New MS880 milling for the first time..

[JS929]

Yes, the saw was new, so surprised the AV mounts went in such a short time... I ran a couple of tanks through it "gently" before I started using it for milling. I can honestly say that I have now put about 15-20 tanks through it and it hasn't really changed too much. I did, however just finish a DP muffler mod on it but haven't had a chance to mill with it since so hopefully with a little tuning I can extract a little more grunt. It has decent power but expect it will improve with a few more tanks.

Which muffler do you have on your 880? Stainless or aluminum?

I would hope that the 880 would respond like the 660 does with a muff mod. There is a clear cut difference in my 660 since I put a dual port on her. I honestly thought about just putting another hole on the side of the 880 muffler and piping it down in a way similar to what a fellow on here did. I'm very eager to hear how your 880 responds to the muff mod though.

Does your saw have the rev limited coil in it? If so, Brad says that a coil for a 441 will fix that. He said that the rev limiter on the stock coil on the new 880's keeps the rpm too low. I think that is a general interpretation of what he said. He would be happy to tell you though. If your saw doesn't have the cast aluminum muffler, then you definitely have that newer rev limited coil that isn't worth a crap. I for one think that the EPA needs to quit passing measures that are messing up perfectly good saws.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I plan on putting a 24" bar and an 8 pin rim on that 395 in my sig and cutting about 10 tanks worth of firewood before it sees a mill. I'd like to get some decent 20" pine logs to play with too.

 

[BobL]

I hope to one day mill those legendary hardwoods found in Australia. Our hardwoods are soft compared to what y'all deal with. I agree though. In hardwood like that, you need all the oil you can get on that chain.

Are there any tricks y'all use to mill that stuff? Does it cause excessive amounts of pitch and saw dust to build up on the chain?

Yes some are notorious for pitch buildup. A near extinct species of Eucalypt called Tuart can choke a chain in about 10 minutes if the oil slow is too low. Old timers like my dad used to carry around a can of diesel to tip onto the B&C but on an CSM just using a bit more oils helps keep it in check. If it does gum up then running the power head for a few minutes to oil up the chain will soften the gum and it comes up on the next cut.[/QUOTE]

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Keep a bucket of kerosene handy to slow idle the bar in between cuts?

 

[ppj690]

Mine has the stainless muffler and yes, a limited coil.. I took apart the muffler, opened everything out inside and added an extra port and deflector plate, sounds really good now! Will use it over the next week or so and see if there is any noticeable difference. I really hope this wakes it up a little in the mill. Cross cutting or stumping seems so much better but then that's expected I suppose...

 

[BobL]

Keep a bucket of kerosene handy to slow idle the bar in between cuts?

It would need to be a very large bucket to be able to dunk the whole mill/bar in

Mine has the stainless muffler and yes, a limited coil.. I took apart the muffler, opened everything out inside and added an extra port and deflector plate, sounds really good now! Will use it over the next week or so and see if there is any noticeable difference. I really hope this wakes it up a little in the mill. Cross cutting or stumping seems so much better but then that's expected I suppose...

Don't expect too much from this. I found it quite difficult to see any differences in milling speed with a basic 880 muffler mod. I tried a few timed cuts alternating between with and without the muffler mods (which is why I made my mods reversible) but found it very hard to control all the variables (same sharpness of chain, same width of cut etc, as the exact same kerf can only be cut once) and it was a right PITA having to retune the saw every time Some cuts were quicker with the mod some without. In the end I gave up convincing myself that there was any "major" improvement in cutting speed with this mod. What I could say was the power head definitely ran cooler so from that point of view it was worth doing but otherwise I'm skeptical regarding claims of major major improvements in cutting speed with a large grain of salt.

More power in the cut is one thing but this has to be translated into physically being able to remove wood. Like many mechanical processes, chainsaw milling doesn't respond linearly to power increases. Doubling the horsepower will not double the cutting speed same as doubling the HP on a car won't double the top speed or the acceleration. If this was the case a stock 880 should cut 25% faster than a 660 but especially in narrower cuts the difference will be much smaller than this.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Well all other things being equal, more chain speed equals more wood moving, whether the tooth is actually cutting or just raking powder out. If more power keeps the chain from bogging, it means faster cutting speed up to a point. There are always diminishing returns of course and if your power bump is minimal, the result will not be noticeable with all the variables in play.

 

[ppj690]

Just a little update... Milled a reasonable sized Oak with the saw yesterday since doing the muffler mod..
I'm not sure what has made the difference, the mod or the fact that the saw has now had a few more tanks through it since new, but it really has woken up, it 's now like a different saw! Would like to think the muffler mod and retune has helped a little, but perhaps it is now just run in..?!
Since doing the muffler I also now have a cheap and easy hand warmer when milling!