Thread: logosol

Originally Posted by fubar

gday ,today I milled a small piece of gumtree species unknown as I am new to this and dont know trees. (pic 1) colours are a bit off in the photos and it was a bit redder than this and the bark just crumbles(pic 3)
I used a logosol m7 with a stihl 660/20 inch bar It's a bit fddly to set up but once you are the slabbing goes quite quickly until the oiler gums up and the blade runs dry .(pic2).

You really need to avoid letting the oiler gum up or run out of oil. Topping up the bar oil with every tankful of mix means the oil pump is not pumping the last dregs of crudded up oil through the pump. Using an alaskan type mill enables one to run an aux oiler so if you run out of oil on the saw there is always some oil on the bar. Running without oil ruins the bar and chain and can over heat your engine so that it seizes - be careful.

From what I can see these one ended mills (ie can only hold the bar firmly at one end) are limited to about a 25" bar.

A 660 will be capable of pulling a 42" bar and even on a conventional Alaskan mill where 6" of bar is lost they can still cut a 36" diam log without working too hard.

Alaskans are much more mobile and you don't need to lift the log although lifting them at one end and getting a slope up is well worth it and very little pushing is the required. This is not so easy to do on a logosol type mill.

I also see your finish is quite variable with a some washboarding. This is common on narrow cuts ie small logs. Are you using a 10º top plate angle? If you want a better finish then you need to angle the saw relative to log and keep a constant angle ie don't see-saw or you will get a rough finish. Of course this can not be done on a logosol.

If you take it a bit easier you should be able to get a finish like this.

hhhmmmmm, ms660 with a 20 inch bar??? why? 25 inch is as short as I would ever run on an ms660 25 inch is the perfect balance on that saw. On a mill 36 inch is nice, 42 is good.

the bark looks like E.botryoides or southern mahogany but if the timber splits any more i would be wrong. if it is the mahogany it's a nice timber to work with

I'm also new to milling and purchased an alaskin mill and would recommend it as I had no trouble at all making my first cuts easy to use.

Also don't understand why a 20" bar on the ms 660?

20 - 25" bar for horizontal cut as bar is fighting gravity ,timber , motor vibration and your gripping presseure an weight on the saw
With the alaskans an vertical mill every thing points down with less bar flex so you can use a bit longer bar
thats my interpritaion of it any way

I have an older logosol (M5 I think) Have done some milling with.

Bar sag is a problem. I think my bar is about 27" but is quite narrow and flexible. Wanders too freely for my liking. The tip end will follow grain deviations. Always downward of course with the help of gravity.

I have a partially made bar support arm similiar to that on later mills. Must finish that project.

Lifting logs onto the mill is a problem for me; so I made up a base from some scrap I had lying around and fitted my hydraulic ute/trailer hoist onto it. It sits beside the mill; sling around the log; raise log up and swivel around onto the mill bed. Quite easy to use for an aging solo operator. The hoist is presently on the trailer and mill is in the shed, so no photos at the moment.

Ken