Green anything is easier to cut but the sap and sugars from spring cut trees becomes the issue. Avoid it or let them sit from six months to a year before milling.
Best big saw for chainsaw milling
- Thread starter ZachAK
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What exactly do you mean by "gummed" - just slowed down? Or something actually gummy on them - because I don't know anything gummy about pecan, just hard and dense and slow cutting. Another wood best suited for lo pro, til maybe it gets too big.
Pecans “bleed” at certain times. I’ve seen stumps covered with liquid sap for several months. It’s not thick, but there’s a lot of it.
We work with a lot of pine in my area. Certain times of the year it gums up our saws pretty good.. I have heard applying some wd40 to the bar periodically helps mitigate the problem. Haven't tried it yet, but will let ya know! (Though I would imagine pecan sap is of a different consistency, never cut any of it myself.
And for milling - I'd use a McCulloch sp125. Big old heavy torque saw, wish I had one!
I've used my old mac 300, it is big, loud, heavy, cuts a little slow but it just chugs like a freight train through the cut
Interesting. Hadn't seen that yet, but only have milled one and seen bunches of cut up ones. Have lots of it around here, and missed out on a couple of massive ones I could've milled but didn't have my gear dialed in at the time. Most of it crowns pretty early so hard to find a big straight trunk of any length which is typical of most all the trees around here. Mesquite actually has a sap that hardens sometimes you can eat as a candy but never seen it on a mesquite yet. A guy posted 10-15 years ago on here about milling a 40-60" pecan 10' long, that took him 12 hard hours to get 5 big slabs out of it and a bunch of small ones.
Sounds like milling oak. Pine gummed up my loop before and late spring cut red maple or tulip poplar. Sugar maples go earlier and they are now done the heavy sap push here. Once the leaves come out the sugar gets used up to diluted concentration again. It's mostly water by summer.
GeneralKayoss
ArboristSite Operative
I guess it was pitch buildup all over the chain. Was hard as a rock until I let them soak in WD40. That tree was felled last fall, don't know it that had anything to do with it.
Interesting - looking it up, what is commonly referred to as pecan trees dripping sap is in fact "aphid poop" in the bark from an infestation of aphids. Otherwise there isn't supposed to be sap really in pecan. But other people have reported coating their chains with residue cutting green pecan, so must be something. Ash is apparently kinda notorious for residue build up on blades, never had any idea, never noticed it with all the Arizona Ash I've milled.
GeneralKayoss
ArboristSite Operative
Yeah it was very wet still, 45%+ MC. Idk if that had anything to do with it combined with the bar getting a bit on the hot side with the lack of oil. You could see some slight scorching on a couple of the slabs along the outside edge, so I know it was warm lol. Never started smoking or anything, I'd stop every couple feet and let it cool down for 20 seconds or so.
I'm also wondering if I should try a skip tooth chain? Do you use them on your shorter bars or you running full comp?
I wonder if that isn't so much scorching as the slight ridginess I get on the outside edge of some of my cuts sometimes, a little vibration in the wood at the edges. Unless the clone has a bad oiler, should be getting plenty enough to handle 24" pecan. Really wet wood always seems to be problematic though. May have been the chain just being clogged with wet sawdust making it unable to cut well and heating it up. I always used skip on all my 32"+ bars in 3/8 and .404 til I started using 3/8LP, then I've been using full comp all the time on my 36" bar because most of the time it goes so fast and easy there seems to be no reason to use skip. Have had some trouble maxing it out on 26-30" red oak and ash but chain wasn't nearly sharp as it could have been either when that happened. Not sure whether it's worth making up any of my "double skip" array in 36" 3/8LP chain. Definitely would for a 42" or 48" 3/8LP bar if I try one, but by large up to 30" cuts don't need it. Those are extremely smooth looking cuts by the way, congratulations on that. Good to be reminded not only 3/8LP can cut that clean. Planning on getting a new 42" bar for my 056 Super and trying some regular 3/8" milling with it. Cheapest way for me to get another 6" of cut width with any of my gear, and the biggest logs I tend to ever get around here are 36".
GeneralKayoss
ArboristSite Operative
This is actually the second oiler. I bought a high output oiler (from the same company) and put in it a couple weeks after I started milling with it, as I could tell the stock one wasn't going to be sufficient. It still uses very little bar oil, not nearly enough. Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a tank per tank of gas. I'm starting to suspect there's another problem. Worm gear perhaps? I'll tear it down this weekend and give it a good looking over. Performed well today with the homemade oiler, just gotta remember to turn the damn valve off
I give credit to the cuts to the Archer ripping chains I'm running. They've barely stretched any and the cutters seem to be made of quality material, they really hold their edge well.
You can see the burning better in this one
I've mostly been using Archer cause I'm cheap, and while it's knocked for being a cheap Chinese product, I think it's better than the majority of off brand Chinese chains. One of the things they tout is that they use quality Japanese steel alloy - the same steel alloy as most quality chain - which makes all the difference vs using Chinese steel. Their chromium plating on the teeth may not be as good as better chain, but it's a surprisingly decent chain for the price point. Very happy so far with their lo pro I bought a 25' roll of and made loops from. Woodland Pro 3/8LP is inconsistently ground garbage these days, a cheap Laser 20" loop I got is a wildly erratic Granberg grind, Oregon 3/8LP is expensive and has short cutters... and anything else in LP I have to get from overseas unless I want to pay Bailey's a fortune for imported Stihl PMX. I initially thought the last Archer .404 skip chains I got were low quality from their problems with the wet poplar, but that turned out to be a wrecked sloppy railed bar and soaking wet wood, not so much the chain.
GeneralKayoss
ArboristSite Operative
Cheap - but you do your research first and find the best cheap thing you possibly can. That's my motto anyway. lol
I'll spend extra on machines/tools I want to last forever, and/or maintain value as investments. (Even then I buy opportunistically second hand as cheap as possible.) I'll spend money on quality woodworking edges (bits, blades, etc) - but a limited life thing like a chain that requires constant sharpening and prone to nail damage and the like? Yeah, I tend to go with the best quality cheap thing I can there. But even with that, now I can make my own loops with high quality chain for the cost of what I've been paying for cheap loops, I'm more likely to do what Lightning has suggested and look for quality US-made NOS Carlton and the like on EBay. (Ever since a miller in Slovakia told me he got Stihl PMX lo pro for $350 a roll - $650+ if you can even find it in US - I've been scouring random European countries for it to no avail lol.)
More CC is always better for milling (even if milling with <36 inch bars, I prefer 120 cc) so you are right to focus on them. 088,880,881 are all great saws, it simply depends on how good you are at maintaining older saws.
I have been lucky with my 088, all I have has to replace has been clutch springs.
I have been lucky with my 088, all I have has to replace has been clutch springs.
StihlPotlicker
ArboristSite Operative
Did not read all the post but I use a 3120xp and a 385xp. 3120 obviously for the bigger stuff but the 385xp does amazingly well for its size actually. I just ised the 385 for some 30” diameter logs and it did not struggle one bit. Archer ripping chain full comp.
Both saws are ported and all that jazz.
Honestly any big cc saw will do it fine. Even the china made blue saws. Just take care of your equipment.
I say 80cc+ for milling is a good idea
And keep the air filter clean
Both saws are ported and all that jazz.
Honestly any big cc saw will do it fine. Even the china made blue saws. Just take care of your equipment.
I say 80cc+ for milling is a good idea
And keep the air filter clean
