Chainsaw Milling Questions

[Toad]

5 hours ago, woody paul said:

I've ran a 28'' bar on a 385 with standard chain cut fairly well but bar needs to be true. 

Thank you. The bar is already part worn, think a new one might be in order. What was the longest you ran on your 385?

[woody paul]

The longest is 28''. 

[Rough Hewn]

You guys that are milling a lot, what do you do with the boards? Do you make stuff with them or are you just selling the boards on? Is there a decent outlet for milled timber? I ask as I gave firewood up a few years ago and some of the stems we get in it’s a shame to send for biomass!
 

I just sell them on now mainly. Do keep the odd bit for home.
Yes there is a market for British hardwood boards.
Just have to find who's local to you.
If you have space to stack and dry it, you will find it much easier to sell.
Oak is always a best seller.
[emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

Thank you. Might you have a suggestion as to how long a bar I could run? I'll have a rummage on @RobD's website again over the rest of the weekend.

I'm presuming it's 85cc?
If so should be able to run a 30"-36" bar 3/8.
Maybe get a full skip chain if your going 36".
[emoji106]

[Toad]

On 11/04/2020 at 22:58, Rough Hewn said:

I'm presuming it's 85cc?
If so should be able to run a 30"-36" bar 3/8.
Maybe get a full skip chain if your going 36".

Yeah, 85cc. Would I be better off going down the low profile route to put less load on the saw? Would be keen to run one of my 372s on it on smaller wood to keep the wear and tear down on the 385

[Dan Maynard]

I have a 36" low-pro which I ran on my 365 before conversion to 372. Maybe it will go faster on 385 but because it's only cutting say 28" it is within range of the 70cc saw. If I remember I was working off the saw/bar combination on RobD where he suggests longer bar possible with low-pro.

I just haven't done enough milling to justify to myself buying a bigger saw.

[gobbypunk]

So guys I have been Alaskan Milling for a few yrs now !but not had it out much since I broke my ankle,so I keep hearing about Low Pro ,what’s the difference say between a Sugi bar with 404 ripping chain !is it thinner,quicker ,just curious.

 Thanks guys

[Forest2Furniture]

On 11/04/2020 at 16:48, Ian C said:

What’s the best way of stopping the timber from cracking twisting etc ?

Get the boards sticked out as soon as possible after milling, in a dry well ventilated covered area.

Stack the thinner boards at the bottom with thicker ones on top and stack high, the mistake a lot of people make is to only stack one logs worth of planks, that's not enough weight to keep the boards flat.

Seal the ends of the boards to stop them drawing up more moisture.

The photo below shows a stack of recently milled Oak planks, the stack is about 6' high.

 

 

 

[Andrew McEwan]

51 minutes ago, gobbypunk said:

So guys I have been Alaskan Milling for a few yrs now !but not had it out much since I broke my ankle,so I keep hearing about Low Pro ,what’s the difference say between a Sugi bar with 404 ripping chain !is it thinner,quicker ,just curious.

 Thanks guys

Yes  quicker milling, narrower kerf, I have two gb bars with 3/8 lo pro 050 gauge chain from robd on Husky 288s and at first the chain looks a bit lightweight to take the hammer from milling but has been totally fine.

[Mick Dempsey]

Thoughts please. @Rough Hewn Or anyone,

 

We (me and the hired man) are looking at a few weeks without too much work.

I’ve been threatening to build a car port for 2 cars for a while, but now might be the perfect opportunity. He is a trained cabinet maker and is easily capable of a timber framed construction.

 

The builders merchant that supplies the 15cm square posts is shut for the duration, the beams and smaller sections are available from stock elsewhere in Douglas fir.

 

So I have a plan, I have this oak tree at the edge of my wood at least 2ft in diameter and straight, the main trunk is maybe 30/40 ft with a few branches of course but that’s life.

 

I see these cheap looking chainsaw mills for sale, delivery would be very quick, I have an 088 and a Multione 9.5 for moving the cut pieces.

 

Questions..

1: Will I be able to mill out 6” Square posts of 4 and 5 meters length? I know it’s tough work, but there’s no pressure of time.

 

2: Green oak is fine for timber frame isn’t it?

 

Any other advice or naysaying welcome.

 

Tia,

Mick