agg221

I don't have any mensuration tables, so a quick calculation: Assume it's a cylinder, average diameter of about 12in Assume, being wet, that it has a density of about 1kg/dm3 (same as water) Convert to metric - 0.3m average diameter, 11m long pi x radius squared is 0.0675m2 end area end area x length is approx 0.75m3 so approx three quarters of a ton. I'll be interested to see how wrong this is! Alec

Felling standing dead oak and cutting logs to length, plus firewood from the tops - 3l/day (once or twice a year). Milling - 5l/day (about five times a year at the moment). General work - hedging, hedgecutting, trimming etc - 3l/day. Probably get through 50l of 2-stroke a year, but the mowers and brushcutter are 4-stroke and use quite a bit more. Alec

Excellent - I shall look forward to it! Alec

I just spent my first full day milling using Aspen rather than normal 2-stroke mix. Chainsaw milling puts your face very close to the exhaust, and in the past I've always had headaches and felt ill at the end of the day. Today I don't, and since I always mill oak the only thing that's changed is the fuel, so very much better! However, is there any chance of supplying it in a container in between 200l and 5l, say a 25l drum? 5l is only a day's worth when working, but for those of us who use fuel intermittently (where the fact that Aspen doesn't go off in the can really comes into its own) 25l would last a while - probably the same for others who use it for a 'season' rather than every day, so not just the niche of people milling. It's a standard size for solvent drums - we use it for our industrial methylated spirits and acetone, and there's a handy hand-pump dispenser that fits on the top. I would imagine, given your pricing by volume it would be slightly cheaper per litre too! Alec

If you look at drawknives (plenty on Ebay) you'll see that there is a wide variation in the width between the handles. You want one where the width between the handles is about the width across your stomach (that isn't the same as the blade width - you'll see the blade is quite a bit narrower and is tapered down before turning to form the tangs). If it's much less, when you're wedging the post down against yourself in a cleaving brake you can't pull the cut through to the end - you just jab yourself in the stomach with the handles. Surprisingly, you pretty much can't cut yourself across the stomach with the blade, as there isn't much muscle strength in that position - I haven't even put a mark on clothing. Alec

From memory (so could be very wrong!) this was from the 090, 070, 050 etc. series, but rapidly got updated to the 051 as the 050 was known for screaming. I think it's 89cc, had an AV version and a non-AV version, and didn't have a chain brake. It's relatively low revving - about 10,000 peak and peak power at about 8,500, so high torque. It's a pretty popular cheap saw to fit to an Alaskan, as parts are easily available due to the long production run and many are available in pattern, the lack of chain brake isn't a problem and the high torque/low revs are an advantage. I've just rebuilt one for this purpose, and will fit a 30-32" 3/8 bar (it was originally .404, but there's an Oregon sprocket to convert it). You can find the parts manual available to download for free on t'internet. Alec

Ripsaw blade probably lasts about 10 cuts before sharpening, and then takes one sharpening which does the same again, then it's scrap. It doesn't like grit or bark, so I de-bark (well, actually I tend to mill butts which are so long dead that the bark and sapwood just fall off!). Under those conditions, I suppose that means I'm cutting about 400sq.ft on a band, so about 5p per sq.ft in band cost, which is probably more than chain cost for the same. However, fuel+oil on the Alaskan would probably be about 10p per sq.ft, while on the Ripsaw it's only about 2p, so it works out OK. You would definitely need smaller saw though! Alec

I'm the opposite side of the country unfortunately, but if you ever make it over to Essex then you're welcome to a look at the Ripsaw. I mill small quantities, as a way to get the timber I need for boats, building etc. The main limitation I had was moving timber to a mill, so I went for milling kit I could move in a car, and then in a wheelbarrow to pretty much anywhere. So long as I could move the timber section out to the roadside and either stick it on a roof-rack of if there was enough to justify hiring a lorry, I was fine. The Alaskan met my needs for some years, but was too tedious for milling the planks I needed for boatbuilding (2in thick oak, 20ft long x 10in wide average). I bought the Ripsaw last year, for milling bits of house as I got access to a number of oak butts. It is hugely quicker, but temperamental. I had a band on it on Friday - today it decided not to work and the bow in it caused it to ride up over the bandwheel and cut its way through the outer case, quicker than I could get my finger off the trigger (this is in running up before putting it anywhere near a log). So, still sharp band (£18) is now scrap. You also have to keep the oilway well cleared, and make some form of gasket to get oil to flow through to the gears. But, on the plus side, end to end of a 20ft long, 14in wide cut (max possible) in oak heartwood, about 3mins. This actually makes milling pleasurable! You do need to watch powerheads with them though - the 066M was hugely overpowered. I have now fitted an 044 which seems pretty well matched. You need a fairly modern saw as you want the higher revs rather than torque - the blade can't handle more pressure like a milling chain can if you take the rakers down a bit. The other limitation of the Ripsaw is its throat opening, but wouldn't be a problem if you're mostly doing small stuff. It copes OK with up to 20in oak butts, but if I want a different cutting pattern I run the Alaskan through first to make sections i can work on more comfortably. I am still looking for a 3ft x 3/8 bar with oiling holes to fit my 076 though - that should make the comparison between the Alaskan and Ripsaw more interesting! Alec

