The joy of a quality chainsaw

[reforger2002]

We had a fair size hedge (osage orange) tree fall on the road. Neighbor was trying to go at it with his box store Mc Cullah saw – not making much headway. To be fair hedge ball aka osage orange sucks to cut, dulls chains and has a sap that guns shit up. Oh and it has !@#$ thorns in it too.

So I went back to the house – threw coveralls over work clothes – bad idea btw – fired up the Stihl 390 got back just in time to cut his saw out of a pinched limb ( tree limb not his limb). Made short work of the remaining tree. A quality saw and several sharp chains are worth weight in gold at a time like this. #1 son is a wizard at sharpening things including chainsaw chains – he’ll set the chain brake on a saw and go to work with nothing but those little round files and take a chain from burning though wood to sending long curled shavings of wood.

Got to spend some time chatting with the new neighbor afterwards - we're going chainsaw shopping after work ....

[Dorkface]

Chainsaws are fun. :D

[CB3]

Neighbors moved in next door. Three dead trees on property, lots of low hanging/dead branches on others, and a big (50+ foot) cedar they wanted out. $1300 estimate from a tree company. I did it all for them for the cost of three sharpened chains and a dump pass. They are friends for life. I had fun doing it. Dropped 4/4 on the perfect spots. Sharp chains rule. It helped that I also had a big trailer to haul it all away.

[SmokinHole]

With 4 little ones I try to get out and enjoy the peace and quiet of a chainsaw every now and then.

[Ragsbo]

I agree, a good Stihl saw is a work of art.

[Travlin]

I agree, a good Stihl saw is a work of art.

Yep. They are the only saw I have owned, probably a half dozen across the years. I bought a bench top grinder for chains and now I don't get pissed off because some fool trashed my chains.

This year will be a walnut Christmas :lol: my son and I have about 10 cord cut drying right now just waiting for cool weather to start splitting.

[BigEd63]

Chainsaws are fun. :D

Yep they are. I don't generally like big box bargain brand saws but I've had better luck in that dept. with Poulan. The Pro series in particular.

[Ragsbo]

Poulans are nice too. I got a couple for small jobs such as trimming and such where the huge Stihl is just to heavy to mess with.

[Patrick-OP]

I have had a great run with a husqvarna saw. Taken down a couple ash trees, locust and oak. Runs like a champ, even after being run over... But that is another story.


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[ReynCon]

I bought my first real saw last summer. Which one? Stihl 390. I learned real quick I can saw up about a days worth of splitting in a couple hours and that includes the felling and limbing. Those couple of hours sure are a blast though!

[borednva]

Love this post and couldn't agree more. Currently work for a stihl dealership. Best saws and tools for your money but I may be a little biased

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[choirboy]

I like my Stihl products but I HATE their policy of selling parts only to a dealer. I only have one dealer within 30 miles and he has bankers hours except during the summer when he can fix -READ CLEAN CARBS- on lawnmowers for the mechanically challenged. I keep a part supply but can't always be sure of what I will need. Next brand will be Husky, not because it is a better saw, because they will sell me parts.

Choirboy

[SheepDog68]

Just found a brand new baby Stihl this week! I bought some property that the owner sold a couple years after they had moved into retirement housing in CA. Mostly packed clothes and a few odds and ins and left.

Stihl made short work of the tree that fell across the road to the back field and I also found a Stihl blower to go with it!

Now my saw has a little brother to keep him company!

SD

[reforger2002]

Well he got a Stihl 271 with a 16" bar

You know chainsaw dealers are almost the evil cousins to gun store dealers - I almost walked out with a new saw ...

A full service hardware store / chainsaw dealer is another of life joys, people who frequent big box stores don't know what they're missing

[warriorscience4u]

Yup, buy once cry once. My Stihl line up has been flawless.

[CB3]

My six years with a Poulan Pro (18") have been great. I won't argue that there are better/more robust saws out there, but for use 3-4X a year this has been a good value.

[45Smashemflat]

Stihl saw, blower, and FS85 multi-tool weed eater, hedger, tiller. All same gas mix, all run like champ.

That said, Husky is the way to go if you want to do much chainsaw work indoors. Much quieter. Sometimes that matters.

[borednva]

Can't say enough about a good saw particularly stihl. I've seen saws and weed eaters come into our mechanics department older than i am and beat to crap still running great. Most common problem I've ever seen is carb trouble and generally after that just replace carb and it runs good as new, gotta pay for quality but it's worth it.

