# Easiest way to mill?



## ffjdh (Nov 7, 2010)

I'm looking to mill up some large yellow pine trees. Ive never done any milling before and do not have any milling equipment. I'm looking for cheap and easy solutions to cut boards out out large yellow pine trees. So far i'm thinking an Alaskan mill would be the cheapest. Would anybody have any idea if there was a place that rented these mills out in the Santa Cruz CA area? Any other ideas on how I could easily and cheaply cut some of this wood up?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

ffjdh said:


> I'm looking for cheap and easy solutions to cut boards out out large yellow pine trees.


When it comes to milling cheap/easy are mutually exclusive.

You are thinking about a chainsaw mill, relatively cheap...not easy. Pine should not be as hard as, well hardwoods. I have never heard of anyone renting them out though. It takes a pretty expensive powerhead (chainsaw) to run one that is really going to cut anything. And milling is hard on them.

While a CSM (chainsaw mill) will allow you to cut them in place, which saves some work since the logs (reading your earlier post) are going to weigh 2500 lbs each. It's a slow very labor intense process to make lumber with a CSM.

I would not rule out finding a guy with a bandsaw mill, he could make quick work of your logs for pennies a bft. If money is an issue _maybe_ you can find a guy who will share cut. He takes a share (lions share on pine) and cuts for "free".



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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Daren said:


> I would not rule out finding a guy with a bandsaw mill, he could make quick work of your logs for pennies a bft. If money is an issue _maybe_ you can find a guy who will share cut. He takes a share (lions share on pine) and cuts for "free".
> .


I second finding a sawmiller. The best trade off between cheap and easy is a mobile miller who comes to your site. If I am thinking correctly, you wanted some slabs from those trees. You could also look for someone who uses a mobile Lucas or Peterson swing mill with a slabber attachment; so don't rule them out if you see they don't have a bandmill. They don't need the slabber if you can live with one slab per log.

A quick search turned up: 
http://www.santacruzconstructionguild.com/dave-smith-portable-sawmill-and-tractor-service/

or check woodwebs CA listings(not sure what is near you):
http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/directories/sdd.cgi


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