Modding the BIL mill to take the 880

[Brmorgan]

How convenient for me, Bob! I was just about to PM you to ask for pics or links to pics of your previous auxiliary handle setup, as i just picked up a couple parts from the local mountain bike shop to build something similar. This'll come in handy. My only trick is going to be making it so I can easily use it on different saws as I have two or three I regularly use on the mill. I might still be interested in some pics of the old one anyway as I'm likely to use a lever like you had before, and I'd like to see more how you attached it to the saw's throttle linkage. I've seen the pics before but I have no idea what thread(s) to look in anymore.

Looks good!

 

[BobL]

How convenient for me, Bob! I was just about to PM you to ask for pics or links to pics of your previous auxiliary handle setup, as i just picked up a couple parts from the local mountain bike shop to build something similar. This'll come in handy. My only trick is going to be making it so I can easily use it on different saws as I have two or three I regularly use on the mill. I might still be interested in some pics of the old one anyway as I'm likely to use a lever like you had before, and I'd like to see more how you attached it to the saw's throttle linkage. I've seen the pics before but I have no idea what thread(s) to look in anymore.

Looks good!

Cheers Guys. This took far longer than I anticipated but it appears to have worked out really well. Proof will of course be in the cutting.

The linkages for the 076 throttle are shown here. It uses 1/2 a bicycle brake caliper as the lever acting direct on the trigger. One thing that has happened over time is that the caliper contact plus saw vibrations has worn away some of the trigger which is one reason why I have not gone this rout for the 880. The 076 linkages are not going to be that convenient to transfer from saw to saw but maybe you can adapt some of the ideas from it.

 

[woodshop]

Very... very interesting Bob... I enjoy you're threads. At the risk of sounding patronizing I have to say you've been a great asset to this particular forum and folks all around the world are benefiting from your R&D/handywork.

 

[BobL]

Very... very interesting Bob... I enjoy you're threads. At the risk of sounding patronizing I have to say you've been a great asset to this particular forum and folks all around the world are benefiting from your R&D/handywork.

Thanks WS but remember, I got the idea from you!

 

[BlueRider]

I really like the remote kill switch.

Today I was working on my saws and took a long look at my 038 with an eye to the exhaust heat issus. My 038 has two ports but both are angled to the front not sure if the 088 is the same. I think the only way to make your saw run cooler is going to be to add a pair of ports/pipes coming off the flywheel side and pointing to the rear and down, or to the front and out as it sits set up for milling. The other option would be to see what is available in the way of a fully tuned pipe.

I know a lot of people are using the 088 and 066 for milling but I don't see them lasting as long as our 075's and I think the heat being bounced back into the power head is part of the problem.

How are you situated from all the fires?

 

[BobL]

I really like the remote kill switch.

Today I was working on my saws and took a long look at my 038 with an eye to the exhaust heat issus. My 038 has two ports but both are angled to the front not sure if the 088 is the same.

The 880 has one port on the right top , see "x" in the picture below, and comes out between the chain brake and the top of the cluth cover in a semi forward direction. It's identical to the Husky 3120.

In a milling situation the exhaust is directed partially down (which is good) but also deflected forward onto the log (as shown by the arrow in the picture) and seems to drift out between the operators legs!. A creative pipe maker may be able to make a pipe that takes off from the existing port and directs exhaust past the chain brake and clutch cover so that it comes out totally down. - I am seeing BIL later this week to discuss this.

I think the only way to make your saw run cooler is going to be to add a pair of ports/pipes coming off the flywheel side and pointing to the rear and down, or to the front and out as it sits set up for milling. The other option would be to see what is available in the way of a fully tuned pipe.

The flywheel side looks clear but doesn't have a lot of space unless the brake handle is removed, and it's near my remote throttle handle.

Another candidate is the front. "x" marks the existing port .

The front works for me because I have a dual post inboard mill mount. This leaves the front of the saw clear for a muffler pipe to start from the front of he saw and go in the direction shown by the big arrow. This location would be less useful for a conventional single post alaskan

I know a lot of people are using the 088 and 066 for milling but I don't see them lasting as long as our 075's and I think the heat being bounced back into the power head is part of the problem.

