to see if I can absorb some of his wisdom.

[Mark Bolam]

I've taken the advice on board, and am working with Alec (AGG221) shortly to see if I can absorb some of his wisdom.

 

 

Good call mate.

You'll learn more in a day than you'd think.

Milling is essentially pretty simple, but to do it well and efficiently is something else.

I doubt there's anyone out there milling who couldn't pick up new tricks here and there, simply because timber is so organic.

Even the very experienced lads wouldn't say they knew it all.

[muttley9050]

i have a lucas mill and cover the london area. contact me if it helps you. Unfortunately i dont cover the south of france unless the moneys really good. A basic lucas mill starts at around £20k + vat these days. This is why no one lets them out of there sight.

James