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Chainsaw thread. What chainsaws are you guys using and what things you like or dislike about them? Would you pick a different saw if you would be buying one today? Also do you fix and maintain them yourself or use shop?
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>>2935829
>What chainsaws are you guys using
as a man of culture only the finest chinkshit knockoffs are suitable for my use
this one came to life back when you had to order straight from the orient and a box shit showed up a month later with 0 documentation. the jug was cut short so i had to use the metal base gasket to keep the piston from bottoming out. they obviously gotten a west coast fallers saw that had been bubba'd as the pattern to copy. the muffer was gutted with the hillbilly side pipe factory installed. replaced most of the critical hardware and used gobs of loctite on the rest of the chinesium butter bolts
fucking thing runs like a raped ape on 25:1 110 low lead. itll pull a full chisel skip 28 buried in oak with you standing on the handle
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For me it's Stihl...
They're a bit pricey, but seem to be made as good as you can get. Parts are widely available. I'd stick with them if I was starting over today. In fact I have pretty much solely gone with Stihl 2 stroke equipment. I have 6 of their weedeaters, a backpack blower, auger head, and 4 chainsaws. I do have a Husqvarna concrete saw because it was so much cheaper brand new than a Stihl saw it was insane. It's been good so far too.
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>>2935829
I currently have an old Homelite XL-12. You know the one. Picked it up cheap as a joke and 'cause I liked the movie. It runs well but is a bit slower then a similar Husky or Stihl. No brake and its loader than I'd like but it works. I only use is every now and again.
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>>2935829
I have three Husky saws.
>120 Mk2
>550XP Mk2
>592XP
All have a different purpose; pruning, general purpose yard work and heavy duty work/felling. All hardwood, mainly Jarrah (8.5kN) and Wandoo (15kN). I have them serviced often, roughly every 80-100hrs, and do regular upkeep myself. I'd buy them all again, they all serve a purpose.
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>>2935829
I have three. Sthil 461, Stihl 150 top-handle (modded), and a cordless Dewalt DCCS623. I've been very happy with all of them. The nice thing with Stihl is they are very reliable and parts availability is fantastic. The 150 is my favorite, I've got a 14" Panther bar on it with non-safety chain, it's ported and has the timing advanced, it's amazing how well it cuts.
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>>2936684
The saw isn't anything special really, they're usually just a pretty big Stihl or Husky with some bolt-on mods like an oversize pull handle you can use with big fire gloves and a guard that covers up part of the bar, then a carbide chain. Cut quality on metal is terrible and the cutting process is amazingly loud. It can only cut thin metal, like roofing or siding. There's a reason nobody uses them outside of rescue applications. If you want to cut metal or concrete then the abrasive disc saws are the way to go, all the big chainsaw companies make those too. The one advantage the chainsaw has is that it can cut a combination of wood and thin metal simultaneously so it's good for cutting ventilation holes in walls or roofs.
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>>2936680
Speaking of cordless saws, they are getting very good these days. I have a family member who is a pro arborist and they use cordless for all their climbing saws and all the pruning work. Really the only areas where cordless lags behind is if you need a REALLY big saw, or if you are cutting high volume like a pro forester. But if you just need to cut some firewood, prune trees on your property, deal with storm damage, then I'd look pretty hard at cordless.
The 60V Dewalt saws, both the top handle and the 20", are impressively powerful.
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Stihl MS251 -- Perfectly adequate power and very lightweight. Not very reliable though
M18 Rear Handle -- Extremely good daily driver from a garbo company. Also not very reliable.
Echo Timberwolf -- Excellent saw with just a little bit too much plastique
G660 Clone -- Is what it is. I actually have 2 of these. They're not bad.
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>>2936730
>MS251 Not very reliable
ive had the opposite experience. i do the maintenance on my pops saws and he beats them like the town hog. he has 3 of these and they are runners. cracked fuel lines and plugged air filters are the only things that are usually wrong. he runs 18" 26rs chisel chains which is all theyll pull and hasnt killed one yet. he does run mix way too rich though
his most used one is the most beat. he drove square over it with his fully loaded 3/4 ton chebby about 10 years ago. busted the plastic case bent the bar and broke half the fins off the jug. bought a few used ebay parts to put it back running and it wears the scars proudly now. never had to do an engine on any of them even though everybody says the clamshell is a throwaway timelife component
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>>2935829
Stihl MS182(traditional pull start, no complaints)
Stihl MS212C (I hate the easy2start system) I would get a top handle (12-14") if I could change it today.
Milwaukee M18 Pole Saw (great saw and very useful)
Milwaukee M12 Hatchet (6") saw
I work on everything I have and if I don't know something, I learn it and apply.
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Anyone got any advice to share on pole saws? I'm not a professional, just someone who needs to maintain his land. I have a Stihl HT133 which works great for most of my needs but I want something with longer reach. I started researching pole saws. I naturally gravitated to Silky because I love their hand pruning saws, but apparently they stopped importing genuine Silky poles in the US for legal reasons. I can get Notch poles, they make copies of the Silky Hayate and Hayuchi, though I hear they are questionable quality by comparison. Is that true? I can buy a genuine Silky piece-by-piece, and I gladly will if it's really better, but if this is just people being elitist for no reason I'll happily go with the Notch pole with Silky blade.
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>>2936699
Yeah I'm really wondering about how the chain performs, for demolition. Have 9" Dewalt and Husky K770 but have been thinking about getting one for more cut depth/exotic cool toy factor but it kind of sounds like it sucks from what you're saying.
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>>2936954
For demolition they might make sense since you don't give a crap about the cut quality, and they would handle stuff like asphalt shingles, siding, nails, pvc, etc--pretty much anything except masonry/tile and thicker iron or steel. If you wanted to test it out without committing the money maybe rent a chainsaw and put a carbide chain on it, that way you're only risking the cost of a chain and the rental fee. If you find that does what you want then buy the saw?
