# Milling with BIL Mill and the 880



## BobL (Apr 27, 2009)

Today was the first chance to try the 880 milling with the BIL mill.

I have run about 5 tanks of fuel through it cutting up firewood but have run out of fire wood to cut and still felt a bit nervous about running it WOT for an extended period like one does on the mill, especially till I get a few other things sorted. The main one is the exhaust mod - I have the 15 mm opening insert installed (or and am sort of still testing and tuning. I can open it up all the way to 19 mm (3/4") if needed but am taking my time and testing and tuning as I go.

Anyway I thought I would start milling but just take it easy, mill a few ft at 7000 rpm, give it rest, mill a few ft at 8000 rpm, give it a rest, 9000 and then back to 8000 etc up and down the range. It's slow going and a bit frustrating because you can just tell this thing is just wanting to jump out of its skin.

Here was the menu. Its a tree called a Western Australian Marri about 3'6" in diameter. 









It was located very close to the side of a house and had to be taken down in 8 ft lengths and craned out. As a result the big groove cut around the trunk to make sure the chain did not slip.

You can also see how I groove the top of the log so the log rails sit squarely on top of the log.

Saw getting ready to take the test!





Here was the second cut.




These trees have a lot of kino and so were not milled so there are quite a few of them left in fields and woodland. They were also woodchipped for paper. Now they are considered timber grade and the kino is called a feature!

Unfortunately no one around to take pics of the saw in action. At the end I did a half minute or so of milling at WOT, and it sort of found it's comfort groove at around 10,000 rpm in ~30" of this log, which is relatively soft for an Aussie hardwood. It's definitely smoother (it reminds me a lot of the big husky) and appears to be cutting faster than the 076, but how much faster is hard to say. The only way to test this is with timed cuts. It certainly makes a racket with the 15 mm opening on the muffler (peltor muffs and ear plugs are working hard keeping the noise down but are OK) and the harmonics are very different because I lost a couple of bolts that had never come off the BIL mill with the 076.

Plus I restacked a couple of slab stacks and rebuilt the Aux oiler because it was leaking more oil than putting it on the chain. 

Anyway - I can just tell this is going to be one fun milling combo.


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## dustytools (Apr 27, 2009)

Looks good Bob!! That sure is some pretty wood.


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## mtngun (Apr 27, 2009)

Thanks for the pics, BobL. I like the way you groove the log to accept the allthread.


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## BobL (Apr 27, 2009)

Thanks Guys.



mtngun said:


> I like the way you groove the log to accept the allthread.


Ir doesn't matter if you go too far. If the log pokes up above the log rails all you do is tweak the wing nuts on the all threads to bring the rails closer together.


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## stipes (Apr 27, 2009)

Nice Bob!!!! Love that saw and setup you have!!!


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## BIG JAKE (Apr 28, 2009)

Good to take it easy on the new saw, mill setup. You might try nyloc nuts or blue loctite if you continue to have trouble with things rattling off. The slotted metal locknuts are nice too as they don't wear out like nylocs. On the pipe insert do you have a setscrew to hold it in place? From the other thread it looked like the insert goes against the muffler. Hopefully you'll be able to discern which ring is best for power and fuel economy(definitively tell the difference). I've only seen the general rules followed for most muff mods. This approach could be useful where smaller saws are used in milling such as my 066. For instance, if I was max'ing out my 42" bar in dry alligator (marginal power), I could simply change to a thinner ring and retune for that job alone for max power. But I'd want the rings installed on the bluesky end of the pipe in that case. I'm thinking fuel economy here also. Would be interesting to see what the different fuel consumption rates are. Maybe there isn't enough difference to walk from here to across the street over but then again there might be in terms of board feet at the end of the day. How about some timed cuts Bob?  opcorn:


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Apr 28, 2009)

Very nice.


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## BobL (Apr 28, 2009)

BIG JAKE said:


> Good to take it easy on the new saw, mill setup. You might try nyloc nuts or blue loctite if you continue to have trouble with things rattling off. The slotted metal locknuts are nice too as they don't wear out like nylocs.


