# Mill suggestions



## ACPequipmentservices (Nov 25, 2016)

hey guys I'm new to the forum and looking for some suggestions on mills. I own a land clearing/ excavation company in the Houston area, so I have access to some fairly nice trees that we take down from time to time and have the equipment to move them. Only thing I'm basically lacking is a mill, which I'm pretty stumped on! 

After the researching I have done I'm considering either a lt35 manual or a lt40 but can't come to a conclusion as to what is a must have for a mill and what's a waste of money. Is it truly worth the extra cost going hydraulic? Is there a board foot per hour minimum that you'd wanna stay above and what hp is too small? Also what accessories are a must for you to have to get started?

Thanks for any help guys!


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## Franny K (Nov 26, 2016)

Electric is quieter and less vibration than a piston engine. Easier to think for me, probably everyone else too. 10 horsepower electric is not a bad trade off for peace at least for me. That seems to be about as far as one can go with single phase. Can barely be started with a 25 kw generator.
Turning the log basically gets impossible by hand especially when one or two adjacent sides have been trimmed at some point is size. Is the log turner hydraulic on those models. Some have electric winch and cable to turn, Tractor and boom pole will do it fine using the same sort of technique.
If you are removing the pieces by hand from the sides the loading arms get in the way. I guess a log deck would be worse but if you can load each log with a machine I would think could be skipped. Might not want to skip the hydraulic lever itself perhaps you will think of something to use that for.
The board feet an hour to me is pretty meaningless. If you do not have an edger for the stuff before you have a cant, (slabs, flitches I think are the terms for that stuff) how those are dealt with and what you are making will have a tremendous effect.
Do those models have the wireless remote option? That would be an advantage of wood-meizer.
A small cant hook is a good accessory, a large one too but the small one will be used more than you expect at this point most likely.


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## blkcloud (Nov 26, 2016)

I built a mill years ago, turned the lights logs by hand.. never again.. sold it and bought a lt40.. loved it!!! Sold it when I got done with it.. hydraulics is a MUST...


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## ACPequipmentservices (Nov 26, 2016)

thanks for the input guys! As much as I'd love to have an electric motor I think I'm going to have to go Deisel. While at my yard and some places will have power I know there will be times I won't and not having to tote a generator would be nice.

Sounds like the lt40 would be the ideal mill but is there any reason to go bigger than that? What about other brands to consider?


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## blkcloud (Nov 26, 2016)

I have been self employed for 35 years.. ran a machine shop the whole time, have dealt with many many different companies and NONE hold a candle to Woodmizer.. not even close.. I would not consider any others.. plus when you get ready to sell it.. someone will want it!


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## Franny K (Nov 26, 2016)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Sounds like the lt40 would be the ideal mill but is there any reason to go bigger than that? What about other brands to consider?



Of course there are reasons to consider something else. Belted wheels vs crowned steel wheels. Single sided support for the carriage vs support on both sides/4 post. Amount of electric controls vs strictly hydraulic. Blade enters the log on the stop side vs the other side. How the stops perhaps called squaring arms also are configured. There are lots of videos on the internet, when one gets done another pops up or you can choose from a list. Timberking and Cooks have videos made by the owner(s). Baker is another I could mention. There is plenty of stuff out there to search up. Most all the main ones except Timberking and Cooks go to the paul bunyan show, there may be other shows near you. Wood-meizer has some program where owners get credit for demonstrating to potential customers. I only have a mower made by Wood-Meizer's sister company not sure if my opinions are valid.


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## Ryan'smilling (Nov 26, 2016)

I own a timberking b20. It's similar to an lt40 hydraulic. It's a very nice machine. It's also for sale. PM me if you want details, by the way. 

I can say this. I like the hydraulic functions of my mill. When I bought it I didn't have a good tractor with a loader. If you've got that, or a skid steer, the hydraulic features may not be as important.

