agg221

When I had this on an open fire I always used to burn a couple of sacks of smokeless anthracite (on the advice of my chimney sweep) which did a decent job of drying out the tar. What was left was then a lot easier to break up. I can't see why the same wouldn't work for a stove but you might also need to burn it a bit hotter than usual, with a stronger draft so that more heat goes up the chimney to make sure the exhaust gas is still hot enough when it reaches the top for it to do anything - the efficiency of stoves is one of the reasons why the smoke gets cold enough by the top of the chimney to condense out like this in the first place, so you need it to temporarily be a bit less efficient. Alec

I have a Cannon 88" roller-nose bar that dates from somewhere in the 1970s. Allowing for the dogs, that gives me 86" in the wood. There is an old photo of it somewhere on the forum from around 2014 - if you haven't seen it I will find it and link to it. I haven't tried full comp on an 84" bar on an 881. It would be interesting to hear from someone who had tried that as to how it went. I suspect that if they tried that in a piece of hard ash or oak as a rip cut it might bog down (using it full length, not in a mill) but happy to be proved wrong - I would expect it to work nicely in softer wood, or with skip chain. I would expect skip or hyper skip to be pretty much unlimited on an 090. An 090G would probably be unstoppable - I always fancied an 090G Super myself but could never really really justify it. I do have an old Teles which runs but it uses an obsolete chain so it is a very long way down the projects list to figure out what to do to get it to the point where I can test it (no serious plans - just fancy a play!) The hydraulic versions of that ran up to about 16' bars I think, for clearing swamps in Malaya as it then was. I don't actually have many photos - I am generally too busy trying to remember to get everything together, then trying to get there on time, then figuring out how to cut the log and then cutting it and tend to forget! The saws don't all live in the same place and some are quite difficult to get out - I had some stolen at one point so decided to make it more difficult for anyone to do that again, but it does have the side-effect of making it difficult for me if I want more than one (which I generally don't). If the weather holds I'll get out the 1106 collection (although probably not when my wife is around as it's best she doesn't know just how extensive it may have become...!) Alec

I use a railway toe jack for this. I like it as it's rated to 20t and I can carry it around in a wheelbarrow. The other option would be to mill down as far as you can, then trim the edges off with a mini-mill. The total waste won't be much. It depends a bit on what you are planning to do with the slabs as to whether that is acceptable. Alec

Hi Steve, good to be back and see various familiar names around still. The forum is running very well now but it isn't a direct comparison. Firstly, the computer died so I now have something faster and secondly we managed to get fibre broadband installed to the house, so we went from a mile of single-strand copper cable and dial-up speeds to something staggeringly quicker. All working nicely. Alec

Hmmm I have just read through this thread. The current circumstances have put people under a lot of stress, not always in obvious ways. Is the stress of someone who is flat out, working all hours any greater than that of the person who is sat at home on furlough with nothing to do except home-school the children while wondering whether they will ever have a job to go back to any greater or less? They are both difficult situations but are likely to provoke different responses. This can make people do things which are out of character (I logged in to Arbtalk for the first time since 2016!) and perhaps it calls for some additional tolerance and stopping to think before typing for just a little longer than normal. There are definitely some changes. This used to be advertised as a family friendly forum - it definitely isn't that at the moment. There are still some people about who have been around a lot longer than me and there is still a transient group of people who I'm not quite sure what they really want out of being on the forum. The difference seems to be in the balance. I originally joined Arbtalk because I was looking for some sensible advice regarding repairs on older, large saws and my local dealer just wanted to sell me a new MS880. I have a relevant interest in a number of topics, from milling to growing top fruit to reintroduction of disease resistant elms, so I stayed. I dropped out in 2016 because when the forum platform changed it wouldn't run properly on my very slow internet connection and I realised that I didn't miss it, mainly due to certain content which seemed to be taking over - the point of being a member of the forum was for enjoyment and information and it wasn't doing the former. At the time, such content was limited to certain parts of the forum but it now seems to be more widespread - even a discussion about lo-pro milling equipment which has now moved on to the capabilities of the 090 (all good stuff) seems to have random interjections with a different agenda that' fortunately, I am not really party to. From Steve's posts, it looks like I may have put in an appearance just a few days early. Maybe with a bit of tidying up, longer daylight hours, a hope of a return to some level of normality in work and family life and things might settle down a bit. I hope so as I would rather not disappear for another 5yrs. Alec

I don't disagree that the saw will pull a longer bar, but how wide can you go ripping on full comp in hard wood? The big trees in the US tend to be a lot softer and are usually crosscutting. I would be interested to hear the widest anyone has successfully used full comp chain to rip with on an 090 (accepting that if you set the depth gauges very shallow it will do it, but by then you might as well use skip chain on a deeper setting as it will cut faster). The widest I have gone is 86" in semi-dry oak, which worked fine, but was using skip (50%). Alec