Yeah I have nylocs and loctite on all of the nuts and bolts where that is practicable but on screws/bolts/nuts that need to be adjusted I have used either spring or serrated washers. It's just that I never needed to use them on a couple of these with the 076 but the higher revs of the 880 seem to really rattled these loose. This is surprising because thee 880 feels a fair bit smoother than the 076.



> On the pipe insert do you have a setscrew to hold it in place? From the other thread it looked like the insert goes against the muffler. Hopefully you'll be able to discern which ring is best for power and fuel economy(definitively tell the difference). I've only seen the general rules followed for most muff mods. This approach could be useful where smaller saws are used in milling such as my 066. For instance, if I was max'ing out my 42" bar in dry alligator (marginal power), I could simply change to a thinner ring and retune for that job alone for max power. But I'd want the rings installed on the bluesky end of the pipe in that case.



The inserts sit inside the exhaust so that it becomes part of the 880 exhaust housing.
These are the inserts before I polished and radiused the inside edge. You can see the holes in the pipe plate that hold the inserts in place. Only the rightmost insert has holes drilled in it in this picture
It's hard to see but the inserts sit just inside where the pipe connects to the adapter plate





Here is a cross section of the way the inserts are installed.




The inserts are coloured pale blue and are held in by two allen screws. You can see how I radiused the inside edges so the exhaust can escape smoothly.
The fact that they are inside the exhaust is a bit of a PITA because to change them I have to wait for the saw to cool down. Still I am no rush.



> I'm thinking fuel economy here also. Would be interesting to see what the different fuel consumption rates are. Maybe there isn't enough difference to walk from here to across the street over but then again there might be in terms of board feet at the end of the day. How about some timed cuts Bob?  opcorn:



I will once everything is running well.


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## LAndrews (Apr 28, 2009)

Some beautiful grain, there...


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## Wenge Man (Apr 29, 2009)

*stihl RMC chain or granberg ripping chain?*

Do you use a ripping chain for your chainsaw mill? Do you have any experience with STIHL RMC chain?


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## BobL (Apr 29, 2009)

Wenge Man said:


> Do you use a ripping chain for your chainsaw mill? Do you have any experience with STIHL RMC chain?



Yes, and yes. it's good chain.

But, I save a few $$ by buying regular (non-rip) Carlton chain by the roll (since I also use regular for cross cutting) and convert what I need to rip (10º top plate angle) during the first half dozen sharpenings of the chain. It lasts just as long and as the Stihl or maybe even a bit longer.

I have a couple of chains with close to zero top plate angle - this gives a very good finish in Aussie hardwoods some of which as similar - but not quite as hard as ebony.


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## BobL (May 3, 2009)

Spent a couple of hours at the yard and cut some more slabs on the big marri today. Had to switch to the longer (60") bar because the 42" couldn't cut it. 

Unfortunately the next two slabs split along some wide kino lines.






I was trying out a loop of chain that a friend of mine who is a saw doctor filed to 2º top plate angle - it gave a very smooth cut.





Close up 





Here it is without water





I also tried the 16 mm exhaust outlet. Now it's definitely getting loud (ear plugs and muffs are essential), but it didn't seem to cut any faster than the 15 mm - of course the tree is getting wider! The 880 seems to sits comfortably between 9500 and 10250 in the 40" cut. I like it!

One thing I have discovered about the muffler mod is the bonus position of the exhaust gas flow. Not only does it blow the exhaust away from the operator, it also blows the sawdust away as well. A fair bit of the sawdust coming out from the bottom of the clutch cover on my 076 normally falls onto my boots and makes a pile of sawdust right where I have to walk - as the log gets smaller I found I was walking on top of a pile of sawdust.

With the 880 muffler mod the sawdust falls into the exhaust stream and blows it 2 - 8 ft clear of my walking path. The plume of sawdust coming away from under the saw also looks quite impressive!


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## BIG JAKE (May 3, 2009)

BobL said:


> Yes, and yes. it's good chain.
> 
> But, I save a few $$ by buying regular (non-rip) Carlton chain by the roll (since I also use regular for cross cutting) and convert what I need to rip (10º top plate angle) during the first half dozen sharpenings of the chain. It lasts just as long and as the Stihl or maybe even a bit longer.
> 
> I have a couple of chains with close to zero top plate angle - this gives a very good finish in Aussie hardwoods some of which as similar - but not quite as hard as ebony.