I can also say this, in my area, no one wants to pay for custom milling. Maybe that's not an issue for you. If you're planning on milling logs and selling lumber that's a different plan. Of course, in that case you'll need a kiln or a yard for air drying and a large area to store lumber. You'll also need an industrial planer. 

On custom milling, though here's my experience: the mill is cool, and does good work. It's also dangerous (mostly because logs are dangerous), noisy, and costs money to run. They require occasional fine adjustment and there is no mill immune from breakdowns. They require skill to operate. In my area, folks are VERY reluctant to pay over $40/hour to have the mill operate on their land. To do a job, you have to hitch up your mill, load up your tools and equipment, drive to the job, and then undo all this afterwards. All this takes time, which needs to be figured into your price. Also, you need to account for fuel, lubricants, blades, maintenance and INSURANCE. Insurance is huge. Before you do ANYTHING else, call your insurance agent. When our agent got wind of a sawmill he basically said he needed to cancel our entire policy, farm, home, business everything. I'm sure you have insurance already, but try calling your agent and saying "sawmill", I dare you.

So, total up these costs, figure in depreciation (if you dare), and then add your wage. If you think you deserve make more than $2/hour to work all day on a noisy, stinky, dangerous machine, you may want to reconsider your plans. If people would pay $75-100/hour it might work out. At $40 it don't. 

Honestly, in my area anyway, a tractor and a bush hog would make way more money. Less insurance cost, less fixed costs, more potential customers, more relaxing to do. Way way less thinking and no math. No take measures either. 

I'm not trying to crush your dreams. Mills are cool. I like mine. Honestly, though I wish that someone has grabbed me by the collar and told me what I just told you before I bought my mill. The companies that sell them do a great job of showing you some successful mill owners. That's not the only side of the story, though.


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## SeMoTony (Nov 26, 2016)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> hey guys I'm new to the forum and looking for some suggestions on mills. I own a land clearing/ excavation company in the Houston area, so I have access to some fairly nice trees that we take down from time to time and have the equipment to move them. Only thing I'm basically lacking is a mill, which I'm pretty stumped on!
> 
> After the researching I have done I'm considering either a lt35 manual or a lt40 but can't come to a conclusion as to what is a must have for a mill and what's a waste of money. Is it truly worth the extra cost going hydraulic? Is there a board foot per hour minimum that you'd wanna stay above and what hp is too small? Also what accessories are a must for you to have to get started?
> 
> Thanks for any help guys!


One of my fave neighbors Bought woodmiser before I met him. His succes was in milling most all the boards from trees on his new property to build his home.More than paid for mill still has after all these years.Uses now for custom cuts for family wood working. Figure what u'll do with wood that comes off. my $.02


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## blkcloud (Nov 27, 2016)

I made more than $2 a hour with mine, but I sold lumber.. not milling for other people on a per foot basic.. the logs came from my farm and fetched way more than if I had sold them to a sawmill


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## Ryan'smilling (Nov 27, 2016)

blkcloud said:


> I made more than $2 a hour with mine, but I sold lumber.. not milling for other people on a per foot basic.. the logs came from my farm and fetched way more than if I had sold them to a sawmill



Yep, selling lumber is a whole different set of numbers. If you've got the logs I'm sure it's much much more profitable to mill then than sell them as logs.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Nov 28, 2016)

Thank y'all for yalls input! I do have some more research to do and numbers to crunch before jumping in head first! Sounds like the lt40 is a popular unit, just if its worth justifying the cost! 

As far as making money on the unit my thoughts are to being able to sell the larger rare cuts, I don't care to get into selling plain 2x4s and such. I do have some nice pine laying around but that maybe just for personal use. I don't plan to make this a daily job but for something to complement what I already do and something to fill in any down time, mostly when we are rained out. 

Are there any good reads on wood drying? This is one thing I'm going to need to educate myself on and will determine a lot on storage of the wood and such.

Thanks again for all the help guys!


