Chainsaw selection... ideas?

[dave1949]

I have two smaller ones; a 12 year old Husky, and a three year old Honda 4-stroke. They will do up to about 3" stuff. I use them mostly for heavy grass with a wet grass blade, or heavy string. Use them also for small brush; I mainly stay below 2" stuff.

Thanks for that input RobertN.

I would be using it to go through the woods and cut off sapplings 1"-4" dia. in order to select species, thin crowded stands and to get rid of trees that will never become good saw logs. Doing this gives more soil nutrients, water and crown sunlight to the remaining trees. It can be done with chain saw of course but not as easily.

Dave.

 

[RobertN]

I have the 25cc Husky, and 31cc 4 stroke Honda. Mine work great for primarily weedeating; They have the power, and when used with the shoulder harness, I can go for hours.

I would move up in size to do woods work. I just could not justify the cost for primarily weedeating.

Ya, with a sharp blade on, you can trim saplings down nice and short, and pretty quickly. Even with my smaller hp units, I can go through 2" manzanita pretty easy.

My blades use a standard chainsaw file setup too, for easy sharpening...

Thanks for that input RobertN.

I would be using it to go through the woods and cut off sapplings 1"-4" dia. in order to select species, thin crowded stands and to get rid of trees that will never become good saw logs. Doing this gives more soil nutrients, water and crown sunlight to the remaining trees. It can be done with chain saw of course but not as easily.

Dave.

 

[dave1949]

I have the 25cc Husky, and 31cc 4 stroke Honda. Mine work great for primarily weedeating; They have the power, and when used with the shoulder harness, I can go for hours.

I would move up in size to do woods work. I just could not justify the cost for primarily weedeating.

Ya, with a sharp blade on, you can trim saplings down nice and short, and pretty quickly. Even with my smaller hp units, I can go through 2" manzanita pretty easy.

My blades use a standard chainsaw file setup too, for easy sharpening...

That's good to know. I have seen the round blades with chain saw teeth. The Husky dealer told me they go through sapplings like a weed whipper goes through grass. I thought that might be a bit of an exageration given that he is selling them. But, I believe they would be pretty quick and you are having good results.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[two_bit_score]

If you have a Stihl dealer near you go see him. You will never regret buying a Stihl.

 

[dave1949]

If you have a Stihl dealer near you go see him. You will never regret buying a Stihl.

We have a Husky dealer that focuses on chainsaws, I think he gets most of the professional logger work in the area.

The nearest Stihl dealer is part of a Kubota dealership, I didn't find them too good when I had my 019T Stihl fixed. That saw has something wrong with it. It will kick back against the recoil start the first couple-three pulls, then you can pull it smoothly - it's not a fun saw to start. And what I had fixed was the plastic pawls in the recoil starter, because they can't take that abuse. I explained it to the Stihl mechanic, he tried it and told me it was okay. How can that be?

The third sort are guys who sell snowmobiles, ATV's and chainsaws. For them the saws are more of a sideline I think.

Oh well, Dave.

 

[SilverbackMP]

We use Stihl and Husqvarna saws daily at work, cutting off creosote poles as we change them out and we are pretty rough on saws, both brands have held up well for us through the years, the only thing that I have seen that I don't like is the new gas and oil caps on the Stihl's seem to need replacement far to often, simple screw type gas and oil caps were to simple and evidently they wanted to come up with something better, they failed in my opinion, making the Husqvarna my choice until Stihl gets this straight.

I busted one of these caps--I counted 22 separate components within the caps. However, I still love my Stihl Pro--it gives me that warm and fuzzy quality tool feeling.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I busted one of these caps--I counted 22 separate components within the caps. However, I still love my Stihl Pro--it gives me that warm and fuzzy quality tool feeling.

I agree Stihl makes a top notch saw and I have used them for years, but I dislike the new gas and oil caps because they are so easy to tear up.

 

[milkman]

I've had Huskys for years, first one was a 50, got a chance to sell it so I bought a 141, light easy to handle, after a few years I wanted something with more guts. I've used Stihl and nothing wrong with them, the Huskys just fit my hands better and seemed more balanced. I wanted something light like the 141 so I went with the 346XP, about the same size and weight as the little Husky, but it's all business when it gets after the wood. I've read that the Dolmar 5100S is also a good choice for about a hundred bucks less than the XP, although you won't find another stock 50CC saw that will outcut the New Edition 346XP.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

my first saw was a craftsman/poulan - a dozen years later is still does it's job, although after I got is the antique Stihl 039 at an auction it didn't see as much use.
I also have a Husky 372 - with 32" bar for slabbing logs - with a skip tooth ripping chain, that thing cuts plenty fast.
last is my chainsaw-sawmill. double headed bar with 36" of cutting length powered by a pair of Stihl 076 powerheads. picked this up 3rd hand as well.

so far the most important lesson I've learned is to buy good chain. Carlson will outlast the oregon chains you find at box stores by a wide margin and even a Poulan with a good sharp chain will outcut a Stihl with a dull generic.

as to Dave & his 55cc poulan under $200 - sounds like a great deal to me. won't last as a daily workhorse, but for the occasional cutter should do what you ask of it just fine.

 

[Pilot]

If what you are referring to is a beefy weedeater, I have one, a Homelite that I bought in '91 to clear about 6 acres of old growth Scotch broom, up to 3 inches at the butt and 12 ft. high. It did the job. The best way to use it was to swing the blade into the stem in a hacking motion with the engine at full rpm. With a blade with chainsaw teeth, it would go right thru stems up to 1 1/2 inches without slowing down. Larger stems would take some work and if you cut on the wrong side, as it started to fall it would pinch the blade and stop the saw.

You need good gloves and face protection as it kicks out chips pretty hard and without eye protection you could lose an eye.

But, if you have smaller stuff a Bush Hog on the back of a tractor would be my first choice.