OliB

my .404 chains give me a kerf very close to 3/8ths inch when milling. I've read many times that it's supposed to be a couple of mm smaller than this, but not for me. In practice if I factor in 3/8s inch kerf over 6 or so cuts doing 2" boards on my logosol mill, my last board is exactly 2". Very occasionally when using my alsakan mill I use my smaller saw with 3/8s" chain on the mini mill to save changing the set up on my 880. That's not vastly different to the .404 in term of kerf, so I wouldn't expect a lopro chain to be massively worth the difference. I'm in the market for a band saw for many reasons, kerf being one of them.

I've used a forestry haulier to deliver oak for milling. I know he operates between Derbyshire and Mid Wales, but probably elsewhere too. Depending on distance I've paid £12-£20 a tonne haulage between 25 and 100 miles, including time spent picking thru stacks in the wood to get the best timbers for my purposes, so may be cheaper for firewood, but don't quote me on that. You might be looking at £65 a tonne plus vat delivered in, depending on what he knows about in your area. If it's personal firewood the VAT would only be 5%. I've had decent hardwood logs at £45 a tonne plus haulage and vat. No affiliation, just been very happy with what his company has done for me so don't mind saying so. I probably shouldn't pass on his details over a public forum without his permission, but if you're interested I could give him a call and ask him if it's ok to pass on his number, which I'm sure it will be. Oli

Have you got a photo of the set up and available space? Sounds like about 2 cu M of log, pretty hard to budge without a machine, or hydraulics. Might not be the answer you are looking for, but once you have taken the top slabs off, you could get an alaskan mini mill to square up the sides, then you could continue milling with your mates mill? Another option that may or may not work is something like Norwoods rapid dogging and rolling system. It won't allow you to hand turn a log that size, but might make it doable with one or two big cant hooks or the winch you've got? You could probably make something like that for less than you could buy it. Rapid Dogging and Rollng | Portable Sawmills & Forestry Equipment - Norwood Sawmills

I use the .404 on my Alaskan with 880. The kerf on a 3/8s is a very very small amount smaller, and not worth buying a new bar, sprocket and chain. I think TFM have a branch in Newport. My local TFM did me a really good deal on the 880 when I asked the manager. That was some time ago, but if they can help it won't be more than you would find a 660 for elsewhere.

p.s. I've never had a 36" baron! That should have read a 36" bar on the M8!

I had a log moulder briefly, but had to return it. Unfortunately Logosol UK, who I only have good things to say about, hadn't been told by headoffice that the log moulder is designed to only work with the 660. When I bought the M8, Logosol UK said really I would be best with a 660, or 880 saw. The 880 having more power, and therefore hopefully lasting longer, I went for that, as my local dealer gave me a price I couldn't turn down. Obviously I would have gone for a 660 had I known this. This is part of the reason I want to move to bandsawing, as the norwood 36hd can run their log moulder on the same tracks. Cost of the norwood band saw aside (which like you I primarily want for speed plus the potential to add hydraulics in the future if budget allows), a norwood moulder is not drastically more expensive than the combined price of the M8 log moulder and a new 660. I've never milled the logs for a kit log cabin, just used a flat pack some years ago. The other log cabins weren't moulded logs, but large WRC logs in the round up to 18" diamater. With regards to a 36" baron the M8, I can't get it square. I take your point that when the saw is running the bar droop is less noticeable, but I can't get square. I don't worry about this any more, as I've got an Alaskan mill for the larger logs that I couldn't get on the M8 anyway, and with a 25" bar I can mill anything that will fit of the M8, even if I need to knock off some fluted butts with another saw, which takes no time. Oli

