G660 is a China ver of ms660. From what i just read it is not a professional saw. But with 92cc maybe it can mill me enough boards to build my shed. Or may be not....
Is 272xp enough saw for milling
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Nealm66
Minister of Fire
I would give it a try, we used to pull the gasket ( 20 thousands) and just mash the head down on to the crank case with some blue silicone, make a v from the top of the cylinder out to the exhaust side and grind a chunk out of the intake skirt, drill some holes in the exhaust and run them till they quit which really wasn’t any shorter than stock ha ha, for 4-500$ WTH!! As long as the clutch doesn’t get hot and stop spinning, which we never had any issues with, who knows? I can tell you the 860 is a gutless gas pig but it doesn’t have any issues other than the crap factory air cleaner. A modified g660 might be the cat’s meow !
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Sean McGillicuddy
Minister of Fire
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Yesterday while Xmas shopping I stopped (annual event) at Princess Auto (not sure what the equivalent in US would be) it is a heaven for guys, gadgets and small equipment. As I walk in, look at the on sale section and a beautiful alaskan saw mill reduced to 85.00 cad (around 60usd) is staring at me. No brainer, i walk out with it. Now, I am committed/invested i suppose.
There is a ms660 for sale for 750cad. History unknown, compression very good apparently.
There is 390xp with 36” ripping chain for 1300 (crazy) apparently two yrs old.
And I am still thinking about the Chinese knockoff G660..........maybe I will be lucky and it will do the job for the shed.
Once I am done with the shed I could sell the Stihl or the Husky likely for the same price unless either gets busted while milling.
Any thoughts....
There is a ms660 for sale for 750cad. History unknown, compression very good apparently.
There is 390xp with 36” ripping chain for 1300 (crazy) apparently two yrs old.
And I am still thinking about the Chinese knockoff G660..........maybe I will be lucky and it will do the job for the shed.
Once I am done with the shed I could sell the Stihl or the Husky likely for the same price unless either gets busted while milling.
Any thoughts....
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Is there an 880/080 clone? I would go with the big Chinese saw and then replace the crap Chinese parts with OEM Stihl when things break. With the savings buy a Stihl/Logosol 25" bar and run Stihl 63PMX chain for less sawdust waste. If your logs are too big for that setup then you probably aren't hobby sawing and will want a different mill setup.
I do not believe they have the 880 clone. The biggest log is 24” and I already have 25” stihl bar. I would have to get the ripping chain. I will have to look up 63PMX chain.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
A 24" log will not work with a 25" bar on an Alaskan mill. I also don't think a 660 will last long milling 24" logs either. The 63pmx chain is a low profile ripping chain for larger chainsaws. Allegedly it works just fine in a standard 3/8 drive sprocket, but you would really want the Logosol hardnose bar if you are going to run that chain. This is what I plan on doing for my Logosol F2 mill, but I am running an Oregon Powercut 25" .050 bar with 83dl Carlton 30rp loops right now. The kerf isn't quite as narrow as I would like, but it works for now. I wouldn't look at any saw smaller than a 880 Stihl or 395xp Husky, mainly for the oiler you will need to pull a 30"+ bar and chain setup for those logs. The new 881 Stihl looks really nice and what I would have picked had the 395 not basically fell into my lap. For your fairly large 24" logs I would really be looking at hiring a bandsaw mill to come out and cut those up. How many are there? Depending on that cost I would be pricing out entry level sawmills and using the Alaskan mill you picked up to make the really big logs lighter.
Hm. I was getting all excited. Maybe the Home Depot way will be the most economical 3k in lumber.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
They had a 090 clone (I think it was) when I built my 660...this was Farmertec...and was a kit...no idea if they ever sold the whole saw assembled like they do with the blue ones (mine is Stihl orange...can't tell it from the real thing)
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
090 is the same as 880, yes? I Don't know much about big saws, especially ones I don't have
That is great!090 is the same as 880, yes? I Don't know much about big saws, especially ones I don't have
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I'm not sure.090 is the same as 880, yes? I Don't know much about big saws, especially ones I don't have
Here is what they are calling a G070...105cc for about $20 more than a 660...no idea if these are "good" or not...I know these are older lower RPM engines...probably why the 660 seems to be so popular for milling/etc.
Amazon product ASIN B07NY62H7G
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EbS-P
Minister of Fire
That’s a tough call. used MS 660 vs new g660. Let’s give them equal odds of needing a repaired. Call them similar in cost to fix. You can sell the MS for twice what you could sell the G660. All you are about is repair cost for the the MS 600. You can always try the warranty process with farmer tech.