The 880 is one of the saws of choice for the hardest Aussie hardwoods so they cop a fair flogging sometimes in very high temperatures and seem to be coping very well. I agree the 075/6 has the muffler located ideally for milling and that heat is an issue on the 880 but more for the operator than the saw. I am going to post a thread on the CS forum asking about muffler mods for the 880.

How are you situated from all the fires?

2500 miles away. While They've been sweltering in 110's and we're having mild 85-90. Should warm up for us this week - 105 is forecast for Thursday but I will be in Melbourne where it will be 70!

 

[Brmorgan]

Bob, 1 quick question - is that 90° auxiliary handle post a BIL special, or a commercially available piece? I can't find anything similar around here, the closest are wrap road-racing handlebar pieces and that wouldn't work. I did manage to get my hands on this piece for $5 though:

It's a stem from a BMX bike, which is the piece that holds the handlebars and connects to the front fork post. It's brand new and I know is worth at least $50, but being the dead of winter the bike mechanic pretty much gave it to me.

I'll clamp the smaller end (to the bottom left) to the saw's handle or part of the mill, and then make a handle to fit the other end out of some pipe. I have a couple old bike grips downstairs, I don't think I have a brake lever but they're easy to find on old bikes at the dump. I wanna get something worked out anyway, milling with that 090 is killer on the hands.

 

[BobL]

Bob, 1 quick question - is that 90° auxiliary handle post a BIL special, or a commercially available piece?

All my handles are racing bicycle stems picked up from bikes being thrown away.

Your BMX stem looks really "schmik" and will do the trick nicely

Your proposed arrangement would be a very useful addition to your 090 as it will cut the vibes significantly.

 

[BobL]

Exhaust mod for 880

Following a very useful discussion on 880 exhaust mods in the CS forum (thanks Lakeside) I'm planning to replace the spark arrestor cover with a new cover containing a stubby curved extension to the muffle. Something like this.



The idea is to redirect exhaust down and back compared to the stock fitting which directs it forward. The pipe will need to clear a custom clutch cover which is needed to stop oily sawdust from spraying all over the place. BIL has agreed to

The pipe and plate will be made of ally. The pipe will be 25 mm OD and 19 mm ID. This ill give a considerably gain over the stock 14 mm exit port diameter (~80%) so noise is an issue and and retuning will be required. I will also turn a set of sleeves (15, 16, 17 and 18 mm ID) to reduce the size of the exit port if required and hopefully a compromise between power and noise can be obtained. I'm going to be away for a while so completion could be a couple of weeks.

 

[BobL]

Finally managed to nail down my BIL to weld up the clutch cover and this what we came up with.


The cover is made from pieces of 2 mm (0.08") ally plate TIG welded together. In behind there is a fairly chunky TIG weld


Cover attaches to mill with 2 x 6 mm Allen bolts and a 4 mm torx attaching to the chain brake cover


Because the cover has to be removable to change the chain, I did not want to be constantly removing the torx bolt attaching to the chain brake cover. Constant removal means wear and tear and before long the thread is stuffed. This is why I used a stand off and the clutch cover attaches to that. If that thread wears out I can retap to 6 mm.


Now just a couple more tanks of mix through the saw and I can start milling!

 

[RiverRat2]

Yep!!!

Wow!! That is awesome!! Very nice setup there!!

That was worthy of Rat Rep!!!!!!! Bamm!!!!!

 

[OhioGregg]

WOW!!! Thats simply ammazing. Bob. And to think you have the time to bother helping us newbies with our piddling setups, with the stuff your into.:jawdrop:

Think I'll just shut up and keep reading your posts

Gregg

 

[BobL]

WOW!!! Thats simply ammazing. Bob. And to think you have the time to bother helping us newbies with our piddling setups, with the stuff your into.:jawdrop:

Most of the "amazingness" belongs to the BIL. I love watching him weld ally and when you see how thin a sheet of ally he can weld . . . . . . .!!!

