Thread: Dedicated Slabber ?

Originally Posted by itsposs

Could you run 1/4 chain in a 16hp dedicated slabber with out having to turn it into skip chain. If so would it be worth the kerf saving ?

Lots off stress on a little chain methinks.

I would have thought so to how ever one of the fire wood processers i looked at last year was running a 600mm bar with a hydrostatic drive. and Stihl offers an 18' to use with it high speed low drag thought it might be a good thing ?

There's a guy on the Arborist site that uses 0.325 chain.
Here's what he says about it.

I use .325 on a piston ported 084 with a 44" bar regularly and have yet to break one. I've even tried it on a 66" and 72" bar and it stretched but didn't break. It would have eventually so for those bars I stick with 3/8".

For 44" bars and under, I use 325 with out exception. In my experience it cuts faster, smoother and produces less sawdust than 3/8" and especially .404. I've never used 3/8" low profile but have compared it side by side to .325 and it just seems lighter in the chassis.

In my chain tests, I measured the actual kerf sizes of all three and they are as follows.

(averages)
.404: 3/8" = 0.375
.375: 5/16" = 0.31
.325: 9/32" = 0.28

It's really not a big difference in terms of material waste but it does make a noticeable difference in saw performance.

He does cut hickory/pecan with it which is hard by North Am standards and moderately hard in terms of our standards.

I get different Kerf sizes (I haven't tried any 325 chain)
404 = 0.35"
3/8 regular is 0.32"
3/8 Lo pro is 0.27"

I have used Low Pro 3/8 chain on my small mill (<25" bar) - that chain has a 25% smaller kerf than regular issues because it works OK on a standard 3/8 rim sprocket for a while but then it will stretch and it will jump the rim and can break. I haven't tried it on my 880 - yet!

1/4" on a 16HP , if it didn't break I'd reckon the chain would stretch so much in a few minutes in a hard Aussie log that it would jump the sprocket. With smaller pitch chains even though the kerf is narrower and so it cut's less wood you need much higher RPMs otherwise (just like a fine tooth saw) the chain will clog very easily. An alternative woudl be to virtually remove the raker but then I'd give the chain about 5 seconds before it broke.

Yeah, but Bruce you're lookin at a loop of chain around 10 foot long - that's a lot different to running a 24" bar.

Also the stress the chain goes under over such length and the kind of work it is called to do, really means it needs to be .404

I figure you slabbing a fairly big log, and there isn't much in the way of a thinner kerf which can come close to those kind of slabs for that kind of outlay, a little bit of kerf loss is well worth the slabs gained.

I was thinking after our discussion the other day that it might be a What if ? If you know what I mean then today I was asked if it would be possible to split a 60 mm slab in half with Dedicated slaber to witch I couldnt answer, I did say it may be possible to do it with a bandmill however as it s possible to get a 1.2mm kerf. thoughts please. That little trip to woodgates getting me more questions then the home invasion.

Originally Posted by itsposs

I was thinking after our discussion the other day that it might be a What if ? If you know what I mean then today I was asked if it would be possible to split a 60 mm slab in half with Dedicated slaber to witch I couldnt answer, I did say it may be possible to do it with a bandmill however as it s possible to get a 1.2mm kerf. thoughts please. That little trip to woodgates getting me more questions then the home invasion.

You could probably do it, but you would only have two slabs which may dress up 19 or 20 mm thick. seems like a waste of good wood to me. bandsaw would be a much better idea.

Any one know how many RPM you get out of Dedicated slabber and out of a 880 chainsaw mill

Originally Posted by itsposs

Any one know how many RPM you get out of Dedicated slabber and out of a 880 chainsaw mill

RPM does not mean much, a Lucas slabber will cut roughly twice as fast as a 090 or 880 on a mill and will cut for longer between fuel ups. RPM is only part of the equation you also have to look at things like HP, Which enables the saw to cut harder and not bog down, Number of teeth on the sprocket driving the chain, which when combined with rpm gives you your metres per minute of chain speed, etc.etc.

I am assuming that you are trying to compare what one will cut as opposed to the other, and simply a 2 stroke chainsaw on a mill will lose. there are also things to consider like how loud one is as opposed to the other (110+ decibels for the operator of a chainsaw, (Yes I know BobL will debate that but it is fact!!) compared to roughly 90 for a fourstroke, and when every 10 decibels doubles the volume it makes a big difference. There is also the fact that you are not breathing 2 stroke fumes, Operation is a lot less physically taxing generally, and many other factors including the maintenance and having the chainsaw tied up when you need it for docking etc.

No I am trying to work out what size Single phase electric Moter to use and If a 10hp 2600rpm would be enough

OK single phase 240 volt you will only get about 3 hp (2400 watt = 10 amps) you would be looking at three phase to run that motor. BUT the answer is Yes it would run a slabber, Lucas use a 15 hp electric to do the same job as a 30 horse petrol. You would have to work out what size harvester sprocket you would need to give you your metres per minute to make it work. I would be thinking around 12 tooth should get you somewhere near where you need to be but maybe someone who has a lucas slabber could tell you what they are running as it would be around about the same requirement.

yeah chased that up either 12 or 14 tooth havester sprocket unsure weather to put a clutch in or not (probly should )and I dont know if I want .404 or 3/8 chain but going on what Sigidi has said .404 sounds the go. Will await the birth of number 2 If I keep going or bite the bullet an buy some thing
just Price on Mini Mahoe at $23000 landed in my back yard its sounding good with their chain block set up I dont need to lift over shoulder height