9 FT Rail Mill Guide System 3 Crossbar Kits Work with Chainsaw Mill…

Well made. Easy to use. Durable. We bought one and was impressed so bought 2 so we could mill longer boards easily. Very happy eith this purchase.

Good

The directions could be a little better. I had to look at them a few times to make sure that I had it in the right direction and had the right screws.

The instructions are in pictures, not words. The pictures are laser printed and are quite clear. Sort your hardware and pieces and you should have it figured in no time. Step 1, mount the angle pieces to the center of the cross over so they come together at the center. Once tightened, the dog goes between them. If it's tight, start the dog at an angle and with light pressure it will go in. The cross overs mount to the rail via the square screws. Wing nuts are used on the connector pieces. It will all make perfect sense once you start using your mill.The 3' lengths are all 3', the gaps people see or the bends people see is because the cross overs are not square to the rail. A measuring tape and/or square fixes the problem.You can start with a perfectly assembled rail, when you start adding, subtracting sections, moving the dogs and levelers around to the length of your log, it will, after awhile resemble a snake. A small gap or curve in the rail is not an issue, you are leveling the rail from to back and side to side, if the rail makes a slight curve or you have an 1/8 gap, it will not bother your mill a bit. I do keep a cheap joist square and measuring tape when it gets out of hand. If all you are doing is 8.6 logs on a 9' rail, use a lock washer or light thread lock or have the joints welded. Lengths are assembled the way there are because of people like me that add and subtract 3' sections at a time and do multiple logs a day. It is designed that way for quick adjustment. The nature of the beast, vibrations will start to back out wing nuts and we've caught a couple of leveling screws that backed out. Bees wax is the best answer for what we are doing as the rail is indeed being adjusted that often. This is not a design, engineering or manufacturing flaw. All rail systems are about the same.Per one review about the dogs being cheap...the only way to bend one going in is with a big hit at a bad angle. They are stabalizers, there is no reason to drive them in hard. A little tap with the back of a hatchet and they are home. You do have to be careful prying them out sometimes, don't use your rail as a lever especially near a connector. Common sense and don't drive the dog into the log as if it's a railroad spike. Female (me), back of a hatchet, light tap, it's in. 1" wide, 18" long, under the rail, quick tap, they are out.

These rails are great, so much easier than messing with lengths of lumber to get a first cut. The sections are easy to get level and stable and having multiple locations for the leveling screws is a nice option.The sections are light weight and easy to assemble to the desired length at the work site. The only thing to be wary of is that the spikes are super sharp and will stab you if you aren’t careful :-)

Disclaimer: I have not used this tool yet, but I just assembled it.It is made with good materials, but in my opinion it's too flimsy. There is a LOT of deflection until you drive down the adjusting screws, and I mean a LOT!!! If/when I set it up for the first time to actually mill a log, I'll probably bring along a string to make sure the first cut is straight.Others use segments of extension ladders for the first cut, and now that I see this rail system, I wish I had gone that route too.I'm not gonna knock it all the way yet, because I have not used it yet, and it might still amaze me.... but I doubt it.It is also very narrow and I have concerns about keeping my 36" bar levelled on it, whereas on a ladder, this would not be a concern.If you plan on cutting 12" diameter timbers, it might be an excellent tool, but for larger diameter logs I'm just very doubtful.I got it now, and will try it when I get the chance, but my recommendation to all who want to cut larger logs would be to get a 20' extension ladder, drill & tap holes for some adjustment bolts and drill some holes for regular deck-screws to hold it in place. The ladder will be a much better guide than this flimsy tool.For the engineers of this product I would recommend to attach 1/4"X2" flatstock to the sides in order to take the flex out of the rails.

I have a video that I will post soon to explain in more detail. But there are linkages (small pieces of metal) that are used to link together multiple sections of rail. First day out I noticed one of the linkage bars was bent and so the whole system made a crooked first cut. Then I found the issue and took the crooked piece into my workshop and straightened it. Second issue was that the wingnuts do not stay tight for some reason. I tightened them all by hand and a few came loose while I was milling. Fortunately the pegs were hammered in solidly and nothing moved, but this is something that you should be aware of. I think I may add some split-lock washers to hold them steady.

I bought this rail system to use with a Granberg Alaskan mill. Honestly, I was new to chainsaw milling back then and thought I needed this. I didn't. The most prominent design flaw has to do with vibration of the rails while cutting. Even a fast cut causes the bolts to loosen from the vibration. I tighten them as well as I can, and they always come loose. I've lost a few now. It's caught me off guard every time. The hooks do help hold the rail in place, but only if you pound them in. I understood that the bolts serve as a method of leveling the two rails. But the rails quickly change position when the bolts loosen. I now use a ladder that I can adjust and fit as needed for the given log. I also have a ladder now...