BIL has a nice home shop, MIG/TIG/Oxy lathe etc. It took us about 20 minutes to design and cut out the pieces, and BIL welded the cover in about 5 minutes interrupted by about an hour of chewing the fat and drinking beer. I then took it home to do the rest. I made the stand off from a scrap piece of rectangular cross section bar - cut it to rough shape with a WW table saw and shaped the curves on a linisher, tapped the threads and polished it and the guard up. I guess it took me about another 2 hours to finish. Not that hard really.

 

[stipes]

I know Greg...

WOW!!! Thats simply ammazing. Bob. And to think you have the time to bother helping us newbies with our piddling setups, with the stuff your into.:jawdrop:

Think I'll just shut up and keep reading your posts

Gregg

Thats something about this millin site,,seems like alot of people wanna help out...When I first started,,,I learned alot frm searching and reading Bob's stuff,,and I learned alot frm Dustytools...Really good people on here...

 

[Rockfarmer]

Thats something about this millin site,,seems like alot of people wanna help out...When I first started,,,I learned alot frm searching and reading Bob's stuff,,and I learned alot frm Dustytools...Really good people on here...

You got that right!!

 

[dave k]

I will go with that, the amount of knowledge you can get on this part of the forum is staggering ! I always look forward to learning more when I click on thanks so far !!

 

[BobL]

In case you miss it here is the muffler mod on the 880 to direct the exhaust away from the user.



Full thread here.

 

[BlueRider]

That looks sharp! I want one of those for my 038 just because it looks so cool. If you pop a chrome skull on the air filter nut and put some leather wraping on the handle and it could be the Harly-davidson model. How is the sound?

 

[DRB]

The first BIL mill remote throttle looked like this

Then it looked like this

Now, following a kernel dropped by Woodshop it looks like this!

Yep - it's a motorcycle throttle complete with remote kill switch and a throttle lock.

Yes the red grip clashes violently with Stihl orange but I think that is a good thing - it says watch out!

What I wanted was something that was not completely permanent because there would be occasions when I might wish to remove the remote throttle and use the 880 as a regular saw.

The throttle cost $20 from a MC wrecker. Finding a suitable linking point on the 880 proved very tricky and I tried many different combinations. Essentially all the exposed and accessible actions are "push" whereas cables need a "pull" and these are all blocked by the airfilter/carby housing and I did not really want to mangle a lot of plastic to get this working. Finally after staring and fiddling for hours I located a point under/above the trigger.

To access this point I had to get inside the top of the trigger. I unscrewed the trigger cover on the handle unclipped the top trigger linkage, and cut a small slit with a hacksaw and drilled a hole at the top of the trigger so the cable an lug can sit so.

The cable follows the pathway show to the ally bracket which supports the main cable adjustment as show. The bracket is held in place by a 3 mm allen bolt that passes through the housing and has a nyloc on the other side.

The regular trigger is still very accessible

Here is the cable bracket in better lighting. The cable passes thru a grommeted hole in the handle underneath the saw and over to the handle/

Here you can see the remote kill switch wiring which utilizes a small audio plug and connects in parallel with the kill switch inside the airfilter/carby area. The mini audio plug was used so that the remote throttle could easily be removed if required.

BobL you have inspired me to set up remote throttle for my 088. I wanted to get away from reaching down for throttle trigger or zap strapping the throttle trigger open. I used a complete throttle handle and cable from a Stihl FS200 weed whip. I fabbed up an angle iron bracket that is just hose clamped to the saws handle. This bracket holds the cable end. The cable is looped over the throttle lever so that when the cable is pulled it tightens around the lever.

I finally got a chance to try it out this weekend after I spent the week digging out from the winters snow fall. It actually worked quite well. The stock weed whip handle has a throttle lockout similar to a chainsaw which prevents accidental throttle use. The weed whip handle feels very natural to use and I can still use the saws throttle lever if needed.

BTW nice muffler mod I may have to look into that to.

 

[YankeeinSC]

I'm working on a high-torque 6 axis servo positioned CNC set up for my CSM. I'm having a little trouble writing the code for the fly-by-wire carb control system...

Just kidding! I only wish I had the skills AND TIME to put all these great ideas into my systems which always tends to be just barely enough technology to accomplish the what ever the task may be. Guys like BOB ALWAYS seem to outshine! Thanks for sharing BOB