Chainsaw advice

Test Tickle wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I'm not a chainsaw expert, so I listened to some, and bought a Stihl. 18" or so bar length. Spent maybe $300, IIRC. The model number escapes me right now.

Nothing at the home centers looked like I wouldn't wear it out in a weekend. The garden equipment center sells pro, and 'pro-sumer' level gear, and has always done well by me, and hundreds of other folks.

Friends who run big saws like Stihl, among others, but this one was right for me.

Patriarch

Displacement determines the max bar length. Better to have a margin of extra cc than be shy, as long as the saw doesn't get too heavy.

If you're a turner, you'd like the bar to go at least 2" longer than the swing of your lathe for ripping. That way you won't have to bury a tip and possibly get a kick.

Go to a real chainsaw place where they can make you a non "safety" chain or expect to spend some time ripping. Safety chain crosscuts OK, but rips for squat.

I've had a couple of Stihl saws. First one outlived its parts chain after

15 years, so I got another, trading the old for its other parts. Johnsreds and Husquvarna are a couple of other types common in the woods. Around the home you can see all kinds of brands.

Stihl, Johnsred, and Husquvarna are the only brands worth considering. Johnsered may be hard to find, and that will make support an issue. I have a mix of Stihl and Husky small engine tools. I've generally heard, in various media, that Stihl and Husky are a tossup among pros, generally leaning towards who has the biggest representation in the specific locale. I have a good sized dealer in each in my town, thus the mix.

For the homowner/home turner, I can't imagine you need much more than the 16". When you get up into the 20s, you're swinging a pretty big machine and a pretty big bar. You have to ask yourself if you really want to do a lot of limbing with that monster. Yes, you can put a shorter bar on it to eliminate 30% of that problem, but I'll bet you won't, which leaves you swinging a pretty big machine and a pretty big bar.

One of the "standard" recommendations is the Husquvarna Rancher 455. I just bought mine, so I can't endorse that recommendation yet. But they are sold at regular chain-saw outlets (where I got mine), plus Lowes and Sears (warranty work is handled differently for Lowes and Sears)

I need to add something. Both Husky and Stihl make multiple levels of saws. There may be 3 -- consumer, 'rancher' and pro. My first saw was a small, consumer grade Stihl and it was not much to write home about. If was bulky about starting, etc. My current saw is a Shindiawa which is super and starts on the first pull. You've probably never heard of them because they don't make a consumer grade at all.

Also remember that you can cut a 30" log with a 20" bar -- you just have to walk around it.

Bill

robo hippy wrote:

I'm curious to know how you guys use these huge chainsaws. Where do you go to cut wood with these? Do you have wood delivered to cut? What kind of wood are you cutting?

I just finished removing some Osage from my hedges, and an Oak tree, and trimmed an Ash tree, a Chinese Elm, a Pine tree and a Black walnut tree. I harvested the Osage and some of the Chinese elm. I'm not sure if I'm going to save any of the Oak or Ash, other than as firewood. I split some of the Osage and stored it in the barn with some other wood I have. The 2 to 4 foot lengths of Osage logs I put in the barn were all that 2 men could handle easily.

I did it all with a 12" chainsaw. The small chainsaw is light enough that it is easy to handle with one hand. Every time I gas and oil the saw, I touch the chain up with the file (3 strokes per tooth on the small saw, takes no time) and make sure it is properly tensioned. I did have the advantage of the Versa-lift when I trimmed these trees. I have to give the chainsaw and the Versa-lift back on Friday. I'm retiring. So, I'll be in the market for a chainsaw, too.

Here's a link to some pics.

Don

I have two chain saws. One is an electric I think it is a Remington The other is a Husquvarna Rancher 455.

I rarely need to cut down anything large but for big jobs or away from the house I grab the Rancher. For small jobs around the house I grab the electric. It has the advantage of not creating a lot of noise and fumes and all I need to check is the oil and then cut.

The size saw you buy depends > Hey,

Oh my friend,

It is not the kind of trees that you are cutting, it is the size of those trees. Anyone cutting big trees wants the longest bar that he can get. Understand that With a long bar, I can cut a 2 inch diam. log, or branch, as well as cut down, or cut up, a tree that is more than twice the diam. as my bar is long.

