how much of a Husky do I need?

[woodshop]

I mill about 3000 ft of oak/maple/cherry a year using a Ripsaw portable bandmill powered by an MS361, but my blades last 3-4 times longer if I keep them out of bark, so I baught a 36" Granberg Alaskan mill to slab off the sides of logs. Sharpening chain is almost fun compared to sharpening that band. Put my Husky 365 on the alaskan with a 36" bar and ripping chain, and in spite of everywhere I look or read saying I'm going to burn up my 365 pulling that much chain, it does work fine up to around 14" wide stuff, a foot of 12" wide oak takes about 30 seconds without bogging down, a little slower than my bandmill, but I am in no hurry, have no production deadlines Of course I just HAD to try out the whole length of that bar, if only for fun, and boy what a diff trying to slice through a 30 inch wide slab. Took that Husky 365 almost 4 minutes to go a foot. Yes I know, I sent a boy to do a mans job. Well I am going to buy a bigger saw for the thing. My question for you folks is, what saw is big enough? Would like a big Stihl, but the price of the bigger Husky's sure looks good bang for buck, and my Husky 365 has been a workhorse for me, starts easier and gives me a little less grief than my MS361 or even my 034, so probably going to go Husky. Anyhbody use an alaskan mill out there, or could tell me if a 385XP would do or should I spill a couple hundred more for the 395XP. I cut a lot of wood, but its still a hobby/secondary income so to speak, so can't really justify the $1200+ for a 3120XP all the milling folks tell me I should have. Any suggestions?

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"This Too Shall Pass"

 

[MacDaddy]

I would buy the 385 I have ran mine on a 48 inch Alaskan mill and it worked great

 

[scottr]

Debarker for Ripsaw

Woodshop , it seems that a carbide blade in a circular saw would be a more pratical way of clearing the bark for your Ripsaw band blade . Scott

 

[Doug01]

I picked up a used 394 for milling. I have a newer 372 that used at first and like you didn't want to make that saw work that hard. The 394 was big difference. For milling, size does matter.

Doug

 

[woodshop]

Thanks Doug, I'll put one chalk mark next to 395XP... I am leaning to the 395, just thinking the couple hundred I save getting the 385 buys a LOT of ripping chains and bars. But then thinking to myself one day if I do come across a huge blowdown that I can use the whole 31" of my 36" granburg, I will wish I had got the bigger one. Dang I wish these things were 200 bucks at Kmart, milling truly is pure fun in the woods. I'm like a kid in a candy store every time I open up a log.

Scottr... "splain to me how I would go about debarking with my circular saw? Gosh would be hard to get 110V out there in the woods though. By the time I bought a generator I might have baught my 395!

__________________-
This Too Shall Pass

 

[woodshop]

Macman... that 385 on the 48" alaskan... how fast does that run through say 30 inches of oak if you ever did that?

 

[glens]

All they have out west is SPF, where a 30" limb weighs as much as one of our 16"s.

 

[Stumper]

I'm not a milling expert- I've only done a little- but I think that you'll probably NOT regret getting a 395 instead of a 385.

 

[dang]

Well I just got a 385 and have NO regrets, That thing has balls and by the way it has the BEST power to weight ratio of all the Husqvarna saws

 

[MacDaddy]

We dont have oak around my place but that saw pulls it just fine Im not a fan of the 395 I think a 385 with muffler mod runs with it any day

 

[techdave]

Hi woodshop, if you plan to keep milling for at leasta couple years into the future, get a 3120. I had to get a 372xp for bucking, and I knew it would be a poor miller but I had no choice as the 3120 was just too much at the tiime. I have tried an 066 in 36 inch bar and I would not want to make passes down a 36 inch log with a 42 inch bar using 066 unmodified. Of course as you have noticed the stuff 16 inches and under is a snap. Dont forget if you are milling instead of slabbing you need more bar becasue the mill cant attach in the sprocket area. The circ saw would go in front of the bandmillblad, use a wider blade like a dado to debark a thin strip just before the band enters it. HTH Dave.

