I had the exact same plan--turn windthrown timber into lumber. I purchased the Granberg mill from Bailey's sizing it to my 32" bar. I have a Stihl 660 powerhead. Thus far the largest thing that I have cut has been approx. 24" or a tad larger. This setup works fairly well but can be slow going when cutting the full width of the log. I would prefer having the larger 880 powerhead but the significant increase in price was more than I wanted to invest. My total investment thus far with saw and mill has been about $1200. I bought ripping chain from Bailey's. It looks pretty similar to chisel chain with different edge geometry but it does give a smoother cut surface. You will want to have plenty of time to cut your logs. Even with a big powerhead your progress is slow. The saw gets very thirsty when ripping. I can get about 20 linear feet of cut out of a tank of gas. That's OK, as it is also about when I have to stop to sharpen. Its really not that big of a deal. By quickly removing a stabilizing bar on the mill you can sharpen the chain without removing the mill. The touch up and re-fuel takes about ten minutes. Since you're just doing a few trees per year the speed at which you process any one log hopefully won't matter all that much. I am not familiar with your saw so I don't know how well it will handle a 30" oak. The Granberg company sells various options to speed the process when handling large trees, like double ended bars for instance, in case you want to run with two power heads simultaneously. I recommend that you buy the smallest rig that will meet your needs. It all gets more expensive and harder for one person to operate as the mill gets larger. Not having to bring the logs out of the woods is a big asset. Even a two inch slab is all I want to handle. Making sure that the bark is clean, or better yet--removing it, will allow more cut between sharpenings. The mill is very portable. Remember however that you must have a guide rigid enough to give you a straight cut at the start. I made one out of 2x lumber that allows me to cut logs up to ten feet long. I looked at several portable mills on-line before buying and in the end decided on the Alaska mill. I am doing much the same that you describe and have been pretty satisfied with my purchase. Incidently, I am cutting trees that have been down a couple of years and I seem to have to treat my fresh cuts for powder post beetles. I'm trying to keep them from migrating out of the sapwood and into the heartwood.

well i did not see any one talk about the "green machine". it is very costly but worth it. it is a twin cam masticating juicer that is only 110 rpm. i can juice wheat grass and even make Hebrew bread with it. the only thing i have not been able to juice with it is citrus. when the garden is on i make raw salsa with it. i put the toms the garlic the onions the hot peppers and maybe cilantro through it and add salt and mix it up with a spoon. i have 9 children and when they were younger i would have to make a gallon of the salsa and get one of those big bags of corn chip. we would sit around the table and eat it like candy. they have a less expensive model that does not have all the attachments. works just as well. i am glad i went to the expense to get this juicer. WM

DT, Elof Hansson is a large and very diverse international company that private labels for many US companies - hence the lack of marketing material under the Elof Hansson "brand". I have sold several floors from them across the US. While there was a transitional period from late 2010 to early 2011, where they were switching the company where they prefinishing their material (and had some residual product from the former finisher that had some finish issues), I have never had any complaints on their milling. And since they resolved their issues from that transitional period, I have had nothing but good feedback on their products. As far as brands are concerned, I would say that their products are comparable - and in some cases, some brands may be using their product under their brand, because it is good quality. One thing that I would recommend that you ask your dealer about is their "Tropical" Exotics. This is a lower grade - in appearance (shorter average length, more character allowed), and may allow for some minor defects (i.e. some boards that you may need to sort out) - than the standard Premium Grade, but it is significantly cheaper. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thanks, Cathy! Good idea to store them in the freezer - I have room for that. Since I go through a large quantity of grits, I could order a large amount (for my freezer) and then cook them using your method. At least that way I can put my slow cooker to use, since I hardly ever use it. It sounds like a good way to cook grits. ETA: I placed an order for 10# of Pencil Cob Grits, and it seemed a bit expensive at $85.25 (including shipping), and so I hope they will be worth it. It sounds like they will come in one big box, and so I guess I will have to find containers to store them in one pound portions. I might just use Foodsaver bags. I normally keep grits in a large jar (to prevent pantry moths), and I will continue to use that for grits that I defrost. I normally cook grits once a week or so, but I cook enough at one time for two meals, since they reheat nicely.