Chainsaw Milling Advice 576xp AT

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Nat01

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Hey all i am just after a bit of advice as I'm about to start doing some milling around the family farm in South Australia. I have recently purchased a Husqvarna 576 autotune and I have 50 odd pine trees to drop. Some of the better ones i plan on milling into usable sleepers/building timber. I am going to build a chainsaw mill for the 30" bar i have, reading the many threads on AS has given me some good ideas.

My first question is, will i need an auxilliary oiler? being pine I imagine it will rip through it pretty easily?

What is the best and quickest way to remove the bark?

Later down the track i plan to make some slabs of pink/red gum that is also on the farm. Is this saw powerful enough for this if i take it fairly slow. Or will i kill it?
 
I milled white pine and tulip poplar with a 24" bar on my 371xp prior to acquiring my 394xp. I had no problems but I would think a 30" bar might be a bit much for your saw, unless the trees are not full bar diameter.
 
An aux oiler won't hurt anything. I use it when I go over 32" of bar. I'd say a 30" on that saw will be about as long to go without one but you'll see less wear with one on the bar.
 
Is the best way to just drip oil onto the chain on the outboard side of mill or does bar need an oil passage drilled? Also i plan to drill bar for mill attachments instead of clamping bar. Is the best way to do this 2 bolts inboard side and one just before sprocket? Would this be rigid/strong enough with 8mm bolts.
 
I just drip it on the tip towards the bottom of the bar. You can make a oiler for a little of nothing or buy the granberg. Even bolting on a 30" bar will yield maybe 24" of cut on the saw. My 30" granberg with a 32" bar gives me 27" between the uprights.
 
Thanks for the info. What about the Mill. Can i just put bolts through bar or would i need to clamp from bar to mill like the Granberg mill?
 
You can bolt to the bar. I drilled right through the nose sprocket on an oregon. There was enough room for a 5/16" bolt which is real close to 8mm. The bar is pretty hard steel so use plenty of oil or something like that to keep the bit cool.
 
Yes that will be fine. Just make sure you have good contact area on the bar to prevent movement.
 
Later down the track i plan to make some slabs of pink/red gum that is also on the farm. Is this saw powerful enough for this if i take it fairly slow. Or will i kill it?

Depends on how wide the wood is, you soon get an idea of what your saw can handle.

How hot does it get your way? I live Down Under also & now avoid milling gum and wetter woods (pine is ok) in summer. The ambient air temp in my area and other factors dry out the wood too quick causing problems like cracking and warping. I either mill out in winter or let the log sit for a year or more before milling, might be something to keep in mind for your future gum

So far as an auxiliary oiler grinding a slot in the bar on one side only (don't go all the way through) will do the job nicely although others might have an opinion whether you need an oiler on that size bar but that's one way on how to do
oiler groove 2.jpg
a thank you to all the people on AS who have shared their techniques and knowledge making milling life easier
 
Would this be strong enough. With two bolts on motor side and 1 through the centre of sprocket?View attachment 432419

I would not use two holes across the bar at the inboard end . With the power head hanging out in the breeze on a CSM then chances of bending the bar are greatly increased.
One hole is more than enough, but if you want strength and rigidity the best way to do this is bolt the mill to the bar bolts like this.
880.jpg
Thats just 3/16" angle iron welded onto a short piece of SHS steel which bolts to the bar bolts.
In between the SHS and the bar there is a 1/2" piece of aluminium that acts as a spacer - it does not need to be that thick 3/16" would also work..
To cope with the increased thickness a set of bar bolts that are longer than usual are required.
Here is the whole mill.
880four.jpg
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I welded up my CSM frame version 1.0 and cut a test slab out of a pine i felled and it looks alright. BobL is it worth trying to mill up some dead and weathered redgum or will i just kill my saw in the process?
20150703_131025.jpg 20150703_135049.jpg
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I welded up my CSM frame version 1.0 and cut a test slab out of a pine i felled and it looks alright. BobL is it worth trying to mill up some dead and weathered redgum or will i just kill my saw in the process?

How big a log are we talking?
with the 576 you could go up to about a 20" diam log but get yourself an aux oiler.

Pins slab looks good!
 
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