FTF #46 Alaskan Chainsaw Mill Winch Hack! How To
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- Free Woodworking Plans: samuraicarpente...
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A couple guys contacted me about setting up my Alaskan chainsaw mill with a winch after seeing my last video. A Big thank you to those guys because this thing works like a dream now! Check it out!
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Cool vid. I like that you show the struggles as well as the successes.
The winch is a great idea! Thanks for sharing that. And, I really appreciate your ability to laugh at your screw up (chain on backwards). We all make goof ups and laughing about it and sharing shows character on your part.
I've never seen the pulley system before, but it totally makes sense. Great video Jessie!
A suggestion to make starting and finishing the cut easier. If you affix a couple of straight sticks like 2x4s on top of the thing you want to cut in the direction you want to cut, overhanging by a foot or two on either side, you won't have to manually stabilize and support the mill at the start and end. This is how I've seen other people use Alaskan mills when milling logs which have irregular surfaces, they just attach a couple of long smooth and straight boards to the top of the log. Then you can just focus on making sure the winch is pulling, instead of tipping, the saw.
Chain on backwards! Love it, glad you left that in 😄😄😄😄 well worth watching
That is an incredible chain saw. Never seen anything like that before. Nice. :)
Just did it on my Granberg after watching and what a huge difference in reducing back pain
Jesse you always seem to be a step ahead of me! Cool setup. I just set up my mill and was about to do a video on putting a winch on it as well!
I just bought a winch last night to do this very same thing. My hands hurt after milling a couple slabs, (carpal tunnel). This is going to help a lot. Like the comments from a couple people about removing the handle and using a drill instead.
Man i admire your courage admitting that noob error! Nice job!
Man that double saw setup sounds BEAUTIFUL!
Great idea. I mill with a 661 and a 36 inch Alaskan.Not as big as your set up but it does get tiring milling all day. Worth a try.
2 videos in 3 days? WAY TO MAKE A MAN SMILE
I very much appreciate your honesty and integrity you have given with all your vids. I have been wanting to buy a Alaskan mill for several years now and still have not done it. I work alone so the double head one you have is not for me. However, I am 49 years old and I know these are a lot of work. Just wanted to know if you own a Alaskan mill smaller then the big one you bought and what size you bought and if you thought they are worth the money and hard labor you put into it. I was thinking about buying a new saw Stihl MS660 with a ripping chain and the easy rail they are making now.
That mill is bad azz with the two power heads. I just want one to mount on my truck and drive around to impress the ladies. I have used Alaska Mills in the past and that was impressive how well and fast that cut.
Hi Samurai, one cost saving tip to consider. Slabbing usually requires long run times especially with the big wood. a good cost saving tip is to cut your bar oil with much cheaper canola or vegetable oil. Depending on your preference a ratio of approx 30% reg bar to 70% veg/canola oil can result in a 50% cost saving on the expensive bar oil. Try not to leave anything in the bar oil reservoir for extended storage times. Also you have to be careful during extreme cold as vegetable oil starts to gell up.
Cutting downhill also helps! (i.e. lifting the starting side a bit)
If you put an eye bole on the front of the winch side. It may help guide the rope onto the winch and prevent troubles.
You have just the best toys! :)
Have a great weekend!
Cheers!
Haha ! Everybody put the chaine backward at least once , I did too ! Man you are equipped for mill racing , that really intense. I was expecting saw dust on both sides. I use a bungee at the anchor so it will stretch and give up pressure as you pull in ... Good milling !
Samurai, another excellent video. There is certainly something zen like cutting slabs out of a log with a strong chainsaw mill. A number of good points in your video and in the comments but I hope I don't offend by offering two more. Your apprentice needs to read the safety manual at least for the chainsaw. Also you might want to consider using a mask with proper vapour cartridges. If there is no wind and your head is close to the chainsaw exhaust for long slabbing sessions it can result in light headiness and bad for the lungs. Last week princess auto had these on sale for about $25. Again, you are killing it on the west coast.
Samurai, add an eyelet to the front rail in front of the winch. It'll help keep the rope in line for the winch take-up.
Hey! That worksh purty gud! Very nice result and clearly it's doing what it's supposed to..
You might consider looking at how a DoAll vertical band saw power feed is setup. The same counter weight and chain/cable setup could be applied to your Alaskan saw mill.
Can't wait to see what's next
One of these is definitely on my list.
Great stuff ! Seeing that makes me happy i have thinner trees to slab here lol. Did not know Zach Galifianakis was your new apprentice! Keep up the great videos!
Keep it up mate. Been watching for a long time.
Very nice! I'll be making mine today, but I'll be sure and make sure I put the chain on the right way (although I did it backwards myself a few days ago, but I caught it before I started cutting!). :-)
You could have some very nice electric guitar and bass guitar bodies from those slabs. Most Fender guitars like the Telecaster and Stratocaster are 44mm (1.75 inches) thick. Trouble is that most bodies get assembled from multiple pieces of dimensional lumber and have to be painted solid colors to cover up the seams and boring featureless grain.
