Stihl O66 milling green horn

[Ghost work]

Ive been reading into these forums for a few months now and have decided to join into the conversation myself to see if i can get some more direct information generated to help myself in my journey. Im located in eastern north carolina, just moved here a few months ago and with all the logging going on ive gotten the itch to mill and im jumping head first into it (most of it being southern pine). Im a carpenter / furniture builder of 10+ years. I bought a used 066 (powehead only) as a christmas gift to myself. I will be starting with all on site milling, i live in a residential neighborhood and do not have the means to haul whole logs home and into the yard. The local saw mechanins ive befriended distribute stihl and oregon products, so that being my easiest access i figure i would start with them. im extremely green to the process so sharpening chains down for milling purposes im sure will take years to get them done right (or even close to acceptable). Im looking for advice on weather oregon rip chain is a good starting point ? Based of my power head and lack of experience i do not plan on jumping to a 30" bar right away. I do plan on getting an alaskan mill set up in the future. But will be starting with a homemade alaskin mill style rig at first. (Witch will be built around my bar purchase) What would be a reasonable set up from oregon bar / chain combination that would match to the 066 powerhead ? Or does someone from the area have any better suggestions ?

 

[Quietfly]

I also just started in chainsaws milling and just build my second log today . I have a regular ripping chain on my 25 inch bar that I use on my 08 4 and my Granberg Alaska mill setup, it works fine for most of the stuff I do which so far has been up to 19 inches wide. It really depends on what size of logs you'll be working on right now the logs I'm getting from the local Forestry Service R up to 28 inches wide by about 30 inches long. So after I cut off any can'ts, I'm pretty good to go. Go slow take your time and you should be fine post pictures of your set up and plenty of people on the board will chime in to help. Best of luck,
-Chris

 

[Quietfly]

This was my milling today...

 

[BobL]

What would be a reasonable set up from oregon bar / chain combination that would match to the 066 powerhead ? Or does someone from the area have any better suggestions ?

This is a "How long is a piece of string question" because until you have logs in front of you that you want to cut, and you decide on your alaskan design, you won't really know what you need.

Some basic guidelines
1) If you purchase a sprocket nose bar and use a stock saw (dogs on) a conventional alaskan requires about 6 inches of bar length to fit as the bar clamp cannot be clamped direct onto the sprocket so it has to be clamped further back. So a 26" bar will give you 30" of cut.
2) A hard nose bar can be clamped closer to the end of the nose so you need about 4" extra on a stock saw. i.e. 32" of cut
3) Removing the dogs gains you an inch or so of cutting length - but if this is your only saw this will make bucking a PITA i.e. 31" of cut for a sprocket nose and 33" for a hard nose.
4) If a sprocket nose bar is used and drilled, and the alaskan is bolted through the middle of the bar direct into the mill then this will generate about the same length of cut as for a hard nose bar
5) There was also custom alaskans where the bar is bolted direct to the power head bar bolts at the inboard end and though the middle of the nose at the out board end then this will gain and additional inch of cut.
Various clamping arrangements are detailed here http://www.arboristsite.com/communi...nts-tips-and-tricks.93458/page-2#post-1507640
6) A 660 will make good use of bars up to about 48". I know a fella here in oz that normally uses a 42" bar on his 660 but he also has a 60" bar and mills fair size logs occasional - he goes a bit slow but he gets through the log. If you intend on cutting more than 1 in 10 logs large than about 36" I would suggest a bigger saw.

So step one is what is the largest logs you will mill?
Step two is what alaskan style bar mounting system will you be using ?
Then you can decide on what size bar to purchase.

Chain wise I would stick with full comp 3/8 chain.
A normal backing chain (25 or 30º top plate filing angle) can be used for bucking and milling. Ripping chain (~10º top plate filing angle) suits milling and is not so good for bucking.

Learning to sharpen Chains is directly related to the amount of practice you can put in. Ideally you need a well used chain that you can test sharpen and test in a full width and length milling cut. If you can get the used chain cutting as fast as a new chain you know you have done it right.