I have been reading about the Alasken Mills, sounds like a great tool. I have access to some oak logs, 16" - 30", and a couple of 16" walnuts, I would be using my J-Red 2186, my question is are these real abusive on a saw? and for just 5 or 6 logs a year would i be better off just taking them to someone with a mill and having them cut? I think i could easily sell the lumber and more than make up my costs within a year. Milling is all new to me but i am tired of cutting these good logs up into firewood.
Alaskan Mill?
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excess650
Addicted to ArboristSite
Your Jred 2186 should be adequate, but tuning rich is recommended. I started milling because of the same reason: I hated to see really good wood cut into firewood.:censored:
If you get a 30" mill, you'll need a 36" bar to make max width cuts. A 30" log will make a 21" square cant or beam, but the added width of the 30" or 36" mill would allow you to cut wide, uncommon slabs for yourself or for sale. Smaller logs can yield beams and mantles, so aren't necessarily less useful.
A Granberg Alaskan will yield about 2" narrower cut than the nominal size of the mill, and will require a bar 4" longer than the mill's nominal to make that cut. They are adjustable, so you could run a 20" bar on a 36" Alaskan if you wanted to. The 24" and larger Alaskans clamp the bar on both ends, so make uniformity much easier.
Milling is hard work, but addictive.
The Granberg Mini Mill is a smaller unit that operates with your saw near vertical, so is great for squaring sides, or cutting slabs. It can cut pretty uniformly if you are careful and take your time. IMO, its the best of its kind, and the most bang for the buck.
If you get a 30" mill, you'll need a 36" bar to make max width cuts. A 30" log will make a 21" square cant or beam, but the added width of the 30" or 36" mill would allow you to cut wide, uncommon slabs for yourself or for sale. Smaller logs can yield beams and mantles, so aren't necessarily less useful.
A Granberg Alaskan will yield about 2" narrower cut than the nominal size of the mill, and will require a bar 4" longer than the mill's nominal to make that cut. They are adjustable, so you could run a 20" bar on a 36" Alaskan if you wanted to. The 24" and larger Alaskans clamp the bar on both ends, so make uniformity much easier.
Milling is hard work, but addictive.
The Granberg Mini Mill is a smaller unit that operates with your saw near vertical, so is great for squaring sides, or cutting slabs. It can cut pretty uniformly if you are careful and take your time. IMO, its the best of its kind, and the most bang for the buck.
slabmaster
ArboristSite Guru
ethanol fuel
Milling is harder on a saw and the ethanol laced fuel they sell us in Michigan now makes it even worst so make sure you run rich and use good oil mix.I also put sea foam in the mix to combat the ethanol in the gas.I let the saw rest more often as well.I also found that running stihl ultra oil mix brought my saws running temp down by 10 degrees! compared to the regular mix.That can be a great help when milling as the saws tend to run hotter when milling.Hope this helps. Mark
Milling is harder on a saw and the ethanol laced fuel they sell us in Michigan now makes it even worst so make sure you run rich and use good oil mix.I also put sea foam in the mix to combat the ethanol in the gas.I let the saw rest more often as well.I also found that running stihl ultra oil mix brought my saws running temp down by 10 degrees! compared to the regular mix.That can be a great help when milling as the saws tend to run hotter when milling.Hope this helps. Mark
Adkpk
Addicted to ArboristSite
I've been through two p/c's on my 066 due to heating it up milling. Keep the rpm's down low and take breaks to keep the saw from to much stress. But by no means shy away form milling because it's worth whatever it takes. Nothing like cutting open those logs to see what your gonna get.
Coalsmoke
ArboristSite Operative
I agree, ethanol bad. I avoid it at all costs in my saws.
I have been running Husqvarna oil and premium gas, what do you think about the Husky oil? and what is sea foam and how does it help with the ethanol. Also would doing a muffler mod help keep it much cooler, my saw is only a month old and it would void my warrenty, but chances are i will never use the warrenty. Thanks everybody for your input.
If I bought a brand new saw I would keep it stock and keep the warranty and modify it after the warranty ran out. Milling is hard on saws and a warranty is one of the best forms of protection you can have. I didn't do it deliberately but I managed to buy an 8 month old saw that had never been used for less than half RRP. Part of the reason the price was so low was that in Australia warranties are non-transferrable but that also meant I had nothing to stop me modifying it.
I wouldn't use a warranty as the only back up and as a reason to be a little less careless than you might otherwise be. Make sure you look after the saw, eg, keep filters clean, chains sharp, bar rails trued and burr free, make sure you top up chain lube with every refuel, and make sure you richen the mix up a little.
I was actually referring to the carby tuning. Tune it so it is reaching the prescribed RPM as per the manual. Then richen up the H screw so that the max RPM drops off say 5-7% of Max RPM.
Changing the lube:gas ratio is another issue. I read recently in Will Malloff's Chainsaw lumber making book where he recommends reducing this by 1/6th - so his book (written in the 1980s) says if your CS manual recommends 24:1 then drop it to 20:1.
For a 50:1, dropping it by 1/6th takes it down to 42:1. For 40:1 that would make it 33:1. To save me mixing up a whole lot of different mixes for different saws I just run 40:1 for everything.