I'm using the Woodland Pro ripping chain. Seems like good chain and is probably what I'll stay with as I don't have a grinder to easily convert standard chain to 10deg. Down the road I may start buying reels but for softwoods my chains are holding up well.


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## BIG JAKE (May 3, 2009)

Sounds like you are about there on the ringsize. Do you think you'll try the 17mm ring or go back to the 15 and call it good?


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## BobL (May 3, 2009)

BIG JAKE said:


> Sounds like you are about there on the ringsize. Do you think you'll try the 17mm ring or go back to the 15 and call it good?



Nah, I think I'm going all the way, There seems to be plenty of carby adjustment left.


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## BlueRider (May 3, 2009)

Which ring size coresponds with %80 of the exhaust port in area? just wondering if that formula holds true for milling too.


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2009)

Bob,
During break in are you using fully synthetic 2 stroke oil and at what ratio.

Cheers,


MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (NEXT ONE)


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## BIG JAKE (May 3, 2009)

opcorn:


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## BobL (May 3, 2009)

BlueRider said:


> Which ring size coresponds with %80 of the exhaust port in area? just wondering if that formula holds true for milling too.



The biggest opening I have is only 19 mm diameter which I think will be a long way short of 80% of the ex port area.


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## Matildasmate (May 3, 2009)

BIG JAKE said:


> I'm using the Woodland Pro ripping chain. Seems like good chain and is probably what I'll stay with as I don't have a grinder to easily convert standard chain to 10deg. Down the road I may start buying reels but for softwoods my chains are holding up well.



Thats rebranded Carlton chain , its good stuff , it also holds up well in hardwood , I have a variety of chains , Stihl , oregon , Carlton etc , but I have found the Carlton holds up the best . Cheers mm


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## Matildasmate (May 4, 2009)

*Marri and Stringy bark*

Very nice pics of the marri Bob , I see marri and stringy bark look almost identical . Cheers MM


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## BobL (May 4, 2009)

Stihlman441 said:


> Bob,
> During break in are you using fully synthetic 2 stroke oil and at what ratio.
> 
> Cheers,


I'm just using regular Stihl lube (whatever that is) @ 40:1 - that's my standard milling mix.




> MS260
> MS441
> MS660
> MS880 (NEXT ONE)


Niiice!


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2009)

Thanks there Bob,i supose you mean the blue stuff.

Cheers 

MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (NEXT ONE)


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## BobL (May 4, 2009)

Matildasmate said:


> Very nice pics of the marri Bob , I see marri and stringy bark look almost identical . Cheers MM



Thanks MM.

Marri is quite a variable timber in that it can range from being riddled with kino rings to almost none like this one I milled last year.


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## BobL (May 4, 2009)

Stihlman441 said:


> Thanks there Bob,i supose you mean the blue stuff.
> 
> Cheers



Yep.


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## BlueRider (May 5, 2009)

BobL said:


> I'm just using regular Stihl lube (whatever that is) @ 40:1 - that's my standard milling mix.



You might want to try Stihl HP Ultra. it is a full synthetic and rated highly by the techies over on the chainsaw forum. I have been using it in all my saws including my 075. I think it is great for milling because it is a low smoke oil and what smoke there is smells more like you are cooking some thing. as an added bonus it is also biodegradable.


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## Stihlman441 (May 5, 2009)

Cant get Ultra in Australia so i use Mobile 1 Racing 2T at 40:1

Cheers

MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (NEXT ONE )


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## BobL (May 5, 2009)

BlueRider said:


> You might want to try Stihl HP Ultra. it is a full synthetic and rated highly by the techies over on the chainsaw forum. I have been using it in all my saws including my 075. I think it is great for milling because it is a low smoke oil and what smoke there is smells more like you are cooking some thing. as an added bonus it is also biodegradable.



Thanks BR. I don't know if we can get it here in Australia - at least I have never seen it for sale anywhere.


