woodland pro 33rp

[MGoodwin]

Hi all. I am new to the chainsaw milling but I am having a great time. I have an 066 BB with 36" bar running the woodland pro 33rp chain from baileys. I live just north of seattle so I am only milling doug fir and a little madrona. As you can see in the picture (I hope it posted correctly) I am getting considerable gunking and have always had it. Is this normal? Initially I felt it should be cutting faster (cut quality has always been smooth) so I dropped the rackers from the facotry set of .022 to .035 which sped things up considerably without any real decrease in cut quality. I have used the oregon bar attachment style shapening and had it professionally sharpened with the same results. I was thinking of getting some Oregon 75RP but there seems to be more discontent with oregon and a strong preference with stihl. Does Stihl make a ripping chain? After reading through the posts it seems like I should be getting faster times. I am not trying to make the fastest cut, but I also dont want to be wasting time and causing needless wear. The motor thus far has had zero power issues. First starting out I was getting near-dust but now am getting chips/strands. Any and all thoughts would be greatly welcomed.

Matt

 

[mtngun]

Suggest you start by reading Aggiewoodbutcher's chain comparisons, if you haven't already. Aggie did some timed tests in a cant with various chains. I don't have the link handy but it should come up in a search. The short answer is that there isn't a huge speed difference between the various types of chains.

Second, before we can decide whether your setup is cutting fast or slow, we need a number to work with. How many inches per second and how wide is the slab ?

The Woodland Pro ripping chain is semi-chisel, meaning it is not the most aggessive chain. However, semi-chisel stays sharp longer than chisel.

Now that I've looked at your pic, I have to agree that your chain is gunked up ! ! ! One thing you might try is adding an auxilary oiler. It might help with the gunk and will definitely reduce friction.

I tried to zoom in on your cutters to see how sharp they were, but still can't see much detail. You might be a little short on hook, though.

That looks to be 25" - 30" wood. Man, I am so jealous. My local Rocky Mountain dougs rarely survive past 24" due to intensive logging, root rot, and windstorms. Anyway, I mill mostly doug and don't get much gunk on the chain, but 1) I use an aux oiler and 2) I only mill deadwood that is at least half dry. No doubt green wood is going to have more sap.

Now, get ready for the ergonomics lecture. Personally, I like to sit on the log as I mill. Doesn't hurt anything as long as the kerf is wedged so it doesn't pinch the bar.

 

[BobL]

Mtngun has pretty well summed it up.

I agree the gummy chain will be fixed by an Aux oiler.
An your cutter hook could be a little greater for your softwoods.

The rakers should be set as a proportion of gullet width, so even 0.035" rakers will not be sufficient when the chain wears more and the cutters get shorter. The formula I used to use is 1/10th of the gullet width. So when the gullet is .25" the raker depth should be 0.025", when the gullet is .3" the raker should be 0.030" etc. This creates a constant cutting angle of about 6º as per this photo.

I measured your gullet from your photo to be 0.32" so the rakers should be 0.032" (0.035" is close enough)
BUT
your rakers look like they are too flat - they need to be more rounded over like the one above.
What this means is your raker is not really acting like an 0.035" raker but maybe like an 0.030" raker so your cutting angle is less than 6º.

I cannot measure your raker depth in your photo because it is rotated - if you take a more direct side on view photo like the one above I can measure the raker depth.

I now no longer work to raker depths but to a constant cutting angle.
This is how I measure my rakers.

And here is a post showing my method.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1974044&postcount=60

There are several raker gauges out there that will produce this constant cutting angle. One is the Carlton File-O-Plate (FOP) but unfortunately the cutting angle they produce is a bit whimpy (4.6º)

A detailed discussion of the merits of FOPs and how well they work is in this thread.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=114624

And finally, there should be no need to get on your knees and push a mill. If everything is working right (especially the chain) this is how it should be.

 

[mtngun]

This is the ergonomics standard that we will all be held to from now on. :biggrinbounce2::biggrinbounce2::biggrinbounce2:

 

[dallasm1]

This is the ergonomics standard that we will all be held to from now on. :biggrinbounce2::biggrinbounce2::biggrinbounce2:

Is there an adjustable lumbar support on that chair? Something to consider.

 

[huskyhank]

How about a foot stool?
Or a recliner?

 

[huskyhank]

About that chain gunking --

I started running a little ATF (automatic transmission fluid) in my standard bar oil to thin it out for cold weather. (below freezing) I happened to have several opened bottles of ATF from when my son had an old junker that leaked fluid so I used them. I noticed a nice increase in lubrication and a very, very clean chain and bar.

I was mixing 1:3 ATF to oil for sub-freezing conditions but I've cut that back by half now that its 45-50 degrees F -- so about 1:6 ATF to oil. In my milling today I found this to work great at about 50 degrees.

 

[BobL]

RE: This is the ergonomics standard that we will all be held to from now on.
Nah - that just me being lazy and unfit!

Is there an adjustable lumbar support on that chair? Something to consider.

Actually there is a lazy boy thingo on the veranda that I might drag down to the site.

BTW; MGoodwin, that's some nice lookin wood you have there.

 

[ticat928]

About that chain gunking --

I started running a little ATF (automatic transmission fluid) in my standard bar oil to thin it out for cold weather. (below freezing) I happened to have several opened bottles of ATF from when my son had an old junker that leaked fluid so I used them. I noticed a nice increase in lubrication and a very, very clean chain and bar.

I was mixing 1:3 ATF to oil for sub-freezing conditions but I've cut that back by half now that its 45-50 degrees F -- so about 1:6 ATF to oil. In my milling today I found this to work great at about 50 degrees.

I find the ATF is also a much better high pressure lubricant (as evidenced by it's intended use and strong hypoid smell) which is needed to reduce chain stretch in cold weather.
The recommended procedure of using kerosene to mix with regular bar oil in cold weather increases wear IMO.
Even when the chain get's hot the oil/wood dust mixture does not stick, it stays clean, which is by design. The valve body in an auto trans would fail if the ATF oil did not have a high ability to keep contaminates from dropping out of suspension