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## ACPequipmentservices (Nov 29, 2016)

One of my customers has a logosol m7 cs mill that her husband had bought new but I don't believe ever used and has been sitting outside for a few years. I'm contemplating trading her some work for it. Any idea what this unit would be worth used? Sounds like the new m8 models are about $2500.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Dec 27, 2016)

Hope everyone had a merry christmas! My father ended up getting me a 36" granberg CSmill which I'm pretty excited about! Needless to say I've been reading up on here since last night! 

My first question is what chain/ ripping chain is highly recommended? The saw I will be using to start with is my 391 with a 25" bar, which I've also been looking at doing the muffler mod and tune on. (any advice specifically on this would be great!). 

My second concern is I need to purchase a bigger saw to run a 36" bar, I'm between the 661 or 880. Would the 661 be enough for running the 36" bar and plentiful for oiling? or would it be of my best interest to just go with the 880? I mostly like the idea of the 661 since it is lighter and I love my 362 with the mtronic motor, super easy to start and always runs great!


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## Grande Dog (Dec 27, 2016)

Howdy,
I would suggest trying the 391 set up on some smaller logs to see what you think of the mill operation. It'll give you an idea if that's the way you want to move forward. From what you're describing that you want to do, it would be like using a backhoe when you should have used an excavator. The job will get done but, you and the hoe will be tired.
As far as the chain goes, ripping chain tends to cut slower, and leaves a smoother surface. Standard chain tends to do the opposite.
If you think you might end up looking for a more versatile mill, there are swingblade mills that will also slab, plane, and sand besides cutting very accurate dimensional lumber.
Let me know if you're interested.
Regards
Gregg


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## ACPequipmentservices (Dec 27, 2016)

Grande Dog said:


> Howdy,
> I would suggest trying the 391 set up on some smaller logs to see what you think of the mill operation. It'll give you an idea if that's the way you want to move forward. From what you're describing that you want to do, it would be like using a backhoe when you should have used an excavator. The job will get done but, you and the hoe will be tired.
> As far as the chain goes, ripping chain tends to cut slower, and leaves a smoother surface. Standard chain tends to do the opposite.
> If you think you might end up looking for a more versatile mill, there are swingblade mills that will also slab, plane, and sand besides cutting very accurate dimensional lumber.
> ...




Thanks Gregg! I completely agree! My dad figured this would be a fairly cheap route to get our feet wet in. But that makes alot of sense on the ripping chain, I've got quite a few mid size pine logs that ill be using as guinea pigs to get a feel for the mill with the 391 and 25" bar. For dimensional lumber on the pine I see the ripping chain being beneficial. But my main goal is to do more live edge stuff with some character to it, so maybe the ripping chain wouldnt be best for the hardwoods I've got stacked up.

I got it all put together today just waiting on the rails to get in later this week!

Also going to pull muffler off the 391 when it gets back in this evening.


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## BobL (Dec 27, 2016)

My recommendation is also not to try to do too much all at once. 
As GD says just try using the mill with the 391 as is.

You might like to try a variety of chains to start with but eventually I found it's better to settle on as few types of chain (preferably try to settle on one) as possible i.e. pitch, gauge, skip or no skip, chisel or semi chisel and spend the time optimising the chain
That way you;
- won't want to be messing around changing chains specific to what you are cutting
- can have multiple sharp loops of the same chain on hand ready to rock and roll 
- can buy rolls and economically roll your own.

There's nothing worse than rattling around amongst piles of chains looking for the one you want and invariable finding its blunt. 

As far as the 661 v 880 goes a 661 will handle up to a 42" bar (36" cut) especially bear in mind that on a 36" log only a few cuts are near 36" wide.
I'd recommend an Aux oiler on any CSM so oil is not a issue


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## ACPequipmentservices (Dec 27, 2016)

BobL said:


> My recommendation is also not to try to do too much all at once.
> As GD says just try using the mill with the 391 as is.
> 
> You might like to try a variety of chains to start with but eventually I found it's better to settle on as few types of chain (preferably try to settle on one) as possible i.e. pitch, gauge, skip or no skip, chisel or semi chisel and spend the time optimising the chain
> ...