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>>2936924
I bought one of those vevor 27' saws for $80 off amazon
I used it to cut down dead tree limbs.
the blade is thin and flexes too much but whatever, just need patients.
its heavy at full extension. hard to maneuver and difficult to get it right where you need to cut
the whole thing twists and bends. you really need to lock it all in place and then find the best angle to cut it and work with the sag
taking lengths out is a bitch too cause it gets really tight.
it came with a 2nd head with snips and a pull saw. its great for smaller limbs.
realistically you only use it heavily for the first time and then only a few times per year after that.
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>>2935829
Ive been using the 80V Atlas electric chainsaw from HF. It has completely replaced my 2stroke Craftsman.
Its quieter, less vibrations, and cuts just as well if not better.
The only thing I hate is how quickly chains get used up. my fault for not keeping it tight, but it always slips off and gets ruined. i rarely end up sharpening it.
Is there a chain that isnt afraid of touching soil? i swear i knick the ground a few times and it gets completely dull after that.
it also leaks bar oil constantly. from day one. its only fault.
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>>2937306
>The only thing I hate is how quickly chains get used up. my fault for not keeping it tight, but it always slips off and gets ruined. i rarely end up sharpening it.
>Is there a chain that isnt afraid of touching soil? i swear i knick the ground a few times and it gets completely dull after that.
>it also leaks bar oil constantly. from day one. its only fault.
Something is wrong if you're kicking the chain off. Dirt dulls all chains quickly. Quality chains will hold up a.bit better. I swear they all leak bar oil.
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>>2936573
>>2936573
The 592 is a great saw, it never stops pulling and cuts quickly. It does suck the fuel like it's Stihl cousin and it's too heavy for use as a GP saw especially if youre running a longer bar. I've never used a 572, my everyday is the smaller 550 though. If you're felling and bucking hardwood you'd want the extra engine capacity over the 70cc; quicker cuts, ability to run bigger bars, less engine stress and less energy expenditure from the operator.
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>>2937377
Attach a short piece of cord and a carabiner to your Scrench. That way you can clip it to the saw for storage, or to you when you're working. That way it's always present when you need it. It's also handy to do the same with a small wedge in case you need to stop the kerf from pinching the bar.
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>>2936738
MS251 is a great saw in a lot of ways, but I have had so many failures it's unreal. For context I live in densely-wooded forest, so a chainsaw can be the difference between me being able to leave my house after a storm or not.
For someone on 1-3 acres of woodland I'd almost recommend it. But I can't depend on it. Most of my failures have been design or metallurgy issues. Too many corners cut.
It's so freakin lightweight tho...
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>>2937656
Cords and biners are a classic way to carry and hang useful things. I keep a large roll of bright orange handy just for that.
A convenient way to melt paracord ends is using a lighter or torch over a container of water which catches molten drips and cools the end after melting for immediate safe handling.
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>>2937954
It's also handy for organization. I have two chainsaws, a hedge trimmer, and two brushcutters. Each has a different scrench. If I just left them in the back of my truck or in the shed I'd never have the right one at the right time. But if they're clipped to the tool they go with then that problem is solved.
And yeah, hi-vis colors are ideal. I painted all my screnches bright red & used high-vis cord and red carabiners.
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dont cut wood all that much so switched to electric, so many less headaches for a tool i only need a few times a year.
also the backpack battery carrier is awesome for big jobs.
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>>2938094
>$350 for a backpack
>$450 for 3 batteries needed to use the backpack
>$379 for a 20" chainsaw
Versus
>$539 Stihl 20" chainsaw
I have a few doubts about your post. And thats from someone with a suburban chainsaw.
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>>2938126
Also, there is a very easy solution to 90% of the frustration that some people have with gas saws: buy pre-mixed 2-stroke fuel in a metal can. It lasts for years without gumming up the carburetor.
>>But but that stuff is expensive
You don't need much. If you're an occasional user a gallon can will last you a fucking long time and the extra cost is well worth the reduced hassle. If you use your saw a lot then run mixed gas most of the time and just put the premix in when you store the tools for the off season.
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>>2938128
I really do get it why your average homeowner willing to /diy/ their own landscaping doesn't want to fuck with small gasoline engines. Everyone here knows how temperamental 2 stoke engines can be and battery powered stuff is simply the most convenient tools for the layman. What most people don't realize is these batteries left in your garage all year can go bad. The circuit board in a machine intended to vibrate and be used in fairly harsh conditions will go bad. You cannot replace a diode or compute chip, you can replace a fuel line and air cleaner.
My neighbor and my mom (not the same person) both have all electric stuff. In 7 years they've both had to replace their mowers, 2 batteries each, and had to get a leaf blower and weed whacker replaced under warranty. All while my cheap Bohlens junk is still buzzing right along and I haven't done anything particularly special as preventative maintenance. I don't even use the expensive premix fuel either.
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>>2938139
Its such a good saw. I'm not sure about making money with it, but pruning trees, cutting back limbs, chopping up wood fence posts, even the little battery is adequate for home-gamer jobs. I've stalled it exactly twice when a limb pinched the bar, and when I was putting way too much force trying to get it to stall on a pinion tree. It makes quick work of anything smaller than 6" but will still do a 10" limb without any fuss.
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>>2938126
Got the backpack with two 6.0 batteries and a leaf blower for $300 on clearance at Home Depot, usually $600 for that set which is absurd.
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Batteries go bad whether you use them or not after enough years.
In 5-10 years the company will change how batteries connect and replacements will be hard to find. Might have to make your own.
