ML12
ArboristSite Guru
Ok, i'll jump in on this too, this is the 60" 
Max cut width is 55 inches. Closest we've come is just over 48"
Max cut width is 55 inches. Closest we've come is just over 48"
New bar
- Thread starter Mpl127
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Jealous of bar, saw, and species.
buttercup
Addicted to ArboristSite
I was recommended Stihl 3/8.050 rip chain to go with my 20" Cannon rip bar, quote: "best rip chain for smaller bars up to 25-30". I don't have much to compare it to though.
ML12
ArboristSite Guru
On the 60" I have a loop of Oregon milling chain (its closer to a semi chisel profile) and is ground at 50-0-0, its skip, .404 x 063, but I don't really like how it cuts unless its almost fully buried. I just got a new loop of Oregon chisel, full comp, which I re-ground to 50-30-0 and I took the rakers down to ~0.030. I will run that chain the next time I go out milling. I like an aggressive chain with lots of hook. The 090 seems to handle it well.
On the 36" bar I have a stihl loop of full comp chisel filed at the usual 50-30-0, and an Oregon milling chain that has a full chisel profile (old stock chain) that is 50-0-0, the rakers are down nearly 0.050 on that chain. If you want to use BobL's angle technique that's about 9 degrees. And that set up works in our softwoods (primarily cedar and fir) as well as the hardwoods (maple birch, walnut), but it is a bit grabby until you get a nice feed going in the log.
Personally I like stihl chain over Oregon, and most of my other saws have that. I find the factory grind on the Oregon chisel chain in 0.404 is pretty terrible. Both stihl and Oregon chains seem to hold their edges ok, but I think the stihl is just a little better. I don't specify when I go into the saw shop, so I get whatever they have. The only chain I have that I don't like is some husky branded stuff that has weird bent over rakers. The teeth are soft.
Yes, almost always debarking to some extent. Douglas fir is known for trapping all sorts of grit and crap in the bar, plus on old growth the bark can be 4-6" thick. When we mill maple, we try to get as much of the bar off as we can, and we pay special attention to the crotches and anywhere else rocks etc. could have grown into the tree. Trust me when I tell you that filing a 60" bar worth of cutters because you clipped a rock or nail is no fun at all. For that large fir log, we cut I believe 9 slabs, and I only just touched up the chain when we stopped for lunch after 5 slabs had been cut. The chain was still sharp, but I noted that our cut times had increased a little.
As far as debarking tools go, we have a draw knife that works best on smaller logs, and a few smaller axes for everything else. A lot of the trees around here will drop their bark once they've been down a while, so unless the tree is really green it usually isn't a problem.
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