Saw dipping in the mill

[treeroot]

I have a chinse mill and ran a MS460 on it for a few years. I used a ladder for a rail. Everything worked great.

Then I put a MS 660 on it this winter and all hell seems to have broken loose.

I generally cut spruce and cut slabs the full lenght of the ladder. Guessing 10 or 12 feet.

The bar/chain was dipping a LOT when I cut to the point you couldn't finish the cut because the slab between the bar and mill got too big as you cut. This was last spring..

I attributed it to the weight of the MS660 pulling the ladder into the log as I cut. I solved this by using 2 bolts through a hole I drilled in the rungs. I got a bolt 1/3 up and 2/3 up the ladder. When I place the ladder on the log, I screw the bolts down so they are just touching. Problem looked like it was solved as I milled a bunch of planks a few weeks ago.

Today I went out with the same set up and I couldn't cut more then 12 inches into the log before it was binding too much to move the mill forward.

I took it all a part this afternoon and it looks like my bar is bent a bit. It's a 28 inch bar so not very big. I cant tell you if its bent up or down since I took it off the mill without paying attention. Guessing the bend is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. I suspect that the bar is also twisted, but I can't measure that easily

I did sharpen the chain before heading out today, but the angles of the teeth seem even. I didn't touch the rakers. It's a ripping chain.

I will get a new bar tomorrow, but could there be other causes?


I laid the laddy on the garage floor and its fairly flat. A very very very slight twist in it. Only noticebale when I tap my foot on the corners.

I tried the measure the mill to see if it perhaps was bent, but I couldn't figure out an easy way to measure if it's bent and causing the dip and I had to quit for the day since my kids came home.

Any sueggestions would be great.

 

[John Stryker]

Your old bar might be fixable if you straighten it and dress the rails. I check my bars on a table saw for flatness, and then put them in a vice and pound them with a big hammer and recheck and repeat till it's straight. I use a small vertical belt sander to dress the rails square.
Also, sometimes if the bar rails are worn out of square, often the chain tie straps are also worn down too much on one side, and they will never cut straight if that's the case. That is caused by pushing in the cut when the chain is dull.

 

[sean donato]

I run a 394xp with a 36" or 42" bar in my mill. Use the ladder trick as well. Can't say I've experienced the same issue, but thinking about it. If your bar got tweaked it wouldn't take much in the cut the make it worse. Of you have a different bar and chain it would be interesting to see if it does the same thing. Even a new chain would be Interesting to try.

 

[treeroot]

I run a 394xp with a 36" or 42" bar in my mill. Use the ladder trick as well. Can't say I've experienced the same issue, but thinking about it. If your bar got tweaked it wouldn't take much in the cut the make it worse. Of you have a different bar and chain it would be interesting to see if it does the same thing. Even a new chain would be Interesting to try.

I'm guessing my issue is combination of bent bar, worn rails and the chain.

The bar I have been using is very old and worn. It came with the saw when I bought it 2nd hand 6 years ago and even then it was very well used.. It's worked great up until now, so I never replaced it.

 

[sean donato]

Do you use an auxiliary oiler? Owning a few stihls over the years, even the new ms400cm I just got a few months ago they are very stingy on oil. Especially when milling its helpful to save on bar wear. I would look at getting or straightening/dressing your bar and adding an additional oiler. That should help cut down on bar wear, and possibly save this from happening again.

 

[treeroot]

Picked up a new 32 inch bar and chain today. You can't get ripping chain, so I settled with cross cut and I'll file it to 10 degrees.. I will use that chain as is right now to rule out the dipping due to a sharpening error..

Couldn't get over the cost for the new bar and chain... 240$.. Not a knock on the shop as they are really good priced.. I'm guessing its just inflatation and shortages etc..

I don't have an aux oiler on the mill. I made one, but I ended up having to rob the valve for another project before I could put it on the mill. I will make sure the oiler is function on the mill before using the new bar.

On a side note, when I took the old bar into the shop, the fellow was pretty shocked when I said it was 15 years old and I bought the set up used from a faller. That bar owed me nothign lol.

I kept the old bar to use for cutting holes in the ice when I trap beavers. Should be good for that before full retirement.

 

[treeroot]

Well the new bar solved the dipping issue.

 

[Up A Creek]

I was having a problem with my mill slipping on one side so the slab would start square and end up wedge shaped. All Granberg parts. Nuts tightened tighter than the recommended torque. I ended up using very small C clamps directly above the crossbar on the upright. Haven't moved since.

 

[thenne1713]

I have a chinse mill and ran a MS460 on it for a few years. I used a ladder for a rail. Everything worked great.

Then I put a MS 660 on it this winter and all hell seems to have broken loose.

I generally cut spruce and cut slabs the full lenght of the ladder. Guessing 10 or 12 feet.

The bar/chain was dipping a LOT when I cut to the point you couldn't finish the cut because the slab between the bar and mill got too big as you cut. This was last spring..

I attributed it to the weight of the MS660 pulling the ladder into the log as I cut. I solved this by using 2 bolts through a hole I drilled in the rungs. I got a bolt 1/3 up and 2/3 up the ladder. When I place the ladder on the log, I screw the bolts down so they are just touching. Problem looked like it was solved as I milled a bunch of planks a few weeks ago.

Today I went out with the same set up and I couldn't cut more then 12 inches into the log before it was binding too much to move the mill forward.

I took it all a part this afternoon and it looks like my bar is bent a bit. It's a 28 inch bar so not very big. I cant tell you if its bent up or down since I took it off the mill without paying attention. Guessing the bend is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. I suspect that the bar is also twisted, but I can't measure that easily

I did sharpen the chain before heading out today, but the angles of the teeth seem even. I didn't touch the rakers. It's a ripping chain.

I will get a new bar tomorrow, but could there be other causes?


I laid the laddy on the garage floor and its fairly flat. A very very very slight twist in it. Only noticebale when I tap my foot on the corners.

I tried the measure the mill to see if it perhaps was bent, but I couldn't figure out an easy way to measure if it's bent and causing the dip and I had to quit for the day since my kids came home.

Any sueggestions would be great.

THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE IS LONGER CUTTERS on the RH/down side cutters; often described as climbing/diving, it will climb to thinner slabs if longer cutters on top. Measure with pocket rule, or caliper, or screw/nut, you can see. (COMES Generally from common natural tendency to apply more pressure to HAND FILE, after flipping to file **the other side**... jus don't ask WHY, LOL) .. For this very reason, I field file no more than x3, then switch to another chain, and BENCH GRIND ALL AT NIGHT to get even length cutters again. MEASURE, YOU WILL SEE. good luck.