Lithium batteries catch on fire sometimes while charging.
Combustion engine requires you to wear it out. If you use it infrequently it may last forever.
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>>2938131
>Everyone here knows how temperamental 2 stoke engines can be and battery powered stuff is simply the most convenient tools for the layman
Agreed, I recommended cordless for less-serious applications above (>>2936724). I really like my Dewalt DCCS623. If I had to buy another mid-size or smaller saw right now I'd be leaning very hard towards cordless, especially since I already have plenty of batteries I use with other tools.
I just wanted to share a solution for 2-stroke frustration that a lot of people seem ignorant of. I thought that fancy 2-stroke mix was a dumb waste of money. I bought some with a new hedge trimmer because Stihl had a deal where they doubled the length of your warranty if you bought the premix. That got me to try it out. I fully intended to never buy another can of if, but once I learned that it would let me neglect a tool for 10 months, pick it up and start it on the 2nd pull? That made me a believer. I haven't had to deal with a single engine problem since I started using it, and I have several 2-stroke machines.
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>>2938223
>but once I learned that it would let me neglect a tool for 10 months, pick it up and start it on the 2nd pull? That made me a believer.
You're reading too much like an ad script. All it is is ethanol free 90 octane gas with 2 stroke oil mixed. If you simply cannot get ethanol free locally and its only bought once a year for storage I get that.
But the people buying it every 2 weeks for regular use just love setting money on fire.
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>>2938224
>All it is is ethanol free 90 octane gas with 2 stroke oil mixed
Yes. In many places ethanol-free gas is very hard to get.
>its only bought once a year for storage I get that.
Yes, exactly. You'd have to be retarded to run it normally.
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>>2938225
>Yes. In many places ethanol-free gas is very hard to get.
Literally impossible in NYC (and I would guess LA and Chicago, it's a federal rule tied to air pollution concentration IIRC) unless I'm missing something. Except for the little expensive premix bottles.
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>>2938441
>it's a federal rule tied to air pollution concentration IIRC
I cannot dispute that, but the irony is the liberal push to use "renewable fuels" by growing corn and getting 26mpg in a civic while polluting more. The fuck are you buying ethanol free fuel in NYC or CA for anyway?
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I need a chainsaw, maybe 2. I have Milwaukee M18 lithium platform, leaning towards 14" electric for small stuff, trimming, etc.
for the gas saw I was leaning towards stihl, mainly this would be for blocking trees to fill my firewood shed for winter. What do i need?
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>>2938695
mostly pines and aspen, possibly cottonwood occasionally, for firewood. I have a completely neglected yard and was thinking it would be cheaper to use a smaller electric chainsaw for nasty cuts that may be in the dirt.
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>>2938783
Some NYC areas do have trees and shrubs. The popular idea it does not is not shared by people who lived in the area.
While removing a tree often requires a permit you could (cough) gash the bark near the base then spooge it with Tordon. When it mysteriously dies removal is no longer an issue.
Arborist bills were insane forty years ago so I'd be looking to avoid those.
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>>2938848
Forgot pic, but yeah, there's limited large grassy areas (parks mostly) but there's tons of trees. Nearly all of these buildings are also going to have backyards too.
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picked up some old bow saws yesterday. got the Stihl running, just have to get the carb tuned. Stihl 041AV, Poulan 361 and 306 auto and Homelite XL12
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>>2938894
I've never seen a saw in that shape. My rudimentary searches say they're for cutting felled trees/logs and you don't have to bend over and torque your back to cut? You can kinda just lean over into the horizontal log? Is that right?
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>>2938716
If they are really nasty dirt filled cuts and not too big in diameter a Diablo pruning blade in a cordless sawzall is my go to. Old railroad ties and cedar posts get that treatment. Those things are hell on chainsaw chains.
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>Stihl MS382
>Stihl MS660
>Stihl 064
>Stihl 051
>Stihl 070
>Sachs Dolmar 120
>Dolmar ps6000i
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>>2936924
Yes, I have two jameson pole saw kits. I love the blades, they are streets ahead of anything you get at the hardware store.
Just don't get the 4 feet saw head. They had some manufacturing issues with that. I called them months after I bought it off of amazon and a nice lady on the phone answered and sent me a new one.
I have two regular saw heads with 13 inch blades, two 6 feet base poles, and four 6 feet extension poles.
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>>2943068
Its pretty easy to freehand beams if you use snap line to guide your bar. You can also cut notches and then use hewing axe to take off the chunks. You want to use axe anyways to make the final finishing job because sawed off surface rots faster. Axe will seal the wood and moisture cant penetrate as easily.
Milling logs eat up chains like crazy. Maybe one board and your chain needs sharpening. Buy a lot of chains to circle through. You need atleast 80cc saw to get things done. Use shortest bar you can get away with to minimize drag. Milling boards freehand is hard so you need atleast something like pic related.
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Chainsaws are ontologically evil. On paper it's very cool, 2 stroke, spinny sharp chain.
In reality it has to be the most miserable things I've ever worked on.
The later ones not so much but still shit, I worked on one from the 70's I got before tossing it in the trash because the out of production coil was more expensive than the saw was worth, it's a chinese finger trap of a design, ever single panel and the fuel tank had to come out before I could even try to troubleshoot it.
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>>2943417
Better to just act like they are consumables. Average dude uses them so little that when you finally need spare parts you dont get them anymore or they are rare and expensive. I always cringe when people tell home owners to buy a pro grade chainsaw. "Buy once cry once" they say. Wasted money i say. At the end you dont get the benefits that you think you are getting because time has passed. Mid tier name brand will work just as good.
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>>2943417
>>2943517
50+ year old tool needs repairs so all of those tools are shit? Tools are disposable consumables? huhhh?
