Milling with Stihl MS171?

[Ken Garland]

I recently had some trees felled in my backyard that I want to mill. The thickest trunk is roughly 16" in the center, the average one is 12". These are Tulip trees, logs are roughly 9ft each.

I have a Stihl MS171 with the stock bar and chain, is there a bar+chain that someone can recommend for milling?

The Granberg G777 Small Chainsaw Mill says it works with saws under 20" so I'm guessing that's the one I should go with.

 

[SeMoTony]

I recently had some trees felled in my backyard that I want to mill. The thickest trunk is roughly 16" in the center, the average one is 12". These are Tulip trees, logs are roughly 9ft each.

I have a Stihl MS171 with the stock bar and chain, is there a bar+chain that someone can recommend for milling?

The Granberg G777 Small Chainsaw Mill says it works with saws under 20" so I'm guessing that's the one I should go with.

I started with ms-170 and a HF unit that clamped on the bar. I'll add a pic later, as it was guided by a 1" x up to maybe 6" wide. I've been using it as an edger since MKlll Alaskan & ms-460 were added to the stable. As a guide I have 1 x 3 rectangular aluminum tube, was last used on 17" dia. black walnut to cut a cant.
No experience with the G777,. Is it upgradeable to a both end clamped unit. Another option is Amazon where a MKlll clone is available for less than $150 IIRC, range listed as 14"-36". Sounds useable on the 171.
Forester has a B&C combo that runs square chisel chain that I've not taken off since I put it on. Not a smooth finish, cuts well when sharp.
Pic will be added once I'm outa the library back to my tabletI have deleted the other pics. On the right side is my 170 , the green is the guide on the slab are the guide bar and close to square slices made for ramps in do time.and now that I am here I can show the nature of what I began with. This is a TM-56 which is discontinued it came bent and out of square when the bends were corrected. Had to grind the iron clamp to bring it close to square. The 1/4" bolt thru stops the spring in the cast iron clamp. Otherwise it doesn't get enough holding power on the bar, which then slips to show what chain teeth and cast iron do to each other.
Took a look at the chinese clone $135 free shipping for an araskin mill that may set up as well as the American model.
Stay safe while you enjoy

 

[Ken Garland]

I ordered the Granberg G777, it's coming tomorrow. Will post some pics of it mounted up and cuts this weekend. When I get a larger saw in the future I'll get a mill with double clamps to support it. For this job, I just wanted to have more ripping capacity.

 

[jeremyc]

You should be ok. It won’t be fast and if you try to force it the saw will not be happy. But for a small project just take your time and have fun.

 

[sonny580]

I use a 42cc poulan pro 18" on my 36" Granberg and it works fine on small logs, ( or firewood lumber )---not fast but just don't crowd the saw and let it rest every so often in the cut. You will get the hang of it real fast once you get started.
Granberg about to go on the echo cs 8000 here shortly with 36" bar & chain to skin down a 34" maple log to fit my little band saw mill! Have fun and be safe with yours! thanks; sonny580

 

[Ken Garland]

You should be ok. It won’t be fast and if you try to force it the saw will not be happy. But for a small project just take your time and have fun.

Thanks Jeremy. I put the mill together and mounted the bar and took it out to see what could be done. The stock bar that came with this saw is 14", after the inch or so taken away from the bar mount it was clear this wasn't going to be able to slice off even the top slab. Ordered a Forester B&C 16" combo on SeMoTony's recommendation, should be here this week. Round two coming up!

 

[SeMoTony]

Thanks Jeremy. I put the mill together and mounted the bar and took it out to see what could be done. The stock bar that came with this saw is 14", after the inch or so taken away from the bar mount it was clear this wasn't going to be able to slice off even the top slab. Ordered a Forester B&C 16" combo on SeMoTony's recommendation, should be here this week. Round two coming up!

CS-101 at top of this section has excellent sharpening recommendation from BobL. On the forester I use the files for square chisel on the chain I have that came with the bar. Also if it spits dust lower the rakers/depth guages til the CS bogs after throwing chips. Like BobL recommends. Ease into the cut, & in a bit you will have the feel for it.
Mill safe and enjoy

 

[Ken Garland]

Looks like this rig just won't be able to get it done, not by a long shot. Thinking about selling the MS171 and returning the mill. The local Stihl shop has a pretty big retail shop and they also have a store next door that sells used and does repairs. If I can get $100 for the MS171, $40 for the B&C and return the mill for $150 that'll make the purchase of a new saw+mill much easier to take.

Going to head down to their shop tomorrow and see what they have with a 20" bar on it.

 

[Ken Garland]

So I went down to the shop and traded in my MS171 for an MS271. I kept the Granberg G777 for now. The MS271 has a 20" bar and is about an inch shy of the end of the mill when mounted so there is some protection there.

I'll be trying it out tomorrow. Weather looks good so I'll make a day of it and do some BBQ too.

 

[Ken Garland]

Worked great! It was a lot harder than I had thought. I finished one log, stickered and stacked it in the backyard. I have about 9 more logs to do and definitely want to get a rip chain before starting again this weekend, that or figure out how to lower the rakers on the chain I have as suggested.

 

[jeremyc]

Awesome! I’m very new to milling myself and I found it’s a lot of fun but pretty slow. Glad you got a bigger saw to handle it better. Ripping chain doesn’t make a major difference in speed from what I understand but it leaves a smoother finish.

 

[sonny580]

The rip chain DOES make smoother cut!!! LOL!!! Look at the boards in my echo cs- 8000 thread.--That is the cut with rip chain! thanks; sonny580

 

[SeMoTony]

The rip chain DOES make smoother cut!!! LOL!!! Look at the boards in my echo cs- 8000 thread.--That is the cut with rip chain! thanks; sonny580

I found a small honey locust at the yard waste dump.set up the mill guide, cuta straight line partially thrusplit with felling wedge and pry bars.hurried too much ( wanting to eat) and hung the inboard edge of the TM-56 on the raised part of the split which thru the bar further into the log than ninety degrees.
This is more an example of the limitations of the combination I used here. But this thread is on 171 size milling. It may be better function with the 021 with a longer bar. My 460 ( avatar) is too much to do a good job with this guide . A log less than about two feet is too small to use the MKlll Alaskan & the BS Millers haul them away. About the way I began with a HF version of the guide used here. Making 6"x6" max size posts then.
BobL ,who has more experience than most of us, has said that the way a person mills has more to do with the finish than the particular chain. Personally I have trouble telling the difference after the slabs have air dried part way. Kiln drying may be different. The speed and less wear on the powerhead led me to use skip chisel chain.
Mill safe and enjoy

 

[BobL]

With a lot lower top plate filing angle, standard ripping chain chain is more forgiving of operator mill handling dusting the cut. Higher TPCA as used in cross cutting enables the chain cutters to dive sideways a bit further and leave more/deeper cutter marks but if the operator is careful and doesn't throw/seesaw sidewayd/fang the mill around in the cut they can get just as good a finish with almost any TPCA.