Logosol Mill

[Timberwerks]

Is anyone using this or have any comments? It looks interesting.

http://www.logosol.com/

Dale

[farmhand]

I been using one for almost 3 years now. It has been great in helping build my house.   It is not, by anymeans, a  high production mill and do not expect to make a living with it.  But, they do make quality lumber that can be used as is or with very little sanding/planeing( very smooth cut).

It is also extremely portable.  

[logosoluser]

I have had one about 4 months, so the new hasn't worn off yet, but they are a lot of fun. It is a real nice piece of work. I have sawn about 750 bd. ft so far, and I like it better every time I use it. I agree it is not a high production thing, but for someone who is building things all the time it is ideal. It is solid built and very simple. I love the simplicty of it; if the saw runs the mill will work.

[Paschale]

There was a recent article in Mother Earth News about a man and his family that built their house entirely from wood milled from their land with a logosol.  He highly recommended it in the article.  It might be worth tracking that down--it's within the last few months, though I don't know the exact month.  

[Arthur]

Ive seen a number of these mills being used and even used one myself.

great for small logs and can actually cut quite fast in softwood if you have a large chainsaw and setup the chain for fast cuts.

extreame entertainment watching bigger than 300mm logs being loaded

[EdK]

I have used one of these mills also. A friend bought one 2-3 years ago and I've had an opportunity to assist him to cut some birch logs.

Observations:

I like the chainsaw concept as a power unit for the remote locations in the woods and such but for his stationary application (right behind his workshop) the Logosol electric head would seem a better choice. Also I was wondering why a 10-20hp vertical shaft 4-cycle engine on a simple carriage with a chainsaw bar wouldn't work out well in a stationary application? As an aside I was thinking about this as an alternative to the typical intermediate step of building some sort of chainmill head when designing/building one's own bandmill - comments?

The light aluminum framework is light no doubt - but my impression was that it bordered on too light for stationary operation. Not that it was flimsy for its' intended purpose - it was pretty rigid/well engineered. My impression is that this mill seems designed to handle the smaller softwoods of Scandinavia. For example when my friend loaded a 16" dia 12' log with a small Massey Ferguson tractor, I was concerned that the whole mill would flip on its' side.

I'm not trying to disparage the unit in any way. I believe to mill softwoods or smaller hardwoods in the field it is good. I would just caution someone who planned on using it more in a stationary method for anything more than light volume to try before you buy.

[Arthur]

EdK

We do this as an entry level mill.  two end frames and 3.6m of rails with a cradle to house any size chainsaw.  You can howwever use a vertical 4 stroke or electric.  

For stationary mills the electric is prefered as it give a very smooth operation (and cut) and constent power. Fuel powered systems pulse and vibrate a lot more.  The electric is also quiet and ideal for enclosed areas where you dont want fumes.

Warning with electric - if your wood is very wet you need a sealed motor that can handle the wet.  When green Iron Bark and Turpintine are very wet.  When felling a 300mm Iron Bark we got close to 12lts of liquid out withing the first minute and Turps is even worse. Takes forever to dry in log form.

Turps is one of the best decks we have done for swimming pools fresh or salt.

[Captain]

Feedback??  I owned one.  It got me addicted to sawdust, then I felt the need for SPEED and sold it in favor of a Peterson WPF.  The mill was GREAT, accurate, easy to use, rugged,  the only problems I had were related to the cords used on the hand winch for lifting (wore out a set) and the cord used to winch the chainsaw along (wore one out too)  These were understandably wear items, but covered under the warranty.  

The rest of the story is that I sold it to FF member ENGINEER who also got bit by the sawmill bug and bought a WoodMizer.  It is on to its third owner now.

As far as chanisaw mills go, it is the best in my opinion.

Captain

[EdK]

Arthur,

Thanks for your response. I am one of the many here that do not own a mill and if I did it would be for hobby use around a small farm so most of the commercial offerings are out of my budget. This leaves me to daydreaming (but not acting) on a mill. I see a lot of guys on this forum building their own mills and they earn my respect. I do not underestimate the R&D that goes into your (and other) commercial mills. One thing that will never get captured by this forum is the fact that for every success story there are likely X=(1,10 or 25) incomplete/flawed/unuseable/unsafe home-built mills out there.

[Ianab]

Also I was wondering why a 10-20hp vertical shaft 4-cycle engine on a simple carriage with a chainsaw bar wouldn't work out well in a stationary application? As an aside I was thinking about this as an alternative to the typical intermediate step of building some sort of chainmill head when designing/building one's own bandmill - comments?

Hi Ed

Yes it can be done
Lucas and Peterson both make units like that using their normal track / frame setups. They are a lot slower than a circle blade or band mill, but are sold for cutting wide slabs for table tops etc. As you say there are issues involved in makeing something like that safe and reliable. But it can be done

This is the Lucas unit

This is the Peterson slabber, it has hydralic drive, just push the lever and it cuts, very cool  



ian

[EdK]

Hi Ian

Thanks for the encouragement. My present course action is to self-educate and meditate on the idea before rushing forth.

