hi ,what are the merits of the saws compared to each other , i have both the 076 and 090 but wonder if a modern saw would be better in a mill setup . ive owned an aussie made forestmill ( two circular blades at right angles driven by vw motor ) but would like a compact mill i can get to logs on site
They are all very good milling saws. I have an 076 and an 880 and have used a 3120 for about 2 weeks of milling.
In stock form
076: 9500 rpm carby limited, good torque, reliable, harder to get parts, heavish, best exhaust location
090: 8000 rpm limited, torque monster so can run can run lower rakers and bigger sprocket, very heavy, parts still available.poor exhaust location.
Both these saws have an outboard clutch and the fuel cap on top of the saw so both cannot be refueled mid slab because the fuel cap is then on its side ie PITA
3120; 9500 rpm coil limited, fixed H jet, outboard clutch, Outboard chain tensioner awkward to get at while saw on conventional mil and mill mounting to bar method means clutch cover must be retained, poor exhaust location.
880: 12000 rpm coil limited. inboard clutch and chain tensioner, poor exhaust location
Depending on log size CS milling is chain speed limited so higher RPMs help. Extra torque can be translated to extra chain speed using bigger sprocket and can utilize higher cutter angles. With a small amount of finesse the 090 is still the fastest cutter in big logs, but for smaller logs nothing will beat the higher RPM saws.
My guess is it will come down to how far you have to carry the sucker to the log. But even with the 090 you can always add wheels to a CS mill like this.