Totally agree with CJM, does sound like an oiling problem. If your chain is then getting blunted on the bolts, it will overheat even more, and it sounds to me like the overheating is what's causing your issue. From my own experience even just a couple of hours milling forces me to pay far more attention to the bar and chain than days worth of cross cutting. I might be called over the top, but I clean the bar grooves and bar oil holes, give the chain a quick tickle with the precision grinder, and check the nose sprocket for lubrication or build up of debris every time I refuel with my 880 in smaller logs, and have to do it every cut in things like 36" oak at 16 foot, or the chain and bar just over heat, the chain dulls, and it takes 4 times as long. I now also oil the nose sprocket a couple of times a day, more in the big stuff, which makes a big difference (didn't used to do this at all, taking the argument that once you start oiling the nose sprocket you could be preventing bar oil from lubricating the nose, probably more because that's easier than oiling it, than because I thought that was best practice if I'm honest). I wasn't that fussy a couple of years ago, the price I paid was wearing out a couple of nose sprockets, and killing a good bar. The only other suggestion is tension of the Alaskan mill bar clamps. Are you using a torque wrench? I still don't do this by feel, since too much tension causes the bar clamps to squeeze the bar, and make it harder for the chain to travel in the bar grooves. Even with the torque wrench, once set up I pull the chain thru the bar to check I'm happy with the freedom it has. With my torque wrench I set it to the minimum recommended nm, as I have these issues at 17nm,but not at 14nm. Part of the same issue is getting the bar clamp, at the nose sprocket end, fitted no closer to the nose than the rivets that attach the nose sprocket to the bar (not the rivets of the sprocket itself), as any closer and that also limits the chains movement. I don't know if other Alaskan millers have the same experiences?

Thanks agrimog, It's my understandig that the pmx chain gives a kerf somewhere between 1/4" and 3/8", where my .404 chains seem to be spot on 3/8s". With my 880 I've plenty of power to support the slightly wider kerf, which seems to clear sawdust more effectively, and requires less sharpening. The over all amount of timber wasted is negligible when you add up a few cuts at the extra kerf of about 1/16" (0.00358 cu meters in my previous example of oak 4"x2"s, or 43p worth of oak even at £120 a cu meter), and the pmx bar and chain are relatively pricey compared to .404, which would also last me longer with less sharpening. But that's a swings and roundabouts debate, as a pmx set up will mill slightly quicker. I've never tried inverting the M8 for oversize logs, it honestly didn't seem worth the effort, so I have an alaskan mill and 6m long ladder for larger dia logs. I did about 25 tone last year of logs that were 3 foot wide and 5m-6.5m long. The M8 works well with 21" and 25" bars, but when I've tried to jump up to my 36" bars, for milling the fluted butts on some cedar I have, I got between 10mm (Sugi bar) and 12mm (Stihl bar) of bar droop, meaning my timber wasn't square. Not a problem with the Alaskan mill, as the bar is clamped at both ends. I know logosol sell a bar end guide/clamp that attaches onto the bar/chain guard, but the chain guard isn't long enough to fit on a 36" bar, and I haven't found this necessary, as the M8 mills perfectly square using a shorter bar that doesn't droop. If I get a band saw,my main contender right now, having failed to find a reasonable second hand mill, is a new norwood hd36. My reasos are that I can buy a stationary manual mill with 90cm log size, and add whatever hydraulic, trailer and power options I want as my budget allows in the future. No one else seems to offer this option, good on you Norwood! Woodmizers LT20B seems a more sturdy mill, but it costs a lot more as you have to buy it with a power head and setworks, which is the last option I would need, and their log house moulder doesn't fit any of their mills but the lt10 or 15 (i've built a small number of log cabins in round logs and one kitt cabin, and need to build more in the future). No one has bitten my hand off to make an offer around the £1800 mark, and considering it cost nearly half again as much as that, I'll probably hang on to it. Its possibly a better tool for squaring smaller oak into gate posts than a band mill, as the chainsaw probably handles the gritty bark better than a bandsaw, so it's not the end of the world! Cheers, Oli

Hey, I've got some ash logs that have been sat in the round for about 5 years undercover. Been letting them dry a little with the hope of making some electric guitar bodies one day. But I've also got a mill and a kiln, so could sort you out depending on how quickly you need them. My kiln does about 6 weeks for hard wood, but will likely be quicker with partly dry logs. I'm just milling some oak boards to fill the kiln for oak doors, so could stick the ash on the top, and be firing by the end of next week. I've also got a large ash tree that needs to come down, so could definitely do this for you if you're stuck. Oli