>it's a chinese finger trap of a design, ever single panel and the fuel tank had to come out before I could even try to troubleshoot it.
You had a chinese chainsaw from the 1970s and you just threw it out because there were heat shields on it?
>"Buy once cry once" they say. Wasted money i say.
For the average consumer that prunes 2 tree limbs a year or needs to chop up a neighbors tree after a storm yes. Buying a pro-grade tool would be silly. Itd be like buying $4000 of snap-on wrenches to do 2 oil changes per year. But if you're a professional that relies on the tools to make an income then they're simply not a waste of money. If you're a rancher/farmer that fires it up a few times a month, they're simply not a waste of money.
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>>2943542
It was a $10 like 16" saw and the coil was $50 for a used one that'd probably blow up shortly after anyways.
>it was chinese duuur
It was a US one, I spent like 2 hours pulling interlocked diecast pieces, fuel tank, carb etc out to actually get to the flywheel, wasn't worth any more time or effort after actually getting to the part and looking up the cost.
I didn't say they are shit, just that they are miserable to fix to the point there is no fun it.
I have a 20 year old consumer one I pulled off the curb, still terrible but at least I didn't need to spend hours fiddling with it to work on the carb and replace fuel lines.
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>>2935829
I've used all kinds and the best chainsaw is a sawzall. I currently use a $50 chinese cordless knock off and have taken out many trees up to about 15" to clear my property. It neither needs nor drips oil and I never have to sharpen the chain. I just throw blades at it like sunken cost fallacies and can keep it in a bag in my camper.
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>>2943577
>It was a US one,
so it lasted 50+ years before it got to your hands and you deemed it junk not worth repairing because a replacement part was $40 and a new chinese saw was $140?
Your entire point of being upset over a serviceable part deep within the machine that only has to be touched once every half-century is a bit stupid when you step back and evaluate the situation.
>I spent like 2 hours
I can disassemble a chainsaw in about 10 minutes. 20 if you're talking breaking down smaller parts too. Are you a tard or a wrenchlet that doesn't understand fasteners? I'm completely uncertain how you spent 2 entire hours to disassemble a machine you can hold in your hands. Even a wristwatch can be disassembled with 60 individual parts faster than that.
>I have a 20 year old consumer one I pulled off the curb
So you're not even buying new chainsaws, you're buying other people's neglected garbage complaining about all chainsaws? Am I arguing with an AI?
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>>2935829
I have a homeowner grade husqvarna w/ 20" blade and its been trouble free. I paid about $500 or $550 for it. I forget. I got it from a husqvarna dealer though, which makes it better than the ones you can buy at Lowe's.
The nice accessory you can get for your saw is the non-fuckupable sharperener.. I think its made by stihl. Its good stuff. Its made in different angles so you need to order the right one for your chain. I forget exactly what I had to figure out before I got one.
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>>2935977
I heard that about stihl. Its really the best there is. I beleive thats the goto for most professional settings.
I've had pretty good luck with my huskies.
I have a really good husqvarna backpack blower/neighbor seething device.. it only ever needed a fuel filter every once in a rare while. I make my 2 stroke mix with ethonol free 91 octane. I think its sold around where I live beciase its a rural area. Maybe the farmers need that shiz.
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>>2943810
Stihl, husq, and Echo are basically Gold, silver, and bronze medals for chainsaws. Anything else is likely made by Bohlens with a different label depending on the store that sells it, cheaper homeowner stuff that'll work for trimming a tree once a year, but if you have to use it more than once a month its not smart to avoid the top3.
>>2943807
How does it compare to a dremel attachment, do you know? I might get pic related, seems like every sharpener has its own ups and downs.
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>>2943812
Im not sure about that dremel sharpener. I've never used one. It looks like it would be a little more time consuming than the stihl sharpener.
Heres a demo.
https://youtu.be/f3IX-6sb3Jk?si=tXE3NW9YRl-ysROK
It has guides so you dont have to worry about messing up the angle. You sharpen two at a time and then flip it over to switch sides.
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>>2943840
>It looks like it would be a little more time consuming than the stihl sharpener.
Quite possible. Apparently the Harbor Freight chain sharpener is pretty decent, but $140 for a single purpose tool is silly. I figure I already have a dremel so this is just a jig and a few bits. I've owned my saw for 2 years and don't use it often enough to really need sharpening, but now I've noticed cuts are taking just a little longer, still effortless but seemingly taking longer than a lightsaber.
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>>2936699
it's probably mostly about the cutting depth. I have a knockoff of a gas Stihl concrete cutoff saw like that (paid less than 200$ for a refurbished one) and it cuts wood and metal surprisingly well too, something decent, like an actual Stihl, probably goes through anything woodden like it's not even there.
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I want every environmental terrorist hung. WHY IS EVERY SAW AUTOTUNE? My $600 ""professional"" 545xp saw melted because I didn't get FIRMWARE UPDATES?!? Ahhhhhhhhh
Got an Echo cs590 because they're the only new saw with a manual carb. One hour and I already like it better.
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>>2935829
stihl 045
pros
>reliable
>feels very well made
>very powerful considering how old it is
>in ideal conditions, its weight combined with power helps you cut and its almost effortless
>looks badass
>i like the sound
cons
>HEAVY AS FUCK
>anti vibration not as good as on modern chainsaw
>harder to start
>spare parts hard to find
>not very versatile due to size and weight
husqvarna 372xp
pros
>perfect combination of power, size and weight
>easy to start
>easy to operate
>feels really well made despite lightweight and extensive use of plastic material
cons
cant really think of any. if i were nitpicking id say it goes through its fuel tank quite fast
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>>2943977
I have the husqvarna 455 rancher x torq.
