Bailey's says powerheads with 80cc are a MINIMUM for mills on bars over 20".
Granberg is a little more optimistic, saying 68-85cc powerheads for mills 18-36" wide.
With my 272xp, what are the honest, practical upper-limits for milling width? I was planing on getting a 36" mill to go with my 32" bar but it sounds like that is out of the question. With this mid-sized saw, should I just stick with a 24" mill and stock that's 18" or less?
Let the opinions fly!
J. D.
Ok, I've never used a 272xp, but when I had a 266xp I did some milling with it. Similar saws . Mine was 66cc's. All I ever ran on it milling was a 24 inch bar with lp chain. Milled 20 plus inch cherry, pine and birch. 1st you can mill 22 inch rounds with a 24 inch bar by slicing the top off, then rolling the log 90 degrees, slabbing again, then do it all 1 more time. By then you have 17 inches or less. The saw always clears on the slabs as it rides above the "round" part of the log.
I've milled 30 inch oak with a 58cc Pioneer Holiday, 24 inch bar lp chain. I milled a thin slab off the top, put on my mini mill and slabbed 2 sides off. Rolled the log, slabbed again, then went back to the 24 inch granberg, set it to 10 inches deep, milled a cant. Then milled it into boards. Thats 58cc's!! Posting here all the time say you can't mill over 18 inches without 75 cc's. Sorry, milled thousands of feet with under 60 cc's, over 18 inches in diameter. LP chain is a huge key. I wouldn't mill without it on bars 24 or less.
I now mill with 82 cc Pioneer P51's. Each on its own mill. Sure the milling is faster with more hp, but I milled an awful lot of wood with small saws, the saws all the postings here say can't mill.
Your saw will mill pine and birch easily. Maple, oak and cherry it will mill, but slower.
If it were me, I'd pick up a 2nd hand 32 or 36 inch bar, and 2 loops or standard chain for it. I'd also get a new 24 inch bar and a few loops of lp chain for it. Only run the longer bar if you need to. Its easier on the saw to run a shorter bar, its safer to mill that way as most of the milling will not have 28 inches of the bar buried. (everytime I see a pic of someone with a 36 inch bar, milling in the woods, milling a 12 inch log, with all that exposed bar...I cringe) The less bar exposed, the safer the milling. I compare it to using a table saw. You wouldn't set the blade height on a table saw to 3 inches high to rip a 3/4 inch thick piece of wood. Right? Besides 90% of the time the 24 inch bar is all you'll need. Even if the log is a huge diameter, it can be reduced to a managable size quickly.
Get the stuff you need, and start milling, it will work fine.
On really big logs the bar clamps can start to get in the way and require even more cuts. I find this all quite time consuming and wasteful which is where a range of bars is useful.
