Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill MKIV, G778-36 - Premium Portable 36 Inch Power Sawmill Attachment Tool Kit - Log Milling Machine - Cordless Wood Cutting Rail - Woodworking Parts Planer Router Equipment

I love this thing! I have used it to cut 8x8 beams and 3x12 boards out of 16 foot logs, and it works extremely well. I really like how it has a depth stop with a ruler so that I don’t have to mark out the thickness of the cut beforehand. Putting it together, setting up the saw, and putting it to use was straight forward. I currently use it in combination with the G555B vertical mill, which I tend to use for the initial cut since I don’t have a 16+ ft ladder to guide this mill.

Way too may reviews on the old Mark 4 - really enjoying mine more after the learning curve! Took my time putting it together (the folks at Granberg are really helpful!) and after a few tweaks, am already making the big beams I was dreaming of. ** Buyer Warning - fakes, Chinese knockoffs are abundant so make sure the ships/sold by align - any doubt, call Granberg. I got nailed on AMZN's "frequently bought together" recommendation of Chinese E-Z Rails (* I thought they were Granberg's but they weren't) - Last I checked Granberg does NOT sell their E-Z Rails through AMZN and are only 10', not the 9' I got. (* I will say I've milled probably 100' of beams so far on heavy pine timbers and they have worked fine - just kind of lame they are 9' rather than 10 as I need 20' beams so have to rocky them around a bit to make it work.) Great bush mill for doing rough work ....I'll never be good enough to create timbers for actual house building with these but it's exactly what I needed for my applications. 10/10 would buy again.

I chanced upon a variety of logs as my neighbor was having many trees taken down. His tree guys left em in 8-12' lengths for me, around 8-15" diameter. I have been turning them into beams and planks for about a month. I have a rancher 460 and bought 2 oregon 24" ripping chains. I'd say a 24" bar will cut up to 18" for sure, maybe 19" diameter logs. The Alaskan mill works very well, can be setup right or left handed, was easy to assemble and felt sturdy during many hours of operation. Tips from me and some I looked up: (A) sharpen sharpen sharpen, as soon as it gets slow sharpen chain; (B) I increased oil mix ratio to 40 to 1 to help engine during high use; (C) oil sprocket, bar and chain between changes; (D) since logs were smallish I setup 2 areas, one for first cut that I was able to roll logs under set mill and cut first cut (a leveled ladder on supports that I could adjust) and 2nd, a area with 2 4by4s I would lift logs onto for planking/beams since bending over all the time was tiring. I probably should have made a video, made a nice rustic purgola with the wood so far. Ok, so wood was oak, black cheery walnut and pine. The difference in speed and how hard the chainsaw worked was really noticeable (not surprising) between them all but most of all, how often I needed to sharpen. Also, I started 1 month after they were felled and found that the black cherry outsides dried fast and became very hard and wore down the chain fast (very annoying). Oak was next toughest and then, this was surprising to me, walnut was nice to cut and didn't overwork my chainsaw. The 15" Pine was well within the Rancher's ability and I expect I could put a 30" bar on it and cut up to 24" diameter pine. I wouldn't go past 18" with walnut and black cherry was a bog fest at 14". So for hardwoods of any good size, 75cc and up! As for drying, it is working out pretty well, trimming the outsides off the hardwoods with a table saw seems a must as soon as you have them in planks. (I did paint ends of logs as well with poly as soon as I got them) Still, some splitting but I think that is to be expected. The walnut also held up the best in this area wtr hardwoods I had. PIne doesn't split often but gotta get it setup well so it doesn't warp. Still learning but hope that helps any would be new owners of this. Finally, the ultimate plan is to get a small sawmill and just cut logs downto size as needed (to fit inside mill parameters and/or ligten for transport). For that the chainsaw mill will be perfect. It also worked very well for making beams, which I will continue to use it to make. Planks all came out pretty well and if you keep chain sharp and move at a nice pace, they only need touch up sanding if you want a good finish, but ultimately it is a bit of work/effort and time to make planks.(update: just cut up into lumber a 17" diameter black cheery log, 7' long. Slow but the rancher got the job done. Needed to sharpen chain after 2.5 cuts, but the lumber is a great reddish from a very straight section. Now, will it dry well... seems slower is better so maybe will cover it)*** my first batch cracked more than it should because I had some of it in more sun than the other part, consistent overall temperature is important (makes perfect sense, kilns do this)*** may have had to sharpen a little more than is typical due to no extra oiler and thus chain getting hot*** tried a standard 25 degree chain instead of ripping. Cut about the same speed, maybe even slightly faster. Finish was noticeably rougher. I had dulled my ripping chains over a number of cuts and wanted to finish off all the logs, not disappointed since I was making 6 by 6 or bigger beams. So finish did not matter.

This has been the best purchase off Amazon . With a little modification this has paid for itself in the cost of lumber ten fold!

does what it says. harder to use on hardwoods than soft pine

I ordered this one to see if I could do something with a Red Elm that was cut down last week.The instructions that came with it were very clear and it didn't take much more than 20 minutes to assemble.Outside I made a small frame to keep the mill level, strapped it to my MS661 and cut up some 2 1/4" thick slabs that turned out really nice.