[Yooper75]

Nothing better than the smell of two stroke, fresh cut wood, and the sound of a good chainsaw. We have 10 cords of firewood showing up in a couple weeks so I'll get plenty of QT with my saw and wood splitter for the next couple months.

[ctdair]

Public service announcement: Please buy and use Chainsaw chaps. I have a large scar across my knee cap that reminds me why. No matter how careful You are it can happen some day.

[TACC]

Use ethenol free gasoline and that helps the longevity of the carburetor and gas lines

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[Yooper75]

Public service announcement: Please buy and use Chainsaw chaps. I have a large scar across my knee cap that reminds me why. No matter how careful You are it can happen some day.

I'll second that after I had a chain come off the bar and slap my thigh while I cutting up a tree last winter. Left a hell of a bruise too.

[Warrior1441]

Chainsaws are just so awesome. There is a commercial landscape equipment company down here where live that has a huge Stihl showroom. They have a whole second floor loft area that is set up like you are up in a tree designated just for all Stihls latest chainsaws and accessories. I like to go in there and just stand in that chainsaw loft it's one of my happy places. If you could smoke cigars and eat bacon in there it might just be one of the coolest places in Florida. On my scale of favorite places it's somewhere between the show room of my favorite local gun shop and being out in the woods hunting.

This is what awesome looks like:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/05/c929818ac0ad63b840f07d5723b2629f.jpg


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[4galbucket]

Ms 261 cm ?


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[Justinf]

Ran the Stihl Farm Boss for about 3 hrs today, pruning dead limbs and cutting firewood. Chainsaws rock.

[Harleystreetbob]

I agree, a good Stihl saw is a work of art.

Just bought my first Stihl about 2 months ago. Man, what a saw...I have the 251 WoodBoss
Everyman should own a good chainsaw.

[Jons999]

I have about 30 large trees in my yard, and woods all along the back of my property, so there are always branches to be cut up after every wind storm and the occasional dead tree that needs to come down. I currently run a 24" husqvarna and an older stihl top cut saw for smaller stuff. The best thing i ever did was get rid of the anti kickback safety chains they sell in stores and buy a couple full chisel pro chains. The Husky eats thru tree trunks in seconds and leaves your feet buried in a pile of woodchips.

[reforger2002]

I have about 30 large trees in my yard, and woods all along the back of my property, so there are always branches to be cut up after every wind storm and the occasional dead tree that needs to come down. I currently run a 24" husqvarna and an older stihl top cut saw for smaller stuff. The best thing i ever did was get rid of the anti kickback safety chains they sell in stores and buy a couple full chisel pro chains. The Husky eats thru tree trunks in seconds and leaves your feet buried in a pile of woodchips.

I might be a wuss but so long as the anti-kickback chain is nice and sharp I rather like them. I have both kinds and especially for the second half of a day of fighting with osage orange / hedge ball trees. Maybe that's why I have half a dozen chains and change them every hour or so

[valian]

Been running the same Husqvarna 266 since about 1987... lot of cords of wood in those years and still running great.

[barnetmill]

I had an interesting conversation with a chainsaw dealer in my town. I was looking for the best saw and I was asking about various brands with the Husqvarna and Stihl being the ones of interest. He claimed that the saws they made years ago were better saws and would last for years. I had the motor burn up in fairly high quality Husqvarna after about 8 years of a lot of use. I was using the proper fuel oil mixture and bar oil. The chain was dull and the wood was extremely tough, well seasoned live oak that came from a long horizontal branch. I was sawing it because I could not get any sort of wedge into. Saw cut was intended to get an ax blade in it. Even then often the wood come back together and expelled the wedge. I gave up after I could see I was damaging the tools from the constant blows and tried to saw the entire pieces so I could get them into the stove. After the saw went I gave up on it. Repairman claimed that if a crack or some opening occurs that air gets in and the saw burns lean ruining the cylinder and piston.

[borednva]

Yea mostly true barnetmill. Number of factors to it but the mechanic said some of the epa stuff about how the stuff about how the saw has to be put together and the carb jetted causes a ton of issues. All that combined with ethanol in gas causes a ton of issues and keeps our service department in business. If you can get a good deal on an old saw that doesn't need any major repairs or none at all take it. I've seen saws older than I am still running, the only reason the owners got rid of them is an inability to find parts they stopped making.

