Chainsaw Milling Gabon Ebony STIHL MS 660 or MS 880?

[Wenge Man]

I have just recently purchased a 36" Alaskan Log Mill, 9' EZ Rail guides, and Log Wizard Debarker/Planer for the purpose of chainsaw milling 29" diameter logs of Gabon Ebony. I will be spending a week in the rainforest cutting the logs into slabs and log half's to make the wood portable and carry them out of the forest with brute strength and man power.

I have narrowed my search for chainsaws down to two choices:

1.) STIHL MS 660 (91.6 cc)

2.) STIHL MS 880 (121.6 cc)

Being that Gabon Ebony is about 3 times as hard as red oak and 40% harder than mesquite or persimmons wood, I am trying to decide if 91cc chainsaw will do the job well or if I NEED to go with the monster saw to make the work easier.

Any advice? Any experience cutting ebony logs or lumber with chainsaw?

:greenchainsaw:

 

[glennschumann]

There is milling forum here where folks more milling minded can offer assistance, but my experience with my 066 is that 30" of hard maple and a sharp chain is OK, but if you are talking 3x harder wood... I'd go for the 880.

So, you are just going to walk into a forest in Gabon, cut some trees and bring them home to Texas? Wow.

 

[Wenge Man]

Thanks, I will look to the milling area.

If you are cutting sugar maple, the ebony would be closer to 2x as hard. It is 3x as hard as red, black, or big leaf maple. Thanks, I have been leaning towards the 880 but have been looking for confirmation from more experienced individuals.

My family has owned land in Gabon for longer than I have been aware. I have invested consistently over the years and have increased that land. On a trip to visit cousins in the village I was made aware of the presence of ebony and moved quickly to have government concessions to the forest on my land giving me the right to cut 250 cubic meters.

Grass roots operation. I expect many difficulties in transportation of the logs, and maybe a few days with malaria, large snakes, and weariness of leopards, but i believe the end result will be worth it. And I will have at least 10 strong men who are comfortable sleeping in the forest to guide me.

To my knowledge it is near impossible to find ebony lumber in lengths of 4'+ and widths of 8"-9"+

I hope to do well in providing longer, wider, thicker planks than are commonly available.

 

[mtngun]

Talk to BobL over at our milling forum. He mills Aussie hardwoods with a variety of saws, some of his exotic woods are much harder than anything we have in the US.

I think he has at various times used an 076, a 066, and currently an 880. They all work. He keeps his chains very, very, sharp, and sometimes has to resharpen halfway through a cut.