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## Gumnuts (May 5, 2009)

Certainly appreciate showing fabbing work Bob.Looks like your 
ironing out the kinks,getting right into it.......
Like how the new set up,on the horizontal mill ,exhaust works to blow dust clear.
Have seen some old clear seasoned Marri that looks very similar to clear Jarrah....touch blonder.....old bridge pylons


Graeme.


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## BobL (May 5, 2009)

Gumnuts said:


> Certainly appreciate showing fabbing work Bob.Looks like your
> ironing out the kinks,getting right into it.......
> Like how the new set up,on the horizontal mill ,exhaust works to blow dust clear.
> Have seen some old clear seasoned Marri that looks very similar to clear Jarrah....touch blonder.....old bridge pylons
> Graeme.



Thanks Graeme, have you seen the Stihl Ultra (fully synthetic) oil for sale in Australia?


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## Gumnuts (May 6, 2009)

Bob-
Using the Mobil......and the blue stuff / 20ltr too.....
Stihl tech says these 2 the same.
There's another synthetic...slipped my noggin at present.


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## BobL (May 6, 2009)

Gumnuts said:


> Bob-
> Using the Mobil......and the blue stuff / 20ltr too.....
> Stihl tech says these 2 the same.
> There's another synthetic...slipped my noggin at present.



Are you saying you are just using mobil blue lube ie not the stihl branded stuff? It says on the stihl bottle that it is made by mobil.


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## BlueRider (May 6, 2009)

BobL said:


> Thanks BR. I don't know if we can get it here in Australia - at least I have never seen it for sale anywhere.



If you have a good local stihl dealer they should be able to find out if their parts distribution center stocks it and if so then they should be able to get it for you. the two dealers closest to me are crazy on their prices and will only stock the 1 gal mix bottles and want me to order a full case of any other size. A dealer 2 hours away stocks the 2.5 gal mix bottles and the price is good enough that it is still cheaper to have them mail it to me than buy it local. From my source there is no price difference between the 3.2 0z. 6.4 oz. or 1L bottles, so I go with the convienience of the 2.5 gal mix bottles (50:1) but for you 40:1 blokes the 1 liter bottle would probably be a better choice.

It is nice knowing that the mix oil is bio degradable and there are some regs for cutting around wetlands that require its usage but to be honest the reason I use it is because of the low smoke factor. It is also nice that the smoke it does produce smells more like you are cooking something rather than sucking on the exhause of a motorcycle. I pulled the jug on my 051 before switching to it and recently had a look see and there is no significant visual wear and much less carbon build up than with some of the dino oils I have used.


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## Gumnuts (May 6, 2009)

BobL said:


> Are you saying you are just using mobil blue lube ie not the stihl branded stuff? It says on the stihl bottle that it is made by mobil.



Have used Mobil2T and now using Stihl blue.I alternate with whats handy to get in these 2....and size wise ,what dollars avail.....nice to get the 20 so don't have to bother for a while
Also used another synthetic in the past .Name escapes me...
started with E.


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## BobL (May 6, 2009)

I called up my friendly Stihl dealer yesterday and they said Stihl Australia does not import any lubes but sources all their stuff from Mobil Australia.

So I then looked up the Mobil website and there are 2 "2T'" lubes

"Mobil Extra 2T A semi-synthetic 2 stroke oil suitable for motorcycle and other 2 stroke engines including lawn mowers and high revving chainsaws. Excellent heavy duty lubricant but not suitable for marine outboard engines."
and
"Mobil 1 Racing 2T is an advanced performance, full synthetic, two-stroke engine oil developed to exceed the highest level of lubricant requirements by today's highest performance motorcycles, snowmobiles and *lean oil/fuel ratio chain saws*."

I wonder what that last statement really means? Does that mean if I used it at 40:1 it would be bad for the engine?


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## Stihlman441 (May 6, 2009)

I have been using that Mobil 1 Racing 2Tand premiun fuel for about two years at 40:1 and think its great,no smoke,smells good,dont burn ya eyes and saws love it.The only thing i dont like is it has no colour so you have to make sure you mix it as soon as you get home with your fuel,or get into a habit of putting the oil in your fuel container before you get the fuel.The only place i found the oil was at a motobike shop,so i got 2 4 lt bottles at $70 each.
I use Stihl bar lube and if you have a look on the back its made by Castrol.