I can see 3dogs point. Thanks for the input. I was hoping to get an offer around the £1800 mark, but didn't throw this out initially, as if it is only worth something like £1000 I didn’t want to be unrealistic, and couldn't pass it on for that price. On first glance the two mills seem similar. So I just looked up the spec of the farmers mill. It retails at £1100 + VAT, whereas the M8 retails for £2150 + VAT. You also need to buy a chainsaw carriage £159+VAT or your saw won't mount on the mill. So a new M8 plus carriage would be £2770.8, and a new farmers would be £1510.80. 2 years ago the M8 was around £2400 inc VAT and chainsaw carriage. It wouldn't be worth letting it go for around the £1000 mark. But selling it on would help pay towards a bandsaw mill, so please forgive the following shameless attempt to sell it for more than £1000. It may be 3dogs is right, and it’s not worth more than £1000, but if I compare the 2 mills hopefully any interested parties will at least appreciate why I would be loathe to sell it for this price, even if they don’t agree. Why the difference in price? I guess the farmers is the budget model. Logosol claim the m8 "is almost maintenance free, and it will work when you need it, for decades", but make no such claim for it's little brother. The m8 as standard does logs up to 5.1m, and farmers 3.8m. M8 is anodised, farmers "Mainly made of aluminium alloy". The farmers mill doesn’t have the heavy cross beam at the front to steady the mill, and also doesn’t seem to come with the log ladder for loading logs, although it looks like it can be added, as I can see notches for the fittings on the pictures. They are £70 each plus VAT, bringing a farmers mill up to £1678.80 inc VAT, chainsaw carriage and log ramps. But most importantly the M8 has a choice of 1/4" or 1/8s” scale, and "accuracy is impressive", farmers just has a scale of 1/4". This is the biggest sticking point for me, why? The kerf is 3/8ths (or .404), so with a scale of 1/4" you can't factor in the kerf of the saw! So when milling 4"x2"s, for example, I can square a log to 12 &3/4s" wide by 15&1/4” wide (increments of 2" plus the kerf of 3/8s), so the next cuts are 15&1/4", 13&7/8s", 11&1/2", 9&1/8", 6&3/4s", 4&3/8s" and finally 2". Then I can resaw the seven 12 &3/4s" x2" I’ve got into 4"x2"s, and have twenty one 4"x2"s. To do this the two cuts need to be 8&3/4” and 4&3/8s”. You just couldn’t do that with the farmer’s mill. There’s a reason it costs less, and maybe some can live with it, but for what I’ve been doing it wouldn’t have been possible to achieve regular dimensions, everything would be 1/8” over or under specification on both measurements. What I can offer is that if anyone is still interested, and don’t have any experience with the Logosol mills, they would be welcome to drop by when I’m milling, and see what it does, how I’m set up, and what I can produce. Cheers, Oli

Hi Marcus, Did you make any decisions on what saw to buy to go with your farmers mill after we spoke a couple of weeks ago?

I've got the same problem, posts rotting off at ground level in less than 5 years. Even a 7"x7" gate post just snapped where rotted at ground level in 4 years. I am on heavy waterlogged clay though. I've started milling my own 4"x4" oak and chestnut posts, as untreated green oak.chestnut will last me longer than any modern softwood pressure treated with the rubbish they are allowed to use these days. I'm tempted to buy some good old fashioned creosote, and soak the bottom couple of feet of the new posts for a month or two. There's creosoted softwood fence posts here that the previous owner put in 40 to 50 years ago that are still going strong. Do it once, do it well! Just be aware that creosote if frowned on these days, but I don't think it's banned for this use, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Here a couple of pics of the m8. Anyone bought one second hand before, and know what they go for? Cheers, Oli

Hi Keith, That would be very kind of you. Just spoken to Richie, and it's all looking good. If you are able to do that it would be greatly appreciated. Could you have a look for nails whilst you are there, if it looks like a porcupine I might have to reconsider! Cheers, Oli

Sounds fair, I'm happy to do it.

