More Power Needed

david jones

Treehouser
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
34
I'm not sure how to ask this and I'm sure it's been over many times before and I've read here and there but would like an opinion from this group. I bought a 24" mill attachment and have cut maybe 700 bd ft so far starting with my 029, gutted muffler, 039 kit, done ok till the starter broke, then hooked up my 038 super, a little stoughter but still slow and week to me. I see these 066 chinese kits maybe $350 or so time it's running, are they junk or what? It took 20 minutes for one cut of a 2x16 yellow pine 12' long. Is this slow? Thanks David J.
 
You need at least 100 cc's and even at that it's a slow process .With a McCulloch 125 which is 123 cc I can only get about 1 foot per minute on red oak about 12-15" wide .
 
^ indeed but a well tuned chain helps.

OP C.S. milling you need horse power you are better off getting a larger saw bare minimum 80cc at the very smallest. 3120xp, 880, or run two powerheads.
 
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  • #7
Only Mac I got is a MiniMac 6. The biggest saw is a Poland 245a, then the 038 and down. I think my chain is ok, it's an old chisel shapened around 15* by hand, smooth cut I think, better than my nieghbors circler saw mill, he can't run it anymore, problems in his arms from Agent Orange. I got caught by suprise, the trees came down in my back yard about three or so weeks ago, the biggest landed within seconds of where I was standing cutting my truck out of the mess in the storm. I was just wondering about the china 066/ms660, I guess I can wait for a better saw while this lumber dries. I want a building for my 50 gmc. Thanks DJ
 
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  • #8
Mr. Al Smith, I sure would like to ask you a few questions about my 038S, I been reading your stuff for a couple years now.
 
A million dollar pecker isn't worth a damn with a 10 cent ass behind it, which I'm often reminded of...
 
Mr. Al Smith, I sure would like to ask you a few questions about my 038S, I been reading your stuff for a couple years now.
I don't own a super and I've only ever seen two of them .I have one 038Av and two magnums .They are good saws but they don't have what it takes to mill wood with .

I did once try to mill with an 048 Stihl which is 10 cc's larger than a Stihl 038 S and has a lot more power,it was like trying to down an elk with a BB gun .

You will have better luck with a standard filed chisel chain at like 30 degrees than a milling chain at 15 .Cut at about a 45 degree angle so it pulls noodles .Not so much that it clogs up but not saw dust like a straight cross grain cut which takes forever .
If you are going to mill remember to back off the high speed jet so it runs a tad rich .Long cuts it will get hot and too lean you stand a chance of cooking the saw,not good .
 
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  • #13
I may have 1 maybe 2 more sharpenings on this chain so I can't change the angle but I am going to order a new one and it'll probably be 25 or 30 degress. I am running rich allmost too rich. I've had an eye out for a big saw but only ones I see are on ebay and I wont pay those prices. Don't seem to be any big saws around here to buy, I guess because the timber around here is small, not much need for a big one, the big stuff was cut a long time ago. Only reson I have the trees the size I do is because I wouldn't let anyone cut it. This milling is just something to do and the wood is mine anyway. I am fairly familler with saws too, I cleared out about 4 acres and built my house, worked for Floid Pike clearing right aways for a couple years, worked with my nieghbor logging and pulp wooding a few times, when I was young.
Thanks for all the advice and input from everbody. David J
 
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  • #14
I just now figured out what you ment by 45 degree angle, I think. This mill aint big enough for me to do that on these logs. I had to trim the bark off here an there to get it to feed through, if that makes since. I scooted the end out all the way and it binded the sprocket bearing, had to bring it in some.
 
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  • #15
Here's a couple pictures. I know it aint nothin special but Picture 405.jpg Picture 404.jpg I'm kinda proud of the lumber
 
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  • #19
I don't really know how long it took, if I keep up with the time I'm afraid I'll get depressed. I been working on it off and on for a couple weeks. 4 or 5 hours a day maybe or less, not ever day, it's slow and my saw is too small and I aint young. Did you say 395? I wish, Mr. Smith done scolded me about my saw being too small.
I cut the 2x's with a worm drive skillsaw, sliced the logs with chainsaw then cut into 2x's. I couldn't figure out a good way to do it with the C-S mill
 
This thread is silly, bordering on stupid.

Get a big saw, as anyone with a whit of sense would for chainsaw milling and everyone has said in response so far.

I very rarely get unpleasant about stuff people post here, not part of the TreeHouse culture for the most part...but coming here and talking about milling with the tiny little saw you claim to be using beggars my ability to understand as anything but dumb.
 
A sharp chain is mandatory but that's not enough.
You need a lot of power and it comes only with the big saws. And even with them, it's a slow process, hard for the engine and the man.
Cutting the fiber's end is the most energy eating cut. Every bit of wood cut out of the log is actually shredded and reduced to dust. The other ways to cut the wood give you chips or noodles where many of the fibers stay together and don't wast your energy to be separated.

A small saw can work with a reasonable log's size, but only with the amount of energy delivered, which isn't much. You have to trade time against instantaneous energy.
A thiner chain helps, because it needs less energy to cut through, as it removes less wood to make the kerf.
 
In all honesty by the time you get the proper saw and a good setup to chainsaw mill at a respectable pace you could have gotten your hands on a decent band saw mill that will blow the doors off a 3120 or 880 on a chainsaw mill.
 
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