Sadly not. Spud was servicing my 066 at the time and ran a compression test on the 090 and set the peak revs a little low (I prefer it that way) before I set to on the large oak. I do have a selection of 090AVs from different eras, but they are all stock. Alec

Yes, I let it. It's not ideal but you can't endlessly re-tension so I tend to find a happy medium where the chain is possibly a little on the tight side (stiff but you can still pull it over) when starting and then let it warm up and cool down, getting slacker and tighter accordingly. The side against the cut is pretty much tight anyway so it's only the back face where the chain is potentially loose. So long as you are keeping the cut open more than the kerf (wedges) I don't find it tends to drag, so the finish doesn't suffer too much. There is a lot more loss of finish from not keeping the chain sharp and absolutely even. Alec

As it happens, the compression had been checked (by Spud) just before I did that. It was a standing dead parkland oak, too wide for the mill so I had the top section stood back up on end and the full length of the bar was buried across the crotch as I slabbed it vertically by eye. The saw was happily pulling away, spewing out muesli for over a tankful per cut. I think it's a combination of the extreme width and the wood being pretty hard - it suggests the limit lies somewhere between 50" and 86" (the useable length of my bar) for what the 090 is happy with on full comp. I suspect I could have got away with it with a part-worn chain and not filing down the rakers much to reduce chip size, but overall skip chain doesn't seem to slow the cutting down too much and is quicker to file. Not sure if it is now available in ripping - it wasn't when I bought mine and one of the most tedious jobs of all was re-grinding it! Alec

Some comment which might help broaden the experience. The question was asked earlier in this thread about whether anyone had run lo-pro on a 660/661. I use it on my 066, both for milling and, because it saves carrying an extra bar and sprocket to remote locations, as a cross-cut felling chain. I have snapped one chain so far, when I found a series of hardened steel nails right in the heart of a log. It did make it through a couple before the chain went! I tend to be very careful around force, speed etc. I do not use a winch as I prefer the feedback and I often use it on the mini-mill for quartering so I am looking to keep 36" of vertical cut perfectly straight by eye alone. For general milling I use an 090 with a 42" roller-nose bar. I like roller-noses as they are very simple and they are mounted largely clear of the bar so the sawdust falls away. My general observation is that thinner kerf is not really about waste so much as reduced work by the saw which gives faster cutting and less stress on the engine. To get the best out of it, you want to run the chain faster as each tooth is taking out less, so you lose the advantage to an extent if you have a big, slow-revving saw. Faster chain/smaller bite is also less sensitive to how hard the wood is. With the 090 it really is worth filing down the rakers for softer wood as it will chew out big lumps and cut faster; for a faster revving, lower torque saw you don't get the same advantage as it is taking smaller bites more quickly. This has a bearing on the question of breaking chains as the torque is there to do it but to avoid it you need to use less force into the cut and not adjust the chain to cut too deep. You can gauge it to a point by engine note, but I find feel is easier. I also always sharpen with the Granberg precision grinder, using diamond bits, to keep everything absolutely even - I don't want that one long tooth to catch and put the extra force on the chain that it takes to break it. Essentially, if you run standard .404" chain on a big saw or 3/8" on a mid-sized saw then you probably can't break it however much you bog it down, but if you run smaller, more delicate chain, the power-head is capable of breaking it so it is more down to user practice to avoid doing so. Mind you, sticking an 88" bar on the 090 does reach its limits - that one needs skip-tooth chain to keep it going! Alec

Interesting film. We grow a small amount of willow for J.S.Wright - a very nice old-fashioned company to deal with. When we were buying the field next to our house, the land agent passed on an enquiry from the present Mr Wright who informed us that the willows had been planted on their behalf by the previous owner and would we like to continue the arrangement? Of course we have done so - no contracts in writing, just a handshake and our word on the arrangement. I have since met Mr Wright who is as much an old-fashioned gentleman as you would expect from the company he runs - it's nice to be part of the tradition. Alec

The logs are a good size, but do you have any photos of the ends, or have you measured the heartwood? Walnut can have very wide sapwood which to most people is worthless. Alec

Hi Jon, thank you for your kind words! I'm not sure what wisdom I can bring, but some interesting things have been going on with elms if nothing else. I will endeavour not to vanish again... Alec

Hello Mark, I don't log on very often but am still around. Message sent. Regards Alec

Hi All, As per title really, I am looking for information/sources regarding the state of the art in methods for assessment of the progression of decay. Really I am trying to establish at the top level what is used and what it tells you (with what degree of confidence). In this particular instance, I am trying to address a question I have been asked concerning what information it may be possible to gather when considering purchasing particular high value logs for milling, but the information might be more generally useful than this and I couldn't see a previous thread covering it, so it might be useful to collate it at a single point. Alec

Cheers, looks good, details sent. Alec

Steve, not sure if this is what you are wanting but I can take chip in Haverhill, Suffolk. I operate under exemption U12, - use of mulch (I can send evidence of this by PM if required) which allows me to hold up to 100tons. I tend to spread in autumn/winter into spring, so can take large quantities then but am more restricted from sowing through to harvest. Alec

