What Temp do you stop Chain Saw milling?

[Simple Jack]

I was milling a few weeks ago, and got started early in the morning, and by noon got up to about 95. I had to quit!! It wasn't good on me, and I was sure it wasn't too good on the saw. What summer temp do you say no to milling?

 

[ammoaddict]

I was milling a few weeks ago, and got started early in the morning, and by noon got up to about 95. I had to quit!! It wasn't good on me, and I was sure it wasn't too good on the saw. What summer temp do you say no to milling?

70

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[Hoodiegadoo]

[emoji23] 70 made me laugh out loud. Well played.

 

[ammoaddict]

I'm allergic to hot weather. If I had my way it would never get over 70.

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[ammoaddict]

Honestly I haven't tried milling yet. I bought one of the Chinese 36" Mills but haven't had time to try it out yet.

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[Simple Jack]

When I use to shoot competition, I was a fair weather shooter. To me it just didn't seem as fun when I physically felt like I was working.

 

[BobL]

I've milled a couple of times when it was over 100 but only to finish the last few cuts on a log.These days I wouldn't start if the forecast was for over 90.

Back in 2010 I went for a milling holiday on my friends 350 acre property on the south coast. Typical summer daily maximums on the south coast are around mid 80s so ideal milling weather even in summer. The day after I arrived I turned my ankle and couldn't do anything except lay around and drink beer . The following day there was howling easterlies coming off the central desert and it shot up to 120 - I got this photo when it was on the way down. The following day to was down to mid 90s and then mid 80 the day after and by then my ankle was OK.

 

[ML12]

We tend to do most of our milling in the late fall or early, early spring. Used to mill in the summer but some of the saws don't like the heat (vapour lock) and I don't like it either. We milled twice in the snow this year, and aside from the saws not wanting to start initially, they ran excellently.

 

[Simple Jack]

The day that I was cutting slabs and reached 95, I noticed sometime later, my hand guard/chain break release had melted a little in one spot where the exhaust bounces off of one of those tabs on the 3120xp muffler. So with out a doubt that's too hot to be cutting in. I was cutting in the open under the sun, now I have a couple stumps setup under the shade of a huge white oak tree. I wish I could have cut them up earlier this spring, but I just got the saw a few weeks ago.

 

[Mad Professor]

Colder the better to a point.

If you're working hard, and still too cold, that is too cold.

Too hot, not much you can do about it. I try to set up in a shady spot, drink lots of fluids.

I don't like milling much above 70 either. The other issue for warm weather is stain and molds on lumber. You need to get things stacked and stickered and be ready to do that as it comes off the mill. We have white pine which will blue stain quick if you don't get the logs milled summertime.

I found a good recipe for hydration: 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp lite salt, 2 tsp baking soda, 8 tbs of sugar, in a gallon of water. The sugar helps you absorb the electrolytes/fluid as does the baking soda (adjusts pH).

 

[Bmac]

Colder the better to a point.

If you're working hard, and still too cold, that is too cold.

Too hot, not much you can do about it. I try to set up in a shady spot, drink lots of fluids.

I don't like milling much above 70 either. The other issue for warm weather is stain and molds on lumber. You need to get things stacked and stickered and be ready to do that as it comes off the mill. We have white pine which will blue stain quick if you don't get the logs milled summertime.

I found a good recipe for hydration: 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp lite salt, 2 tsp baking soda, 8 tbs of sugar, in a gallon of water. The sugar helps you absorb the electrolytes/fluid as does the baking soda (adjusts pH).

Agree completely, milling in the winter is very much preferred, and since I'm more of a hobbyist, I only mill in the winter.

Excellent point on the lumber quality too. A lot of problems can be eliminated when air drying if you cut in the winter. Freshly cut boards are full of water, free and bound water. Letting them begin to dry in the cooler months allows the moisture content to go down enough to eliminate a lot of mold and stain problems that can occur in warmer weather.

As for your beverage, what is lite salt?

 

[Mad Professor]

Agree completely, milling in the winter is very much preferred, and since I'm more of a hobbyist, I only mill in the winter.

Excellent point on the lumber quality too. A lot of problems can be eliminated when air drying if you cut in the winter. Freshly cut boards are full of water, free and bound water. Letting them begin to dry in the cooler months allows the moisture content to go down enough to eliminate a lot of mold and stain problems that can occur in warmer weather.

As for your beverage, what is lite salt?

Low sodium salt, has potassium instead. The regular salt and baking soda provide the sodium.

 

[andy]

Ideally winter but... the Days are too short in winter... I don’t find free time during daylight hours.

Fortunately in the pnw mornings and and evenings can be pretty cool and days are long in summer.

@Simple Jack
Have you opened that 3120 muffler yet.
It really does cool much better when it’s free breathing.
Loud though. You’ll want earplugs and muffs together. (I do).

 

[Simple Jack]

Ideally winter but... the Days are too short in winter... I don’t find free time during daylight hours.

Fortunately in the pnw mornings and and evenings can be pretty cool and days are long in summer.

@Simple Jack
Have you opened that 3120 muffler yet.
It really does cool much better when it’s free breathing.
Loud though. You’ll want earplugs and muffs together. (I do).