I've found that I have to take my alaskan mill of the saw every few cuts (usually at a length of 16foot/4.8m or half that, and ussually in oak) to clean the bar groove and specifically the chain oil hole). Same with my logosol mill. I nearly always mill oak (about 70 tonne last year), but occasionally WRC also, and very occasionally alder and ash, never milled anything else. I've also has issues with WRC, obviously a soft wood, created issues that I wasn't expecting (it's softer than hardwood, right?), but ensuring that the chain is well lubricated with oil by paying extra attention to cleaning the bar oil hole really helps. WRC is very 'stringy', so that may be responsible for my issues, as the fibres may be clogging everything up. Hope this helps, Oli

Looking for inspiration for character for my new log house I'm building I came across these ideas for log chairs. Love them. They don't necessarily need to be attached to a house. Planners made me go for log post and beam in the end (after requesting that if I did another log cabin could I please render it externally... the horror!), so can't do it, still using WRC butts fluting up to 4 feet wide though.

I bought a 6m long ladder last year for about £100 online. I had alot of 6m plus oak beams to do at 8"x8" for a new barn. I just couldn't get a true beam moving a ladder, or using 2, but maybe that was just me. I kinda needed a 6m ladder to work on the barn anyway, so two birds with one stone!

I'm about 35-40 mins from Kidderminster. I don't normally mill for hire, but would consider it. Any rates agreed already? How big is the Ash? Length and top dia, butt dia would be appreciated.

I've had a M8 from Logosol for nearly 2 years, it's been great. I run an 880 on it. Very clean cuts when maintaining bar and chain (I got a Granberg 12volt sharpener from Rob at Chainsawbars.co.uk/alaskanmill.co.uk (no affiliation), which btw is awesome) BUT, .404 kerf on the 880 and manual handling, vs much smaller kerf on a band saw, speed of cutting, and hydraulic log handling capabilities are making a bandsaw very appealing, and obviously means more productivity with less effort. So... anyone want to sell their band saw? Anyone want to buy my M8? I'm not sure what a used M8 is worth, any advice? Can't find any on ebay to compare to. Is that because they go very quick? Logosol website claim they are the most sold chainsaw mill, so abit surprised there's no other used M8's for sale. Do they tend to go quick, or does everyone tend to hang on to them? (For that matter I haven't found many bandsaws for sale anywhere near) I'm near Ludlow in Shropshire if anyone wants a look. I'm pretty new here, so no pics yet. I can upload some pics of the beams and boards I have produced if anyone is interested. Mills I'd be interested in, or similar, Woodmizer Lt15/LT20/Lt40, Norwood MX34/HD36. Nothing smaller than 70cm dia logs, preferably 60cm+ cants. I like the versatility of the Norwood HD36, as it can be purchased static and manual, but upgraded to fully hydraulic, mobile, power head etc. Woodmizer obviously a bit more heavy duty, but you can't start off at the bottom and make additions as budget permits Any advice appreciated, and any offers to buy my mill or sell me another would also be great. Cheers, Oli

Thought a couple of photos would aid my description. Can't find the 30 degree one I use for weathertops, so this is just for squaring beams/sleepers/posts, but I'm sure you get the idea. Also, having looked at it, it's 2 6"x2"'s and a 4"x2", not the other way around, as the mini mill probably wouldn't sit on a 4"x2".

I use an alaskan minimill for this sort of thing. For square sawing I have 2 4"x2"'s screwed together to make a L shape, overlapping at the corner, and a 6"x2" screwed over the 4"x2" to sit down the length of the beam/sleeper. The other 4"x2" sits across the beam/sleeper with an alaskan minimill rail fixed on that. I just clamp it in place and it doesn't move, which is preferable to screwing it down and putting holes in good timber. Cuts a perfect square edge every time using a sharp small chainsaw. I did have one set to 30 degrees for weather tops aswell. I'm probably going to make another one at 8 foot long with a square at each end to regularise sleepers and gateposts without having to measure anything.