milling with an autotune or m-tronic saw

[William Balaska]

Your right, but I suspect it was asked to do more than it could handle.

 

[mdavlee]

If it was run with a 36" then it could have been too much.

 

[weimedog]

Wow. The premise set here is what?? Its probably related to the Autotune? Certainly nothing else could have been a factor in the death of that saw! But if the purpose is to eliminate the Autotune from the equation.... my bet is auto tune has limits in the problems it can solve...

(Used to test my old Jonsered Builds by free hand milling planks.. and have done more than a few planks free hand with a 555, does that count?)

 

[hamish]

It can keep the saw fed with more than enough fuel.

Start looking elsewhere for the determining factors.

 

[Termite]

I agree. Milling saws start at 90cc... but that's just me.

I think milling should start at 30 Horsepower.

 

[AKDoug]

I think milling should start at 30 Horsepower.

I agree....and a bandsaw blade.

 

[Justsaws]

Seems to be not much AT/MT milling action at all. Seems like it would be a perfect fit for a 661.

Only counts if the saw is being run tanks at a time on it's side.

When I find a bandsaw with a 30" cut that I can carry to the wood, I will buy it, as long as it does not cost more than a chainsaw mill.

 

[CR888]

Maybe the 576xp has a short fuel pickup or one that sits in a funky position when the saw is run on its side not supplying enough fuel and when under constant heavy load.........bang boom bust!! Just a suggestion. A member in NZ had two lean siezes on his 576AT and is scared to run it!! Others have many hours normal use with no problems. I wonder whether the AT software can tell you the temperature of saw up to point of failure?

 

[Justsaws]

Wanted to bump this up to see if there is any new info out there.

 

[Whizbang]

Some 576at's suffered from faulty AT modules resulting in some non starts, most are ok but the oil/fuel
ratio needs to be increased for milling (ie: 32:1 instead of 50:1). Full skip chain for bars over 30".

 

[Philip Wheelock]

Seems to me that milling is not an appropriate use for a mid-size saw, stock, ported, AT/MT, manual carb or whatever. A stock 120cc saw is a better solution at minimum. Or this:

 

[Whizbang]

Seems to me that milling is not an appropriate use for a mid-size saw, stock, ported, AT/MT, manual carb or whatever. A stock 120cc saw is a better solution at minimum. Or this:
View attachment 463935

Yep. A stock 3120XP with a muffler mod for heat will cut all day with a 72" bar. Planking up to 10" wide is ok 60cc or over but most of the mid range pro saws create too much heat that can't escape via the crankcase.

 

[tylerbeach3]

You all may have saved my 562xp ( 1 year old, less than 100 tanks). I probably would have burned her up tomorrow. Thank you for advice! Im thinking briggs srtaton with a bar set. Torque right? Thats what we want for milling. Cant afford a huge saw or bandsaw mill at the moment but lawn mower engines i got!

 

[weimedog]

I milled a few thousand feet with an old McCulloch 797, used 100ll av gas to "cool it down" some, Also used a Jonsered 920. It would melt the pulse lines...back to the 797. Milled with a "tweaked" 372. No problem. Been doing some small milling operations with a Huztl AM / OEM blended 660 based saw. No problems....so how many saws here pressed into milling service had steel caged bearings vs. nylon caged bearings from the factory? Just a question. Milling certainly heats things up. Think I would be looking there before autotune/m-tronic type things. SO many factors effect saw life. Funny how the first thing considered is the one thing you can't control or modify. Of course the other thing I would look at is how well a saw rids it self of heat...combined with mechanical components. For example...that 660 based saw has nylon caged bearings....but the muffler mod and just big open design sheds heat in a hurry. The "non contact" thermometer shows that saw as running relatively cool on the bottom end where I can get a reading vs. some of the "New" really "space efficient" designs where there is a LOT of surface area between the muffler & cases and everything is packed together. Yup not posting numbers, as where I can get a reading & the case geometry differs from saw to saw....but I check that stuff in an "orders of magnitude" sense. Some other saws are terrible at getting rid of heat. Thats the direction I would look long before tagging something not well understood therefore an easy target.

The one part of the Autotune story that supports its being a factor is the fact it does a lean out test frequently, then adjusting mixture trying to get to a max RPM under certain throttle conditions....trying to maximize power. You could twist the logic to where thats an issue in theory..maybe. BUT if the basic saw design can handle the heat generated under sustained load...that shouldn't be an issue. The implication you have to buy into to blame Autotunes is you can tune a conventional carburetor on the saw with an Autotune concept with more fuel to let it run cooler..or therefore assume the design of the Autotune/M-tronic "system" forces a lean condition under load. Thats the stretch. LOL. No. Its about shedding heat more than heat is generated and then, at the "steady" state temperatures; do the components last for the heat cycles experienced. Its about the total saw design vs. Autotune and Carbs.