Milling bars: solid nose vs. sprocket

[morten]

I have recently been milling smaller diameter logs on an Alaskan Mill using a 25" solid nose bar (Stihl Duromatic) with a narrow kerf (1.3mm) using a 3/8" LP chain, and it is working quite well mounted on a Stihl MS 660.

 

One advantage using a solid nose bar on an Alaskan mill is that you can mount the nose-end clamp very close to the end of the bar, since there is no risk of damaging any sprocket.

 

I have not noticed any degradation in performance due to the lack of a nose sprocket.

 

What are your views on using solid nose bars for milling?

 

What are the disadvantages, except that the solid nose bars seem to be a little more expensive than the equivalent nose sprocket versions?

[Rob D]

...I've found with a solid nose that it seems to get quite hot if you have the chain tension correct so you seem to then have to run the chain a little looser than is ideal.

 

A 25" bar on an MS660 there is power there in excess but if you used a 36" solid nose bar I think you'd see more of a difference.

 

I stock all the solid nose bars but have sold the grand total of..... zero! They are not popular.

 

Personally both in practice and in theory a sprocket nose bar should always out perform a solid nose bar.... but that's not to say a solid nose bar won't do the job....

 

 

 

[MikeTM150]

i've been using a solid nose 47" stihl duromatic on my 880 for milling, and it seems ok. Not really noticed much difference with the roller nose 42" i was using, but like rob said you can get the guide closer to the end. It was perhaps slightly hotter running but in my beginner eyes not excessively hot. I did make sure the oiler on the saw was pushing out a good amount of oil to keep the nose lubricated before the aux oiler lubricated the cutting edge.

 

Thats my pennys worth anyway!

[agg221]

I run a solid nose 47" bar on the 076. It gets hot. Heat means it's running less efficiently (energy is going into heat rather than turning the chain). It doesn't stop it working though as the stellite tip will not be damaged even if it's glowing and the chain is passing too fast to pick up the heat - just stop when the oil starts smoking!

 

Alec