Cheers 

MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (NEXT ONE)


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## BobL (May 6, 2009)

Stihlman441 said:


> I have been using that Mobil 1 Racing 2Tand premiun fuel for about two years at 40:1 and think its great,no smoke,smells good,dont burn ya eyes and saws love it.The only thing i dont like is it has no colour so you have to make sure you mix it as soon as you get home with your fuel,or get into a habit of putting the oil in your fuel container before you get the fuel.The only place i found the oil was at a motobike shop,so i got 2 4 lt bottles at $70 each.
> I use Stihl bar lube and if you have a look on the back its made by Castrol.



Thanks Stihlman, as soon as I have used up all the blue stuff I still have I will have a go with the R2T. No Colour is bad - is there some kind of no effect dye you can add?


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## Stihlman441 (May 6, 2009)

Ya its hard to see in the saw as well, ya know when ya want to stop before ya run out.I have hered that some of it has red colouring in it but the one i got didnt.

Cheers 

MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (NEXT ONE)


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## BlueRider (May 7, 2009)

BobL said:


> Thanks Stihlman, as soon as I have used up all the blue stuff I still have I will have a go with the R2T. No Colour is bad - is there some kind of no effect dye you can add?



In the US farmers can buy diesel for off road tractor use without paying the federal fuel tax on it. To be able to tell if agg fuel is being used for other purposes a ed dye is added to it. If a person was found running red diesel fuel on the hwy there is a big fine. not sure what the dye is but the fuel is definately red.


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## Stihlman441 (May 7, 2009)

This site sounds interesting in the fuel die topic.

http://www.petroleumlogistics.com/


Cheers 

MS260
MS441
MS660
MS880 (VERY SOON)


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## BobL (May 7, 2009)

Stihlman441 said:


> This site sounds interesting in the fuel die topic.
> 
> http://www.petroleumlogistics.com/
> 
> ...



It does but I hope you don't have to buy 20L of it at a time


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## BobL (May 16, 2009)

Cut 5 more slabs on the big marri today so took a few photos of the mill in action.










It's not easy to take pics by yourself while the mill is running so I tied a rope to the mill and the other end around my waist so all the pics looked the same - ie like this.





The arrow points to the exhaust and shows how the sawdust is blown away from the operators feet by the exhaust.

I took a video but my phone takes very poor videos so they're not worth posting but if you are desperate I have put one on Utoob. 
see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpgInDOi26E
To provide some forward pressure on the mill I threw the rope (still tied to the mill) over an axe handle held up in the air by the forks of the loader and then suspended my tool box from the rope. Chain really needed a sharpen at this point but it was still making plenty of sawdust.

I will have to find a decent video camera.


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## MCW (May 28, 2009)

I don't normally post on the milling forum but I use Castrol TTS synthetic in all my saws. You have to be sure that some of these fancy racing synthetics are suitable for air cooled engines - many are meant for water cooled motors and not suitable for chainsaws. Big W in Australia (like Walmart in the US I suppose?) has Castrol TTS for around AUD$26.50 per litre. I use this exclusively and have run 30:1 in my 3120XP but have now lowered that to 25:1.

Bob, you may already know but you shouldn't be running 40:1 in the bigger saws, 25:1 is recommended.
I spoke at length to the biggest Stihl dealer in Tassie last month who said all his loggers (rapidly diminishing with mechanical harvesting!) use 20-25:1 in their 660's. One of the guys who ran 50:1 had to get his saw rebuilt after a year with substantial internal wear even thought the saw ran well early. He now runs it on 20:1.
The Husky manual says that any of their saws >80cc should use 25:1, <80cc use 40-50:1.