Its been really good but I just use it for homeowner stuff. Sometimes a tree fell over out driveway.
Onetime I was away at work and a tree fell over the driveway. The wife couldn't leave for work. My neighbor then had to borrow my saw to complete the task of clearing the small tree. Worst day ever..
My saw seemed to have survived the ordeal.
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>>2943955
Yes but to be clear I'm talking about gas chainsaws
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luv me 550xp mk2
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also luv me 542i xp
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Having trouble maintaining my stihl. Because they are expensive, shops charge extra to service them just because they can.
Maybe the blade is blunt, maybe the bar needs dressing, but I can't tell, or work out how well I've done either. Are carbide chains a meme? I figure if you can't sharpen them then you'll end up using them blunt for as long as you'll use them sharp.
Also if you overheat a bar and it blues, Is the bar useless? I imagine it would just harden the metal
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Got a stihl yard boss, their smallest model.
Despite being less powerful, I find that just means that it takes longer to cut large logs rather then being incapable of doing so. I've cut hardwood which was more then a foot across. Possible unsafe, not ideal, but I'll just put it out there that the saw cost less than calling a tradesman out to remove a fallen tree, so i got my money back on the first day I bought it.
And because it's very light, even with a larger chainsaw, I think you'd still find yourself picking up the small one half the time because you just didn't need more power.
Also the sawzall is very powerful and given how thin the blades are they may far neater, faster cuts. The blades tend to bend if you abuse them but an electric sawzall with a wood saw blade is an entirely legitimate choice for garden use and pruning. Because you can also sterilise the blade
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>>2943151
I never understood these kinds of operations, it just doesn't make sense.
Because as you identified yourself the cost and difficulty maintaining chains outweighs any benefit you might get.
For almost all applications you want a band saw, that's what they are for. They weigh very little and are typically diesel electric. I think you can get gas ones. I would chainsaw two boards simply to build a chute to install the band saw on, and band saw every subsequent board.
And felled timber typically needs to be watered and aged for weeks or it will just split and warp. So unless your boards are for some kind of temporary construction, again, your actual logging station, it just don't get it.
This is the type of equipment you always hire, so you fell your wood, haul it into the open, then when it's ready you hire a trailer mounted band saw for the weekend.
Think of how many boards worth of wood you're losing simply to the width of the chainsaw blade, and what the inability to set depth means. Because there's a pattern you cut boards to in order to maximise the usable amount of timber. If you cut cut straight through in one direction you will loose half the value of the wood to boards which are too thin, too narrow. Not to mention issues with the heartwood drying at a different rate and again, just splitting the boards.
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>>2947470
get one of those cheapshit electric sharpeners you bolt on table and grab couple extra chains
makes life so much easier to just slap new fresh chain than starting to file those shits in the woods
and remember to file your rakers too
>inb4 hurr git gut ur ruin ur chains
don't care i just buy cheap shit chains
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>>2938094
Nah get fucked. The electric chainsaws have very little power, the batteries drain faster than you can recharge them, they're very heavy relative to their power and most of the cost is in the proprietary batteries.
They're bathtub curb junk, you spend $800 and in two years your chainsaw is worth $300, and in four years it's obsolete and you have to buy knock off Chinese batteries.
The only thing I recommend in electric is high RPM non impact tools. Or tools that need to be really compact. Crimpers, turf cutters, maybe domestic line trimmers
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>>2947510
I don't buy it.
The first issue is how much timber you need, because you don't need much before it becomes worth hiring a band saw. But then you'd still need quiet a lot before it was worth fucking around with a chainsaw based mill. It's a really odd amount of timber.
And then in terms of remoteness, the reliability of your machinery becomes a huge deal, and how remote are we talking when you can't get 2by4 in with a pick-up? I think you'd still just sell logs to a mill and buy the milled timber.
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>>2947764
People say this, especially online, i don't buy it.
Last week I was working with a Milawakie electric chainsaw, a fairly high end model. Couldn't even work for an hour without it running out of battery, was going through batteries faster than I could charge them. With a gas saw, for $40 you buy a jerry can of fuel and can go all day. How many batteries do you need to buy to achieve that? This is precisely why builders use compressed air, it's just not feasible to charge that many batteries on site at once, let alone carry them /out/.
And in terms of power, no contest. My shittiest gas saw is twice as fast as the most expensive electric.
Initially, what conceals the difference is that electric chainsaws often come with new carbine blades, cut into odd blade profiles, and the electric ones never see many hours. They're usually too new to suffer bar and chain wear, engine issues. But you put a hundred hours on an electric, suddenly you get the same issues as the gas saw. And my shittiest gas saw was only $200 and has cut down two foot hardwood trees. Not recommended, but if you're willing to abuse it, yes it has that ability.
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>>2947766
There's a numerical issues here, number of planks/ number of miles. Even in Alaska if I needed that many planks I'd still get a band saw, and a big part of that is reliability and the cost of blades.
The only thing I'd build with a chainsaw mill is a loggers cabin, simply to set up a band saw in the next season when the plantation was clear for logging. Maybe a boat pier, frontier buildings.
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>>2947770
I do a fair bit of farm building, mostly pole side barns, gates, fences, animal enclosures. And yes, I do that mostly with a chainsaw or a sawzall.
So knowing that, even having the chainsaw there in my hand, I still don't find myself cutting boards, and if I did I'd probably need so many that I still wouldn't waste time and materials trying to do that with by petrol saw.