I agree, I am going to try and do what I can with what I have on hand now. About a 1/4 of the logs I have stockpiled I will be able to mill with my 25" bar, should give me a 20" cut maybe 21" if I take the dogs off the saw. I run the stihl yellow chains my dealer carries, not sure what the exact specs are on them but I need to see what they are and pay more attention to what I am running. 

Would you suggest even running an aux oiler with the 391 and 25" bar? I really like the idea of the 661 and I'm sure would be a great saw for me and I would put good use to it from time to time not only for milling. I just don't wanna get the 661 and have wished I would have just gotten the 880.


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## steve easy (Dec 28, 2016)

880 over 661, but I'd take any saw over a 661. Aux oiler a must for any milling.


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## BobL (Dec 28, 2016)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> I agree, I am going to try and do what I can with what I have on hand now. About a 1/4 of the logs I have stockpiled I will be able to mill with my 25" bar, should give me a 20" cut maybe 21" if I take the dogs off the saw.


Even taking the dogs off the saw, on a conventional alaskan mill ~6" is lost due to the mounting clamps. To get at most a couple of inches more than this the outboard clamp is modified and attached to the bar by drilling and bolting through the centre of the nose bearing.

To get more, a completely different way of mounting the mill to the saw is used hereby the mill is attached to the bar bolts.





> Would you suggest even running an aux oiler with the 391 and 25" bar?


Yes I would.


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## leechlightning (Dec 29, 2016)

I have a 661 for milling and I love it, I don't baby it, but strictly maintain it and run a 42" bar no problems yet. I get 39" of cut without drilling my Oregon bar with the dawgs removed, my 36" Stihl bar only could get 31" so depends on the brand. 

2ndly I quickly found the 661 will not be big enough, as I have 5 logs ranging from 45" to 60" already and I just started milling and collecting logs in may, so I will be getting an 880 soon.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Dec 29, 2016)

Thanks for the info and advice guys! Sounds like ill be ordering an aux oiler! 

Found a 661 locally for sale for $825 that looks damn near brand new with a 32" bar. If I can pick that up for $400 under retail it might be a good move but if I end up getting a brand new saw I'm thinking going with the 880 would be wise for the long haul. My 391 and the 25" bar will keep me busy for a while but will soon need to upgrade.


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## SeMoTony (Dec 29, 2016)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Thanks for the info and advice guys! Sounds like ill be ordering an aux oiler!
> 
> Found a 661 locally for sale for $825 that looks damn near brand new with a 32" bar. If I can pick that up for $400 under retail it might be a good move but if I end up getting a brand new saw I'm thinking going with the 880 would be wise for the long haul. My 391 and the 25" bar will keep me busy for a while but will soon need to upgrade.


Less expense in making an aux oiler. You may even have most of the pieces to use in the equiptment shop at hand. Lower counter offer on the 661 then send it to a work saw builder will give a saw that can out preform an off the shelf 880, from what I've read .The 880's have been called dogs on thi site. Mill safe
Happy New Year!


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## steve easy (Dec 29, 2016)

661's have yet to be proven a reliable saw, maybe they are ok if you do the odd tank here and there. They guzzle fuel while the 880 sips it. Off the shelf 880 is far more proven and reliable tank after tank they just keep going. Doubt there's many high hour 661's out there, certain there's high hour 880's.


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## FISH BAIT (Feb 11, 2017)

This sure does sound familiar! I live south of Houston, and started out with the exact same set up and ideas. Been milling with a modified MS 390 for the past 5 years. Eventually worked up to a 32" bar on a 36" Alaskan mill with aux oiler. It will cut 28" oak slabs but it is SLOW. I have milled a barn full of oak, pecan, and cedar, the little saw will get it done but not with much grace. I just came across a deal on a 395xp so I'm finally getting to upgrade.

