Jonsereds 80 and/or Homelite super xl 925 for milling?

[Kjon]

Hello,

I just picked up a Jonsereds 80 and a Homelite Super xl 925 with the intent of milling some lumber for hobby purposes. Both saws are 80cc, and I'm wondering if anyone can provide some insight as to which saw would be best for milling with, as well as any general insight about the saws and things to look out for. The Jonsereds has the oil and gas fillers on the side, so that's a plus for it, but the Homelite has a manual bar oiler, which I'd think would be handy for milling. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[rarefish383]

I mill with a Homelite super 1050 and it does everything I need it to. It has a 36 in bar. I have an XL 924, as far as I can tell it's the same as an XL 925. it wears a 30 inch bar. I put it on the mill one time and it seemed to cut just fine. I was about 6 ft into the cut when it started to race, lean out, and stalled like it ran out of gas. Now I found out why the saw was given to me for free. The fuel line is curved in the tank so when you turn the saw on its side the filter sticks up out of the gas. I haven't fixed the fuel line yet, but for about 6ft, I was impressed, Joe.

 

[Ax-man]

I have both also, you would have to run both of your saws to see which one performs the best . In my case it is the Homelite 925 mostly because the oiler was right where you would want it and it is in better shape than the J red 80. I recently used my 925 with a 24 in bar with the small Alaskan mill for 20 inch bars. I liked it very much, the two just seemed to go hand in hand and the 925 was not all that heavy and it is what you would expect out of a small milling saw plenty of power and torque much better,easier and faster than the 034 and 046 I was using. Myself, I wouldn't push a 925 beyond much more than what I have described. I was cutting cherry that was about 12 to 14 inches wide. Getting into an oak might be a different story


J red parts especially the older ones are much harder to find than parts for a Super XL 925. The 925 would be my choice

 

[Kjon]

Homelite it is/more questions

Thanks for the input- the homelite is getting the milling duty for reasons stated above- mainly availability of parts. I recently discovered this forum, and I'm quite impressed with amount of info and knowledge at hand:msp_thumbup:. I've got a lot of catching up to do between the milling forum and homelite, and Jonsereds stickys ...currently on pg 67 of the Jonsered sticky- and my eyes are starting to hurt!
Still waiting on some parts for the 925. It wasn't running when I got it- turns out the fuel line was broke at the tank exit, so I replaced the fuel line and filter and got it running on the fifth pull. It ran erratically though, and it was leaking fuel out the carb pretty heavily even for a few minutes after I shut it off. Could this be caused by a bad reed valve retainer? I pulled the carb and reed valve out because I figured it needed a carb kit. The carb looked really clean, but the black rubber retainer that holds the reeds in place was torn. I don't know if I did that when I pulled it out, or if it was like that, and that was somehow responsible for the fuel leaking out of the carb and making it run erratically. Anyhow... Carb kit and reed valve retainer on the way, along with some duck bill valves for the gas and oil caps, as they also leaked when turned on the side.
There's somebody selling 28" Homelite bars on eBay, and I'm thinking of getting one for the milling setup, but they are .063 gauge. Does the gauge of the bar/chain effect the width/size of the cutters, and thus the size of kerf as well? Is there any advantage of running a .050 gauge b/c for milling? It seems that they're more commonly used, and available from Oregon and forester, but I'd rather have the matching homelite bar if gauge isn't an issue for milling.

Thanks

 

[Ax-man]

Bad or mialigned reeds would make it run squirrely . Gas running out the carb body would be an inlet needle not seating or the welch plug is leaking this could also make it run squirrely. If your saw has a Tilly HS carb it is hard to find a good one. They are fixable but not always because the carb body is just plain worn out.

Most saw chain on average is 1/4 inch for the kerf cut. .058 gauge is an odd gauge, to me anyway. Hard to find bars and chains in that gauge in our area unless you special order it. You can run .404 and .375 pitch with .063 drivers . The thicker driver is better suited for the bigger saws. Myself I prefer .050 gauge with 3/8ths pitch for just about all my saws because it is popular in our area except for my 076 which is .404 /.063.