I have cut down pine trees where the 22 inch bar on my saw did not break the bark on the tip side, and I have cut down pine trees that were 24 inch diam. with a 14 inch bar. And believe me that given a choice, I would much rather have a long bar on my saw than I would working my tail off trying to cut down, or cut up, a tree with a short bar.

There are reasons why they sell 60 inch bars, and there are trees to match, and there are trees that are too big for even those monsters.

There is another reason for a long bar, it is because with the longer chain it does not have to be sharpened as often. That is one of the reasons that the loggers in my area use a loop bar. that long chain means that they can cut for a long time before the need to put on a sharp chain. And there is less chance of a kick back while cutting at strange angles. I learned to keep sharp chains on hand to swap out during the day while cutting, and sharpen the chains at night for use the next day.

I also learned that you can only hand sharpen the chain a couple of times before it has to be resharpened, and reformed, with a jig to put all the teeth back to the same size. Else it starts to cut sideways and wears out your bar. And a dull chain is Dangerous, and becomes a man killer.

If you haven't had to do that yet, then you haven't cut any wood yet. I am sure that your chain will last for years yet, While some wear out their chains so fast that they buy their chain in long rolls and make up their chains as needed.

I am by no means a pro. But I have not only heated my home with wood for 30 years, but also cut up my trees into lumber with a chain saw attachment.

Yes I too have and use a short bar electric saw, but even it has an 16 inch bar on it.

Zap

D>

My last saw was an 18, often way to short, which is way the Husky is a 20

You also need to consider where people live. Robo and I live in "tall tree" country. I cut down 4ft (diameter) tree's just to build the house, and those had grown up in the years since the loggers came through, twice. The guys in my tree service told me they cut a grove of old-growth a couple years ago (the ground was too steep to recover them as logs). The trees were 6 feet at the base and so tight they used actual jack hammers to split them (all Doug Fir/Hemlock/etc).

A friend has a Big-Leaf Maple that must be 5 foot across

Hi Don

Have a look at this album I have, it shows some of the wood I cut, this is why I have a few chain saws,one 16" electric one for in the shop, two gas chainsaws for "out there", one is a 18" poulan pro that has stood up well, but has not the power to pull a long bar chain around, so I also have a MS 361 Stihl with a 24" bar, and a 18" spare bar, the saw could handle a 36" if needed but there are few logs that I could not handle with the 24" bar, but have run into that problem with the

18" bar and that is very frustrating, however you also have to be able to handle those large pieces of wood, and that is getting harder as the wood seems to get heavier as the years go by ;-)) As for the makes of chain saws, well I think there are only 3 or 4 that have not been bought out by the big boys, like Poulan, Echo and those that where under the Electrolux control are now owned by Huskqvarna, so I would say if you want to have someone service your saw when needed you better get it where they will and are able to do so, or be ready to buy a new one every time the saw doesn't want to work.

Have fun aand take care Leo Van Der Loo

D> > I got a Husky with a 24 inch bar and was told that I could put a

Here another question....

Have you ever used a chainsaw before?

I've seen many dumb things done with chainsaws. You really hurt yourself badly with one simple mistake. One example is that TV ad where the guy cuts down a big tree and drops it on his car. I saw some neighbors nearly do the same thing a few months ago.

If you have never used a cha> Hey,

Thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up going with the Stihl, the MS 260 with an 18 inch bar. It is the smallest (50.2cc) of the pro grade saws they make, and ended up costing about $500 with an extra chain and several files. Since I hardly live in logging country, I expect it's the last saw I'll need. The temptation to go with something cheaper was there, but I really didn't want to have to think about this again.

Thanks again.

tt

william kossack wrote in news:Dv6dnQ2eG- KTdeXYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Size your chainsaw to the job. If you only need the saw to cut blanks for turning as a hobbiest, a Stihl 24", 30" pro is probably overkill. If you require the saw to fell trees and supply firewood for your winter existance, a 20"should fit the bill. I use an old Homelite 16" to do all. When it dies an 18" Stihl will replace it. Hank

We`ve had a 18" Husky 356 for about 5yrs now. Works as well as the day we got it (thats a good thing). Would really aim for something longer than 18". I have to double cut too much. Someday I`ll replace the bar with a 28" (max size for this saw).