Bigger setup for CS milling

[SawAddictedFarmer]

I miss him

 

[EFSM]

I don't do chain saw milling, but I use my own build of portable bandsaw. I have a simple rule: don't have too many cutting teeth in the cut. For wide cuts (39" in my case) I grind back the tips of 3 in 4 teeth (saws mainly supplied as 1.5 or 1.75" pitch) so that I have one cutter in 6 or 7 inches of saw. This gives easy, accurate cutting. A saw for small logs (say 20" or so) cuts freely with 3" effective pitch.

Does this bandsaw have powered head advance or is it manual? How fast will it cut with that few teeth?

 

[emanuel]

Keep the .404 with these large bars and saws, it handles the load substantially better than 3/8, less stretching, less sharpening, for just a bit more kerf width. I have an 881 since 2021, hasnt missed a beat during all this time, 99% milling with a 48” setup, running 25:1 mix. Very happy with my purchase. As for the double ended bar and saws, I wouldnt do it. The bar is expensive, you need a helper etc. 2 saws = 1 more thing to keep an as eye out, servicing, problems etc.
Buy any one of those 2 big saws and you’re set. A few nice slabs and they paid for themselves. I’d get the 881 over the 3120, the side chain tensioner is nice, and it has more grunt once the exhausts are opened up the same.

 

[SawNut]

I have almost no experience with chainsaw milling due to having a band mill. Running two saws on one bar sounds like something feasible as long as you have a way to connect both throttles together.

I have a feeling that a carbide chain will wear out from stretching way before the teeth are shot. If you have the moolah to cough up for one, let us know how it goes.

Milling with an expensive chainsaw mill setup can get close enough to a cheap used band mill that I would seriously consider shopping for one. However, if you’re looking for something to cut 48”, that will take a lot of dough to get a band mill that big.

Would love to have a nice bandsaw mill setup, but a lot of the logs I mill are in remote areas, where it would be almost impossible to get a mill, and yeah, some trees are just too big. In an ideal world, I'd have both setups. It is definitely on my "someday" list. This is just a hobby for me though. My brother and father do a lot of woodworking, and have enjoyed all of the wood I have milled for them over the years. My brother just built a quarter sawn white oak vanity for his bathroom, from wood that I cut from an old fence row. It's nice to have furniture in my house, where I cut the tree and milled it, and my father built it. He's getting older, so that time is getting slim, unfortunately. This has been fun for me over the years. I've also milled quite a bit for friends and other relatives.

 

[SawNut]

Keep the .404 with these large bars and saws, it handles the load substantially better than 3/8, less stretching, less sharpening, for just a bit more kerf width. I have an 881 since 2021, hasnt missed a beat during all this time, 99% milling with a 48” setup, running 25:1 mix. Very happy with my purchase. As for the double ended bar and saws, I wouldnt do it. The bar is expensive, you need a helper etc. 2 saws = 1 more things to keep on eye out, servicing, problems etc.
Buy any one of those 2 big saws and you’re set. A few nice slabs and they paid for themselves. I’d get the 881 over the 3120, the side chain tensioner is nice, and it has more grunt once the exhausts are opened up the same.

Thanks for the info on bar/chain size, and on the dual saw setup. I do also see that there is a high output oiler for the 881, but seems to only be available outside of the US. You have any issues oiling your 48? I'd obviously have suplimental bar oiling on the other side of the nose sprocket.

 

[emanuel]

Thanks for the info on bar/chain size, and on the dual saw setup. I do also see that there is a high output oiler for the 881, but seems to only be available outside of the US. You have any issues oiling your 48? I'd obviously have suplimental bar oiling on the other side of the nose sprocket.

No issues oiling the 48, but I’m planing to get a 72” soon. I’ve seen that oiler from australia, $200 no thanks , you need a dripper anyway for really big bars milling. The stock one can be modified if you really need more output, pretty easy to do, there’s videos on youtube. Also, using that part number I think any dealer can order it for you. That being said I’m a bit annoyed the standard isnt the high output, you can always turn it down if you don’t need all that oil. Stihl probably got their hands forced by these silly pollution requirements.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Thanks for the info on bar/chain size, and on the dual saw setup. I do also see that there is a high output oiler for the 881, but seems to only be available outside of the US. You have any issues oiling your 48? I'd obviously have suplimental bar oiling on the other side of the nose sprocket.

