Chain Saws

[nakman]

I have 2 chain saws and they are both Stihl... one was my dad's 029, at least 40 years old now, then I bought the newer model year equivalent 290 about 12 years ago. I replaced the bar & sprocket on my dad's to match the newer one, now I have 2 saws that use the same blades... these things always start & run, haven't met a tree yet I couldn't find a way through, where I cut it's usually 10,000'. I'd buy another Stihl but I doubt I will ever need to.

 

[rover67]

what'd you end up buying?!

 

[Inukshuk]

what'd you end up buying?!

Nothing yet. Sawzall too care of the 8" tree. Now we have a great chain saw thread!

 

[PhatFJ]

I own both Stihl and Husky. I will take my Stihl any day. Always starts and runs great. Husky, not so much.

 

[Romer]

I bought an Echo Battery powered, but in all honesty I use my Milwaukee sawzil more. Its easier and faster on most of what I need to do. I have had to use the Echo chainsaw a few times based on thick tree trunks. I have nothing to compare it to, but it seemed to take longer than I thought it would

 

[Inukshuk]

A friend came over to pickup my old fence wood to burn (enough to fill the bed of his F-150) and we cut the tree into tog lengthes with his 120V chainsaw. Worked nicely.

 

[Corbet]

Nothing yet. Sawzall too care of the 8" tree. Now we have a great chain saw thread!

But as the one who started this tread you’re obligated to buy one now.

 

[AimCOTaco]

The 120V chain saws definitely have their place in the urban jungle where it's usually a short storm clean up job anyway. They start good after long abandon and they don't burn chain easily on green wood. That and a battery sawsall gets it done at home for me.

Cutting wth Nakman at 10,000' with one of his real Stihl's was the right tool for that job for sure... just depends what you get up to.

A guy can't have too many saws or ways to cut stuff generally I say

 

[rover67]

I have 2 chain saws and they are both Stihl... one was my dad's 029, at least 40 years old now, then I bought the newer model year equivalent 290 about 12 years ago. I replaced the bar & sprocket on my dad's to match the newer one, now I have 2 saws that use the same blades... these things always start & run, haven't met a tree yet I couldn't find a way through, where I cut it's usually 10,000'. I'd buy another Stihl but I doubt I will ever need to.

You should think about the muffler mod on the MS290. I know it'll never be a man saw by some folks standards but i have one and with the muffler mod it ran a bunch stronger.

 

[On the RX]

This thread has me eyeballin my ms660. It needs some bench time to get cleaned up. I have not run this thing out here yet. Would anyone like to do a tutorial on how to tune these things to altitude? Nakman? You make great videos!

 

[Corbet]

You should think about the muffler mod on the MS290. I know it'll never be a man saw by some folks standards but i have one and with the muffler mod it ran a bunch stronger.

I’ll be doing that to my 290 as soon as I have a 462 as well. Just in case I burn it up. Cutting at 11,000+ sucks the power like anything else. I need a turbo on my saw.

 

[rover67]

It won’t burn up I cut high also. You have to tune it (add fuel) but you should be tuning your saws occasionally anyways. If you opened up the exhaust and didn’t touch the mixture sure it’d run lean and fry itself.

 

[Jameson]

I think I'll just go this route. Thanks for the reminder about Jake. For my level of usage (low) electric makes sense. I have used them and while I may not use enough to go chaps and face mask, I always would do gloves and eye protection (and ears if gas).

Today/tomorrow's motivation is retail thereapy and a 6" live tree. Longer term is cabin firewood. Longest usage is truck saw.

I have a battery powered saw that I keep in the back of my truck when we go camping, driving through national forest. It's great clearing a log that has fallen across a road. I'll warn you, it doesn't last too long, but is usually good enough to cut 2 20 foot trees into firewood sized logs. It's nice not having the gasoline smell in the truck or having to worry about carrying it on the roof.

 

[Corbet]

It won’t burn up I cut high also. You have to tune it (add fuel) but you should be tuning your saws occasionally anyways. If you opened up the exhaust and didn’t touch the mixture sure it’d run lean and fry itself.

I know, But for the last 15 years I've just pulled the cord and ripped. Have never touched the tuning screws.

 

[Basaltfj40]

I like buying the pre mix non ethanol fuel‘s, it’s good practice to run your chainsaw dry at the end of every season if you are burning fuel with ethanol in it.

