Chainsaw milling

[firecord]

I have several large trees that i really want to build a cabin out of. They are 32 to 38 inches at the base. They are too big for my mill, so I'll have to get a chainsaw mill. Will be buying a sthil, to do this. I looked at the 660. Do I really need one that big?  What would yawll suggest?

[sawguy21]

A 660 is probably the minimum for what you want to do, you want all the power you can get for milling. You won't be able to use the full length of a bar due to the way the saw is mounted, a 42" would be the shortest practical. Keep the chain sharp and be patient, it's hard work.

[ladylake]

 
 You have a bandsaw mill. it should only take a cut or 2 to get it to fit the bandsaw , for a chainsaw the more power the better.  Steve

[firecord]

660 it is then. Thanks!

[Eduardo K]

Just for reference, I use a 660 with a 36" bar and can cut slabs up to 29" wide - this is with the felling spikes removed. I use that saw with a 48" granberg.  My points, you loose bar length with a mill, 6+" in my case, and don't be afraid to buy a mill bigger than your bar, a bigger mill can be made to fit smaller bars. 

Enjoy

[esteadle]

I'd say skip the 660 and go with 880.

You said you have a mill? But these logs are too big for your mill?
How big is your mill exactly? How many of these logs do you have?

If you are stepping up to get more width, you need more torque to pull teeth thru the blade.
The 880 uses a smaller sprocket, and develops more torque.
The 660 is a higher speed saw. Not as much torque, but cuts with little bites, going faster.

The 880 uses .404 / .063 chain which will hold up better over time. 
The 660 uses 3/8 / .050 and that doesn't hold up as well in the bar.

When you get deep into a cut with the 660, you're going to end up going slower and stalling the saw a lot. There is also a lot of heat buildup even with double oiling. I'm surprised how much I have to file and dress my bars.

Pushing a CSM hard thru a cut wears the bar. And some logs are so tough and full of minerals, especially at the base, they will dull the chain quickly, and then send cut the wrong direction if the chain dulls at all. So, plan to do a lot of sawchain filing.

If you use a crosscut bar, instead of a special double ended milling bar, be careful not to clamp the bar end sprocket and lock up the chain. ;-)

Best of luck.

[charles mann]

@esteadle
You can run a .404 and .063" chain and sprocket on a 660/1. My 661 came factory with a .375 and .063 sprocket n chain

[burdman_22]

Would like to know if you end up going with the 660. I myself have an 880 for milling.

[bannerd]

@esteadle
You can run a .404 and .063" chain and sprocket on a 660/1. My 661 came factory with a .375 and .063 sprocket n chain

Yeah, I would run a .404 with a square grind on it.  It'll cut a touch quicker than a ripper chain, 880 can pull a 50" 404.

[charles mann]

@firecord 
I just brought my 36" csm out of mothball to cut a red oak log 11.5' long, 27" en the small end and 32" on the butt/flare end. 
I used my 661C-M with my 42" bar, running .375 pitch .063 round filed full chisel cross cut chain and removed the felling spikes. After every cut, i would work on profiling the chain to hybrid of a ripping and cross cut chain. I was burning a tank of oil and gas per cut with barely enough fuel to let the saw idle to cool down, while taking the ladder off the slab and pounding some felling wedges under the slab to aid in getting the slab off. As mentioned, get a bigger mill than your bar. Inside cut width of the 36" mill was 33" 

[Brandon1986]

660 is fine.  I have a G288 which is smaller by 4cc and Chinese, and I run a 72" bar on it for milling.  It's not especially fast, but I just don't put much pressure on it.  You can always use a skip or hyper skip chain too. Milling is hard on the power head, which is why I bought a $250 powerhead for it might as well kill a cheap saw rather than an expensive one.  I like to richen my oil mix to 32:1 and fatten up the high jet when I mill. Also consider auxiliary oilers for longer bars. 

Just a few thoughts for you to move forward with..

Happy Milling, I hope it works well for you!