A good and interesting question WendelP, which I gave considerable thought to.
The answer is a combination of my iffy back, space, portability, simplicity, budget, type and size of timber, and seeing one in action.
To cut my thick oaks would need a top end wide bandsaw costing more than my budget. It would need to be permanently housed indoors and that would take up a large portion of my barn. There's then the question of how I'd get logs inside to cut- it would need a tractor or telehandler immediately. Big bandsaws aren't necessarily the best fit for wide oaks. The bands can warp when hitting knots, so you can end up with irregular cuts. They also don't easily do a second vertical cut without something like an edger, so you have very heavy wide slabs that are hard to handle- tricky without a fork lift or front loader. They don't like dirty old hardwoods- it could end up costing a packet in blades. They won't easily quarter saw without a lot of turning the log- tricky with a big one, and I like the idea of quarter sawing as a premium stable product.
That all pointed me to circular swing saws as best for my needs. A Lucas or Petersen is about £13.5K plus the Vat. The Turbosaw is about half that for the basic chainsaw model. It easily breaks into sections one person can carry (with care and method), which are easy to store compactly. It'll cut dimensional planks which are easy to carry; no need for machinery to do so. It can be carried either into the wood, or assembled outside my barn as required. Its simple and robust, sharpening is quick and simple and it doesnt get through blades, you only need to sharpen the 4 tungsten cutting tips and replace maybe them every couple of years for a very low cost. They have no problem with hard dirty wood and there's no limit to the size of tree they'll cut. Its dead easy to quarter saw with them. There's also no problem doing a wide slab if you occasionally want to for a nice table top- there's even a cradle to hook over the beam which takes an Alaskan, so you can create the flat top and then run an Alaskan along it.
There's also the possibility of taking a Turbosaw to other sites and renting yourself out as a service. Something I might consider in due course.
It seems the obvious choice for my needs, and seeing one in action really convinced me. Matt, the distributor, is very helpful and I believe he's getting lots of interest and orders. Its an evolution from the existing kit available and I think they will prove very popular. Mine has been a joy to use and I'm delighted with the initial results.
http://www.turbosawmilluk.co.uk/
by oldclaypaws » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:09 pm