It would seem to me that much of the cost of a swing-blade is tied up in the raw materials and fabrication of the framework and getting it from NZ to the US east coast. Maybe one day one of the vendors will offer the saw head to the home-builders and we could take care of the rest!

Haven't been to NZ since '89 - love to get back one day

Ed

[Arthur]

Edk

have a look at www.doublecut.com.  They now have swingers being made in Canada.

[Arthur]

lanab

you forgot ours but thats normal.

Lucas and Peterson are slow (small engines) and restricted in width (limit but the frame size).

Our new one has a 2m cut and runs a 20hp petrol or HydroDrive via diesel. Amazing cut speeds but still not as fast as using the swinger

[Ianab]

Sorry Arthur.. it wasn't intentional.. I just never seen one of your mills in real life
From memory the Peterson had a 5ft cut, a 24hp Honda and was running thru a gearbox to keep the chain speed up. It was fairly fast cutting even thru a Rimu log.
I'm guessing your machine has similar capabilities, just a different sort of design?

Cheers
Ian

[Arthur]

Ianab

No Problem, everyone even owners are just realising that we are back in business.

All the compeditors could unlimit the size of their chainsaw units by mounting the engine above the bar like we do.  We then power the bar from both ends through double belts.  This gives a smoother and more distributed power to the chain and lets you put anysize bar on you can buy.  If you need a replacement bar try Cannon in canada and get a fat belly.  Keeps the chain in touch with the bar at all times and is a lot safer for horizontal use.  The straight bars tend to give lots of chain bounce.

Our main unit uses a 20 or 24hp honda but if you have the new HydroDrive we can power it with upto 80hp deisel.  you then need to goto a bigger chain as this can do real damage to the 3/8 we normally use.

Biggest ive seen was in WA where one of our owners was slabbing 10' burls from Jarra using 5/8 chain.  I wil try to get some pics for you.

[Paschale]

I was able to see the Logosol in action this weekend.  There was a big woodworking show here in Grand Rapids, MI, and there was a large demonstration area on milling sponsored by Logosol.  It was fun watching the mill in operation, and I think it's a pretty slick set up.  They piled up the lumber, and it was beautiful stuff.  It seemed to me that it did what it set out to do quite well--not speedy, but effective.  This woodworking show is going around the country, so Dale, perhaps it will land somewhere near you.  Plus, there were tremendous seminars going on.  I really enjoyed Marc Adams and Kelly Mehler.  Great stuff!

www.thewoodworkingshows.com

They also had the Logosol Planer/Molder on display.  That's a very impressive piece of equipment!  I can see why it's generated a lot of interest on the forum!

[Engineer]

As Captain said, I bought his Logosol.  Had it a bit over a year, and resold it because my anticipated needs were much greater than what the Logosol could reasonably handle.  I cut about a thousand board feet of lumber that would have been firewood otherwise - some red oak, some cherry, and my big prize which was about 250 board feet of 10-13" wide, 6/4 apple boards.  I sold the mill for $100 less than I paid for it.

I've since bought a Woodmizer LT30, manual mill; have cut about 9000 board feet with it in the past year, but even that wasn't meeting my timeframe for cutting so I hired out a guy with a WM LT40 Hydraulic to cut the remaining 15000 board feet I needed (building a timber frame house).  I still have about 8000 board feet of pine and mixed hardwoods to cut sometime this winter, and then it's back to one or two logs at a time.

I liked the Logosol, it can hold a fairly large log and the mill seems to be quite a bit more accurate than a bandmill.  The downside is that if you don't have the time for it, it's not the mill for you.  Still, given the choice between a Logosol and a small bandmill (an entry-level mill such as a WM LT15 or similar), I'd take the Logosol.  The versatility to easily make tapered cuts, highly accurate cuts, quartersaw easier than a bandmill, and be able to use the big chainsaw for other purposes (not to mention not having to constantly replace band blades) are big pluses.  Even better, if you're using the mill for woodworking, get the Woodworker's Mill, which can cut smaller length logs and can be expanded to cut longer pieces if necessary.

[DonE911]

 

Looks like I just bought me a used Logosol!!!!!!!!

Well, when I get paid on Friday I will....  gotta go pick it up in GA or TN, but the biggest step is done....... sawdust very soon!!!!!!

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Way to go. Let me know when ya get ready to saw. I wanna watch.  

[DonE911]

FDH....  I'll do that.... we'll do some bbq and a beverage after.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Does that mean I gotta help    I don't DO Alkyhaul.

[DonE911]

Good... I don't drink, so we can have bbq and Ice Tea.  No you can just watch and offers opinions, tell stories... you know.. baber shop type stuff.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Ah kin doo thaaat.