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>>2947471
yeah a sawzall is so fucking handy i took down a tree that was growing too close to my girlfriends garage it had an old chainlink fence embedded in it so i topped it with the chainsaw and sawzalled the trunk with the fence no prob
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>>2947781
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>>2947769
Do you know how expensive and labor intensive it is to transport large machinery in the middle of nowhere? A large seaplane or cargo heli might be your only options. And first you need to bring in atv + trailer or snowmobile + sledge and build a trail for it. Then imagine that its not even your own saw and you need to take it back. Using a chainsaw mill starts to sound reasonable pretty fast if you dont live out there permanently and need all that shit anyways.
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>>2947790
Initially I thought using a sawzall on a tree was clown tier, but no. The blade is for times thunner then a chainsaw chain, costs ten times less, and it's ten times more powerful than a wood saw.
Sure it's limited in what it can do, but It makes clean cuts so I use mine for orchard pruning
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>>2947804
But are we talking about the 1% use case of a deep Alaska frontier expedition?
I'm saying the chainsaw mill is stupid because the number of boards needed by anyone using them, it's worth getting the mill. You lose much less wood, it's more fuel efficient, the blades are cheaper and easier to sharpen. The band saw exists for milling, the chainsaw exists for felling.
And in terms of remote, well if you can get a Jeep in, it's not really remote enough to support the LARP vision of cabin building. Drive as close as possible, pack the mill in like a howitzer. If it's taking you two years to build a cabin, you'd regret trying to do it with a chainsaw mill in about a month.
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Any tips on carb tuning without a tach? I have an 026 and a 440 that are new to me.
I use a 550 Mk2 and a 462 at work and even going back a few years I've not had to deal with anything that wasn't some kind out auto-tune, except an 880 but and old timer looks after that one.
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>Husqvarna 550 XPG Mk 2 with a 13" blade
specifically bought the XPG because of the heated handle bars, in -20C it makes a world of difference
13" bar because i dont need more
mostly cut birch, rowan, aspen, fir, and pine
sometimes a smaller oak tree or other various leaf trees get the saw
it just works, and works well for all my needs
considering to buy an electric husqvarna at some point, 542i xpg or something idk
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>>2935829
I got a professional Stihl, but the constant bullshit with fuel, oil, maintenance, etc. annoys me greatly. I got a cheap Daewoo electrical chainsaw and it works great for small stuff around the yard - plug in, do your stuff, no bullshit.
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>>2951731
>fuel
Mixing fuel is a nothingburger.
>oil
You need to fill your electric with that too
>maintenance
With how much you sound like you use it the only maint you'd need to be doing yearly on that pro Stihl is sharpening and dressing the bar, both things any chainsaw will need.
Modern professional quality chainsaws require fuck all maintenance for how much work they do, they are impressively robust and reliable and long-lived.
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>>2951733
Same, in Australia/Europe they're rebranded to Stanley Fatmax v20, I bought pic related to chop up fallen gumtree branches no worries, I just bought the brushless pole saw too and was surprised at how easy it chomps through 8 inch thick branches, they're more than fine for home use.
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Not strictly related, but would an electric chainsaw be a good candidate for a janky e-bike conversion? I figure if it has enough speed/torque to saw through wood, it should be able to gently help move my fat ass after some gearing, right?
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>>2951849
It would be a very involved operation, mostly because of the gearing. And it would be obnoxiously loud, and the bike wouldn't handle it in terms of traction, braking, balance etc. The ebike exists for a reason.
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ECHO DCS-5000
unironically this electric chainsaw is solid as a car trunk piece.
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>>2935829
new efagget saw day
hopefully itll eat with the 6ho batts enough to limb up a couple 40ft leyland cypress weeds
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I'm such a retard for buying one of these instead of the 251c by trusting retarded boomers on chainsaw forums
>save 1 pound in exchange for spending 30 minutes every time you need to start it manually clearing it because it floods every fucking time you try to start it without fail
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>>2955345
>has to withstand vibration
>has to withstand friction
>exclusively used in filthy conditions
>fine sawdust + oil sludge blocks everything
>chain requires proper tensioning and sharpening but retards don't take this into account and when something fails, they blame the machine and not themselves
>said retards cold start them and use them all day after weeks or months of zero use or maintenance
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>>2955372
>retards cold start them and use them all day after weeks or months of zero use or maintenance
Nobody heats up small engines, they heat up so quick and theres no coolant system to heat up and expand the cylinders. Anything beyond a minute or two to secure your PPE is silly and a waste.
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best saw i have ever owned. dunno why boomers are so afraid of ecarbs when they swap their shit out with chinese carbs all the fucking time.
5 years going and this thing is a beast with a 25inch bar.
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my saw stopped working properly today.
it stopped cutting well, didn't have that slight pull when you went to cut, and i was having to force it through wood. kind of just bounces off the bark until you applied pressure. i was also seeing the occasional spark while cutting coming from mid bar area. the chain was also getting very loose after running it WOT for 30 seconds or so, but tightened back up within 20 seconds of rest. it's like it's overheating the chain/bar but i can't figure out where or why.
the chain is sharp. i thought the bar might be bent or the chain guides were fucked, but the bar is straight and all the guides look fine. front sprocket spins fine too. i'm gonna try it with a different bar and chain tomorrow, but i can't figure out what is wrong with it =(
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>>2956274
your chains fucked despite what youve told yourself
t. seen a couple fucked chains in my day
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>>2956446
you find the broken component and replace it.
you get a whole new board from china for 3 bucks.
you desolder the broken component and put a new one on.
you write new firmware to it.
you design a new pcb and have it made for like 5 bucks
git boomer
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>>2956761
my favorite is when you accidentally fill the tank 1% too much and it feels like the lid latched but surprisepikachu on the first pull it pops off and dumps the entire tank on the ground. its like i can feel some shithead hans engineer laughing in the distance
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>>2935829
Jonsered 2165. Great old saw
Stihl 250. Perfect saw. Use it the most. Bullet proof.
