I am trying to rip 50 year old cedar utility poles . 5 foot long pieces 12" diameter. I want 2-3 inch planks for a foot bridge deck. I can get 2 out of a piece. I am using a 20 year old Sthil 026. 16 inch bar. It worked great for the first couple of rips and then became a struggle and HOT. Couple of questions. 1. It's a 50cc saw , it that big enough? The bar sticks out a couple of inches far side. 2. I think more oil on the chain would help but for the life of me I cannot find the screw to increase the oil flow. Manual and IPL refer to it but don't show it. AT least I cannot find it.
The only reason I am doing this is I got the poles for free , they were high voltage line being replaced , no nails, just ground wire staples and bolts. These pieces came from the top of the poles. I have the rest of the poles but I would need a much longer bar and a much bigger saw I think.
Sounds like the saw is too small to start with. I did some milling with a Husky 455 Rancher (54cc) but it barely cut it.
Make one cut, rest the saw, make a second, rest the saw and so on.
Are you using ripping chains? Keeping them sharp?
Is it an 026 or 026Pro? The Pro model has an adjustable oiler, the other does not. As for ripping, it'll be slow with that saw. Bigger saw would help, otherwise it will be slow going with the 026. Throw some extra oil in your mix too for ripping.
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026 so no oil adjust Thanks
Good point about more oil in the fuel
From what I read about ripping the cross angle goes to zero but thats for a better finish. I actually want a rough finish for walking on. Any one have better angles for ripping?
I guess I am at cut , wait, cut some more.
Thanks for the comments.
In the past I have ripped a lot of red cedar hydro [utility poles] Except mine were up to 36" in diameter and 40 ft long.
I made some beautiful 16 ft and over beams, but the outside lumber had the smelly creosote coating so wasn't suitable for closet linings etc.
50cc is way too small for this type of cutting, at least 80-90 cc displacement is needed.
I've seen old 1970's Jonsereds 90 saws did an excellent job if on a budget, 056 Stihls were tough.
My saws were a Stihl 066 Magnum and a 090AV.
There are a lot of little tricks but i dont wont to encourage you to burn up a saw that may have years of good use in it.
Your best option is to save your 50cc saw for firewood and find someone on here near you with a mill that will cut it for a few bucks. pm them first to set it up. Be warned such an encounter can led to an eventual mill purchase.
Funny
Ok ok run the mill on a board or smooth surface on every cut, make the board longer than the log so that the mill sets fully on it before and after your cut. the board will even out the highs and lowes and keep the mill from hanging on rough spots.
Turn the saw around cut with the top of the bar, for some reason mine cuts faster that way and it has the advantage of pushing the chips away from you.
push the mill not the saw. pushing the saw can cause it to tetter in the cut and put more strain on the saw.
cut or grind every third cutter off the chain this will strain the saw less.
use conola cooking oil its not as nasty, cost less, and wont harden in the saw like regular veg oil. its also thinner than bar oil and the saw will pump more.
make a drip bottle out of a old glue or dish detergent bottle.
keep your rpms up and dont try to force the saw its only got so much.
Helpful Thanks I will try those things I was getting depressed.
The funny remark was in ref to Beware you may end up buying a mill.
To lim rat, Would using Winter oil be the same as using canola oil?