 

[DouglasVB]

I wonder when we'll see ~$500-$700 electric battery powered chainsaws that can handle at least a 24" bar. If I'm going to be below treeline in the thick timber where there's a lot of beetle-killed and drought-killed pine, I'll borrow my dad's Husqvarna with a 24" bar. That length of bar has been very marginal though with some of the huge trees that are coming down in the woods around my parents place (Dinkey Creek, CA area). Having to do a bunch of wedge cutting and attacking from both sides is annoying and since I don't really know what I'm doing, it can be dangerous.

Would love to have a big electric saw (maybe a 30" bar?) I could have setup in my truck on a trickle charger all the time so I don't have to worry about carrying pre-mix gas and everything else in the back of my 4runner. Gets stinky and messy.

Both Husqvarna and Stihl have or are soon releasing battery powered saws for light garden work so I think it shows promise that we'll eventually have big electric saws. Maybe Elon Musk needs to get in the chainsaw game like he did in the flame thrower game

 

[On the RX]

I wonder when we'll see ~$500-$700 electric battery powered chainsaws that can handle at least a 24" bar. If I'm going to be below treeline in the thick timber where there's a lot of beetle-killed and drought-killed pine, I'll borrow my dad's Husqvarna with a 24" bar. That length of bar has been very marginal though with some of the huge trees that are coming down in the woods around my parents place (Dinkey Creek, CA area). Having to do a bunch of wedge cutting and attacking from both sides is annoying and since I don't really know what I'm doing, it can be dangerous.

Would love to have a big electric saw (maybe a 30" bar?) I could have setup in my truck on a trickle charger all the time so I don't have to worry about carrying pre-mix gas and everything else in the back of my 4runner. Gets stinky and messy.

Both Husqvarna and Stihl have or are soon releasing battery powered saws for light garden work so I think it shows promise that we'll eventually have big electric saws. Maybe Elon Musk needs to get in the chainsaw game like he did in the flame thrower game

As far as the danger part goes, I recommend getting some rope and tying up high, then run it to the ground and put some tension on it to direct the fall away from your cut. When I would fall large widdow makers in my back 40 I would run my winch through a block and put enough tension on it to flex the trunk then drop it. Would get a good fall everytime.

 

[subzali]

My dad would put my sister and I on the rope and tell us to outrun the tree as it came down

 

[DouglasVB]

When I would fall large widdow makers in my back 40 I would run my winch through a block and put enough tension on it to flex the trunk then drop it. Would get a good fall everytime.

That reminds me of an incident near my parents' old farm up in Oregon... Some amateur loggers tried a similar trick using their truck and winch to try and get a tree to go the way they wanted. It ended up with the tree going the opposite direction down onto a transmission power line and the truck being shot through the air.

My dad would put my sister and I on the rope and tell us to outrun the tree as it came down

Ahhh... I see your dad and my dad went to the same arborist school

 

[Corbet]

I wonder when we'll see ~$500-$700 electric battery powered chainsaws that can handle at least a 24" bar. If I'm going to be below treeline in the thick timber where there's a lot of beetle-killed and drought-killed pine, I'll borrow my dad's Husqvarna with a 24" bar. That length of bar has been very marginal though with some of the huge trees that are coming down in the woods around my parents place (Dinkey Creek, CA area). Having to do a bunch of wedge cutting and attacking from both sides is annoying and since I don't really know what I'm doing, it can be dangerous.

Would love to have a big electric saw (maybe a 30" bar?) I could have setup in my truck on a trickle charger all the time so I don't have to worry about carrying pre-mix gas and everything else in the back of my 4runner. Gets stinky and messy.

Both Husqvarna and Stihl have or are soon releasing battery powered saws for light garden work so I think it shows promise that we'll eventually have big electric saws. Maybe Elon Musk needs to get in the chainsaw game like he did in the flame thrower game

If your falling a tree that needs a 24" bar a battery saw is not for you. At least not for another couple battery generations. I'm sure they could make one now but it would blow through batteries too quick. I could probably fall that big of a tree with my current electric but it would be a pain, require many wedges and cuts and some luck.

there are some really good you tube videos on how to properly cut trees. But there are some that are down right scary as well labeled as instructional.