Coalsmoke
ArboristSite Operative
Miller, the best thing you can do for that saw is to run it at 50:1 with Husky's XP synthetic oil and make sure as Bob said that the carb isn't set too lean. You don't want that saw to be screaming or else you will be at greater risk of burning it out.
excess650
Addicted to ArboristSite
I've run 40-1 synthetic blend in my 066 milling saw(actually, all of my saws), but have richened the H mixture to drop peak rpm by 1000-1500 rpm. The increased oil in the mix combined with lower max rpm should help help the saw run cooler and better lubricated. After milling 9 slabs of 30" white oak 8' long over a couple of days, I pulled the muffler and looked at the piston, and it looks great. There is a visible coating of oil, but no noticeable carbon, so a good compromise, IMO. I'm using Echo Powerblend, but Husqvarna XP synthetic blend, or Stihl blend or full synthetic should work as well.
Ethanol seems to be everywhere in gasoline, and causes the mixture to degrade. Mix oils with stabilizer help, and better mix oils contain them. Use fresh mix, generally not more than a month old, and use pump premium for the increased octane and your saws will be fine.
Keep your chains sharp so as to not increase the powerheads task! Let your milling saw idle for 30-60 seconds between cuts to allow it to cool a bit and go mill some wood!
Ethanol seems to be everywhere in gasoline, and causes the mixture to degrade. Mix oils with stabilizer help, and better mix oils contain them. Use fresh mix, generally not more than a month old, and use pump premium for the increased octane and your saws will be fine.
Keep your chains sharp so as to not increase the powerheads task! Let your milling saw idle for 30-60 seconds between cuts to allow it to cool a bit and go mill some wood!
slabmaster
ArboristSite Guru
stabilizer
Sea foam is a great additive to stabilize fuel and to lubricate the engine.Sta-bil will do the same thing to protect your engine from the ethanol fuel.They both are sold at most auto stores.I don't like the husky oil mix as i did burn up a saw useing it in the past.I find the stihl mixes to be the best and is all i use now for my milling saws. I also use a 40:1 mix with premium gas.
Sea foam is a great additive to stabilize fuel and to lubricate the engine.Sta-bil will do the same thing to protect your engine from the ethanol fuel.They both are sold at most auto stores.I don't like the husky oil mix as i did burn up a saw useing it in the past.I find the stihl mixes to be the best and is all i use now for my milling saws. I also use a 40:1 mix with premium gas.
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ridgerunner97
ArboristSite Operative
I am also relatively new to the chainsaw milling adventure but ive found that on my husky 288xp lite that I richened the carburator and not the fuel mix still at 50:1 with husky premium oil. I mixed the oil with sunoco, im probably going to get sum interesting responses to this but sunoco turbo blue, or cam 2 race fuel whatever you call it it is 100 octane unleaded and my saw is no longer running hot while milling and it runs awesome with the 100 octane plus it does not have ethanol in it a major plus. Like everyone else said to just take it easy sharp chain etc. Milling is really fun i never thought that it could be so addictive.:chainsawguy:
My 076 manual said 40:1 so I used 40:1 for 2 years before someone suggested lowering the mix. My 6600 and 880 manuals says 50:1 but to save me having 2 mix ratios around I just run 40:1 (with premium gas) on everything.
Matildasmate
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I just run my saws on 25-1 havnt had a hassle so far and at 25-1 I havnt bothered with fiddling with the carby or fuel , I just use regular unleaded fuel . Cheers MM
LAndrews
ArboristSite Operative
A lot of people are dealing with the same problem and possibly not realizing what is behind the differences between fuels.
It's important to realize that carbs measure fuel volumetrically, but fuel-air ratios are figured on a weight/weight basis. So, if the fuel density changes (race gas vs. pump gas) then the weight of the fuel changes when the volume is the same. Also, when the chemical stoichiometry changes (ethanol mix vs. pure gas) then the fuel-air ratio has to change with it. And since oil doesn't really burn, extra oil in the mix effectively leans the mixture out. Another factor is changes in air density - but this is a pretty small factor until the motor is close to the edge. The answer to all of these issues is carb tuning.
Those effects together explains more 2/s seizures than practically anything... Any motor tuned anywhere near the ragged edge will find itself on the wrong side of the line when the fuel-air ratio changes. Oil matters but usually isn't the cause unless there just ain't any in the gas.
Race gas is great in the sense that it's typically very consistently formulated. You just have to get the carby tuned properly and go from there. The extra octane doesn't help much unless the motor has a preignition problem and stockish chainsaws really shouldn't have one.
And practically every serious 2/s race motor builder I know recommends castor at between 20 and 24:1.
<shrug>
It's important to realize that carbs measure fuel volumetrically, but fuel-air ratios are figured on a weight/weight basis. So, if the fuel density changes (race gas vs. pump gas) then the weight of the fuel changes when the volume is the same. Also, when the chemical stoichiometry changes (ethanol mix vs. pure gas) then the fuel-air ratio has to change with it. And since oil doesn't really burn, extra oil in the mix effectively leans the mixture out. Another factor is changes in air density - but this is a pretty small factor until the motor is close to the edge. The answer to all of these issues is carb tuning.
Those effects together explains more 2/s seizures than practically anything... Any motor tuned anywhere near the ragged edge will find itself on the wrong side of the line when the fuel-air ratio changes. Oil matters but usually isn't the cause unless there just ain't any in the gas.
Race gas is great in the sense that it's typically very consistently formulated. You just have to get the carby tuned properly and go from there. The extra octane doesn't help much unless the motor has a preignition problem and stockish chainsaws really shouldn't have one.
And practically every serious 2/s race motor builder I know recommends castor at between 20 and 24:1.
<shrug>
ridgerunner97
ArboristSite Operative
Great point on the oil leaning out the fuel mixture. Also the "race" fuels are fairly much more consistent than the pump gas. Very well said.
chewbacca
ArboristSite Member
Boy, do I have a lot to learn. 
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