While those big Garry Oak slabs would be too heavy for a complete body, you could cut one in half, chamber it, glue it back together and have a beautiful single piece oak body. A semi-hollow body Les Paul would be cool or cut them into 7-10mm thicknesses and use them for tops on lighter weight wood bodies.
Even the nicest pieces from companies like Warmoth, tend to be bookmatched because of the lack of available single pieces. Just another thought for those big pieces of cellulosic gold you have sitting there.
I wondered if its maybe a bit more consistent to instead of using wedges to hold up the log, use adjustable metal arms that are a bit free to move in one dimension and have them run spacers that will just slide along into the gap the saw cut out
just got my mill last week. hickory is tough wood. I might have to get a winch too.
Is there a reason you aren't shimming behind the cut? I've never used an Alaskan mill before, but I would think the weight of the top slab would pinch the saw? I really enjoy your channel. Thanks for making interesting content and sharing the knowledge.
Typically I would but for a piece this small it's not needed.
Question for ya, most slabs that I've ever worked with and have viewed on display are usually at least 5 feet long if not longer. That winch looks like You might have done better using one of those Harbor Freight, bumper mount, Jeep type winches. Did you elect to go with the manual winch route Due to Cost factor?
May be helpful to insert a couple of wedges after making your way through a few inches of the cut.
Great hack. May I suggest one modification? Place an eyelet or guide for the rope to pass through before entering the winch. I would place it on the front rail in front of the winch. It would keep the rope aligned and centered entering the winch barrel. Probably help avoid rope jamming-up the winch. Just an idea...
I figured this out as well, the rope also likes to wear on the round cross bar, so that is an issue. but good catch
Having 2 winches connected may be a better solution if you are operating this with 2 people or you want it easier to control side to side pivoting. A piece of bike chain and sprockets between the 2 winches would ensure they both stay aligned. Either way it looks like with a bit of practice it would make things really efficient.
looks newbtastic, I want one, isn't it always better to shim the wood off the chain?
I can't say this is especially convenient
Great info. I saw some live edge slabs in the background of your shop. Out of curiosity, how long do you or should you wait to cut up logs from the time the tree is taken down?
I don't know about that one cuh? Thumbs up for the effort!
Audio is a bit muddy
yeah maybe the mic is muffled under the jacket? Just fyi thanks samurai.
Nice add on. But does it work one man without the apprentice
Hey, I know you are just testing it out, but the anchor point for the winch needs to be level or below the reference face.
Is that like a double sided chainsaw?! sweet!
do you have the chainsaw milling book by Will Malloff? from the 70's. Pretty good information all around. and a winch system too
awesome! keep up the good work, my friend
I can barely understand you, the audio is really bad in this video
Would one chain saw "push start" the other chain saw without having to pull start both?
Nice. I hope WranglerStar picks up on this. He watches you too.
GOOD JOB)))
Hey, could you make a video about which Japanese hand saws you use?
I have already.
Ya, just poking fun. I saw you took the third one down, so you still have two. :-)
Who you callin' a newb? You are the one who had the chain (or heads) on backward! Great video and keep up the good work.
I squirmed a bit when Justin put his hand down the front of the chainsaw. Probably wasn't as close as it looked in the vid, but enough to wince at lol
this is his new apprentice? the guy cant even run a saw... you should never make someone with now saw experience run this... he don't even know what way the break goes.... or to turn the choke off after its warmed up...
Now, now!
That is why he is an apprentice. Remember, we all had to learn at some time how to operate a saw correctly. Some people don't ever get the opportunity to use power equipment and thus are clueless till they receive that experience.
Okay but thats my point exactly...you don't start someone off milling slabs... let him spend a week or two in the woods with a little small saw cutting brush and what not... i was young when i learned but when i was on the job my uncle made me run a small saw for like 6 months before i was even touching a 3 saw... it should be second nature what way the brake should go
Milling this one slab made him much more aware of how the process works. He's also not running the saw on his own. He's trying to listen and watch for instruction Jamie (Jamie? James? what's his name?) while doing his best to make the necessary changes quickly which, let's face it, can make someone nervous and second guess their normal common senses. But regardless, he's not you, he's not your apprentice, you're not the safety patrol. Just move along, sir.
bloody good, that
You really have to attach that second bolt on the wench itself to the sled. You're right the spinning of the leaver will keep pressure on that second bolt and keep it all in place, but why wouldn't you want to just attach it to the sled too?
FYI: if it matters, nylon rope stretches, dacron rope does not.
how user friendly is it with just one person?
I'll bet Madsen's would be interested in selling that setup once you get the system working well.
