Johnpl315

Yeah I do agree it's not best practice. My trailer has a ramp on the back so no wood can come out the back only the sides. I will get a cargo net before firewood season starts.

I generally level load my trailer and then drive fast down the bumpy track from the wood, if nothing come out driving off road it should be fine on the road!

Yes but if you cannot compete then why would people but from you? I had an enquiry for oak sleepers the other day, I quoted £25 each only to be told covers are doing them for £24 I understand that large beams are a different kettle of fish but as a one man band I have enough trouble trying to move 8x8 gate posts on my own never mind a 20' beam! Is it normal that a customer would collect a beam this size? Sorry for hijacking thread...

Interesting thread. I have been milling oak but cut it all to shorter length posts and sleepers. To price an oak sleeper competitively against a builders yard such as covers the price basicly works out to just under £15 per cubic foot. Is it easy to sell larger beams? I have a very large high quality oak to mill in June. If I could get over £20 a cubic foot I would be very happy. Any advice?

I have used a few winches, titfor seeming the strongest and most robust. I have a lugall which is so quick and easy to set up it's great. No match for the tirfor in terms of pulling power or robustness but still a great but of kit! I bought the 1ton one first but the cable on it's is really short so I got the 1.4ton as well. It's only a little more expensive but the cable is almost twice the length. I have used cheaper small winches I am not sure what brand but tbh they where just like glorified ratchet straps and not very good. I have been looking at monkey winches because they look the business for heavy lifting! I am not sure how they comply with modern h&s as the overload protection is no more than 3 men on the handle! Apparently can pull 10ton so probably good for stump removal etc

Yeah I was considering a Norwood origionally but it has limited size capacity and I have nowhere to store it. The turbosaw warrior can tackle larger logs and packs away smaller. But it would be reassuring if any could give a good review!

I see they do freight from nz, looks like all in it may come to around £6500 maybe. The videos look quite good but obviously being powered by a chainsaw it's not as powerful as a lucas mill for example. But it must be lighter, I already have the chainsaw, it will still be a lot quicker and easier than chainsaw milling, with far less wastage. Looking like a good option!

The turbo saw warrior which used a chainsaw power unit to power a circular blad looks the business! Is there a uk importer?

I was having a look breifly online at the woodland mill but it's not big enough for the trees I have coming up. So far, I have sold everything I have milled fairly quickly which is why I am thinking a faster mill, time is money. I will google those others now. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming!

Ah I see. I just watched a video of the lucas mill, I am liking the fact it only has 5 teeth to sharpen! It's quite a big jump for me though as it's around £12000 I think, I would have to mill a lot of timber for it to pay for itself

Ah yeah interesting. Looks similar to a lucas mill. They show pics of it all on the back of a pick up so I assume it would all go on my trailer but it lists the main carriage as weighing 275kg. How do you move it?! Has anyone go any experience with it?

Hi all. I have recently started chainsaw milling with an alaska mill and husqvana 390. I have had fair gym good results however I am starting to get frustrated with slow cutting speed, wastage & high vibration and dust levels. What is the logical step up from the chainsaw mill? Have been looking online at the logsol bandsaw which costs a little over £7000 I think. I think Norwood do a similar one. The crux of the situation, I don't have anywhere undercover to store it. Has anyone got any experience of serra mills? Can the serra fe50 be disassembled and packed away inside? Or is there anything similar that can? I have an oak just over 3' diameter to mill. If I had a small mill then I could chainsaw mill it in to chunks and then cut it down further with a bandsaw?

Hi guys. Am thinking of buying some chains, only to use in conjunction with a hand winch. I have seen on eBay a chain that has a normal chain grabber on one end and a large oval ring on the other. They call this a suspension ring. Does anyone know if this large ring would be a suitable point to attach a shackle on to? Thanks, John

Thanks for that, really helpfull advice. I was doing some more milling yesterday, I halved the log then took slices off the half, so it's not quite quatersawn but it's not full width either. So far so good! The only think I have struggled with was getting started on the log and keeping it lever, I have a load of 8" by 2" that has a curve on both ends...

I only have a basic alaska mill. Is there an easy way to quater saw it? I have seen it done with a mini mill but it must be fiddly otherwise? Thanks

Hi, Wondering if anyone can help. I have milled out a section of large sweet chestnut last weekend. One of the slabs I have has a crack running down it about a centimetre wide and going a couple off feet in to the 9 foot length. The other two have hairline cracks which have not opened. The state is the slabs have not changed in the week, the split opened literally as soon as I cut it. I was hoping to either sell or use these boards Green. So my question is, are the splits likely to get worse? Also, I have quite a bit more available I could mill out. When you look carefully you can see each section has one small crack near the centre. If I roll the log so the crack runs horizontally I will be cutting in the same direction as the split so only one board should be affected. Does this make sense? I will try and attach a photo of the boards I have done. The grain really is quite beautiful so providing they don't split I will be a happy chappy! Thanks