MGoodwin
ArboristSite Member
A tree tree squished my first 066 a couple years ago so I ended up buying a new one. I kept it for parts but my desire to handle bigger jobs made me take a harder look. ~$250 later, it was alive and tuned. Bought a 66" double ended bar and a couple loops of oregon chain (forgive me, but I believe its the 27A skip, standard file). A neighbor said I could have his ~4ft soft maple. Felling went perfectly got through one of three segments. Took a lot of time fiddling around with the mill setup, getting the sky line setup for flying planks down to the trailer, etc. All in all a very good experience with some notes as follows:
1) I can say with confidence that double ended setups work, and work well. As I suspected, syncing the motor heads is moot as they are simply seeing a load when cutting, i.e. they are both pulling under a load.
2) I have used standard chain before, and like last time found it to be very grabby (as was the case here). Will be filling back down to ripping specs to match current chains.
3) Tried a VERY primitive winch. Definitely far easier than pushing, though my winch kept binding for obvious reasons.
4) With so much chain, I am not yet sure if the two motor oilers are enough chain lubrication, may still install aux oiler.
5) One I got the feel of feed rate and throttle, it cut through 40" maple quite well.
6) Pretty ghetto remote throttle, but works OK. biggest gripe was the one cable kept popping out of the trigger. The motor levers worked just fine though.
7) forgot to take pictures of setup: 4" x 2" steel tube connected at ends with catchers. at 10' of cut, had unused provision for mid support, at had a bit of harmonic bouncing mid span though pretty minor.
8) Very half assed implementation, but I am a big fan of the 2x4's underneath the AL rails. Made starting cuts WAY easier and insured a flatter result (think jack planer versus jointer plane).
9) two 066's consumed little less than two gallons of gas over six cuts (10' long by an average of 40" wide).
10) huge fan of the sky line. estimated weight of planks were about 250-300lb ranger. Picking up by hand or transporting via dolly on rough terrain: screw that. Granted setting up line to adequate height can be a challenge.
Keep in mind this was a rush to get everything setup in time for this project so there are a wealth of updates I will be making to, well, pretty much everything.
1) I can say with confidence that double ended setups work, and work well. As I suspected, syncing the motor heads is moot as they are simply seeing a load when cutting, i.e. they are both pulling under a load.
2) I have used standard chain before, and like last time found it to be very grabby (as was the case here). Will be filling back down to ripping specs to match current chains.
3) Tried a VERY primitive winch. Definitely far easier than pushing, though my winch kept binding for obvious reasons.
4) With so much chain, I am not yet sure if the two motor oilers are enough chain lubrication, may still install aux oiler.
5) One I got the feel of feed rate and throttle, it cut through 40" maple quite well.
6) Pretty ghetto remote throttle, but works OK. biggest gripe was the one cable kept popping out of the trigger. The motor levers worked just fine though.
7) forgot to take pictures of setup: 4" x 2" steel tube connected at ends with catchers. at 10' of cut, had unused provision for mid support, at had a bit of harmonic bouncing mid span though pretty minor.
8) Very half assed implementation, but I am a big fan of the 2x4's underneath the AL rails. Made starting cuts WAY easier and insured a flatter result (think jack planer versus jointer plane).
9) two 066's consumed little less than two gallons of gas over six cuts (10' long by an average of 40" wide).
10) huge fan of the sky line. estimated weight of planks were about 250-300lb ranger. Picking up by hand or transporting via dolly on rough terrain: screw that. Granted setting up line to adequate height can be a challenge.
Keep in mind this was a rush to get everything setup in time for this project so there are a wealth of updates I will be making to, well, pretty much everything.