[BigEd63]

Yep it's that time of year again. Got get everything lined out for some more cutting and splitting.

[Ragsbo]

I have Stihl 390 that I love but was at Dads helping him cut up some oak and ran his new Husqvarna (don't remember model but it had a 20 inch bar). Cut like crazy = with brand new chain- until I hit a rock! Wasn't a heavy saw either.

[borednva]

Yea husqvarna are good saws and light as hell. I've always heard they are a little more needy as far as preventative maintenance plus it uses a different mix ratio from all the stihl stuff in my garage.

[barnetmill]

Yea mostly true barnetmill. Number of factors to it but the mechanic said some of the epa stuff about how the stuff about how the saw has to be put together and the carb jetted causes a ton of issues. All that combined with ethanol in gas causes a ton of issues and keeps our service department in business. If you can get a good deal on an old saw that doesn't need any major repairs or none at all take it. I've seen saws older than I am still running, the only reason the owners got rid of them is an inability to find parts they stopped making. On my 4 cycle engines I buy gasoline that does not have ethanol in them. I was not aware that was also an issue for 2 cycle engine carburetors, but if that is so I will start using such for my two cycle engines. It costs me about a dollar or so more a gallon.
For the Stihl brand parts are, at least locally, restricted to Stihl dealers which I do not like. The number of Stihl dealers is limited and now days the Stihl saws are not so much superior to the Husqvarna saws.

[borednva]

On my 4 cycle engines I buy gasoline that does not have ethanol in them. I was not aware that was also an issue for 2 cycle engine carburetors, but if that is so I will start using such for my two cycle engines. It costs me about a dollar or so more a gallon.
For the Stihl brand parts are, at least locally, restricted to Stihl dealers which I do not like. The number of Stihl dealers is limited and now days the Stihl saws are not so much superior to the Husqvarna saws.


As far as saws you're correct actually, not a ton of difference until you get to higher end professional stuff. Basically main difference between the two is husqvarna tend to be lighter for comparable saws, stihls tend to put up with abuse and a bit of neglect a bit better, my experience and experience from everyone ive talked to at shop. Weed eaters are a different story once you get out of the absolute cheap stuff both companies produce, stihls are still way better weed eaters. One of the first questions i ask people before selling them a weed eater or saw is if they already have something from stihl or another company, putting different mix ratios of fuel in can cause issues. And yes it can cause a problem in 2 cycle engines. Like 80+ percent of problems in our shop come from poor storage and ethanol acting on a carb. If you can afford it always buy high octane non ethanol.

[reforger2002]

On ethanol and saws - guy I farm with runs a tree service as well - they were buying ethanol free gas for a while but went to just dumping the fuel at the end of the day and running saws dry or cutting the fuel off to other equipment and running it dry - works for them and they burn through the fuel such that it never sits in the cans all that long.

His helpers took to bringing a scrunched metal pan with them. They'd dump chainsaw and weed whip fuel into the pan then pour it into the old dodge truck they drive.

[SLUDGE HAWKING]

I had an interesting conversation with a chainsaw dealer in my town. I was looking for the best saw and I was asking about various brands with the Husqvarna and Stihl being the ones of interest. He claimed that the saws they made years ago were better saws and would last for years. I had the motor burn up in fairly high quality Husqvarna after about 8 years of a lot of use. I was using the proper fuel oil mixture and bar oil. The chain was dull and the wood was extremely tough, well seasoned live oak that came from a long horizontal branch. I was sawing it because I could not get any sort of wedge into. Saw cut was intended to get an ax blade in it. Even then often the wood come back together and expelled the wedge. I gave up after I could see I was damaging the tools from the constant blows and tried to saw the entire pieces so I could get them into the stove. After the saw went I gave up on it. Repairman claimed that if a crack or some opening occurs that air gets in and the saw burns lean ruining the cylinder and piston.

Like so many things the difference in long-lasting quality is apparent. I've been using a brand new Stihl 362C that pretty much epitomizes the point of this thread: its big enough to for 20" blades but light enough to comfortably cut through anything like butter. The only problem is that "C" stands for computerized carb: sometime during the heat of summer that thing went whacko so for a while no matter how clean it was or what fix we tried it would get super hot and then you'd bust your ass trying to fire it. Obviously some shop time had to be sacrificed because I cannot fix or program computer chips.