Stihl 271. Farm boss. Love it. But prefer the 250.
Stihl 170. Just do limb work with the little guy.
Replaced limb work with the electric Stihl. God it’s sweet.
Stihl pole saw for high stuff. Been a pain in the ass honestly. But it’s still nice to reach up high.
Husky 395. The big old bitch. God I love it. But holy hell that big bitch gets heavy swinging her around too long.
Have a few others also. Don’t remember what they are. Old McCullough etc.
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>>2957687
it won't spit oil. i know how to sharpen a chain with my 3.5 inch cock. the chain is sharp but it won't send oil off the end of the bar. i'm convinced it's an oiling problem. i just took the clutch off and cleaned a bunch of shit out of the pump. i'll spin it up tomorrow and see if that works.
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>>2957733
i bought one of those professional grade power heads with a power broom for my work a few years ago that i ended up keeping. shits a beast. i always recommend echo's to people, but those professional grade power heads are amazing.
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>>2957926
My Echo served me well but after my shoulder replacement it hangs on the wall with my other gassers and I use electrics which I can just grab and go.
Gassers are best for firewood production, logging etc where the money they make or save makes convenience irrelevant. For homeowners electrics are ample these days, especially if fitted witht the shortest acceptable bar and chain for least parasitic drag. If one fells few large trees and is in no hurry electrics can handle that too. They're great for limbing and other arborist work.
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I have an issue with a husky 40, when you pull on the chord it sometimes seizes partway through and it hurts my hand. The chainsaw also doesn’t start. It has had some issues like this and I thought I fixed it but it came back after a bit of use. Is has also been run without a filter on the carb air intake, so maybe dust got in?
If so, any tutorials on how to clean a carb, got no idea how they actually work besides they mix air and fuel.
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How do you guys store your tools for long periods of non-use during the winter.
I heard to either empty the fuel mix completely and run it empty, but some say it dries the gaskets.
Vs putting something like premix fuel without ethanol in them.
What about the bar oil?
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>>2947510
>>2947769
My buddy and his dad set up a band-saw mill 5 hours up a river in the middle of nowhere AK to build their cabin with. You can move equipment. Hauled the logs 5 miles down the river in the winter when it froze over.
>>2947804
Take it apart. Unless it's truly air access only, transport in pieces and reassemble. This is, evidently, lost knowledge from 100 years ago.
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>>2958410
Actually, I take it back. You especially want to haul in a band mill in pieces if you're air-access only. The up-front freight cost is going to save you a lot of operational freight expense for fuel and food. Then again, if you're building a property that remote and don't have your own plane money is already less of a concern. But if it's flat-bottom or ATV accessible? DISASSEMBLE, HAUL, REASSEMBLE.
As far as >>2947804 goes, if you're looking at milling with a chainsaw you're not looking at a large bandsaw. The biggest pieces, dimensionally, are the roller assembly. The labor spent moving and assembling with pay for itself in saved labor during use.
love from Alaskastan
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>>2935829
This cheapass $120 made in New Zealand chainy. Did well over 150 trees before I made a mistake and a rebound bent the bar like a banana.
Threw a pro bar on it and a pro chain and it is absolutely demolishing anything I throw at it. Went through a bunch of Cheese Trees like a hot knife through butter. Running it pretty lean but it's already cut like 10 tonnes of wood.
>>2959724
Watch a YouTube video and get a chain with low kickback. It's basically never ever get sloppy or lazy. As you buck more and more you tend to start 'sloshing' your steps or swinging the machine more lazily. Take a break and always respect the fact this thing can kill you or wound you for life instantly.
>>2956770
Ugh been there. Still got a massive bar oil stain on the front path. Such a waste of oil...
>>2955344
Run it more lean. That's always the problem. These things run way too rich out the warehouse. Run it leaner and it'll always start. Rule 1.
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>>2935829
My big boy chainsaw is a Husky 460 Rancher.
Haven't had much time to use it yet, but I have so much I need to use it for ... just haven't gotten around to it.
I've also got a cheap-ass plug-in harbor freight chainsaw with the built in sharpener. Real handy for chopping stuff in the immediate vicinity of the house.
>>2938094
I've got a Ryobi chainsaw from my inlaws when they downsized to a condo. I was pleasantly surprised how well it works.
>>2938171
Leaf blowers have got to be the worst thing to operate on battery, they fucking MURDER batteries like a serial killer.
Paradoxically you can run a ryobi chainsaw for a shocking amount of time off a single 40v battery. The backpack doesn't even seem necessary.
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>>2959857
I bought a 6.0ah battery and a brushless blower and it still eats through the 3 bars of battery in 5 minutes flat, I doubt the 9.0ah would fare much better
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Finally got my Poulan running today after a year of messing with it. Turned out adjusting ignition coil position and blowing through gas inlet on the carb is what it needed. After throttle and L H adjustments (no clue what L & H knobs do) it's running fine. Finally got a dying tree down by my firepit.
>>2939969
Just had the pull rope on an echo break on me, also today. Had to re-tie it shorter.
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>>2935829
Echo 320, about 1986 vintage. Two of them. Its a construction site saw, not a lumber jack's.
Pro tip: with two same model saws you can "establish" as they say in magic biz with one with a chain on bar and show how it rips through wood, etc.
Then with sleigh of hand you bring out the other with not chain, but it looks and sounds 98% same when running full blast, blowing smoke, etc and you jam that into your buddy's crotch to give him a little scare. :)
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I've only used Stihls and they've never let me down, under any conditions and for hundreds of difficult trees. Just don't get the ones with the auto adjusting carburetor if you're going to be significantly changing elevation during the day, not like it's hard to do a quick adjustment manually. Aside from those ones, great and reliable saw
I think Huskys (Husqvarna) are the SnapOn of chainsaws. They're pretty good, but you're also paying extra for the brand name
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>>2961590
Are you geriatric and have your house that warm because you're about to die and the flames of hell are making you think sunny and 60 weather is too cold?