Hi Alex, not sure if this helps, but I've just spent the week off work making bits for our extension - milled featheredge oak boards and cleft SC tile batten and ceiling lath. I wouldn't worry too much about cracks starting - assuming they're radial from the centre, it's to be expected if the ends aren't sealed. So long as you get on with milling/cleaving pretty soon they shouldn't be too deep. If you mill posts box-heart you will always get cracks as the stresses are released, but they won't warp. You will only get one post per log though. If you cleave the logs into quarters though, you will get four posts per log (on a good day) and release the stresses, so less likelihood of further cracking. If they stay straight then they will sit really well on the mill, and you can pretty much get away with only two cuts per post to square them up. If they don't, you can see whether there is enough left to cut along the cleft face and create a straight line. If not, they're scrap, but at least they're scrap before you waste time on the mill. If you do go down this route, consider knocking up a cleaving brake and using a drawknife to smooth the cleft faces off if you don't want them to look cleft - it's very quick, much quicker than trying to set it up on the mill to make fiddly little cuts and it looks pretty smooth and even with a little practice. I reckon I could take a cleave a SC wedge from a 6ft length of 8-10in dia log of the right size to make a 2x1 batten, square up the back edge, take the thin bit off the inside of the wedge and trim down the excess off one face so it's square to the other, all in about 5mins. If I just had to split out a quarter and dress the two cleft faces, I reckon it could be done in about the same time (takes me longer to cleave quarters if I have to use wedges than if I can get a froe in). Hope this helps! Alec

Hazel and sweet chestnut are reasonably light coloured too. What size bits are you looking for? If they're not too big then well seasoned elm and walnut are easy to get from a local junk shop that does furniture. Elm is in seats in old chairs and walnut is often solid in old drawer fronts. Alec

It's very different to standard arb practice - and coincidentally is the area I'm most familiar with, having grown up on an orchard. You need to look at the size of them now, relative to age, to work out what stock they're grafted on, and work out whether the owners want fruit, or effect. You also treat plums very differently to apples. General comments: They should have a clear trunk, to a height. Check near ground level for the graft, and make sure that it is well clear of the soil. If there is soil up to it, it wants digging back, and if there are already roots from above the graft they need taking off. If you don't this is the difference between a Bramley controlled to 6-10ft by the rootstock, relative to one which isn't making a 50ft tree! You want a lot of light and air through to ripen the fruit so plenty of spacing out of branches and secateur/lopper work (plums can stand being a bit more dense than apples. Branches over branches should be no closer than 3ft, so most trees only want a couple of tiers max. Main things to take out are crossing/rubbing branches and anything dead or diseased. You are aiming for an open centre, so clear out the middle first and then the trick is to pick an imaginary point, at the top of the trunk and think of looking down on that, you would want all the branches to stick straight out from it, so anything that grows across (inwards) gets cut out, and anything that grows into other branches space gets cut out. The other thing is about getting fruit. Trees growing vigorously don't fruit. Upright growing branches grow vigorously, so cut out anything growing upward - aim to leave branches growing at about 45deg to the horizontal/vertical ideally. If there's a lot to be done, it's better to spread it over 3yrs. Once critical thing for this is, don't cut back to leave a stub - it will grow water shoots which are useless, so either cut out completely or back to a fork. The worst thing for fruiting is the trees you sometimes see which have effectively been pollarded year on year. They never build up a network of spurs, so they never crop. Better to take them out and plant something smaller so that it can get to fruiting size. Plums Main killer is silverleaf. This is about as early in the year as you should touch them, and they shouldn't be touched after September as it doesn't get in during the growing season. Ideally, try not to take big cuts - it's better to have thinned main branches, rather than taking them out, where possible. Apples Commercial pruning runs right through to June, so no problems there, it's just easier with the leaves off. The later in the year you prune, the less vigorous the response, so now is a good time if the pruning is heavy, but bad if you want to stimulate vigour (that's best done in the autumn). Main thing to watch for is canker - if branches have canker the bark is brown and mushy and it smells. Either trim out all the bad bark (you can leave the wood) - the thing to watch is the cambium line - if it's brown it needs to go, when you get back to yellowish green it's fine. Either that or take the branch out if it's sacrificial. Hope this helps - if there's anything specific, like the varieties, or some photos, happy to provide more specific detail or comment if it helps! Alec

