56" mill upgrade

[glennschumann]

Well, I have the 36" Granberg mill, and I found a log I couldn't get it around, so I figured that a 56"er was in order. I'll be running a 60" bar, but once I get the 56" rails, do any of you think I need to get an extra cast aluminum support to use in the middle, or would I be ok with just the two on the ends. Yea, the 60 bar and 3120 are heavy, but would I be better off with an additional support in the middle to connect the rails and round rod to make it less flexible? Have any of you added one with a measure of improvement, or not and wished you did? I'm already planning on adding an extra short section of rail between the long rails so that I'm sure I will have support at the beginning and end of the cut even if the 2x12 across the top of the log doesn't line up with the one middle rail at both ends.

As always, thanks in advance to the collective wisdom of AS.

Oh, and if any of you in SE Wisconsin have any monster logs to slab... lets chat.

 

[hazard]

we are not to far away from each other.

I added an extra cross brace on my 36" rig not for stability but because I was always moving the single one. I run a brace on the 2x4 when I start a cut and it helps for starting a new cut. Hard to explain.

Have you ever milling with the grain getting the noddles? I was thinking of upgrading the mill to what you have and cutting 4' logs or so but the diameter of the log wouldn't matter. You know those 60" plus walnut crotches that you have to butcher to cut. Just a thought.

Chris

 

[BobL]

we are not to far away from each other.

I added an extra cross brace on my 36" rig not for stability but because I was always moving the single one. I run a brace on the 2x4 when I start a cut and it helps for starting a new cut. Hard to explain.

Yep - agree 100%.
I have 2 cross braces. One is moveable to ride on the log rails. The other is located at the point of max bar sag and is where I hang my magnetic bar support from.

Have you ever milling with the grain getting the noddles? I was thinking of upgrading the mill to what you have and cutting 4' logs or so but the diameter of the log wouldn't matter. You know those 60" plus walnut crotches that you have to butcher to cut. Just a thought.

Chris

I have done one like this with my 42" bar - great fun. I'm also planning to do more with the 60" bar.

 

[hazard]

I was thinking of my stihl 066 and since I can't find a long bars for 3/8 .050 chain I will have to change the sprocket on the saw from what I gather.

glennschumann, how much was the new bar?

I have 2 huge pieces of walnut crotch in the shed that are probably 5' across and 2.5" think and like 28" long. Cool stuff

Chris

 

[glennschumann]

BobL Thanks for the thoughts, and another wonderful picture of your aircraft quality milling mechanism. I'm continually impressed. I'm not sure I understand your magnetic bar support, however.

I do think that the extra cross brace thingy that holds the square rails and round rod are going to be helpful.

Hazard I have not intentionally cut with the grain to create noodles with the big saw, but some of the crotches I've cut have yielded noodles during the run. I've cut some firewood size pieces freehand with a little saw that way, and I got lots of curly cues all caught up in the sprocket area. No big deal. They are so much easier to clean up.

I would think that cutting this way would have the advantage of having the chain enter on the cut end of the log, rather than through the dirty, chain dulling bark.

I got the bar at Baileys for about $89. It was closeout, and I just checked, and they are out. It is for a Husky. You might check out their closeout bars on occasion to see if something shows up that you like. If you are even 1/10th as handy as BobL (That is still a lot), you might consider getting a bar that doesn't fit your 066, and adapting to fit. 088 bars fit with a spacer, I think, and 394/3120 etc would require milling the space out.

A search of "SS63"at baileys will find bars to fit the 066 with 0.063 ga, "SS50" for 0.050 ga "BS63" for the 088

I'd love to get my hands on any crotches.

 

[BobL]

BobL Thanks for the thoughts, and another wonderful picture of your aircraft quality milling mechanism. I'm continually impressed. I'm not sure I understand your magnetic bar support, however.

cheers Glenn!
Magnetic anti-sagging bar explained here.

 

[hazard]

BobL, I like the magnet thing.

Have you noticed a bow in the wood when cutting 50" or so from the blade dipping?

Do you have any close of pictures of how you hooked up the handle bars to the round rail. I recently bought the handle bar for the square rail from granberg but haven't had a chance to try it out.

Chris

 

[hazard]

Glenn

Maybe you should contact a tree service to see if they have any unwanted very large crotch pieces they do not want to deal with.

Also as funny as this sound maybe post something on craigslist. Remember to put many disclaimers about not cutting trees down, doing yard work, paying or roofing the house. You get the idea.

Chris

 

[glennschumann]

Bob,

Thanks for the link... I get it now!

Chris,

Yes, I've considered the CL and tree service routes, but I just haven't had the time the for lower priority fun things. I would imagine that if I said I wanted to take the ugliest pieces of wood from the tree (with respect to how to cut them into fire wood, or sell as logs to a mill) some folks would be happy for me to take them off their hands. I've also considered cutting wood on shares for local woodworkers. There is a wood working group in town that has logs milled once a year... but they cannot get the huge ones done with the guy they use. Maybe we could fill that bill...