I opened it up a little, I'm sure it's helps out! one thing I wonder about is fuel. From my understanding from what I have read the higher octane will make the saw run cooler. No ethanol or methanol free fuel around here besides airport. They have 100ll. About a hour away they have 87 octane about the same price as the airport's 100ll. Then close to where I've been milling they have 110 octane race fuel. From my understanding the 110 will cause the saw to loose a little power, not sure about 100ll, haven't seen too much negative with that fuel. Maybe that would be better to use 100LL in the summer months to keep things cooler? Maybe 87 would be better in winter? Might have to give it a try?

As far as the carb goes, I haven't had the modification to the high speed jet. I was told that the saw runs really rich to begin with and just modding the muffler a little won't make enough difference to need to open it up anymore that what it already is. I don't plan on doing any other mods to it like the unlimited coil or anything like that. I think the saw runs great!!

It is a little louder now, but I have a new set of 3M Work Tunes. I can listen to the Phone while mowing and cutting. I can hear the music without blasting it too loud. I try to wear the hearing protectors all the time running it, but sometimes I can't help myself listening to it roar without them. I already hear the crickets chirping all the time, so I have to be careful about what I do. I should have been more careful when I was younger.

 

[BobL]

It is a little louder now, but I have a new set of 3M Work Tunes.

Hummmmmm . . . . . .3M work tunes only have a noise reduction ration (NRR) rating of 24 dB which makes them a poor if not dangerous choice of ear muff especially given you have modified the muffler. I wouldn't wear any muff with a 24 NRR even with a stock muffler and ear plugs. You're also probably not noticing the noise (human ears are pretty poor at detecting noise level differences unless they are 2-3 times times louder or softer) so much if you are playing music.

I had my hearing tested when I was 40 and found I had significant hearing loss for my age - especially around the 4kHz range - audiologist said too much exposure to 70's rock music and he was right. Since then I made a very serious efforts at protecting my remaining hearing by wearing the most sound reducing muffs I could find. These are the 3M Peltor extreme 10HA and 10HB which have a NNR of 32-33.dB. They are similar to those used by target shooters.

The difference between 32 and 24 dB doesn't sound like much but the difference is much larger than it seems as every 3 dB increase an NRR means the sound is reduce by 50% so the difference between and NRR of 24 and 32 db is a noise reduction factor of 8 times (ie 800%)
An NNR of 33 is about the best that any muffs can do because above that the sound bypasses the outer ear and is conducted though bones (ie skull) to the inner ear. Muffs that claim an NRR above about 33 dB are bogus claims.

Anyway after using these muffs (plus earplugs) while CSMing I recently had my hearing tested and apart from the 4KHz range, my other hearing frequencies are now slightly above the average for my age (63 at the time of measurement). The audiologist was surprised and repeated the measurements to be sure. This does not mean my hearing has improved (it never can) it has gone backwards but everyone else's has deteriorated faster than mine. Because of the major hearing loss at 4kH's I do have trouble hearing consonants in speech (t's, d's, s's etc) so I still have to have the TV up a little louder. Unfortunately all other frequencies sounds loud. I'm not a regular church goer but when I do go (weddings, funerals etc) I fortunately can't hear what the preacher is saying.

 

[ML12]

I wear custom fitted ear plugs, and they're pretty good. Company paid for them, but otherwise they can be expensive. Can't really pull them in and out fast, and can't hear people talking with them in.

 

[Mad Professor]

I use the cheap disposable foam ear plugs and ear muffs.

 

[Simple Jack]

Too darn HOT around here to do anything!! I'll probably wit until sept to finish cutting my white oak!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Hummmmmm . . . . . .3M work tunes only have a noise reduction ration (NRR) rating of 24 dB which makes them a poor if not dangerous choice of ear muff especially given you have modified the muffler. I wouldn't wear any muff with a 24 NRR even with a stock muffler and ear plugs. You're also probably not noticing the noise (human ears are pretty poor at detecting noise level differences unless they are 2-3 times times louder or softer) so much if you are playing music.

I had my hearing tested when I was 40 and found I had significant hearing loss for my age - especially around the 4kHz range - audiologist said too much exposure to 70's rock music and he was right. Since then I made a very serious efforts at protecting my remaining hearing by wearing the most sound reducing muffs I could find. These are the 3M Peltor extreme 10HA and 10HB which have a NNR of 32-33.dB. They are similar to those used by target shooters.

The difference between 32 and 24 dB doesn't sound like much but the difference is much larger than it seems as every 3 dB increase an NRR means the sound is reduce by 50% so the difference between and NRR of 24 and 32 db is a noise reduction factor of 8 times (ie 800%)
An NNR of 33 is about the best that any muffs can do because above that the sound bypasses the outer ear and is conducted though bones (ie skull) to the inner ear. Muffs that claim an NRR above about 33 dB are bogus claims.

Anyway after using these muffs (plus earplugs) while CSMing I recently had my hearing tested and apart from the 4KHz range, my other hearing frequencies are now slightly above the average for my age (63 at the time of measurement). The audiologist was surprised and repeated the measurements to be sure. This does not mean my hearing has improved (it never can) it has gone backwards but everyone else's has deteriorated faster than mine. Because of the major hearing loss at 4kH's I do have trouble hearing consonants in speech (t's, d's, s's etc) so I still have to have the TV up a little louder. Unfortunately all other frequencies sounds loud. I'm not a regular church goer but when I do go (weddings, funerals etc) I fortunately can't hear what the preacher is saying.

Funny, I noticed that today.

Normally use the worktune muffs.
Today was weed swacking the ditch lines and dug out my falling helmet, mostly cause the shield keeps stuff from whacking my face.
Anyhow, put the on and couldn't even hear the radio a few ft away.