If you can plan your cuts will be making closer to 20” cuts. That’s 660 territory if you pay attention and don’t abuse the saw keep the chain sharp and the revs up. If you haven’t seen a crank handle wench pulling the mill though you should look that up if you are planning a one person operation. Probably need to think about an auxiliary oiler. Simple as a squeeze bottle and a tube.
Calling up the lumber yard is the fast easy solution not as much fun in my opinion.
Now I look for reasons to fire up my G660. Crews had be. Doing work at a house house for months and has left a 24” cherry tree limbed out in an ugly state for far to long. I probably drove by it 6 times a day some days. Next time I saw them there I put on my PPE and kindly offered to cut it back down to the ground.
If you can plan your cuts will be making closer to 20” cuts. That’s 660 territory if you pay attention and don’t abuse the saw keep the chain sharp and the revs up. If you haven’t seen a crank handle wench pulling the mill though you should look that up if you are planning a one person operation. Probably need to think about an auxiliary oiler. Simple as a squeeze bottle and a tube.
Calling up the lumber yard is the fast easy solution not as much fun in my opinion.
Now I look for reasons to fire up my G660. Crews had be. Doing work at a house house for months and has left a 24” cherry tree limbed out in an ugly state for far to long. I probably drove by it 6 times a day some days. Next time I saw them there I put on my PPE and kindly offered to cut it back down to the ground.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
I wouldn’t get discouraged just yet, my neighbors cut quite a bit with a 272 husky. I showed them some tricks and it definitely requires patience and time with a smaller saw. Sharp chain is your friend. How long will your lumber be? I use a couple 20’ metal studs, I think they’re 2x4. I don’t need middle support is 8’. I’m in the middle of too many projects and working full time to make any videos. I’d grab one of those g660 whatever things and a 32” bar and hope you got a 3’ mill ? You can shorten but you can’t stretch. We run chisel bit and I grind sharpen but they round file with a grind to true things up after a bit. In a 26 inch log if the chain is cutting good it should feed fine without any gadgets. It will suck at first since you’re learning but it can go pretty good once you get the basics figured out, YouTube videos help but don’t get wrapped up in them. Think it through. Play around with your chain sharpening, keep your gullets clean if your using a grinder. It can be done
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
They rate the power of 070 at less than the 660. I’ve never seen a chain saw dyno to look at the torque curves. I’ll give up 13 cc’s for a larger availability of parts. You can always go full skip chain or even super skip milling chain (might be .404 but sprocket is an easy change if you have a hard nose bar) to make up for some of the displacement. I got a 25’ of full skip Carleton semi chisel for like 65$ to my door. Will file it to 10 degrees by hand because files are cheap.
I think if are looking for a new road to travel down and have the time to take that path do it. I didn’t even own a chainsaw until hurricane Florence blew down that tree. A year and a half later I eat dinner off it every night. It’s been a worthwhile investment of my money and time.
Evan
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Start with your smaller logs, get it on a couple 4x4’s. Screw a 1x4 on each side level, drop the mill below it , make sure your ladder or whatever is out past the end so you keep it flat out on the end. Don’t push down! Keep a couple wedges tapped in as you go. If you’re using a small saw, stop and let it idle for a minute about very foot or so. Fuel up after every cut, sucks to stop half way through
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I think Alaskan mills make a lot of sense for making large slabs, beams, or breaking down a large log into something that fits on a stationary mill. For making 2x4's and other small boards it looks incredibly tedious.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
It is for sure, I do feel pretty vigorous when I have 3-4 cants lashed together and each pass makes multiple boards. But getting there is a lot of exercise for sure. I will say when I first went down to help my neighbors, it was a lot faster. They would be setting up for another pass while I’d be fueling or changing chain. We chopped a fair amount of boards in a decent time for a chainsaw mill. Also helped to take turns on the saw. Once I get done installing this chimney, putting up baseboard, tiling a shower, flooring a bathroom, I’ll try to take some pics of some tricks I use
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I agree. I might be tempted to rip the slabs with a circular saw if working by myself.
Thank you for all the comments. The idea was to get 6 or maybe 9 6x6 posts, 4 2x12 headers and enough slabs to get my 2x6s and 2x4 that I would rip from slabs using table and circular saw. I will have some help but not every time while milling.
The g660 I can order tomorrow and have it in two three weeks, or I can order it in late March and have it ready for when I plan to start. In the meantime I should be patient and keep looking maybe a nice used saw will come around.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Once you have the 3 outside cuts off, for whatever reason, it speeds waaay up. Something in those outside cuts just takes the life out of a chain. But anyways,if making 2x4’s, drop down 4 inches until you run out of log. Stand all your cants up and screw a board holding them all together( this is why I mill on top of 4x4’s) and start 1 5/8 or 2” runs, they don’t make a table saw or circular saw that will keep up
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