did I hurt my new 361?

[kayaklogger]

First post here, I'm having a bit of a panic attack and I'm hoping you veterans can give me some advise. I've been a wood salvager and miller for quite a while, but have always fastidiously avoided chainsaw milling at all costs. I'm pretty sure that moses went to rescue the jews because he heard the pharoah was makin' em chainsaw mill. Recently a NICE, legally, (and dangerously) salvaged log raft of about 5k of my red cedar was stolen from the river leaving me high and dry of cedar to mill on the wood mizer, so, in desperation to keep working on my all-salvage wood house, I turned to a 24" diameter red cedar log someone gave me, ....... down in a ravine. So, I pace and think and obsess for a good long while and finally decide to buy a brand new 361 to replace my 310, and a g77, and some rip chain. My thinking was, I'm not going to be doing that much milling, and I really don't want to buy this gimungous honkin saw that I can only use for milling, and the 361 is such a sweet saw. I'll port the muffler, I say to myself, and it'll be just enough to do what I want to do with it, saw red cedar logs 24 inches and under.

Obviously I had never run a mill before.

So I go out to the driveway and cut a cant off of a doug fir for practice and start ripping. my cant is about 18x18 things go ok at first, slow, but acceptable, the muffler is not yet ported and I'm breaking in the saw so I try to keep it from revving under no-load, but I AM running it at full throttle full load, on a hot day, for about six hours. A couple of times the saw gets so hot that it just sort of, dies. Not seized, just reaaaaaallly hot. (why is that?) So I let it cool, start it up again and keep milling. I destroy one rip chain on a rock and stop to sharpen another a few times. I'd like to think I'm a really good freehand filer, I sharpen in a vice at chest height with the file against my body.

By my final cuts the saw just grabbed and hung up alot, and I'd really have to baby it through the cut. The saw felt powerless compared to earlier. (at this point I'm ripping 14" wide.

At this point I'm getting really worried, did I burn up the rings, the clutch, or is my sharpening technique really that bad?

The saw seems to run and crosscut fine, but I haven't hooked up the mill again to check.

My questions are these,

how can I check to see if I hurt my saw or if it's all in my head?

should I buy a nice electric guided filer?

should I sell the 361 AND the g77 AND the ported muffler AND the ripchain on ebay, and just eat the loss and go out and buy a 460 and a mark III?

I really don't want to have to get a whole new setup. (I'm trying to not become a chainsaw miller, the g77 is a fun toy and the 361 is supposed to be my primary working saw) But I also don't want to burn up a new 361 (if I haven't already). By the time I get done edging a log I'll be ripping 12-24" inch wide softwoods.

Any advice would be really, really helpful. I've got quite a bit of wood to cut before the 361 goes back to normal chainsaw life.

thanks

Brian the kayak logging madman.

 

[wigglesworth]

Yes you did. Its junk now. Toss it.

 

[rmh3481]

Compression test will tell you in an instant if there are problems. If you plan to continue milling, look for a larger displacement saw.

Anytime your milling anything, add some extra oil to the mix.

Best wishes,
Bob

 

[dingeryote]

First post here, I'm having a bit of a panic attack and I'm hoping you veterans can give me some advise. I've been a wood salvager and miller for quite a while, but have always fastidiously avoided chainsaw milling at all costs. I'm pretty sure that moses went to rescue the jews because he heard the pharoah was makin' em chainsaw mill. Recently a NICE, legally, (and dangerously) salvaged log raft of about 5k of my red cedar was stolen from the river leaving me high and dry of cedar to mill on the wood mizer, so, in desperation to keep working on my all-salvage wood house, I turned to a 24" diameter red cedar log someone gave me, ....... down in a ravine. So, I pace and think and obsess for a good long while and finally decide to buy a brand new 361 to replace my 310, and a g77, and some rip chain. My thinking was, I'm not going to be doing that much milling, and I really don't want to buy this gimungous honkin saw that I can only use for milling, and the 361 is such a sweet saw. I'll port the muffler, I say to myself, and it'll be just enough to do what I want to do with it, saw red cedar logs 24 inches and under.

Obviously I had never run a mill before.

So I go out to the driveway and cut a cant off of a doug fir for practice and start ripping. my cant is about 18x18 things go ok at first, slow, but acceptable, the muffler is not yet ported and I'm breaking in the saw so I try to keep it from revving under no-load, but I AM running it at full throttle full load, on a hot day, for about six hours. A couple of times the saw gets so hot that it just sort of, dies. Not seized, just reaaaaaallly hot. (why is that?) So I let it cool, start it up again and keep milling. I destroy one rip chain on a rock and stop to sharpen another a few times. I'd like to think I'm a really good freehand filer, I sharpen in a vice at chest height with the file against my body.

By my final cuts the saw just grabbed and hung up alot, and I'd really have to baby it through the cut. The saw felt powerless compared to earlier. (at this point I'm ripping 14" wide.

At this point I'm getting really worried, did I burn up the rings, the clutch, or is my sharpening technique really that bad?

The saw seems to run and crosscut fine, but I haven't hooked up the mill again to check.

My questions are these,

how can I check to see if I hurt my saw or if it's all in my head?

should I buy a nice electric guided filer?

should I sell the 361 AND the g77 AND the ported muffler AND the ripchain on ebay, and just eat the loss and go out and buy a 460 and a mark III?

I really don't want to have to get a whole new setup. (I'm trying to not become a chainsaw miller, the g77 is a fun toy and the 361 is supposed to be my primary working saw) But I also don't want to burn up a new 361 (if I haven't already). By the time I get done edging a log I'll be ripping 12-24" inch wide softwoods.

Any advice would be really, really helpful. I've got quite a bit of wood to cut before the 361 goes back to normal chainsaw life.

thanks

Brian the kayak logging madman.

Pour 4 fingers of cheap whiskey.

Pull muffler off. Drink. Pour 4 more. Look into exhaust port.
From there you'll either be pouring another 4 in celebration, or drinking outta the bottle cuz the glass just hit the wall.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[windthrown]

You do not say what size bar you are running on your 361. If the bar is over 25 inches the stock oil pump is not likely to keep up, even with the oiler cranked all the way up (the oil adjuster is on the belly of the 361; its a small screw). Milling cedar is pretty soft stuff and the 361 probably will cut that OK. Doug fir is a different story. Depending on the angle of the cut; if you noodle cut (cut parallel with the grain) its pretty easy. Cross cutting is the next easiest, and what chainsaws are designed to cut. If you cut straight through a log at a 90 degree angle that is the hardest way to cut with a chainsaw.

As for the saw getting really hot, that is not a good thing. They get hot, but mine have never gotten so hot that I noticed it. Presuming that you are using good gas and premix (mid-grade gas minimum, I use super myself) and a good 100% synthetic premix oil made for air-cooled engines (I use Elf 2T, many here use Stihl Ultra). You can check to see if you scored the engine by removing the muffler and looking into the exhaust port. Make damn sure that the kill switch is OFF and pull the starter cord slowly to see the piston and rings move up and down. Look for scoring on the cylinder walls when the piston is down, and scoring on the piston and rings when the piston is up. It is pretty obvious if it has been smoked (scored). You can pull the spark plug and it will be easier to pull the starter cord too. If you scored your saw, a jug and piston are spendy for that, but I know where there is one for a fair price. Factory OEM one. PM me for details.

As the others will say, a 361 is a medium size saw and not really a milling saw. I would use my modified 044 for milling myself, and that is on the small side.