I have the 72” grandberg I was running a single 090 on but will be running 2 066’s on from now on when needed. Honestly my singe 066 wirh 3/8” wirh a 56” bar on my 48” mill does better for cut speed than my 075 or 090 with .404 ever did. The .404 holds up better in dirty wood ect and streached less but 3/8” is fine after the initial large amount of stretch is done. The 72” is a double end set up for 2 saws or one saw and a helper handle on other end. Most stuff my 56” bar on a 48” mill will take care of but I mostly use my woodland mills hm126 with the 14hp upgrade. Woodland mills are great and hard to beat for the money with excellent customer service. I bought the mill and made the trailer.

 

[SawNut]

Well, I ended up with an 881. Called a couple of local dealers about a 3120. None of them had any in stock to fondle, and more than one acted like they didn't want bother ordering one in. I'm sure it's a great saw, but there just aren't any decent husky dealers within 30 minutes of me. There are several Husky saws that I like, but when you can't buy them easily, it makes a person look elsewhere. My buddy has an OG 550xp, and I actually love that saw. You do have to know how to hot start it though, or you'll end up throwing it in frustration. SawTroll would be proud to hear this, but he's right about the handling of that saw vs the MS261.

Walked into one of my 4 local Stihl dealers, and they had an 881 on the shelf with the 41" bar. Exactly the one I wanted. I used to work for the guy that runs the store, when I was a teen. They were good to me back then, so it's nice to continue to support them as well.

Ordered the high output oiler from OZ and got it installed after breaking the saw in and trying the stock oiler. Can't say the saw doesn't oil now. It pours off the tip. Paid $140 shipped to my door. Took a couple of weeks. Not cheap, but in the scheme of things, not that significant. If you have complaints about oiling with the stock pump, put this on. You won't be disappointed. No idea why you can't get this pump in the states, or why Stihl wouldn't install this pump stock. 1.6mm stroke vs 1.2 of the US version.

Here it is with a few tanks through it on FD rated Mystik "Lawn and Garden" at 32:1. I've been using this oil for years now, mostly at 40:1. I keep debating trying something new, but I just don't see a reason to. I've used Citgo 2 stroke oil for 25 years now. Mostly Sea and Snow in sleds and skis, when I was younger. I've burned up a handful of 2 strokes pushing the limit, but never an oil related failure. The oil film left behind is nice and viscous. Zero smoke once warmed, up, and only a puff at startup. Muffler is nice and clean, just dry ash, and no spooge. Exhaust port is still clean.

Wash pattern looks almost identical to my 661 mtronic that has dozens of hours milling. The 881 ran WOT for 10 minutes straight at a time milling this weekend, so its apparently safe. I turned it out against the limiter before I started, but it didn't even make 1/8 turn out, before stopping.

I have now pulled the limiters and gave it another 1/8 turn out. I'll see how it runs like that next time. Debating a base gasket delete. There is room on this saw to do that, and still end up with about .025" squish clearance. Will prob also weld on a WCS muffler port on the recoil side.

Overall, I'm very happy with the saw. Only negative other than cost is the vibes are a bit more than my 661, but it's not uncomfortable. It milled faster than I was expecting, and used significantly less fuel than expected. Had a bar tip failure, so that put a stop to finishing the log. Hope to get back at it next weekend. Cut up lots of 8/4 quarter sawn and rift sawn white oak, aka "white gold". Can't believe what the local mills get for that stuff.