The only trip this engine will be making is to a skip at some point. In the meantime a successful bodge will do nicely. While I'm at it, don't suppose you have any cunning tips for getting the gearstick (hydraulic gearbox) to shift more easily do you? It's almost a two-hand job at the moment, with so much backlash you pretty much have to guess which gear you might be aiming at. Alec

Ah, 'punching up' as I know it from clock repair (where it's generally regarded as bodging). No debris under the cowling, all pretty clean in there all things considered but I was working it pretty hard when it ran out of fuel. I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. To be honest, part of me would rather it died in a catastrophic, terminal fashion as that would justify getting a replacement but on the other hand I have a tendency to try to keep these things running when possible and maybe it has a few years left. Alec

You were right - it's the valve seat. I tapped it back in, it started on the first half-crank and ran smoothly for about 30 seconds, when it promptly spat the valve seat back out again. What's the best way to secure it (I'm guessing one of the Hermatite instant gaskets)? Alec

Cheers - where do I uncover the valves on this one? It doesn't appear to be OHV. I can post a picture if it helps. Alec

Any ideas on this one? I have an old Westwood 1200 ride-on with a Briggs & Stratton 12hp engine. It has always been annoying in one way or another - I think in 5yrs of using it I haven't yet been able to walk up to it, start up, cut the grass and put it away without something going wrong, however it's what I have. It semi-seized last year and the pull start packed up so it didn't get any use until around May, when it finally got fixed and serviced with new oil, plug etc. The battery packed up on the next cut and I finally got round to sorting it the Sunday before last. It took a bit of turning over but spluttered into life in the end and then ran fine until it ran dry. Yesterday I fuelled it up and now it flatly refuses to start. It is spluttering, popping and backfiring through the carb. I stuck some carb cleaner through which did no good but did produce bigger flames when it backfires It then rained so I gave up until this evening when I pulled the flywheel to see if the key had sheared - it hasn't. So, I have fuel, air, mix, spark, some compression (can't measure this), oil at the right level and no leaks but ignition timing appears completely wrong, despite the flywheel being set right and there being no sign that the coil has moved (plenty of rust showing no signs of disturbance). Any ideas welcome! Alec

Spruce is decent construction timber - it's the general 'whitewood' you find at builders' merchants. It doesn't absorb pressure treatment very well so there is no particular advantage in buying it from the builder's merchants, performance-wise, unless you are buying it stress graded. However, logs like yours are what big commercial mills are processing all day long, from the big forestry plantations. Yours is unlikely to be better than this and may be worse as open-grown trees tend to retain the branches longer and hence have much bigger knots. For a small miller, they can't really compete with a big mill on timber like this due to economies of scale - their niche comes in handling less common timbers, large logs etc which need a lot more expertise to get the best out of than the automated production lines handling forestry plantation material. I doubt you would get anyone to come and pick it up, but if you dropped it off and it is clean, straight, no likelihood of metal, no side branches or big knots then you might get someone to give you a drink for it. Alec

I run all the above and don't struggle for parts. L&S Engineering have most of them and the saws in the current production range have parts available from Germany. Many of the 090 parts are also still available via this route - the only thing I can't get is the throttle cable for the old style AV model. The 076 requires slightly more care but as the 075, 076 and TS760 were virtually interchangeable and overall had a production run of nearly 35yrs there are a lot of parts still kicking about at dealers, although you may now have to try two or three to find some specific bits. I have built up a bit of a stock but only because I have found them on ebay at very low prices, e.g. £20 for an OEM pot and piston. I agree that the 880 will out cut all of the above (except the 090 in very big wood) but they do have two big plus points. Firstly, the power is derived from torque rather than revs so they don't bog down easily, which is helpful in difficult wood when the cut is wide relative to the saw's capacity and secondly they are very cheap compared with an 880 - you could buy 3x 076 or 2x 090 for the price of a new 880 and being fairly bomb-proof that should certainly keep the average miller going for a while! Alec

I would generally concur with the points made above - for a saw which is going to be used, even just for your own milling, parts availability is key. You can probably afford to wait a week for a part to arrive but you don't want to be stuck for months, waiting for a NLA part to turn up on ebay in the US. The MS880 is obviously the model of choice from the current range, however parts availability is still excellent for the 076, 070 and 090, due to very long production runs which ended fairly recently (the 070 is still in production in some countries as the MS720). You don't mention the size of the timber you plan to process. If it's 2' or under then you would be OK with an MS660/066/064. Again, good parts availability and although they are slower, if you put a 3/8" lo-pro bar on from RobD (chainsawbars) they are surprisingly quick. I use one on the mini-mill and a 25" bar buried full depth in oak is quicker than the main mill at 30" on a big saw with .404" chain. Alec