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## BobL (May 28, 2009)

MCW said:


> I don't normally post on the milling forum but I use Castrol TTS synthetic in all my saws. You have to be sure that some of these fancy racing synthetics are suitable for air cooled engines - many are meant for water cooled motors and not suitable for chainsaws. Big W in Australia (like Walmart in the US I suppose?) has Castrol TTS for around AUD$26.50 per litre. I use this exclusively and have run 30:1 in my 3120XP but have now lowered that to 25:1.
> 
> Bob, you may already know but you shouldn't be running 40:1 in the bigger saws, 25:1 is recommended.
> I spoke at length to the biggest Stihl dealer in Tassie last month who said all his loggers (rapidly diminishing with mechanical harvesting!) use 20-25:1 in their 660's. One of the guys who ran 50:1 had to get his saw rebuilt after a year with substantial internal wear even thought the saw ran well early. He now runs it on 20:1.
> The Husky manual says that any of their saws >80cc should use 25:1, <80cc use 40-50:1.



I also went with my manual, its says 40:1 for the 076, same as what the manuals say for 070 and 090. I've run 40:1 with premium petrol in my old 076 for over two years and its running as sweet as it ever was. The guy who owned the 076 before me only said he ran it at 50:1! and he ran it for 10 years like that but fortunately he only ever cut firewood. The 076 piston was clean as a whistle when I first pulled the muffler off in 2007. Someone else told me the 25:1 thing was especially for milling so asked around at a couple of Stihl dealers, including one of the biggest in WA, and Jeff at the yard who has been using big saws for 25 years, and they all told me 25:1 is a bit of an urban myth still hanging around from the 50's and 60's. They all said use to 50:1 on modern stihls and if you are worried use 40:1. Jeff runs all his 660s, 084s and 880s at 50:1 and even mills with his 880 with 50:1. I don't want to have 2 different mixes on hand so I run 40:1 on the 880.

The grandfather of CS lumber making (Will Malloff) recommended in the early 1980s reducing the lube/petrol ratio by 4 parts in 24 or 1/6. So a 50:1 mix should be dropped to 41.7:1, and a 40:1 mix should be 33:3, which is still some way from 25:1. But even basic lubes have improved somewhat since then.

In January, when I ran Huds 3120 for a week, he likes to run 25:1 because he runs all is farm 2-stroke gear on 25:1, after an hour of running it with the exhaust blowing back at me I got a headache and it made me feel sick till I switched to upwind of the exhaust. Running the 076 on 40:1 up or down wind doesn't bother me at all. The other thing I noticed was after a couple of days of using the 3120 my chaps were black with the excess half burnt lube, and I have not been able to them clean despite repeated washing and soaking. What concerns me as much as the saw are the unburnt additives that come out with the unburnt lube. These are not good for you so I prefer to minimise my exposure to these.


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## stipes (May 28, 2009)

BobL said:


> I also went with my manual, its says 40:1 for the 076, same as what the manuals say for 070 and 090. I've run 40:1 with premium petrol in my old 076 for over two years and its running as sweet as it ever was. The guy who owned the 076 before me only said he ran it at 50:1! and he ran it for 10 years like that but fortunately he only ever cut firewood. The 076 piston was clean as a whistle when I first pulled the muffler off in 2007. Someone else told me the 25:1 thing was especially for milling so asked around at a couple of Stihl dealers, including one of the biggest in WA, and Jeff at the yard who has been using big saws for 25 years, and they all told me 25:1 is a bit of an urban myth still hanging around from the 50's and 60's. They all said use to 50:1 on modern stihls and if you are worried use 40:1. Jeff runs all his 660s, 084s and 880s at 50:1 and even mills with his 880 with 50:1. I don't want to have 2 different mixes on hand so I run 40:1 on the 880.
> 
> The grandfather of CS lumber making (Will Malloff) recommended in the early 1980s reducing the lube/petrol ratio by 4 parts in 24 or 1/6. So a 50:1 mix should be dropped to 41.7:1, and a 40:1 mix should be 33:3, which is still some way from 25:1. But even basic lubes have improved somewhat since then.
> 
> In January, when I ran Huds 3120 for a week, he likes to run 25:1 because he runs all is farm 2-stroke gear on 25:1, after an hour of running it with the exhaust blowing back at me I got a headache and it made me feel sick till I switched to upwind of the exhaust. Running the 076 on 40:1 up or down wind doesn't bother me at all. The other thing I noticed was after a couple of days of using the 3120 my chaps were black with the excess half burnt lube, and I have not been able to them clean despite repeated washing and soaking. What concerns me as much as the saw are the unburnt additives that come out with the unburnt lube. These are not good for you so I prefer to minimise my exposure to these.



