Thread: Considering milling

Originally Posted by OzEo

Hi All,
I have a big yellowbox that came down in a recent storm- about 40”at the butt, with the bark on. The bark is probably 2½-3” thick, so say 34” clean. The clean straight section of trunk would be about 10 feet long maybe. It seems a shame to burn it- although it would keep us in firewood for a fair while- and I’m wondering if I can mill it with a Stihl 064 and chainsaw mill. I have no experience at all with milling, so I’m hoping to get some information/advice to see if it’s feasible.

Its feasible but have you got any smaller logs to practice on? My concern with starting with a largish yellow box is that its not exactly the sort of log to get your spurs on.

I had a look at some overseas forums and they seem to think the 064 is plenty, but given the different nature of hardwoods around the world I wasn’t sure if the information applies here. So can the saw handle a bar long enough to do the job?

An 064 should be OK but you will need 36" of cut which means you will need a 42" bar.

The wood is very green and cross cutting the boughs is like a hot knife through butter with the 034S. It is certainly much easier to cut than when it’s well seasoned. Can I expect the trunk to be similar?

No it will not be similar, there's less sapwood and milling is done perpendicular to cross cutting so its much harder on the saw.

I suppose my main fear is cooking the saw- I read that I should run it rich and use an auxiliary oiler, but is there anything else I should consider?[/QUOTE]
Go to the ArboristSite forum and read the Chainsaw Milling 101 sticky. There are many more experienced chain saw millers on that site than there are here so you will get a wide range of perspectives.

The critical thing for milling our hardwoods is chain sharpening. You need to tough up after every tank of fuel and set cutter depths using a progressive raker setting method.

Thanks BobL, yes i agree about not going straight for the big one and I do have a practice piece-a nice straight limb off the same tree, maybe 8 foot long and 15"; although I think I read somewhere that limbs have a lot of tension so will tend to warp when milled. I'm hoping that would happen with drying and that milling it should be ok.?
A 42" bar and chain sound expensive I will have to get a grant from the minister for finance. I'll have to make her a nice table out of one of the slabs.
I have had a bit of a look through the arborist site- not at the sticky you mention (which i will check) but I saw a thread about the progressive raker setting method - I think you were a contributor. Something the pro's do automatically but often can't describe? Sounds difficult but I'll try and get my head around it. My sharpening seems to do the job so hopefully I can manage. It will surely be better after doing the chain for a 42"er after each tank, too.
Thanks for your input (again)Bob, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by OzEo

Thanks BobL, yes i agree about not going straight for the big one and I do have a practice piece-a nice straight limb off the same tree, maybe 8 foot long and 15"; although I think I read somewhere that limbs have a lot of tension so will tend to warp when milled. I'm hoping that would happen with drying and that milling it should be ok.?

In general limbs d0 have tension but it has never stopped me from milling them - there are also limbs and LIMBS
This was a LIMB.
JoBlake.jpg

A 42" bar and chain sound expensive I will have to get a grant from the minister for finance. I'll have to make her a nice table out of one of the slabs.

That's what I suggested starting with something smaller and use the bar and chain you already have. If you buy or make a 36" mill you can always run a smaller bar on it and upgrade latter once you have tried it out.

I have had a bit of a look through the arborist site- not at the sticky you mention (which i will check) but I saw a thread about the progressive raker setting method - I think you were a contributor.

Yes I'm one of the chief promoters of this method.

Something the pro's do automatically but often can't describe?

Yes and No - my dad was a faller but he didn't use it and we ended up with dozens of half used chains that made powder dust laying around the place.
The tree lopper I mill wood for doesn't know about it and I have not met many pros that know about it either but all the hard core guys on Arborist site (AS) know about it.

In the Hot Saw forum on AS there is a subform called "chain sharpening"
The only sticky on that subform is about progressive chain sharpening and was started by me in 2009.
It sort of wanders around a bit as it discusses how various raker guides do or don't generate optimum raker depths but all the good oil is in that thread.
It's had 31,000 views so it is reasonably popular even though it is hidden away in that subform.