Good luck
FB


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 19, 2017)

FISH BAIT said:


> This sure does sound familiar! I live south of Houston, and started out with the exact same set up and ideas. Been milling with a modified MS 390 for the past 5 years. Eventually worked up to a 32" bar on a 36" Alaskan mill with aux oiler. It will cut 28" oak slabs but it is SLOW. I have milled a barn full of oak, pecan, and cedar, the little saw will get it done but not with much grace. I just came across a deal on a 395xp so I'm finally getting to upgrade.
> 
> Good luck
> FB



Very fimilar and close! I have yet to try out my Alaskan mill, got my rails setup Friday and got shut down due to rain! But I was lucky enough to get a brand new 880 with a 36" bar for my bday. I ordered a ripping chain from baileys today so hoping to try out this week with or without the ripping chain!


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 24, 2017)

Got to break in the 880 earlier this week!


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## Ryan'smilling (Feb 24, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Very fimilar and close! I have yet to try out my Alaskan mill, got my rails setup Friday and got shut down due to rain! But I was lucky enough to get a brand new 880 with a 36" bar for my bday. I ordered a ripping chain from baileys today so hoping to try out this week with or without the ripping chain!




[email protected], that's a heck of a birthday present!! I bought myself a ported 660 for my birthday, but an 880 is a few dollars more. Take good care if whoever gave you that bad boy!


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## SeMoTony (Feb 24, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Very fimilar and close! I have yet to try out my Alaskan mill, got my rails setup Friday and got shut down due to rain! But I was lucky enough to get a brand new 880 with a 36" bar for my bday. I ordered a ripping chain from baileys today so hoping to try out this week with or without the ripping chain!


New chain is not always sharp chain. I touch up new chain every time I make a loop off the reel. Search ; BobL & sharping chain for best advice on setting up chain for milling. That's an interesting present, and all I got for my B'day is an 046 for the other end of the dual powered 72" bar. But then for Christmas I got a 661 ported cylinder PH for the shorter bars (60" or less). Glad no insignificant other to interfere with my $


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## DTrap (Feb 24, 2017)

Looks nice. Get that log up off the ground 3-4 feet and at an angle. Your back and knees will thank you later on. Plus it will cut a little easier with the weight of the saw and mill pushing it down the log.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 25, 2017)

Thanks for the advice! I have seen a few pics of people doing that and I now understand why!

Question, Y'all may see the brown color on the bar. Is that normal? Im assuming its sap sticking to the bar but wanted to make sure.


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## steve easy (Feb 25, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Thanks for the advice! I have seen a few pics of people doing that and I now understand why!
> 
> Question, Y'all may see the brown color on the bar. Is that normal? Im assuming its sap sticking to the bar but wanted to make sure.


Nice setup, got an aux oiler in the plan?.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 25, 2017)

steve easy said:


> Nice setup, got an aux oiler in the plan?.



Don't have one right now but probably need to get one. Figured with the 880 and only a 36" bar I maybe on the edge of needing one. Thoughts?


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## DTrap (Feb 25, 2017)

You might be on the edge but I would highly recommend one. It will extend the life of your bar, chain, and power head. Milling is inherently hard on a saw and any thing to help reduce stress is always welcomed.


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## steve easy (Feb 26, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Don't have one right now but probably need to get one. Figured with the 880 and only a 36" bar I maybe on the edge of needing one. Thoughts?


I would, get as much on without wasting it. Lots of ways to do it, look at bobl's stuff if you want it to look cool.


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## leechlightning (Feb 26, 2017)

Just checking if you know you can crank up the oil output on the bottom of the saw mine came default on a medium to low setting.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 26, 2017)

leechlightning said:


> Just checking if you know you can crank up the oil output on the bottom of the saw mine came default on a medium to low setting.