:agree2:

I been runnin kinda inbetween,, 45:1 and even in my old Mcc's never had a mins trouble...oils have come along way since the old days of using 30w and castor oil........


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## MCW (May 28, 2009)

BobL said:


> I also went with my manual, its says 40:1 for the 076, same as what the manuals say for 070 and 090. I've run 40:1 with premium petrol in my old 076 for over two years and its running as sweet as it ever was. The guy who owned the 076 before me only said he ran it at 50:1! and he ran it for 10 years like that but fortunately he only ever cut firewood. The 076 piston was clean as a whistle when I first pulled the muffler off in 2007. Someone else told me the 25:1 thing was especially for milling so asked around at a couple of Stihl dealers, including one of the biggest in WA, and Jeff at the yard who has been using big saws for 25 years, and they all told me 25:1 is a bit of an urban myth still hanging around from the 50's and 60's. They all said use to 50:1 on modern stihls and if you are worried use 40:1. Jeff runs all his 660s, 084s and 880s at 50:1 and even mills with his 880 with 50:1. I don't want to have 2 different mixes on hand so I run 40:1 on the 880.
> 
> The grandfather of CS lumber making (Will Malloff) recommended in the early 1980s reducing the lube/petrol ratio by 4 parts in 24 or 1/6. So a 50:1 mix should be dropped to 41.7:1, and a 40:1 mix should be 33:3, which is still some way from 25:1. But even basic lubes have improved somewhat since then.
> 
> In January, when I ran Huds 3120 for a week, he likes to run 25:1 because he runs all is farm 2-stroke gear on 25:1, after an hour of running it with the exhaust blowing back at me I got a headache and it made me feel sick till I switched to upwind of the exhaust. Running the 076 on 40:1 up or down wind doesn't bother me at all. The other thing I noticed was after a couple of days of using the 3120 my chaps were black with the excess half burnt lube, and I have not been able to them clean despite repeated washing and soaking. What concerns me as much as the saw are the unburnt additives that come out with the unburnt lube. These are not good for you so I prefer to minimise my exposure to these.



I understand where you're coming from Bob re: fumes. I haven't got my mill up and running yet to get gassed out! All I know is my warranty on my 3120 is void if I'm running the wrong mix and something goes wrong.
I just know that the guys running the bigger saws in Tassie day in day out doing logging won't run mixes over 25:1 anymore according to the Stihl dealer I was speaking to.
Is your 880 new Bob? If it is just make sure you'll be covered by warranty if you're running leaner mixes.


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## BobL (May 29, 2009)

MCW said:


> I understand where you're coming from Bob re: fumes. I haven't got my mill up and running yet to get gassed out! All I know is my warranty on my 3120 is void if I'm running the wrong mix and something goes wrong.
> I just know that the guys running the bigger saws in Tassie day in day out doing logging won't run mixes over 25:1 anymore according to the Stihl dealer I was speaking to.
> Is your 880 new Bob? If it is just make sure you'll be covered by warranty if you're running leaner mixes.



Sure I agree, go with with the manual says to maintain the warranty. The 880 was 8 months old but had never been used. No warranty because Stihl warranty on saws is not transferable in Australia but that suited me because I have modded it so that voids the warranty anyway and I used it as a lever to get it for just under 50% of RRP.


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## MCW (May 29, 2009)

BobL said:


> Sure I agree, go with with the manual says to maintain the warranty. The 880 was 8 months old but had never been used. No warranty because Stihl warranty on saws is not transferable in Australia but that suited me because I have modded it so that voids the warranty anyway and I used it as a lever to get it for just under 50% of RRP.



No worries Bob. Great deal there! Excellent in fact 
Will also have to get in touch in how to fit my bar to the mill. The GB instructions were super lame at best and although I've got the mill together I can't work out how the auxillary oiler etc bolts to the bar tip. Hasn't concerned me a great deal at this stage as I haven't had the time to crank the mill up anyway


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