Sounds difficult but I'll try and get my head around it.

It is a bit tricky but once you get it - you'll get it.
Instead of using a constant raker depth relative to the cutter hight e.g. 25 thou', a much better KPI is to use a constant angle between the cutter wood and raker top.
See picture below which shows an Arborist site members cutter with a 5.1º raker angle - stock chains start out at around 5.7º but that angle drops quickly as the cutter wears.
I use 6.5º on a 3/8 chain on an 880 with up to a 60" bar. On my 441 with the 25" bar and Lopro chain I use 7.5º.

Using constant raker angle means
- chains cuts like new all the way through the life of the chain.
- more chips, less powered dust,
- less load on saw, less fuel, cooler running
- don't need to worry as much about maintaining equal cutter length.

On Arborist site and also here I offer free "cutter diagnostics". Just post a close up picture of a cutter lies the photo below - a close and sharp as you can get and I will analyse it for you.

YBraker1.jpg

My sharpening seems to do the job so hopefully I can manage. It will surely be better after doing the chain for a 42"er after each tank, too.

Once CSMers try Progressive chain sharpening they never go back to standard sharpening.

Yes I am a bit of a nerd about chain saw sharpening but when milling big logs you either learn how to sharpen or go home.

Bob

Is it my imagination or is there a huge snake under that log?!

Tim


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm with you Tim saw the thing as well you wouldn't think a snake would stay put while the saw is cutting!!

It's a rubber snake. We put it there to show our North American friends how tough us Ossies are!
I posted it on an American website and it raised a bit of k'fuffle.
Then when I finally owned up to it being rubber I claimed it was put there to scare real snakes away.
Just a bit of fun.

Things aren't always as they seem. Some years back, while felling up the Nth Coast NSW, I had put down a large bluegum, before taking a break for lunch. I had kicked of my boots and placed them, soles out, against the sunny side of the log. I then took up "residence" on the shady side.
The property owner drove up to see how I was getting on and first thing he saw was two boots "poking" out from under this massive log! He cleared the log like a hurdler and was greeted warmly, by me, when he touched down on the other side. I was informed, "If I was going to do silly things like that I could go elsewhere!" I answered, "Likewise."

Bob - it must've been a decent trunk holding up that limb...

and Rustynail - ☺I'll retell that one if you don't mind- sure to get a chuckle from the Old Man...

Anyway, off i go to do some research. Thanks again

Originally Posted by OzEo

Bob - it must've been a decent trunk holding up that limb...

The log is on a friends farm down in the south west of WA
The trunk is about 11m of trunk at about 60" at the the first branch union where I'm standing.
You can see where I cut that branch off, thats the other massive branch behind the cut end
This was felled in the early 1930s and left behind probably because it had too much twist.
The wood is still solid.


mesize.jpg

I slabbed the branch up for them and they used some of the slabs to make a HD bench for a pizza oven and seats for their gazebo.
IMG_3261.jpg

That's a doozy- what species?

Another question; when looking for info, can i read 064 for 660 as far as power and so on?
There's a lot about using the 660 on the AS site...

Thanks, eo

Originally Posted by OzEo

That's a doozy- what species?

Jarrah

Another question; when looking for info, can i read 064 for 660 as far as power and so on?
There's a lot about using the 660 on the AS site...

064 is an 85cc saw 060/660 is a 92cc saw.
HP is 6.5 V 6.8
064 has Max RPM of 12,000 , 660 is 13500 rpm both of which are moot for milling.

Other than a 2mm narrower bore, the chassis, crank, carby and other parts are the same.

They are good saws, especially for intermediate size logs.

Thanks for the direction to the Sharpening site or arborsite. That was very interesting and the videos very helpful.

Now to maybe test it. (albeit with a lack of tools)

Oops
I underestimated the diameter; it's 60". And not yellowbox, it's applebox. Looks like yellowbox because of its size and the way the bark has darkened. That might explain why it's so easy to cut, it has a reputation for being soft.
Now I'm wondering if it's worth slabbing? Does anyone know anything about it as timber?
Thanks, eo