I've been milling large guanacaste slabs in southern Mexico for awhile, which is one of those big mimosa tropical shade trees that monkeypod is part of the family of as well. We started with a completely unreliable 045 Super I got with a bad ignition, upgraded a little with an 056 Super with a good ignition, and then my partner got tired of both and bought a new MS660 because they were such a screaming deal with the devalued peso. We were running a 42" bar which still ran really slow with the 660, even when only doing 25-28" cuts, though I'll admit by that point the ripping chain might not have been what it originally was and our sharpening wasn't always what it could have been either. Also guanacaste has a grain that goes in all different directions and cuts tend to close up and bind the saw a lot.
I've relocated up to San Antonio and wanted to start milling mesquite, and looked around at a few options including an 084 but given my old saw experience and associated parts nightmares, I passed on it and finally got a chance to get what I'd been dreaming of in Mexico, the Stihl MS780 which seems to be the Second/Third World version of the MS880. In all the talks I've seen on here about different model Stihls from outside the US, there's mainly talk about ones available in South America and made in Brazil. Hardly anyone knows what's available on their doorstep in Mexico. I assumed the models were Brazilian ones, but everything on them says Made in Germany. They're from genuine Stihl dealers too, not counterfeits. The crazy thing is I picked up the MS780 with 36" Duromatic bar and chain for about $950 US brand new from a dealer in Mexico City. I shipped it to San Miguel de Allende and had a friend pick it up on his way up to Texas for a trade show and deliver it to me.
I bought a hyperskip chain for the 36" bar and launched into some 20-24" diameter mesquite and was just stunned at the speed I mowed through it. For all the talk of rougher cut of skip chains and particularly hyperskip, I was more than pleased with the results given the speed. It's apples and oranges to what I was doing in Mexico - different wood (though mesquite is harder than guanacaste), 122cc versus 91cc, different bar, and hyperskip vs full skip, but I'm assuming the monster grunt of the 780 is what makes the bulk of the difference. It's a beast to handle weight wise solo, lifting it in place and setting it down again repeatedly when doing short pieces, but I'm 6'7" so it kinda suits me. (Starting this thing even with the decompression valve activated is a two handed affair, though, they're not for the faint of heart.) I kept thinking I might want to go the bandsaw mill route due to the slowness of chainsaw milling, but this rig changed my mind, and I love being able to mill things in place anywhere with minimal setup. (see replies below for clarification on this suiting my needs best, not equating it to a bandsaw mill.) Everyone's got their opinion on chain and I'd have to compare performance of hyperskip to full comp to see the difference on this saw, but have to say I'm a big fan of the hyperskip so far for bars 36" and up. It's early days yet, I have a lot more testing on a lot of different wood to do with this, but mostly amazed I got the mother of all milling saws (short of the old 090) for such an incredible price and that milling has become fun again.
I've relocated up to San Antonio and wanted to start milling mesquite, and looked around at a few options including an 084 but given my old saw experience and associated parts nightmares, I passed on it and finally got a chance to get what I'd been dreaming of in Mexico, the Stihl MS780 which seems to be the Second/Third World version of the MS880. In all the talks I've seen on here about different model Stihls from outside the US, there's mainly talk about ones available in South America and made in Brazil. Hardly anyone knows what's available on their doorstep in Mexico. I assumed the models were Brazilian ones, but everything on them says Made in Germany. They're from genuine Stihl dealers too, not counterfeits. The crazy thing is I picked up the MS780 with 36" Duromatic bar and chain for about $950 US brand new from a dealer in Mexico City. I shipped it to San Miguel de Allende and had a friend pick it up on his way up to Texas for a trade show and deliver it to me.
I bought a hyperskip chain for the 36" bar and launched into some 20-24" diameter mesquite and was just stunned at the speed I mowed through it. For all the talk of rougher cut of skip chains and particularly hyperskip, I was more than pleased with the results given the speed. It's apples and oranges to what I was doing in Mexico - different wood (though mesquite is harder than guanacaste), 122cc versus 91cc, different bar, and hyperskip vs full skip, but I'm assuming the monster grunt of the 780 is what makes the bulk of the difference. It's a beast to handle weight wise solo, lifting it in place and setting it down again repeatedly when doing short pieces, but I'm 6'7" so it kinda suits me. (Starting this thing even with the decompression valve activated is a two handed affair, though, they're not for the faint of heart.) I kept thinking I might want to go the bandsaw mill route due to the slowness of chainsaw milling, but this rig changed my mind, and I love being able to mill things in place anywhere with minimal setup. (see replies below for clarification on this suiting my needs best, not equating it to a bandsaw mill.) Everyone's got their opinion on chain and I'd have to compare performance of hyperskip to full comp to see the difference on this saw, but have to say I'm a big fan of the hyperskip so far for bars 36" and up. It's early days yet, I have a lot more testing on a lot of different wood to do with this, but mostly amazed I got the mother of all milling saws (short of the old 090) for such an incredible price and that milling has become fun again.