Need to go back to Princess Auto - or TSC - and get a steering wheel spinner and modify that handle on the winch... Your hand/wrist looked really awkwardly placed - looks like it would get uncomfortable after a few hours of slabbing.
We have an army Surplus store here locally that sells a thin parachute rope, extremely strong for the size of it... If you had less bulk on your ole winch drum, you might have less issues.
Great concept though - and a heck of a lot cheaper than a Wood Miser! I've never seen two chain saws work together like that. Cool!
Thanks for sharing.
I took the handle on my winch and cut in in half between the handle and the winch drum, then drilled it and bolted it together at half the radius. With the doubled rope through the pulley, there is a lot of winding to do. I also learned to let the saw cut without adding a lot of extra tension. easier on the chain, motor and doesn't wear out an expensive bar as fast.
jplease talk about wether you use a puchased ripping chain or have modified your own for use on th e chainsaw mill.
Granberg ripping chain is the best. You can order it online from their website.
Winches like that require a bit more tension than I think you were giving it.
Hahaha! Did you have your trousers on back-to-front as well?
Let's complain about audio when a chainsaw is involved... fucking genius
nice....just for fun you should have been wearing one RED and one GREEN suspenders
came here because of wranglerstar aaaaaand sub
i can't believe you didn't show us what was inside:) epic hack
you get a different mic?
Great tip. just wish we could have seen what that cookie looked like once you cut it. lol No money shot.
Princess auto is Canada's Harbor Freight
I just have the starting edge higher than the other end and let gravity do some of the work.
Very cool, but the audio is hard to hear.
Why don't you just build a frame on which you can install this chainsaw system? The frame would have adjustable legs for the proper height according where you want to cut and the chainsaw mill itself could just slide on the frame with bearings or something. Btw really great channel, and you are a good man. Keep up! (sorry for the bad english from the other end of the world :D)
Doesn't a Samurai throw himself on his sword when he fails? lol 😂 Just kidding. Great video!
Years ago, while cutting shake blocks up the coast, one morning I sleepily slapped together a chain using 5 short left overs of rolls to make a 36" loop. Upon completion I noticed that I'd put it together with a twist, easily rectified with the hearty encouragement from waiting co-workers. It wasn't until I started bucking that it became apparent that something else was amiss with my new chain, I had one section of about 20 drivers inserted backwards into the loop. AArrghh !! some days are like that, I was able to squeeze another day of cutting out of my old peg toothed chain. Taking extra care to avoid rocks as a rock would have sheared off what little tooth remained.
I'm so confused as to how two power heads turn the chain in sync. It seams like they would be going different rpms. I'm a newb
MrRalvsx they have clutches bud that slip only under load to they apply torque. speed equals the torque applied. hope that makes sense
Put a wire rope on that winch it won't stretch like a nylon rope will.
now just attach a cordless drill to it and bambo power winch.
Wow i never thought about that :)
seems relevant
Nice
Next investment for you is a calendar boi ;)
I would have liked to have seen the surface after the cut, just to see how clean the cut it is?
I’ve totally done the backwards chain thing. 😂
Why not use your bandsaw mill?
the chainsaw mill will cut wider lumber
Chris Mills it's not practical to lift a couple hundred pound log up and push it through a bandsaw. Also, you really don't want to put green wood on your bandsaw, unless you like a rusty cast iron table. One last reason, logs are dirty. You don't want to cut a dirty log with a good bandsaw blade. Bandsaw mill blades are thicker and meant to be used on dirt covered logs.
#SamuraiFail
Great idea though. Thinking about getting an Alaskan mill for some light work. DIY or BUY? lol
if you, some how, attach a drill to the winch you have a "fully automated" mill...
Your mic sounds broken.
NYLON rope! You might as well use a giant rubber band, way too much STRETCH in nylon rope.. 3/16 Steel cable is a must use.
nice
good vid sound quality seems like your talking under a blanket
cool
Hahaha I think we have all put a chain on backwards at one time. Even though some won't admit it.
put a drill on the handle
thats what I did to mine works awesome,
Be careful. W/ a similar winch my father let go of the handle by mistake, we don't know exactly what happened, my brother looked back from the tractor and my father was laying in a pool of blood and passed out. He lost several teeth w/ a hole in the side of his face.
Two power heads, WTF?? Do they not fight each other?
we've all done that....
It's scary to watch a fellow who doesn't know how to work a chain break use that machine. I watched the other Alaskan mill video and there is a lot of exposed bar very close to knees. No disrespect to the guy for being a newb, just looking out for him. Stay safe you two!
4:55 You touched that ring while it was still hot didn't you. That'll learn you.
Hahahahahahahahahahaaa chain back wards you are so ffffff funy. Dude
😀
Hey Samurai, my setup is good for 6 ft. let know know if i can help. up in Cobble Hill. 510 9334