Chainsaw Sawmill

Chainsaw Sawmill FARM HOME Miscellaneous 14-2-28 When Ronald Kurtz decided to build his own log home on his farm near Wooster, Ohio, he started talking to sawmill opera-tors in his area but couldn't fmd a mill that could saw the 36-ft. logs he needed for his cabin. "We also looked at the new portable bandsaws that are on the market. With the costs of these saws starting at about $5,000, however, I decided to build my own saw using a chainsaw that I already had. "The sawmill is very simple. It consists of a track, three adjustable log-holding bunks, and the saw carriage. The log is laid on either two or three bunks, depending on the length, and they're adjusted for the depth of cut. The saw is mounted stationary in the carriage, which is pushed by hand down the track. "I used a Stihl 075 chainsaw with a 32-in. bar and regular round tooth chain. With this chain, you get a very smooth cut. By changing to a special ripping chain, a coarse rustic cut can be achieved. That's the cut we used for the fmished side inside the cabin. The maximum diameter of the log that can be cut on this saw is 20 in. and the length is 36 ft. with 40 ft. of track. "The saw is very inexpensive to operate. The total fuel used to saw all logs (on three sides of each log), boards, and posts was less than 25 gal. on this 24 by 32 ft., 1 1/2-story cabin. We resharpened the chain after about every two tanks of fuel. This can be done by removing the saw from the carriage. We started the house with a new chain and it's still in use. "The total costs of materials to build the sawmill, excluding the chainsaw, was under $450. At this time I do not expect to build these saws commercially but I can make plans available." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ronald Kurtz, R.L. Kurtz Enterprises, P.O. Box 942, Wooster, Ohio 44691-0942 (ph 216 262-6146).

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