Newbie chainsaw milling advice

[towtow]

Hi, new to the site and had a question about a chainsaw for an Alaskan Mill. My father does A LOT of woodworking and it occurred to me that I could get involved by harvesting some lumber for him essentially for free locally. This experience would facilitate my longer-term goals to build a timber frame shed for my yard and possibly a timber frame home someday.

From what I've read so far I know I need a BIG chainsaw to effectively mill large trees (mostly Oak and Pine). I'm figuring a Stihl 066 to 090. The wife has me on something of a tight budget right now, so I'd like to get into this for as small an investment that is reasonably possible. I don't want to go pay retail cost for a new saw. Should I spend a moderate amount of money ($400-600) for a decent condition used saw or would it be smart to pick up a saw that's not running for cheap and put some money into a rebuild. I am mechanically inclined and would enjoy tearing apart a chainsaw and bringing it back to life.

Thanks in advance for the help,
Mike

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Welcome to AS towtow. You ask a good question. I'll just say that just about every saw I've rebuilt and brought back to life has turned out to be more of a chore, both in time and money than I expected. You could likely buy a saw that needs this and that, only to find out that it's got leaking seals, a bad cylinder and a cracked case. My recommendation would be to buy a quality used saw and go with that. You can get an 056 Mag or an 066 for the price range you mentioned. Give it a few months, and you'll likely see alot of fairly new saws showing up on ebay that were bought for the hurricane effort, and are now not needed. There'll be a 660 Mag or two in there. There's always deals to be had. Keep your eyes open. Post a WTB thread in the Used Equipment forum here, and see what turns up.

Jeff

 

[effdee]

Earlier this year I started milling my own boards with
a chainsaw mill that I got from Logosol. I picked
up a used Husky 394XP from ebay that worked ok the first
few times I used it but then it started giving me minor
problems. I seemed to be spending more time working
on it than milling which was not what I had in mind.
So I plunked down the money for a new Stihl 460 Magnum
from my local dealer and haven't had a hiccup yet.
Not to say you have to work on all ebay saws. I bought
an 028WB from ebay that hasn't given me any problems.
It's just a matter of personal priorities whether you want
to roll the dice on a used saw or buy new and have a
warranty with dealer support.
I ended up choosing the latter.
Either way I hope you enjoy milling as much as I have.

effdee

 

[oldsaw]

I bought on ebay, from a guy with a track record

My 066 was well used, but the guy was completely honest about it. It wasn't pretty, but ran well, a bit hard to start. I rebuilt the carbs ($10), replaced the pull rope with one of the shock absorbing ones ($20), replaced the .404 rim sprocket with a 3/8 (2-$8), new air filter ($25), and now it starts and runs like new, and runs 3/8" chain. $400. I caught the Alaskan on sale at Harbor Freight for $130, the guy sent me two 36" bars for the saw, the .404 Stihl (which I converted to 3/8 for $30) and a 3/8 Oregon which became my milling bar. Got a couple of loops of rip chain from Bailey's ($60 something shipped), and an auxiliary oiler direct from Granberg for $40 or whatever they want for it.

It's been two years, and my only regret is that I don't get to use it enough. But again, I bought from a chainsaw guy who knew what he was talking about and had given the saw a once over. In BC, they know about big saws. Here in MO, the local dealer still looks at me funny when I order parts. They don't sell a lot of 066s here.