 

[SawNut]

Had a chance to mill a few more slabs from the 48" white oak this weekend. .404 Stihl RS full comp chain ground to 20* top plate angle and 60* grinder angle. Still haven't touched the depth gauges. I may continue lowering the top plate angle to 15*. Haven't decided yet. On my 661 setup with 3/8 RM chain, 10* is too shallow, and slows the cut speed down quite a bit. I am very impressed by how many cuts I can get on this .404 before I have to sharpen it. Doesn't leave quite as smooth of a finish as the RM on the 661, but seems to stay sharper longer. I'm not sure how to explain that one, other than cutter size. I may try a loop of half or full skip...depends what I can get here before next weekend. The saw will pull the chain, but there are some times where it seems to either be bumping the rev limiter, or a bit low on RPM. Have to have just the right touch to find the sweet spot. Wish the CDI would allow a couple thousand more RPM. I feel like its best cutting performance is right near the limiter. Wood finish seems a bit better there too. I will say though, the speed that this mills over my 661 is very noticeable. I wasn't really sure what to expect...more power, but bigger cutters. Also this is wider than I've ever milled. At 32", my 661 setup through oak is very slow. I most likely will only use my 661 for milling small logs now.

Also, I could see a slightly larger wash pattern on the piston by fattening it up by about 1/8 turn out on the H speed. Couldn't get any pics though, because I didn't pull it back apart. I'm good with the mixture at this point, and will most likely leave it alone now for this temp range. It's not as easy as tuning a saw while cross cutting. There, you can make a cut, or part of a cut, tweak the tune, and make another cut and see how it sounds. Also easier to see how the engine responds to load and no load while crosscutting.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Had a chance to mill a few more slabs from the 48" white oak this weekend. .404 Stihl RS full comp chain ground to 20* top plate angle and 60* grinder angle. Still haven't touched the depth gauges. I may continue lowering the top plate angle to 15*. Haven't decided yet. On my 661 setup with 3/8 RM chain, 10* is too shallow, and slows the cut speed down quite a bit. I am very impressed by how many cuts I can get on this .404 before I have to sharpen it. Doesn't leave quite as smooth of a finish as the RM on the 661, but seems to stay sharper longer. I'm not sure how to explain that one, other than cutter size. I may try a loop of half or full skip...depends what I can get here before next weekend. The saw will pull the chain, but there are some times where it seems to either be bumping the rev limiter, or a bit low on RPM. Have to have just the right touch to find the sweet spot. Wish the CDI would allow a couple thousand more RPM. I feel like its best cutting performance is right near the limiter. Wood finish seems a bit better there too. I will say though, the speed that this mills over my 661 is very noticeable. I wasn't really sure what to expect...more power, but bigger cutters. Also this is wider than I've ever milled. At 32", my 661 setup through oak is very slow. I most likely will only use my 661 for milling small logs now.

Also, I could see a slightly larger wash pattern on the piston by fattening it up by about 1/8 turn out on the H speed. Couldn't get any pics though, because I didn't pull it back apart. I'm good with the mixture at this point, and will most likely leave it alone now for this temp range. It's not as easy as tuning a saw while cross cutting. There, you can make a cut, or part of a cut, tweak the tune, and make another cut and see how it sounds. Also easier to see how the engine responds to load and no load while crosscutting.

The smooth finish comes from the shallow angle. I’ve seen rip chains set up 0-15 degrees it’s all what you want, 5-10 degrees is slower in cut but smoother and on wide slabs the slower smooth cut will still save time over planing or sanding a 40” wide slab smooth. So will always depend on what finish your trying to achieve.

 

[SawNut]

The smooth finish comes from the shallow angle. I’ve seen rip chains set up 0-15 degrees it’s all what you want, 5-10 degrees is slower in cut but smoother and on wide slabs the slower smooth cut will still save time over planing or sanding a 40” wide slab smooth. So will always depend on what finish your trying to achieve.

You use semi or full chisel?

 

[lehman live edge slab]

You use semi or full chisel?

I’ve used both in .404 and 3/8”.

 

[Eduardo K]

My opinion, go for speed and use a planer or router sled later to get a better surface.
Again, just my .02.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

My opinion, go for speed and use a planer or router sled later to get a better surface.
Again, just my .02.

Only problem is planing a 40-50” wide surface with a router and homemade sled is not a fast or easy task neither is sanding. The last real wide ones I cut I made super thick and after they dried I set them across horses and made a jig to run mill on to recut them flat