Hi Guys, So I couldn't stand it anymore and finally took the plunge. I ordered a Panther II mill and am anxiously waiting for the big brown truck. I want to get into milling and won't really be going after anything enormous. I'll realistically only be milling 16" to 18" diameter trees - mostly hardwoods, a good portion of it oak. The most powerful saw I own is a Husqvarna 562XP - 60cc and 4.8HP. I have a 20" and 24" bar for it but have found the 20" to be best for maintaining power. So far all I have done is crosscuts and some noodling of large rounds. So that brings me to my question. With the saw above doing what I described above, what is my best bet for ripping/milling? Should I get a standard skip chain and be done with it (they are cheap - was looking at this one ) Or should I get a ripping chain like this one? Only downside is it is double the cost (not really that big of a deal) Only positive of the skip I can see other than cost is that if I had to make a quick crosscut for some reason I wouldn't have to change chains (then again I normally have my Husq 440 as a back up anyway) I know some people say not to bother at all with skip or ripping and just use the standard crosscut chain. That's fine but I want to give my saw the best advantage I can and also make ripping as easy as possible. At this point I'm leaning towards just getting the ripping chain so that I have the best equipment for the task - making the task as easy as possible on both me and my equipment. Also, if I ever decide to get into bigger stuff, maybe logs up into the 24 - 26" diameter range requiring up to a 28" bar what would be a good saw to look into to? I would definately be looking for a used one due to budget constraints. Displacement? HP? Even specific models...I would like to stick to Husqvarna but would be open to Stihl's as well since they are so plentiful and popular. Any advice is apprciated.
20" would be fine. Get semi chisel if you want it to be longer lasting when ripping. I would stick with full comp.
It would probably be cheaper to go to a sawmill and buy the lumber you need than to mess with chain saw milling, especially with a 60 cc saw.
Maybe so, but I have no desire to go and buy my wood, I get satisfaction out of doing it myself. What cc would you suggest for a saw capable of milling?
I prefer to use 90cc or bigger for milling. A 385, 7900, or something in that size is about as small as I want to go at it with.
