# stihl 029 super and cahinsaw mill??????



## efoyt (Oct 17, 2011)

Is a stihl 029 super a good enough chainsaw to use with a chainsaw mill/Alaskan mill?


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## Thistle (Oct 17, 2011)

Rex said:
			
		

> Is a stihl 029 super a good enough chainsaw to use with a chainsaw mill/Alaskan mill?



For the Granberg Small Log mill it would be OK for occasional milling of  smaller diameter & shorter logs.Not recommended for use with their full size Mark III mills from 24" to 56" capacity however.The Small Log mill is about 20% cheaper & designed for a smaller saw.

http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=G777&catID;=


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## smokinj (Oct 17, 2011)

+1 What are you trying to mill. More info on logs would help?


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## efoyt (Oct 17, 2011)

I have 35 acres of woods and I would like to take advantage of some of the trees that fall or are blown over.  I have two large Hemlocks that just fell over and will completely go to waste as I will not cut them up for firewood.  They are quit a ways back in the woods so chunking them in 8,10, or12 foot lengths and bringing them out of the woods is probably out of the question.  I also have a red maple down that has a good strait section.  Iâ€™ll use the maple for firewood if I donâ€™t make boards out of it.  Probably cut it up and drag it out in early march on my snowmobile.  My land has Oak, white pine, red pine, hemlock,some ash, maple mostly red, and a lot of Beach plus some other odds and ends.  At this point I just want to save some of the stuff that is falling down on its own.  

My chainsaw has 56.5 cc  how much better would I need for a chainsaw mill?


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## smokinj (Oct 17, 2011)

Rex said:
			
		

> I have 35 acres of woods and I would like to take advantage of some of the trees that fall or are blown over.  I have two large Hemlocks that just fell over and will completely go to waste as I will not cut them up for firewood.  They are quit a ways back in the woods so chunking them in 8,10, or12 foot lengths and bringing them out of the woods is probably out of the question.  I also have a red maple down that has a good strait section.  Iâ€™ll use the maple for firewood if I donâ€™t make boards out of it.  Probably cut it up and drag it out in early march on my snowmobile.  My land has Oak, white pine, red pine, hemlock,some ash, maple mostly red, and a lot of Beach plus some other odds and ends.  At this point I just want to save some of the stuff that is falling down on its own.
> 
> My chainsaw has 56.5 cc  how much better would I need for a chainsaw mill?




With wood like that 90cc+ would be in your best intrest. The 290 on a very small scale will work but its a lot of very slow moving and letting it idle. Nothing really much over 12 inchs aswell. 
Now the 290 on a mini mill re-cutting slabs is a good set-up.


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## efoyt (Oct 17, 2011)

How about just cutting pine and no hardwood?  The miny mill looks like it would be fun.  How big a log could it cut?  12inch?  Could I use it to square a bigger tree? Say like 18 inch?  12 inch bourds would be great but some of logs would be bigger to start with. My Father has an old Poulan that he dosin't use anymore i'll check the cc on that also.


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## smokinj (Oct 17, 2011)

Rex said:
			
		

> How about just cutting pine and no hardwood?  The miny mill looks like it would be fun.  How big a log could it cut?  12inch?  Could I use it to square a bigger tree? Say like 18 inch?  12 inch bourds would be great but some of logs would be bigger to start with. My Father has an old Poulan that he dosin't use anymore i'll check the cc on that also.





With a 290 you will be ok doing about 16 inch logs or so. You really must take lots of time idling and keeping the air filter clean and chains shape. With all that in mind keeping your over all board foot low. 100-150 board foot a month and would not want to go over 50bf in a day. Pushing that saw much more is going to wear it out Quick. Think small and go very so one prodject at a time kinda thing.


The old saw's sometimes can be a big win on milling. Lots of toqure low rpm's.


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## Danno77 (Oct 17, 2011)

If you said you have those two logs and that is all you'd ever use it for, then I'd say to give it a try. Like jay said, give it frequent breaks, saws like this shouldn't be run full throttle through a 15 minute cut.

