Thread: what is the cheapest entry level sawmill?

Good one Nifty

I take my hat off to the cs milling boys, too much work for me and not enough timber to show for it. Fine I work hard with a Lucas, but I get a heap of timber and have no trouble doing 6m stuff and longer - recently was brought into a sawmilling operation to do long sticks as they where not setup to do it themselves.

The flexibility of a Lucas is fantastic - just ask me

Comparing a CS mill to a band or swing mill is like comparing a commercial fishing net to a rod and a reel - both will catch fish but few amateur fishermen have the appetite, freezer space or cannery, or ability to manage tons of fish or a desire to be in the business of selling fish. For the folks who just want an occasional feed and don't have the interest in the rest, a rod and reel will do. Of course there are rod and reel nuts that own serious boats which together with their fancy gear could go close to buying a commercial fishing boat and licence and a bloody big net, but they still use rods and reels. One might well ask why? - because they are amateur fishermen and are after a "fishing experience" and are not in the fishing business.

I know a few guys who have Lucas mills and don't use them much- maybe 3 - 4 days a year, mainly to generate a heap timber for fencing. The rest of the time they just sit under a tarp - they reckon it's still worth it - good luck to them.

I know some guys who have Lucas mills and use them 4-5 days a week - they love em, and some even make a living out of using them - good luck to them.

I know quite a few guys who have CS mills and don't use them much. They use them a few days a year to generate some slabs to make bits and pieces from hard to get trees. The rest of the time they hang on the walls of their shed - meanwhile they use their CS to do a few other things - they reckon it's still worth it - good luck to them.

I don't know any guys with CS mills that use them to make a living.

Couldn't have said it better myself BobL!! personally I am a rod and reel kind of guy, But I wouldn't mind having the readies to be able to cast one off the back of the flash boat...lol

like you said no-one makes a living from chainsaw milling, some people do get by from running a lucas, but they never get rich from it and generally have to supplement their income doing other things. But honestly if you need to mill any quantity of timber a CSM is not the way to go, which is why I only bother cutting stuff that I could not possibly buy.

speaking of which I pick up my new saw next week, MS 660, 36 inch bar. when it is run in I will probably go for the dual port muffler on it, and I must remember to find out if it comes with the aussie high output oiler.

Yes I know it isn't an ms880 but at the end of the day I think it will be more user friendly, especially when the majority of its work will not be on the mill.

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Yes I know it isn't an ms880 but at the end of the day I think it will be more user friendly, especially when the majority of its work will not be on the mill.

The 42" bar on my friend's CS was a pig to use freehand. We really only purchased it for the CS mill. I used it off the mill only once to cut a huge burl, which I still had to attack from both sides. I know your 36" bar is smaller but you may still find it a little unbalanced. Depending on what you intend doing with it, an additional shorter bar 24"/26" may be more user friendly.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

The 42" bar on my friend's CS was a pig to use freehand. We really only purchased it for the CS mill. I used it off the mill only once to cut a huge burl, which I still had to attack from both sides. I know your 36" bar is smaller but you may still find it a little unbalanced. Depending on what you intend doing with it, an additional shorter bar 24"/26" may be more user friendly.

Regards
Paul

I got plenty of 20 and 25 inch bars to run on it for the general work got the 36 specifically cause I want to be able to use it on a mill, I do not plan on doing any freehand cutting with the 36 unless it is bucking a BIG assed lump for firewood.

Travis how do I tell if my new MS660 has the aussie oiler?

Originally Posted by Glenlara

Travis how do I tell if my new MS660 has the aussie oiler?

Part number for the Aussie oiler is 11226403201

Whats the difference with the oilers

Originally Posted by Krunchie

Whats the difference with the oilers

RE: 660 oil pumps:[from a Nov 2099 post]
The standard 660 oil pump delivers 11-21.5 cc/min. The Aussie pump delivers 20% more ie 13.2 - 25.8 cc/min but I don't think either are really sufficient for milling because they deliver their oil before the nose and most of the extra oil just gets thrown off at the nose. The 880 delivers 38 cc/min but I still run an aux oiler. Using my 42" bar I run at around 20 cc/min on the aux oiler, while for the 60" I use 40 cc/min. Even the 3120 with its mighty 54 cc/min still needs an Aux oiler on big wood.

Hey Bob, stupid question but is there a preset point Stihl would put the oil output on a saw before dispatch to wherever in the world. The reason i ask is my last 660 off the shelf only used half a tank of oil to tank of juice so had to adjust, my new one spews bar oil out like no tomorrow off the shelf, when i say that its a tank for a tank . I would like your opinion though

Originally Posted by nifty

Hey Bob, stupid question but is there a preset point Stihl would put the oil output on a saw before dispatch to wherever in the world. The reason i ask is my last 660 off the shelf only used half a tank of oil to tank of juice so had to adjust, my new one spews bar oil out like no tomorrow off the shelf, when i say that its a tank for a tank . I would like your opinion though

I dunno, the Aussie oiler has been available for some time but I guess they could have stuffed up at the factory.

Basically I run on the tank for tank ratio being the correct one. On all of the saws I have used this seems to be the correct ratio, even them crappy orange coloured swedish things!!! With the stihls I have used at max oil flow on the adjustment screw you should run out of fuel just before you run out of oil (approx 3 to 7% of a tank left) If you are not using this amount you have a problem, and if you have a half a tank of oil left then you most definetly have a problem. The tank sizes are calculated to run 1 to 1 other wise you are carrying more weight than you need to or you are running your chain dry (yes the designers do think of how much you should be using per tank of fuel) which is another argument for using stihl chain and bars as they use the oil more efficiently than others and stihl have calculated their oil flows to suit, hence the E setting on all stihl saws. On the E setting for the oil pump you should be left with around 8 to 10 percent of a tank left.

Originally Posted by Glenlara

Travis how do I tell if my new MS660 has the aussie oiler?

Chances are if you didn't know about it and didn't order it you didn't get it.

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Couldn't have said it better myself BobL!! personally I am a rod and reel kind of guy, But I wouldn't mind having the readies to be able to cast one off the back of the flash boat...lol

Mee too!

like you said no-one makes a living from chainsaw milling, some people do get by from running a lucas, but they never get rich from it and generally have to supplement their income doing other things. But honestly if you need to mill any quantity of timber a CSM is not the way to go, which is why I only bother cutting stuff that I could not possibly buy.

Yep Agree 100%.

speaking of which I pick up my new saw next week, MS 660, 36 inch bar. when it is run in I will probably go for the dual port muffler on it, and I must remember to find out if it comes with the aussie high output oiler.

Yes I know it isn't an ms880 but at the end of the day I think it will be more user friendly, especially when the majority of its work will not be on the mill.

Off the mill I find myself using my 441 with the 25" bar more than anything else. It's perfect for stuff like trimming of branches etc. Most of my logs arrive cut to length but If I have to trim up something big I like to use the 660 with the 25 or 30" bar.