CSM setups, bar recommendation/ Husqvarna 395XP

[sawdustmeister]

Hello all,

I am new to milling, I recently purchased a Husqvarna 395xp powerhead and a Granberg MK IV 36" mill, I am looking to start milling some small to medium logs of hardwoods (oak, walnut, cherry) that we've come across on my father's property in the woods. I would like to outfit the 395xp with some bar/ chain setups... probably a 42" bar since I read that it's good to have a little extra bar to use on the 36" mill so that you have room to operate the chain brake and will still be able to max out the cutting capacity of the mill. and perhaps a smaller bar, maybe a 28" to 32" bar that I could use on the mill when I am milling smaller diameter logs. I have read lots of the tips and tricks to make the most of milling with a chainsaw, and I've found there is some great info. on this site, so thank you to all the CSM guys who post here!

I am looking for some recommendations on what bar brand would give me best performance and durability/ longevity in running a 42" bar on my mill. It seems that bars get quite more expensive as they get longer, I have looked at some of the pricier bars such as the Cannon superbars and the GB pro tops. I am not going to be milling logs every weekend of the year, I will be using the mill mostly to supply my own woodshop needs not to produce slabs for sale. But I've heard that milling is very addictive... and regardless I always like to buy quality equipment that works well and will keep on performing well thru the years ahead. From what I've read I have one of the preferred saws for milling with the 94cc Husqvarna, so I'd like to pair it with a bar that is similarly the best suited for milling applications.

I was looking to buy a GB 42" bar for my 395xp, and I had also considered a Sugihara or an Oregon... I had trouble locating a 42" GB protop bar made for Husky (it seems you can buy a $10 adapter to outfit a Stihl bar mount on a Husky, but I'd rather get the actual Husky mount bar if possible). I am looking for any info. on 42" GB pro tops if anyone knows of a dealer/ where to buy one? I would also consider a Cannon but I'm not sure if I need to spend that much cash on a bar, I already busted my piggy bank in buying the 395xp and the mill, my wife is going to buy a lot of new shoes to get even if I go big on the bar purchase. Any advice on what bar to buy, and where to buy a good quality 42" bar for the Husqvarna 395xp would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ryan'smilling]

"...best performance and durability/ longevity in running a 42" bar...

I always like to buy quality equipment that works well and will keep on performing well thru the years ahead"


I mean, if you want to buy the cannon, go right ahead! We won't stop you. They're great bars. The best, really. GB makes good stuff too, though I'm not versed in their different lines. Sugihara are also great bars. Really the adapter thing is no big deal. Ifi was buying new, especially an expensive bar, I'd probably prefer to buy in Stihl mount, even for my 395xps, that way when the time comes to sell the bar, you have twice as many people who can be interested, as opposed to only husky guys.

 

[sean donato]

I'm run a regular old husqy bar in my current mill set up. When its shot I'll likely get a sugihara or total super bar. They have been very good to me over the years. I cant comment on the gb.

 

[Husky Man]

I have been Happy with my Husqvarna “Branded” Bars, that I believe are produced by GB

I have them in 44”, 60” and 72”

The 44” in .404/.063 is part # HT343-128

LawnmowerPros shows it in stock, for $282.99

Choo Choo Parts (Don’t ask me about the Name, but I have bought from them before, received what I ordered, as described) shows it in stock for $282.95

Choo Choo’s pic shows that as a GB “Branded” Bar, using the Husqvarna part #

Part # 608000144 also references the same item, 2 different part #’s for the same bar

ahupd.com/husqvarna-608000144

shows it in stock for $278.89, their pic shows it in Husky Grey, with Blue lettering rather than the Orange with Blue Lettering

Jacks Small Engines shows it in stock for $303.45

Doug

 

[babybart]

I have Oregon bars in the bigger sizes and a Cannon 28". I was/am milling siding for my garage and spent the big money on the bar size I use the most. I run a ported 394xp and @Ryan'smilling has a good point about resale with the Stihl mount that I had not considered.