I just can't see this being a good saw for what you are intending to do with it. I am with Jay that a 90cc+ is probably the way to go. You mig be able to get away with 80cc-ish, but not any smaller than that, especially if you are into hardwoods.


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## thewoodlands (Oct 17, 2011)

Rex said:
			
		

> Is a stihl 029 super a good enough chainsaw to use with a chainsaw mill/Alaskan mill?




Rex, I did some Hemlock this year with the Stihl 660. With the help of Smokin and others things went pretty good except for spending more money then I expected.


zap


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## Danno77 (Oct 17, 2011)

zapny said:
			
		

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Lol @ expenditures. Ain't that the way it works?


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## smokinj (Oct 17, 2011)

Danno77 said:
			
		

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Zaps a perfectionist! Could have layed-up a little cheaper.....


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## thewoodlands (Oct 17, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

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## Danno77 (Oct 17, 2011)

Someday I hope to get around to milling with my Super 250. It's an older saw that runs slow and loud, but I think it should be pretty capable and is only 84ccs.

I'm throwing that out there because I have under 100 bucks into it without bar and chain, so Jay may be onto something with looking for an older saw. 

I put my 028 onto my little board maker mill dealie, and it just seemed to take forever to get through my 20" long 16" round of hard maple. I can't imagine milling a whole log length with a small saw more than once or twice.


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## Thistle (Oct 17, 2011)

Danno77 said:
			
		

> Someday I hope to get around to milling with my Super 250. It's an older saw that runs slow and loud, but I think it should be pretty capable and is only 84ccs.



That'd be a good set-up. Those old big saws didnt have the speed (unless modified like lots of the SP125's were) - back until they switched to an hourly wage,fallers were paid on how many thousand board feet they cut in a day's time.Called 'busheling', it wasnt unusual for a 2 man team to get 100,000 bd ft in 6-8 hrs,when dealing with the MASSIVE old-growth. In the early 1960's 1 man could bring home $300/wk after taxes,huge money compared to most other blue collar trades at the time.

What they lacked in RPMs they made up for it in immense low end torque.


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## Thistle (Oct 17, 2011)

zapny said:
			
		

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## Danno77 (Oct 17, 2011)

Thistle said:
			
		

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Without looking at specs this saw is 8k rpm IIRC. I can tell you a few more things that just never fail to surprise me when I pick it up to use it (especially after having used the 028 as my primary)

1. This thing seems to weigh the same as if it were made of solid cast iron.
2. Revving it makes it rock. Ever drive a big powerful V8 that would torque the car so it would rock to the side when you revved at a light? Imagine that on a saw that seems to weigh about what a cinder block does.
3. Vibes and noise. Leaves you all tingley when you are done.

Everybody should get to play with an old Mac or Homelite or any other big cc Pre 1970s chainsaw. There's just nothing like it. If you aren't used to one, they feel quite scarey! That's what makes me think that locking it into an Alaskan Mill might be an appropriate use!


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## smokinj (Oct 17, 2011)

zapny said:
			
		

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## efoyt (Oct 17, 2011)

Danno77 said:
			
		

> If you said you have those two logs and that is all you'd ever use it for, then I'd say to give it a try. Like jay said, give it frequent breaks, saws like this shouldn't be run full throttle through a 15 minute cut.
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> I just can't see this being a good saw for what you are intending to do with it. I am with Jay that a 90cc+ is probably the way to go. You mig be able to get away with 80cc-ish, but not any smaller than that, especially if you are into hardwoods.



i'm not going to do a ton of wood...just want to save a few of the trees that have come down on my property.  If i had to guess no more then 5 or 6 days a year.


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## efoyt (Oct 17, 2011)

So what kinds of old saws should i look for on craigslist...what is the cheepist way out for a milling chainsaw?


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## Danno77 (Oct 17, 2011)

80+ CCs the bigger the better, IMHO. And in your price range. Just double check here first, I have a MAC 15 listed in my sig, it's an 80ish cc saw, but it's basically a REALLY old homeowner grade saw. Looking at it, you can tell it would't be a good idea.

If you find a big saw for under a couple 100 bucks then that means it's either old or broken. Nothing wrong with an old saw, they just aren't good for firewood unless you are stubborn and strong.


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