Milling smaller logs with Poulan saw?

[oaktreeguy]

Hi, has anyone milled smaller logs (say 24" or less) with a consumer grade saw?

I have a 16" poulan and am looking at milling some trees on the property.

I don't want to burn the saw up but am wondering if anyone has tried a 28" bar with a ripping chain on a similar saw. My assumption is it'll be fairly under powered and cut pretty slowly. If I try it, of course I'll go slow and give the saw time to cool. Maybe even a skip chain although I assume that nearly doubles cut time.

Thanks

 

[Mad Professor]

What sort of powerhead/ ccs?

A lot of the newer poulans w/16" bars are barely big enough for firewood.

 

[oaktreeguy]

I'll check but I believe 38cc. It's probably 15 or so years old but not used a lot.

Displacement looks about half the size of an MS461, so I assume best case, it'll be slow cutting.

 

[kimosawboy]

I think if you do try an mill with your saw , chances are you will burn it up. Consumer saws like that are made to rev high for 30 seconds or so, max. Full throttle for 3-5 min and your saw will not be happy. If you do try it, forget about the skip tooth chain.
just my 2cents

G Vavra

 

[oaktreeguy]

Thanks. I slabbed three 30" walnut logs by hand over the winter. They were 18" so I cut 3" off each side freehand to get them down to 12" and then freehand cut in half for 6" slabs. 6" is the throat capacity of my bandsaw.

That said, 100" pieces - repetitively - may be a different outcome.

 

[anlrolfe]

Last weekend we had an Eagle Scout project involving much trail clearing. I was using an augmented ms170 bumped up to MS180 w/ 16" bar. We got to a steep area that needed stepping blocks. To my luck there were several 8-12" downed trees close by and even though I had a bigger saw in the truck decided to split 2-sections 3ft long with the 32cc saw just to see how long it would take. As the Scouts dug, graded, placed, tamped and pinned the steps into place I went back up to the truck and got my 026. This is far from a milling saw but with sharp chain and Muf-Mod she'll chew like a rabid beaver. Overloading a saw is going to be very hard on the output side bearings and the clutch.

What is the project requiring the millings. Depending on the type of wood there are some old school low tech methods of splitting that could be useful.

 

[oaktreeguy]

What is the project requiring the millings. Depending on the type of wood there are some old school low tech methods of splitting that could be useful.

Boards and slabs for furniture and other indoor projects, primarily.

 

[IyaMan]

Don't mill with a 38cc. You'll melt the saw within a minute or two as noted above.

and definitely don't put a 28" bar on it.

 

[oaktreeguy]

Thanks guys, I'm looking at a 461 with 32 or 36" bar. It's an investment but probably the right way to go.

 

[SeMoTony]

Hi, has anyone milled smaller logs (say 24" or less) with a consumer grade saw?

I have a 16" poulan and am looking at milling some trees on the property.

I don't want to burn the saw up but am wondering if anyone has tried a 28" bar with a ripping chain on a similar saw. My assumption is it'll be fairly under powered and cut pretty slowly. If I try it, of course I'll go slow and give the saw time to cool. Maybe even a skip chain although I assume that nearly doubles cut time.

Thanks

I started w/ms-170 hung on HF style beam maker. Sharp chain wasn't bad up to cutting 8" square posts from pine. cut a 13" x 12" from red cedar. Then I got alaskan and a ms-460 and found out nothing beats displacement spinning sharp chain. Do it safe & enjoy

 

[oaktreeguy]

Walked further back in the property and found a couple of 36" diameter hard woods. Looks like I may need a 42" chain and 461 or 661 saw.

Most of the trees are 24" so as long as the large ones won't burn up the saw I'm leaning toward 461.

 

[Boogedy_Man]

If it were me I'd be leaning the other way....661.

 

[Boogedy_Man]

I wanted to add in also because you were asking about small saws...the smallest I've milled with was a Husky 460. It really wasn't enough for anything beyond 12". I mill stuff that size with a Stihl 461 now.

I have a Poulan 4218 that I use at least a few times a week, and even a little electric for cutting bowl blanks at night. I even noodled quite a bit with the Poulan before getting into milling. I wouldn't dream of something that size on a mill, however.

 

[SeMoTony]

Walked further back in the property and found a couple of 36" diameter hard woods. Looks like I may need a 42" chain and 461 or 661 saw.

Most of the trees are 24" so as long as the large ones won't burn up the saw I'm leaning toward 461.

As stated earlier started with ms-170 and harbor freight offering of "timber tuff TMW-56 lumber cutting guide" that can be viewed @ amazon. Then alaskan mk lll with ms-460 & 30" bar then auction upgrade to 066 after 60" bar on 460 was maxed out with skip chain. Now I've also got a 661 said by seller to have ported cylinder. Also an 046 to place on other end of ms-460 with cannon 72" miller bar between. Bigger logs or stumps ( c avatar) keep showing up! If you find a 660 which has a work saw port get it!!! Unless you can afford to send Bsnellings $$ to work on a new 880 to be shure to have enough. It actually cost me more by small stepping, my$.02