 

[woodshop]

macman and dang want to save me $200... I like that... but macman I don't live out on the west coast where there are saw shops on every corner doing 385 muffler mods. I've rebuilt stock saws in past, but with stock parts. Is this mod something I could do myself? I do have a metal milling machine in my woodshop, use it mostly for wood though. Curious exactly what IS a muffler mod. I gather from some of the posts I have read that its basically opening up the exhaust for better flow? Less backpressure? Same principle as the Glass Pack strait through mufflers on muscle cars of the 60's and 70's? What would this mod cost me anyway?

thanks for your input fellas


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This Too Shall Pass

 

[woodshop]

Techdave thanks... now that you explained that, I remember seeing setups like that on other bandmills with some sort of circular blade clearing away the bark in front of the blade. As for your advice on the 3120, sure would love to own one, but I just can't justify that extra $4-500 at this time as long as an 80-90cc will do me for most of my stuff. I am usuaully milling less than 24" hardwood, and most of the milling is done on my Ripsaw bandmill. The Alaskan I use to slab the log, square it up or quarter it, get the log into 14" wide cants which is the limit width of the Ripsaw. I do plan to be milling more and more as I seem to have more trees than I have time to saw lately. Need to make more room to sticker/dry/store more lumber. Yup, know about the bar length... I get a tad less than 31" on my 36" Windsor speedtip in the Granberg.

 

[MacDaddy]

I will sell my 385 if you want maybe the mill also Thanks Mke

 

[Bill G]

As for your advice on the 3120, sure would love to own one, but I just can't justify that extra $4-500 at this time as long as an 80-90cc will do me for most of my stuff. .

Where are you buying a 395 that it is $400-$500 less than a 3120. Since 3120"s should still be had for around $1000 out of Canada then I would like to know where the $500-$600 395 is ? I realize the exchange rate has effected the price of saws going from Canada to the USA but I still think the 3120 is around $1000 and I have not seen the 395 nor 385 priced at $400-$500 less.

Bill

 

[woodshop]

Bill, have not done super extensive search on prices between the upper end Husky's yet, I'm still in the looking phase, but so far (here in Pennsylvania) found that none of the walk in Husky dealers come close to online prices so decided to get it internet, as I did my 365. I'm actually one of those guys that likes to shop local if only to support my local (taxes etc) economy, but only to a point. If I can get a saw for more than $100 less online, I will jump ship and do so. Just a couple places I looked so far, Madsens and Norwalk Power, found the 3120 around $320 more at Madsens, and about $350 more at Norwalk when comparing similar bars. Norwalk throws in couple chains, I like Madsens customer support etc. So I guess I should have said $300-400 not $400-500, sorry. As for getting a 3120 for a grand from Canada... didn't know about that... short of driving up to Canada (days drive from here) is there a place online in Canada that I can get a 3120 that cheap? Lemme know please :Eye:

http://www.*****.com/index.html?lmd=38268.758796

http://www.madsens1.com/sub1.htm

______________________-
this too shall pass

 

[Newfie]

If you go online I would recommend one of our sponsors,Bailey's. I'd also recommend Commercial Cutters Direct out of New York. Both outfits are top notch and have great customer service.

 

[woodshop]

Newfie I get most of my supplies from Baileys, great bunch, but unless I missed it, they don't sell the 3120, at least not online or in thier catolog. They have the 395 for $830 head only, not cheapest but not a bad price, and I don't always go for the cheapest, service and company stability count for a lot in my book. But I don't see the 3120 in thier lineup. Am I missing something?

 

[Newfie]

I bet if you ask they have it or can get it. Ask Gregg (Grande dog) over at the Bailey's forum here at AS.

 

[spacemule]

Here's a great deal on a 3120, but it looks like they're out of stock. It sure seems Huskie's prices have risen dramatically in the last year.