You're such a doofus you think me already knowing 90 is hot and nobody [sane] heats their house to 90 even persons like myself that does have a wood fire stove.
Fascinating behavior.
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>>2961648
>Stuttgart is not the US.
Ackchyually...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/83372564@N00/2822012735
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>>2961698
made in USA vs German original
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>>2961733
>bought a tool at a discount
>excited about getting new tool at significant discount
>he must be a boomer with an unhealthy obsession with money!
Hey man, if you don't think think saving hundreds on a tool you've wanted or needed to complete a job just go ahead and hand out $100 bills to people who do.
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>>2959829
interesting
is dabbling in cheapo saws something worth dabbling in for milling large logs i'm guessing you just chopped it all up for firewood but i don't understand why you can't use a small chainsaw to slice comfy 1ft x 1ft beams out of giant logs cake cutting style going slowly or making two passes at log for a board from either side i mean people used to mill logs by hand a weak chainsaw is still a big step up
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>>2961182
You can get a plastic handle fiskars for like $150 now, and if you're carrying it around, that's a lot of value.
I've never purchased a wooden axe, I just buy an old axe bit and handle it myself. There are a thousand good axe heads just sitting around because the handle broke.
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For storm cleanup and general disaster preparedness in the northeast US with a budget of under $500 or so, what's the best saw to get?
Looking at used Echo and new Holzfforma, it looks like I could get a 70-something cc Holzfforma but only a 50-something CC Echo. It also looks like there's more Stihl dealers near me than Husqvarna and Echo, would they even work on a clone though?
Or should I look at something else entirely? I just have an old random corded Craftsman right now, which obviously has a lot of limitations.
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>>2963644
Stihl dealers will not work on a clone. Lots won't even sell you parts for them.
It's worth it to take your time and watch for a good deal. Unless you are dealing with a lot of very large trees the 50-60cc saws are good. Sharp chain and good technique are better than raw horsepower any day.
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>>2935829
Dewalt 20 volt.
Had the 60 volt but batteries shit the bed and I haven't gotten around to fixing them.
Have used the 20 volt for 10 years now and have used it to cut 90% of the wood I use to heat my home in Northern Saskatchewan.
It's slower, but it's super light and amazingly quiet, which is the main appeal for me.
And the 60 volt batteries from temu work awesome, giving me 15 minutes each of bucking dry spruce and pine.
Picrel slats from local mill you could pick up by the trailer load for free.
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>>2964146
>slats from local mill you could pick up by the trailer load
i have a guy right down the road from me who runs a mill in his yard. he has a massive pile he lets anyone take from. makes kindling a no brainer, and really spoils you when getting a fire going. you just load it up with soft wood. no skill required.
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>>2964230
Some of these things are too big to go in the fire place, between that and the half poles and giant fence post discards it's quite the collection to give away.
Ready of the wood is brush piles local farmers have piled up and let me pick the wood out of as it drys. Have only had to pick the forest for 2 years.
Pretty fortunate, but that why I moved here.
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>be me
>weatheskank squeals about impending mega wind event
>get all the saws checked out and gassed up ready to go
>12mph breeze that couldnt knock a sick whore off the piss pot
>teehee guess our weather model was wrong
>disappointedbackwoodsbrushapenoises.mp3
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>>2956812
nah we dont have ethanol
its not a massive issue to clear it but it holy fuck is it annoying when you just have a little job to do which should take 5 minutes of sawing but you spend more time fiddlefucking with it just to get it to run
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>>2967364
a few years ago i bought my old pops a factory refurb worx corded electric saw for sub $30 off egay for little shit like that and hes beat it like the village hog and it just keeps ticking. like uses it to excavate roots out if the dirt running $8 chink chains. never put bar oil in it. runs the chain guitar string tight. totally dilligaf. 10/10 would buy again
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Just bought a FuxTec KS262, with a 62ccm engine and a 20 guide bar. My first real gas powered big boy saw.
After I bought it I discovered that those saws apparently like to destroy their own pistons due to overheating because they have a catalytic converter in their muffler. Just ordered a high-flow aftermarket muffler without catalytic converter, and when it arrives I will give it a proper test run. I dont mind much because I got that saw brand new, with three years extended warranty for like 115€.
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>>2935829
i have Stihl 661 with a 36" bar. I live in q country where you basically never newd anything other than 13" on a 2HP machine, except on my own fucking lawn which i think is a piece of america moved by helicopter. i love how brutally large it is but i hate how brutally large it is.
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My father was a logger and an arborist and never didn't use stihls.
I was so fucking sick of chainsaw exhaust and earpro that when I started camping 10-15 times a year in cold weather as an adult I made him spin in his grave by getting a battery-powered chainsaw. Lowes house brand, can't remember what it is.
But it's QUIET and it doesn't reek. I'm sorry pops.
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I'm afraid to use a chainsaw because I don't know if I fully understand the dangers yet. I get how kickback works. It happens when the tip hits something and there's not enough cutting at the sides. And I get that you should never stand infront of the blade because if it breaks it will fly out and mangle them. What else?
I'm gonna have to learn eventually
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>>2971806
That's the one.
The batteries deplete fairly quickly but I never do any heavy cutting, just enough for firewood for a few days. It's almost 10 years old, and besides adding bar oil and sharpening the chain it's been zero maintenance.
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i wish chang would quit knocking off stupid antikickback fag chain. ever one of the cheapies i get has to be desafetyfied on the belt grinder before itll cut worth a fuck
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