 

[buttercup]

Hello all,

I am new to milling, I recently purchased a Husqvarna 395xp powerhead and a Granberg MK IV 36" mill, I am looking to start milling some small to medium logs of hardwoods (oak, walnut, cherry) that we've come across on my father's property in the woods. I would like to outfit the 395xp with some bar/ chain setups... probably a 42" bar since I read that it's good to have a little extra bar to use on the 36" mill so that you have room to operate the chain brake and will still be able to max out the cutting capacity of the mill. and perhaps a smaller bar, maybe a 28" to 32" bar that I could use on the mill when I am milling smaller diameter logs. I have read lots of the tips and tricks to make the most of milling with a chainsaw, and I've found there is some great info. on this site, so thank you to all the CSM guys who post here!

I am looking for some recommendations on what bar brand would give me best performance and durability/ longevity in running a 42" bar on my mill. It seems that bars get quite more expensive as they get longer, I have looked at some of the pricier bars such as the Cannon superbars and the GB pro tops. I am not going to be milling logs every weekend of the year, I will be using the mill mostly to supply my own woodshop needs not to produce slabs for sale. But I've heard that milling is very addictive... and regardless I always like to buy quality equipment that works well and will keep on performing well thru the years ahead. From what I've read I have one of the preferred saws for milling with the 94cc Husqvarna, so I'd like to pair it with a bar that is similarly the best suited for milling applications.

I was looking to buy a GB 42" bar for my 395xp, and I had also considered a Sugihara or an Oregon... I had trouble locating a 42" GB protop bar made for Husky (it seems you can buy a $10 adapter to outfit a Stihl bar mount on a Husky, but I'd rather get the actual Husky mount bar if possible). I am looking for any info. on 42" GB pro tops if anyone knows of a dealer/ where to buy one? I would also consider a Cannon but I'm not sure if I need to spend that much cash on a bar, I already busted my piggy bank in buying the 395xp and the mill, my wife is going to buy a lot of new shoes to get even if I go big on the bar purchase. Any advice on what bar to buy, and where to buy a good quality 42" bar for the Husqvarna 395xp would be greatly appreciated!

One of those is my rip saw, it has a Stihl rip chain on it. It's a dedicated rip bar and it's heavy - allmost 2kg at 20".

 

[wooderson15]

I recently purchased a 390 XP and a grangberg 36" alaskan mill. I ended up purchasing a 36" cannon bar and a sthil ripping chain (all the local dealership had in stock) So far it has served me very well. Below is an afternoon with my old man milling a big red oak from my back yard that I am planning to make into a kitch table for out hunting camp.

 

[sawdustmeister]

Thank you to all who have taken time to read my post and reply. I appreciate all the feedback you've given. and thanks for the great photos Wooderson15... that's a great setup with the Cannon bar on the Huskie 390XP! what a nice looking red oak log... and good luck with the table build for the hunting camp. Pleez post some photos of the table when it's finished!

Here's where I am currently at with the CSM setup... after a little Ebay shopping (and a few items from Amazon too) I have been able to get everything going.

A/ THE MILL: Although I initially considered trying to save $ by buying a cheaper mill, in the end I went with the GRANBERG MK IV 36" as I like the fact that the most important part on the mill, the bars that hold the height adjusters are nicely machined parts and the clamping system seems like it has benefitted from lots of R & D (I now know this b/c I tested out the setup on a small 48" ash log, to give it a test run). In my humble opinion, the US made Granberg, compared to the less expensive mills which are all over the marketplace, has a little bit beefier build quality. I believe in the long run I'll be happy I spent a little extra $ to get the Granberg for a couple of reasons:
1/ the build quality (and the end user experience, incl. assembly of the mill) is quite a lot better (other CSM reviews from Amazon: "it was a PIA to assemble, it's not the best quality, it's hard to adjust the height bars, etc... but IT WILL SUFFICE for the money I paid") 2/ I can buy a set of 48" rails for it later on, if I choose to upgrade to a longer bar for the saw 3/ the price difference wasn't that great anyway... AND 4/ I'd rather support a company that's family owned, has been around a long time, and is not making it's products overseas and sacrificing quality just to expand their bottom line... Okay you get my drift... I was happy I went with the Granberg. It seems like I will be modifying the mill and adding things later down the road, like perhaps making an auxillery bar end oiler, or adding some pads to reduce vibration on the push bar, etc. For now I have a good working setup with the Husqvarna 395 powerhead and the Granberg mill.

