Homelite 750 vs pioneer 620super for Chainsaw milling

[ry597]

hello guys, i would love to hear your feedback. the 2 biggest saws of my arsenal are the following( homelite750/pioneer620super). which one would be the best for milling? it will mostly be red and white pine and maybe some few hardwood slabs. both of them share the same bore which is 57mm. the stroke on the 750 is a little bit longer so it has a little bit more torque than the 620. both are very torquy saws don't get me wrong! the homelite seems to be more complicated and parts are harder to find. the 750 is 113cc and the 620 is 10cc's less at 103cc. the 620super would defenitely be a tank and it would probably outlast the 750 but im curious to hear from your opinions.

 

[ML12]

I personally wouldn't mill with either. The homelite is a little too hard to find spare parts for, and the pioneer doesn't have an automatic oil pump which means your thumb will be very, very tired after a single pass.

 

[ry597]

I personally wouldn't mill with either. The homelite is a little too hard to find spare parts for, and the pioneer doesn't have an automatic oil pump which means your thumb will be very, very tired after a single pass.

if the pioneer could be able to do it id install a seperate oiler on the bar. the 750 has been sold due to not being able to find any parts to make it running. the 620 super would have a seperate oiling system. it would be slower i think because it revs lower but it has way more torque.

 

[ML12]

if the pioneer could be able to do it id install a seperate oiler on the bar. the 750 has been sold due to not being able to find any parts to make it running. the 620 super would have a seperate oiling system. it would be slower i think because it revs lower but it has way more torque.

With a separate oil system might be ok. The thing with the 600/620/650 pioneers is that they don't make as much power as you'd expect for the displacement (weird combustion chamber shape, different port timing etc. compared to a modern saw). So realistically you probably don't want to mount more than like a 28" bar on them, and even that might be pushing it in hardwood. I'd also go through the whole saw before you start and do the crank seals (splitting the cases for these) and making sure that everything is in good shape because milling it hard on saws. That being said, I've seen a youtube video of a guy using a 650 to mill with, but based on my experience running this series of saws, it would be a slow cut, and you are correct, they've got torque.

The longest bar I've ever run on one of these is a 32", with .404 full comp chain, I bucked a large cedar log and the saw did ok, but it wasn't quick and I couldn't push it hard. I have a few Mac's of a similar vintage that are 15cc smaller but easily cut circles around it.

 

[ML12]

You'd honestly be much better off finding a 1970s vintage saw in the 80cc range and milling with that. I've milled with a pioneer p50 a few times and it did ok with a 3ft bar and skip 3/8