# stihl professional grade saw or not for milling?



## atigun (Aug 11, 2013)

Working on remote AK cabin site. Have Stihl 391 saw, not professional grade. I've used some in the past for milling. It worked, but I haven't used it enough to be confident that won't ruin it with more milling. Since our second saw (a smaller husqvarna) just died, I need a second saw. I'd prefer to buy a smaller one than 391 for firewood, notching, etc. I have to haul it with backpack, so the lighter the better. But the main question is will a 391 work for milling fire killed black spruce? Small diameter, roughly 6"-10". Or would it be best to use the 391 for firewood and go with a professional grade saw to do milling?


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## JasonMS660 (Aug 11, 2013)

atigun said:


> Working on remote AK cabin site. Have Stihl 391 saw, not professional grade. I've used some in the past for milling. It worked, but I haven't used it enough to be confident that won't ruin it with more milling. Since our second saw (a smaller husqvarna) just died, I need a second saw. I'd prefer to buy a smaller one than 391 for firewood, notching, etc. I have to haul it with backpack, so the lighter the better. But the main question is will a 391 work for milling fire killed black spruce? Small diameter, roughly 6"-10". Or would it be best to use the 391 for firewood and go with a professional grade saw to do milling?


Hi atigun, I've got the older 390 and it's a great saw but not up too milling. It appears the general turns for Stihl saws here is that a 660 is the the starting point, though with that being said a tuned 441 might be be option due the smaller cut size on the small mill with a 20" bar. A bit on the heavy side but save your sole for milling. I went up to the 660 as I have Australian hardwood but don't really want to cut much over 20-25". Just beams and stuff for building. So for me I have the 170 just for light limbing work the 390 for firewood stuff and the 660 for the bigger cross cutting stuff and milling. My suggestion would be to get a 441 and get a smaller bar for the 391 and fire wood and notching rather than cook it with milling. Then if you do have tackle anything bigger (cross cutting ) you have something (441) that can handle it. I'm only very new to the milling scean but have been running saws for a longtime just my two cents.


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## rarefish383 (Aug 11, 2013)

You say 6" to 10", that's pretty small. Others may say go with a bigger saw, and since your out in the boondocks, you may want a pro grade saw. But, for stuff about that size, I use my MS 290 on a mini mill, to cut 3 sided cants/beams. I use that saw quite a bit for firewood up to about 24", with an 18" bar. If I get anything bigger I use my Homelite XL923 with 30" bar. I don't know if the Spruce is any harder than our Virginia Pine, but cutting 6X6 beams out of 12" logs doesn't even start to stress the 290. Plus, once you get the top slab off it keeps getting skinnier, Joe.


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## rarefish383 (Aug 11, 2013)

Forgot, welcome to the site, Joe.


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## gemniii (Aug 12, 2013)

I'd second the 441. I milled a bit with a JD CS 62 and it worked up to 14" but barely. Another 8 cubic centimeters will help. Mod the muffler.


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## gsp828 (Aug 12, 2013)

I have a 391 and have done some milling with it, but it has some serious limitations. I have found that overheating is a real concern. I have never milled for more than a couple of hours at a time and I doubt the saw would make it through a full day. I am not familiar with spruce, but I have milled pine logs that are around 30 inches diameter with ease. I can only imagine that a larger saw would be much quicker. Before I do any more milling I am planning on doing a muffler mod to hopefully help get rid of some of the heat. The last thing I milled was a small hickory log and the 391 had some serious problems getting through it. 
I would suggest you think about how much milling you are actually going to be doing. If it is going to be a lot, the extra couple of pounds may be a small sacrifice for a better milling experience, but if you are only looking at a couple of logs, I would think that the 391 would get the job done.


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## qbilder (Aug 12, 2013)

Welcome to the forum  

6-10"? If I may ask, how do you mill logs that size with any saw? If you have a jig to allow for it, I'd say any smaller saw (within reason) would do it. My ms170 would take slabs off a 6-10" log, so I assume something in the 50cc range would be perfect. With logs that small, you're only making a cut that's 3-4", which is the basically taking the round edges off four sides of the log. That doesn't take much power. A small saw with sharp teeth should do just fine, IMO. 

