Burning up my saw by milling?

[Bailing Wire]

I made a expencive mistake. I have been milling oak with an Alaskan style mill. I have 2 of them a couple double ended bars and some single bars. I now have some ripping cain as well.

The problem came how ever when I was using some standard chain I had resharpened 90 degrees to be more like ripping chain. I milled a little over 1000 board ft any where from 6" wide to 20" all 1x.

I never changed my air fuel mix the saw seemed to be doing well and tword the end of the third day it seezed. Now I already put a new piston in it and am not worried about my rebuild (not my first rodeo), but i am leary about putting my saws back in a millig setting.

A friend at the saw shop (he builds race saws) suggested I should richen my mix when I mill do to the fact the saw is pulling less material and not pulling down to proper long time run rpm as they do when you are bumping knots, bucking and felling.

Any of you guys that have milled a lot with a saw have any tips. I am good at rebuilding saws, but it is not cost efective to put a new piston in ever 1000 board ft.The saw I burned is an 066 and my other I us is a MS660 little differnt in barrel and carb.

 

[Hillbilly3995]

I run my mill saws RICH, very rich...haven't smoked one yet.

HTH - Hillbilly

PS. I run 16:1 also

 

[smokinj]

Idle through out your cut and air filter must remain Clean! On a 12 foot log I will idle a min. or two every 3 foot. In this heat even more.

 

[BlueRider]

If you run a good quality full synthetic oil there is no reason to run 16:1. I have been milling my own wood since 1994 and I have always run 50:1 and I have never smoked a piston on my milling saw. You should adjust you H screw to run rich and if you are unsure how you are running shut the saw of inidately after finishing a cut and pull the plug for a color reading.

Letting the saw idle for a minute after a cut can help it to cool down faster then just turning it off after a cut. If you pull the plug after letting it idle you will not get an acurate color reading of how the saw is running in the cut.

The bigest culprit for siezing is usually either a cloged air filter(milling clogs filters fast) or on your saw a crack in the intake boot. The crack in the intake boot can be hard to see.

 

[Fallguy1960]

It probably has been said here numerous times but when you say use a high quality synthetic oil what brands are you talking about. I have not seen any but I probably am not looking in the right places.

 

[BlueRider]

I really like Stihl hp Ultra. It is really low smoke as opposed to the husky stuff that says it is low smoke but isn't.

 

[TraditionalTool]

invest in a bandmill with a 4-stroke and cry once, or keep replacing your 2-stroke chainsaws and cry each time...

 

[smokinj]

invest in a bandmill with a 4-stroke and cry once, or keep replacing your 2-stroke chainsaws and cry each time...

Too many factors goes into that. My market is the 30+ inch wide stuff, and 1500-2000 bf a year is a big year for me. That make the csm the way to go.

 

[dustytools]

Too many factors goes into that. My market is the 30+ inch wide stuff, and 1500-2000 bf a year is a big year for me. That make the csm the way to go.

Milling to support your own woodworking habit also makes the CSM the way to go also. The saws can also be used to cut my firewood with so the $1000 investment on the 395 and bars is a double plus. Dont get me wrong, I would love to own a bandsaw but I just cant justify it to cut a few logs a year.

 

[Fallguy1960]

I really like Stihl hp Ultra. It is really low smoke as opposed to the husky stuff that says it is low smoke but isn't.

Thanks Blue I will have to ask for it the next time I get close to a Stihl dealer.

 

[john taliaferro]

When i changed to ultra , saws would always need carb adj may just have been a fluke but ? been running it bout a year . thats at 50 to 1

 

[smokinj]

Milling to support your own woodworking habit also makes the CSM the way to go also. The saws can also be used to cut my firewood with so the $1000 investment on the 395 and bars is a double plus. Dont get me wrong, I would love to own a bandsaw but I just cant justify it to cut a few logs a year.

Yes, I do the same. When I run across big walnuts thats what I mill and sell.

 

[sachsmo]

Milling is extremely taxing on ANY saw. Go at the saws pace.

 

[OhioGregg]

I agree with about everything said here as far as advice goes. I use a 385xp for milling and felling and bucking. Not burned it up yet!! I been using Woodland Pro synthetic, from Baileys at 40:1 in all my saws. Weedeater also. Works great even for my older Poulan saws, that I used to run with Dino oil at 32:1. The synthetic oils have been the best thing to hit the chainsaw world in my opinion.

I run mine slightly rich when milling. Don't need to be blubbering rich, just make sure its more to the rich side than lean. One big thing I have learned also is a sharp chain! I usually have several chains ready to go, so you can just swap when it starts to get dull. Thats pretty easy to tell also, You start applying more pressure to get it to cut. Just apply enough pressure to keep it cutting. Then I usually set the saw down and let it idle for a few minutes after each cut.

Each saws air filter set up is a little different, some maybe better than others. I usually ck mine each time I refuel. Which can be frequent when milling. So far it usually is pretty clean, but milling seems to make more fine dust than regular cross cutting.

So, Synthetic oil, slightly rich, clean filter, and SHARP chain, would be good advice to anyone starting to mill with a chainsaw. Stuff happens though. Mine might blow up next time I use it.:msp_scared: Milling with a chainsaw is rather taxing work load on it. Probably something that it wasn't specifically designed for, as far as I know. But they get the job done for us that can't justify a bandmill. Not to mention it can be fun too!


Gregg,