I thought there might be a setting for that. I couldn't find any info about it in the manual and I only briefly looked at the saw for an adjustment.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 26, 2017)

Found the adjustment, it was probably set in the middle. maxed it out we will see how it does next time.


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## DTrap (Feb 27, 2017)

The 880 will put out a lot of oil but I would still recommend an auxiliary oiler at the end of the bar. One can be easily built for $30 or less and that is nothing compared to the investment you have made so far. Why not take the extra precautions to extend the saw, bars, and chains life spans. Maybe not something you need to worry about right away but definitely worth the time to put one on. Your saw will thank you 5 years from now.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Feb 27, 2017)

DTrap said:


> The 880 will put out a lot of oil but I would still recommend an auxiliary oiler at the end of the bar. One can be easily built for $30 or less and that is nothing compared to the investment you have made so far. Why not take the extra precautions to extend the saw, bars, and chains life spans. Maybe not something you need to worry about right away but definitely worth the time to put one on. Your saw will thank you 5 years from now.




I could tell when doing these 9' long slabs 3/4 of the way through a cut things would start to get pretty warm. Don't know if it was a lack of oil on the chain or just form running the saw hard. Bring me to antithetical question, when the saw would grab and go on it's own it would bog and go. If I worked the saw I could get it to run at max rpm. Is it safer to run it bogging at a lower Rpm or let it rev up? I'm read in a few other threads about what mix to run and I've always ran 50:1 mix with Stihl ultra but I think Ima mix a richer batch up just for milling.


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## DTrap (Feb 28, 2017)

It was probably getting warm just from working it. The 880 is a beast and will eat lots of wood without complaining. I try to keep the saw from bogging much. You will get the best finish if you try to keep the saw moving at an even and steady pace. Keep even pressure on it and after playing around with it a few more times you will figure out the sweet spot the saw likes. I run my all my saws at 40:1 these days.


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## SeMoTony (Feb 28, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> I could tell when doing these 9' long slabs 3/4 of the way through a cut things would start to get pretty warm. Don't know if it was a lack of oil on the chain or just form running the saw hard. Bring me to antithetical question, when the saw would grab and go on it's own it would bog and go. If I worked the saw I could get it to run at max rpm. Is it safer to run it bogging at a lower Rpm or let it rev up? I'm read in a few other threads about what mix to run and I've always ran 50:1 mix with Stihl ultra but I think Ima mix a richer batch up just for milling.


50:1 is RICHER than 40:1! Higher % of oil lessens the gas in the mix. Thus the reason to open the screws for more mix when using more oil in the mix. More oil will not be enough to protect the engine from higher heat range of running lean ( low gas to air %) Most important correct tune for mix, sharpest chain you can have with right height of depth guages to cut chips w/o bogging, and well oiled B&C. Let your saw sing not grumble


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## mdavlee (Feb 28, 2017)

I never run less oil than 32:1. Especially wouldn't on an 880. Seen several with blown big ends and the owners said they were running 50:1. Got an 088 sitting at home with the big end gone. 

Tune it richer after changing fuel ratio and maybe do a muffler mod to get the exhaust away from you faster and let more heat out of the saw.


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## DTrap (Mar 1, 2017)

SeMoTony said:


> 50:1 is RICHER than 40:1! Higher % of oil lessens the gas in the mix. Thus the reason to open the screws for more mix when using more oil in the mix. More oil will not be enough to protect the engine from higher heat range of running lean ( low gas to air %) Most important correct tune for mix, sharpest chain you can have with right height of depth guages to cut chips w/o bogging, and well oiled B&C. Let your saw sing not grumble



Most people agree that 50:1 is not ideal for these hard use saws. Most on the site here including BobL run 40:1 and a lot run even 32:1. You simply tune the saw richer to compensate for the additional oil in the fuel. As long as the saw is tuned correctly for the mix it is absolutely a benefit to the saw in my opinion. Let the saw idle for a 3-5 minutes after cutting is also a great benefit to the powerhead as well.