If you're trying to make 2x4's & 2x6's out of these logs then a medium size saw should do it. The 391 or even 291 will do just fine if you have a 20" bar & can tilt the bar enough that you're ripping the grain rather than going across the blunt of it. I used my 029 to rip a 24" hard maple log into 4 quarters so I could haul each quarter at a time on the back of my ATV. Works just fine if you have enough tilt on the bar that you see noodles instead of dust. Noodling is MUCH less strenuous on the saw.


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## atigun (Aug 12, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions/comments. I've tried to upload a picture to give idea of what I'm trying to do. I've used all the scrap plywood from the cabin that I have available which is logistical nightmare to haul in, so want to use a stash of small "logs" (sticks, really) to finish the walls of the outhouse. The black spruce is very similar to Virginia pine I believe. But if you look at the picture and see the corner posts, what I was thinking of doing was ripping the 6"-10" logs for the walls. So milling may not be right term. And maybe ripping them will be lot more work than simply notching them at bottom, middle, and top??

The thought of dropping $900-$1000 for the 441 (which I have to fly with so must be new unless buy used in AK), and then hauling it 5 miles with all the other supplies (gas, food, etc) makes my back hurt. What I'm thinking after reading the comments is that I can buy a second bar for the ms391, and make do with the ms391 for ripping the outhouse walls. I do have several larger trees from property that are more suitable for milling, but we're still only talking 18"-20" and there's only about 5 trees. I plan to use those for furniture, but there's a real lack of big trees in our neck of the woods/tundra. Feel free to offer suggestions, criticisms, whatever.

And as an aside, and possibly another thread, any suggestions on how to keep porcupines from eating T1-11? Right now I've got accessible areas covered with roofing materials and mothballs spread in area. Shooting them is obvious solution, but not there enough to shoot each one.


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## atigun (Aug 12, 2013)

Forgot to add to my post with the picture, talking vertical log construction.


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## qbilder (Aug 13, 2013)

18-29" logs may require a bigger saw, but if you only have a few then you _might_ get by with the 391. Run it a little on the rich side & allow resting/cooling time for it. As for the porcupines, I am not sure. Good luck, though.


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## TheOldBiker (Aug 30, 2013)

*Porkies*

Best bet to thwart the porkies is thin sheet metal. Light in weight, easy to cut, easy to wrap around things.
Around these parts bush lore holds that you don't kill a porcupine unless you have to, they are easy to catch and kill if you are in the bush and out of food. We had to kill one a few years ago though, he was raising hell with the (domestic) wild boars and a couple of the cows, or they were with him.
Decided to try a haunch in the smoker, it was good lean meat.


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## atigun (Sep 8, 2013)

I told some friends about the bush lore with not killing the porkies. These were the same friends who gave me grief for not shooting it. They didn't seem to buy my story of not wanting to deal with a dead body (porcupine body that is) at 4 am. Now I've got a better story with the bad luck. Anyhow, just returned from trip to the remote cabin and had no more damage from the porkie. I used some leftover metal roofing materials around the door. Also did the moth ball thing. And removed all the left-over store bought lumber which had been stored underneath the cabin, and was a big buffet for the porkie. The porcupine was still around, because one of my dogs came back with a single quill to the nose one day while I was working. Finally, a smart dog when it comes to porcupine quills. Thanks for the advice.


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## atigun (Sep 8, 2013)

*stihl 391*

By the way, the stihl 391 did great for weeks' worth of work, although not with big trees. Big enough to do board and battens on outhouse though. Thanks.


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## Funktionhouse (Sep 8, 2013)

rarefish383 said:


> You say 6" to 10", that's pretty small. Others may say go with a bigger saw, and since your out in the boondocks, you may want a pro grade saw. But, for stuff about that size, I use my MS 290 on a mini mill, to cut 3 sided cants/beams. I use that saw quite a bit for firewood up to about 24", with an 18" bar. If I get anything bigger I use my Homelite XL923 with 30" bar. I don't know if the Spruce is any harder than our Virginia Pine, but cutting 6X6 beams out of 12" logs doesn't even start to stress the 290. Plus, once you get the top slab off it keeps getting skinnier, Joe.




+1 that 290 will cut that small softwood just fine. But if it were me I would also want a back up, milling in the field is ''Murphy's Law'' central. You will be up $hits creek in the tundra if/when one saw goes down.


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