Somewhat strangely, most people with ordinary domestic contents insurance are covered for use of chainsaws anywhere, including public sites, so long as it is in connection with a hobby or entertainment rather than for hire or reward. This includes working alongside someone else who is being paid for their time, so long as you are not. I went through this loop some years ago, as I often fell and mill timber on someone else's woodland. I always ask my broker to confirm if I change policies, and can (and have) got a letter to this effect from my insurer. My current totally ordinary contents insurance policy gives me £3M public liability insurance, without even doing anything special. HTH Alec

Hi Rob, Your other question was about green vs. dead. I've usually used dead - standing or otherwise. They seem to dry out so slowly that a 3ft butt with the bark still on is still wringing wet after 10yrs lying! As such, it doesn't seem to make much difference, just pick the nicest looking one. Alec

Hi, I have milled/had milled quite a lot of wide oak for canal boats - 2" for hull planks and 3" for bottoms now you can't get elm easily. To be honest, I've found you can get away with a lot. When through-and-through sawing the ones nearest the centre are most stable, and I do split clean up the centre as soon as the throat will reach, as I don't want a boxed heart, and I paint the end with cheap oil-based gloss to slow down differential drying. I then just stack in the shade with good thick sticks - say 1in for 3ft boards to let air through, cover the top not the sides and leave to dry. I don't find a bit of windblown rain matters, and I find oak resistant enough to rot that any mould is surface only. However, sapwood is strictly sacrificial and I don't mill between end of April and start of Sept to avoid surface checking, which is controllable but too much effort! HTH Alec

Chris, whereabouts are you? I have a Ripsaw mill, the hand-mounted one rather than the rail-mounted one. Very nice piece of kit but a very idiosynchratic company to deal with. If you're not in the US it's very hard to get things delivered from them - in the end I sorted my own shipping via a forwarding agent. The problem with milled shingles is that milling doesn't follow the grain, while cleaving does. The exposed end grain makes the timber more prone to rot. You don't necessarily need WRC - oak and sweet chestnut are fine in the UK. If you're prepared to make your own then the material is pretty cheap - you need the short lengths that nobody else wants, e.g. from overgrown coppice. There are some decent videos on Youtube showing how to make them - but they also give a good indication of just how much time you need to commit to it! Alec

I know this is the milling forum, but have you tried cleaving it? It still cleaves well when it gets bigger - you just have to split it with wedges first. Does depend on whether you want a sawn or cleaved surface look though. Alec

Hi, you don't say how many you're planning on moving, or how regularly you plan on doing this, which would probably be worth considering in terms of how you might go about it. If it's small quantities, infrequently, then a cheap plant trailer from ebay would carry 7-8 lengths at a go quite happily. Don't forget you can overhang the bed by up to 3.05m, so in practice something with a 3m bed would be fine - just move a lighting board out to the end of the logs. If you're only planning on loading small quantities then a hand, or electric winched A-frame loader might be a cheap solution. I tend to move single oak butts about 2ft across x 20ft long and can't justify the cost of heavier plant, but this works fine for me. HTH Alec

I'm looking for some help with a Stihl 066M. I bought it about 10yrs ago for milling, and very shortly afterwards destroyed the barrel and piston on both this and my 064 in the same day, which was put down to a problem with the petrol batch, although it was never properly diagnosed (I posted the piston to Stihl UK, who had a look but weren't able to offer anything positive). The 066M was rebuilt with new barrel and piston and has run happily since, but probably has no more than 50 engine hours on it. I am very careful about not keeping fuel - I don't get through much so in this case the petrol was bought in January (from Murco) but only mixed a week ago, and I only mix one tank at a time, using a measure, and never keep it more than two weeks. I don't fiddle with the carb - the local agricultural dealers set it to factory settings with a tacho and I leave it alone. I filled it up last week for the first time in a while and ran it for 15mins or so. Today, it was a bit reluctant to start and then cutting a log to length prior to milling it didn't 'feel right'. I wondered if it was oiling properly on the bar, so ran a quick spray check, during the course of which the power just died away and it stopped. Having pulled the piston it's completely destroyed, with all the signs of overheating. I can get an aftermarket barrel and piston easily enough, but would really like to know what's going on. It could be an air leak, or carb, or fuel filter, but I would like to get it properly diagnosed as I don't want to wreck it again, or the 044, 051 or 076 while I'm at it! Can anyone make any suggestions, or recommendations of someone who could go through it thoroughly for a diagnosis? I don't mind shipping/travelling to the right person. Once I'm confident as to what the problem was I can then rebuild it and take steps to avoid it recurring - - it's a lot cheaper than keep rebuilding them! For the amount of fuel I get through, the reduced waste of part-used tanks (although they do get the bonfire going) and the peace of mind I am very much minded to go for Aspen - any views? Thanks for any input. Alec