B/ THE BAR: I originally thought to go after a 36" bar, but thanks to some suggestions from you guys, and actually seeing my 36" mill out of the box and assembled, I changed up my plan a bit. I do intend to get a 42" bar in the future, as some of you have suggested the 42 bar will work with the 36 mill. I decided to go down from 36" to 32" for the first bar purchase, I found a Husqvarna bar at a good deal, put it on and I'm going to run that until I find a 42" GB pro top titanium or a Cannon Superbar to max out the capacity of my 36" mill. Now that I have it all assembled and the chainsaw is mounted up, I measured that it will be able to slab about a 26" diameter log... I was expecting to get a little more from this size bar, but then with leaving room for the chainbrake handle to function (probably a good idea, always think safety first) and a bit of room for the exhaust of the 395XP (saws get hot when making milling cuts) that's what I am getting from the 32" bar. I have the outboard end (is that correct nomenclature?) clamped as near to the bar sprocket as possible without impeding the function of the sprocket. So in the near future I plan to buy a longer 42" bar, I could probably go with an Oregon bar they are affordable and aren't too hard to find in 42"... but there's no immediate need to go longer, so I"ll patiently wait until a Cannon or a GB shows up for sale at a decent price. When I get a 42 bar, I believe I will then be able to mill logs up to about 35" diameter with the Granberg 36" mill.

C/ THE WRAP UP: I also bought two full skip/ full chisel Oregon chains (not milling chain, but I plan to sharpen them at 10 degrees instead of 30 to convert them to milling chain), and a sharpening system to get me going with my first milling adventures. As I said earlier, I did run the CSM on a small piece of ash log, it wasn't very much to see... I made three 1/25" thick slabs so not that exciting. It was actually a bit difficult to be cutting something that small with the mill as the log was so light it moved around too much. But it was good to do as now I have a sense of what it'll be like on a larger log. I mostly wanted to see how smooth I could cut with the chains I selected, and I was very happy with the cut quality the Oregon full chisel chain produced. It's easy to see that you need sharp chains to do milling, if you want good results and don't want to burn up the saw anyway. Sorry guys no pictures this posting, but I have a cherry log I'll be doing soon that's about 9/10 feet long, 18" diameter... I'll be sure to get back here with some photos to post once I have some real log milling adventures to share with ya'll. again, thanks to all who responded to my questions.

 

[AUSSIE1]

I wouldnt sharpen your chain immediately to 10*. Just slowly bring it around a couple of degrees each sharpen. The correct height of your rakers is whats going to be of most importance.

 

[SS396driver]

I've milled quite a bit of hard wood and the Oregon and husky bars have held up very well. I have a 36,28 and 24" inchers. Use regular chains too

 

[Chiefhobbs]

I have a Logosol mill. I have run a couple of different bars (24") and decided I liked the Husky bar. I ordered a Cannon a year ago and still have't received it.

 

[Parkerpusher]

For milling, using a solid bar not lightweight, I just use husqvarna bars. They are priced well and hold up well. I use Sugi bars or Stihl lightweight bars for general cutting but I don’t think I would use a light bar for milling, there’s no real advantage I can see.

 

[Charlie Coyote]

I have a Logosol mill. I have run a couple of different bars (24") and decided I liked the Husky bar. I ordered a Cannon a year ago and still have't received it.

Waiting a year for the bar, you are a patient person. Personally, if what I need isn't in stock I search until I find it. To me backorder is bogus.