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## SeMoTony (Mar 1, 2017)

DTrap said:


> Most people agree that 50:1 is not ideal for these hard use saws. Most on the site here including BobL run 40:1 and a lot run even 32:1. You simply tune the saw richer to compensate for the additional oil in the fuel. As long as the saw is tuned correctly for the mix it is absolutely a benefit to the saw in my opinion. Let the saw idle for a 3-5 minutes after cutting is also a great benefit to the powerhead as well.


BobL is switching to 50:1 once the 40:1 mix in stock is used up, most recent mention by him I've seen. He runs everything on one mix. He had been at 40:1 since an older saw was in use. Even with the earlier saws in use by Bob he thinks the newer mix oils stand up well enough for 090 or 07*.My point that you have re-iterated was the dif between "rich" and more oil. A misunderstanding by newbeez can cost a topend replacement. Maybe discourage their path into the joy that can be found milling. BobL has temp gauges on his milling PH's, his experience indicates shutting the saw off imediate causes a temp peak much higher than actual temp prior to shut down. Idle saw, as you said, a few minutes to keep fan blowing air to cool. Saw safe


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## steve easy (Mar 1, 2017)

Fuel blends here vary week to week, 50:1 might be ok one week but not the next. Extra oil is insurance, spark plugs are cheap. Put abit of thought in how you set up and you won't be sucking lungfuls of exhaust gas mixed with sawdust.


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## DTrap (Mar 2, 2017)

steve easy said:


> Fuel blends here vary week to week, 50:1 might be ok one week but not the next. Extra oil is insurance, spark plugs are cheap. Put abit of thought in how you set up and you won't be sucking lungfuls of exhaust gas mixed with sawdust.



I agree completely. To many variables, the gas station, how old the gas is, even the quality of the gas these days, for me to run 50:1. Probably be just fine most of the time but I prefer the little extra insurance of the additional oil in my mix.


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## ACPequipmentservices (Mar 6, 2017)

Thanks for the input guys! Instead of the 1 gallon Stihl ultra mix I bought some 2.5 gallon mix and plan to us it to make 2 gallons. Should put it in the 42:1 range. Y'all suggest retuning it running this mix?


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## BobL (Mar 7, 2017)

ACPequipmentservices said:


> Thanks for the input guys! Instead of the 1 gallon Stihl ultra mix I bought some 2.5 gallon mix and plan to us it to make 2 gallons. Should put it in the 42:1 range. Y'all suggest retuning it running this mix?



Should be OK but it depends what ratio you are initially coming from.

Remember normal atmospheric pressure can change over a few days by 3% and a saw has to cope with that sort of a change in air intake which in turn changes the gas/air ratio.

Although it's not directly comparable the saw should be able to cope with similar changes in the amount of gas that changing the lube/gas ratio produces.

Going from 50:1 down to 40:1 only represents a 0.5% change in gas i.e. (49/50 - 39/40)*100 so a saw should be able to cope with thatching.
However - if your saw is borderline turned lean at 50:1 then dropping to 40:1 may be enough to tip it over the lean limit.

The mix ratio has to drop from 50:1 down to 20:1 to equate to a change is gas of 3% but that's not a risk worth taking in my book


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## ACPequipmentservices (Mar 15, 2017)

Thanks again for all the info fellas! Hopefully will be doing some more milling this saturday, get to try out the ripping chain along with the 40:1 mix and the oiler turned up on the 880!

My next big hurdle is the drying process. From what I understand its 1 year per inch, obviously I would like to speed up this process since most of my slabs are 2" thick and I already have a few guys needing some slabs. So, I contacted a local with a kiln and they claimed the oak needs to air dry a year before putting in there kiln. Is this true? Also charging $2 BF is that a high or average rate? Guess my next purchase needs to be a kiln or build one!


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## ACPequipmentservices (Mar 29, 2017)

Some pics of the pecan I milled 2 weekends ago. And got everything stacked.


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