Help: Buying chainsaw for the Alaskan mill

[patrickhadow]

Hello

 

Does anyone know the best place to find (and buy) second hand chainsaws?

The chainsaw would be for the Alaskan mill which I'm set on buying but I haven't yet decided between 36 inch rails or the 48 inch.

I've done a lot of reading on this forum and it seems that the Stihl 066 or 076 would be perfect.

I've kept my eye on ebay and have seen some pop up but most come with a much shorter bar then I need.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Patrick

[Goaty]

If you get it at right price buy new bar and you will need ripping chain. Will run better rather than weaving through with a worn bar with new chain.

[agg221]

Hi Patrick,

 

Ebay is the biggest source for choice. You need to be careful though - there are some real bargains to be had but also some things to be very aware of. Some faults are easily fixed with cheap parts, some easily fixed with expensive parts and others leave you set up for a lot of hard work and maybe needing specialist tools - judging which is not always easy, particularly for the unwary or inexperienced.

 

Take four recent 076 sales on ebay. The first needed a new fuel line and not much else; the second needed a fuel line (following which it ran) but is in need of more attention, the third is held together with a rag-bag of bolts, many of which are wrong, and needs the fuel tank welding but will really only need a new plug (and lead as the old one is melted) and some service parts (no, I didn't buy three 076 saws, but I do know where these three are). The fourth, currently on ebay as spares or repair, will almost certainly need the entire crank case dismantling to replace the gasket between the oil tank and the crank case, together with new bearing seals whilst it's apart. This will be long, slow and tedious, but not cost much in parts unless something else is found to be wrong with it.

 

If you buy 'spares or repair' assume the worst and be pleasantly surprised by anything better than this.

 

If you buy a runner, I would suggest cash on collection. That way you can verify that it starts, idles properly (i.e. not totally worn out) and runs up nicely, then slows up straight away when you take your finger off the throttle (not got a major air leak). Then budget for a pressure and vacuum check and compression check before doing any serious work with it, together with basic service items.

 

With the size of bar you're thinking of, I would suggest 070/075/076, as they will all pull it happily and the 066 will be limited to 36" and be slow as soon as the chain is anything other than perfect. The 066 also makes a lot more money, which is probably unnecessary to spend.

 

You are unlikely to get a suitable size bar with the saw - you will almost certainly end up needing to buy one at the same time as the mill, but they're readily available to suit from chainsawbars.co.uk which is the cheapest source of a mill if you claim your Arbtalk 10% discount.

 

Alec

[patrickhadow]

Thankyou for all the advice

[Eddy_t]

Or buy a husky 390/395/3120!

 

 

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