thank you all for your advice.

David Bank, please send me contact info at rrobinson@nasw.org. I'd be interested in talking about those tools.

Regarding the lumbermaker, I actually have one, bought to make some rough beams for my beamery, in which I cut the frame for my house. Perhaps a carbide blade for my chain saw, mounted on the lumbermaker, would be worth a try.

BTW, I just rented a Makita to rip a beam, and learned just from hefting it I didn't want to use it vertically!