20 thou squish a hazard for milling?

[Brent Nowell]

Curious if the added heat is a problem when using a tight squish for that extra power gain?

Does anyone here mill with tight squish saws?

 

[cuinrearview]

What saw?

 

[Brent Nowell]

My 372 x torq

 

[andy]

I use a 3120xp that Randy Evans massaged ("woods").
It's probably not ideal being ported and base cut but it's what I have.
The muffler is pretty open.. loud and flows free.
I notice much less heat than the stock ms661c this saw replaced.
Granted, I cut mostly soft woods so the saw has less time in cut than with hardwoods although, I am usually cutting some wide pretty stuff which also factors.

 

[Brent Nowell]

Good info I do appreciate that feedback.
I’m just worried about overheating. I primarily use my 395 for milling but sometimes I have no choice but to bring a 372 to do it all. Particularly I’m planning on going out in the bush to build a small tree stand with a friend. I would only bring one saw and it’s most likely going to be the 372 to mill some quick lumber

 

[Justsaws]

Personally I would not bother modifying a saw very much to mill with, beyond a dual port muffler, opened clutch cover, improved air filter and perhaps increasing the oiler output. Having used modified saws with reduced squish and changed ports, blah, blah, blah, the end of the day results were surprisingly unimpressive and in every case increased fuel consumption was out of proportion to any gain in lumber production.

Milling is all about the chain and technique, beyond that there is absolutely no replacement for displacement.

 

[Brent Nowell]

Justsaws, thanks for your reply!

I only asked cause I ordered a pop up piston for my 372 in which it mostly does edging/firewood but occasionally does milling.

What is opening up of the clutch cover entail? To dissipate heat? Chips? Would love to hear more details or a pic if possible

 

[Justsaws]

Some saws have a clutch covers with lots of chip and dust flow interference. The goal being to allow the chain to clean out as much as possible before going back into the wood. The big loose chips will dump out of the chain as soon as it clears the wood, a lot more will come off as it rounds the clutch. As soon as the chain on the top of the bar enters the kerf it is loading back up with chip and dust before it rounds the bar nose to start the actual cutting again, so allowing the chain to clean off as much as possible will improve the chains efficiency. This is why having a good bit of bar tip exposed is also a good idea if possible, albeit more dangerous.

A good open clutch cover allows for more chip/dust dumping while providing some direction to the chip/dust pile and protection to the operator and equipment. I am not a fan of a simple bar clamp with no clutch cover, makes a lot more mess, a lot more fine dust floating and I like a bit more protection for me and the equipment.

Does not need to be fancy. On the 066 Stihl the knockoff West Coast clutch cover is a good choice. For years I just used a plastic 1129(029-390) cover that I cut up a bit, also worked great. Plus it was free and lightweight.

On the Husqvarna 365/372 I would poke around for a busted one or just grab a knockoff and cut back a bit over the top/front of the chain and up into the clutch area from the bottom. Leave enough to protect yourself from the chain, a saw on the mill is handled differently, really easy to bump that chain area with body parts.

If you are going to run the 372 on a mill, use at least 32:1, make sure to set it upright between passes and blip the throttle a couple times, listen carefully to it as you are milling any significant change in sound needs to be sorted out quickly. Do not bog it down for a long cut and keep it there, let it keep the revs up with a light touch.

Set the idle mixture screw as rich as possible while still maintaining the ability to idle, let it idle between cuts. I am not a fan of running the saw rich while cutting, also not a fan of running them at the very edge of lean as many folks on this website do. Find the happy medium, not so rich as to taste the fuel in the air and not so ridiculously lean as to provide zero “oh, crap” margin on a multiple tankful of fuel cut.

 

[WoodyBlue]

......A good open clutch cover allows for more chip/dust dumping while providing some direction to the chip/dust pile and protection to the operator and equipment. I am not a fan of a simple bar clamp with no clutch cover, makes a lot more mess, a lot more fine dust floating and I like a bit more protection for me and the equipment.

Does not need to be fancy. On the 066 Stihl the knockoff West Coast clutch cover is a good choice. For years I just used a plastic 1129(029-390) cover that I cut up a bit, also worked great. Plus it was free and lightweight.

Justsaws I use a MS 660Magnum. Can you show me or point me in the right direction for a clutch cover mod or replacement for the 660?

 

[Justsaws]

I would not recommend cutting up a good condition OEM cover, that is what the after market ones are for.

The aftermarket west coast style cover for 044,046,066-660 can usually be found for around $30-40.00 and work good as is. Adds a bit of weight and thickness or width to the cutting side of the saw, not been an issue for me. I like them because they still cover the moving parts completely and direct the chips and dust nicely. So far all of these am covers I have seen have been good quality in terms of fit and finish. They are available online suppliers.

An aftermarket standard cover can be had much cheaper however the quality is all over the place, some have been very good, some sloppy fit and finish.

In terms of modifying a standard cutter I tend to cut back the area directly over the top chain under the side exhaust about an inch back the width of the horizontal piece. I cut away the the area under and behind the clutch leaving enough to cover the clutch completely and support the very back deflector area a bit. I do not remove any around the bottom chain as to leave it covered. When I removed the back deflector portion it made a heck of a mess, I do not do that anymore and would not recommend doing it. It weakened the cover to much.

If pressed against the plastic covers will flex into the clutch easily after modifying, the metal covers will as well just not so easily, the unmodified west coast cover does not and is quite a bit safer every regard.

If you decide to modify a cover, make small changes at a time to see what you are comfortable with.