new saw

[RandyT]

If you were looking at getting a new saw, and have the need for a 24 inch bar with the option of using a 36 when needed to cut off stumps what would you get.

 

[dusty3030]

Don’t know about running a 36” on it but I love my Echo cs620 running a 24”. Great rugged built saw for the money.

 

[5030]

I second that comment. You can buy a Stihl for a lot more jack, but the Echo does the same thing for less and it's a Japanese quailty unit.

You could always buy a refurbished 'junk' chainsaw from XYZ or whatever his screen name is if you want to go super cheap.

 

[5030]

I don't cut off stumps, I grind them.

 

[ericm979]

If you were looking at getting a new saw, and have the need for a 24 inch bar with the option of using a 36 when needed to cut off stumps what would you get.

I have a Stihl MS460 that I usually run a 24" bar on. I have used a 32" bar for large trees. I have a 36" for it but haven't used it. I think 36" would cut slow. The 460 is a pretty healthy 77cc saw so you're probably looking in the 80cc class, like a 500i. Or a 90cc class saw like a 660. The 660s are the best of the Chinese clones of older Stihls and would be useful if you need a 36" bar often. But at least for me, they're overkill for a 24" bar. A 660 weighs a lot more than a 460 and is much harder to start.

On large stumps I cut from all sides, so I don't need a bar that will span the entire trunk. If the bar isn't through the trunk I don't have to worry about the far end that I can't see going into dirt.

 

[5030]

Where my stump grinder excells. I don't worry about sticking loops in the dirt which dulls them immediately and I'm not about to buy a very expensive carbide tipped chain either

Randy, you might want to go to a skip tooth chipper chain that will allow the smaller saw to keep up with the demands.

 

[5030]

Don’t know about running a 36” on it but I love my Echo cs620 running a 24”. Great rugged built saw for the money.

A couple real easy mods will make it run even better. Get rid of the top baffle on the muff but keep the USDA spark arrestor screen and pull the limiter caps and tune it a bit and then replace the caps. Echo from the factory sets them a tad rich.

 

[Hay Dude]

661C/500I

 

[RandyT]

I have a Stihl MS460 that I usually run a 24" bar on. I have used a 32" bar for large trees. I have a 36" for it but haven't used it. I think 36" would cut slow. The 460 is a pretty healthy 77cc saw so you're probably looking in the 80cc class, like a 500i. Or a 90cc class saw like a 660. The 660s are the best of the Chinese clones of older Stihls and would be useful if you need a 36" bar often. But at least for me, they're overkill for a 24" bar. A 660 weighs a lot more than a 460 and is much harder to start.

On large stumps I cut from all sides, so I don't need a bar that will span the entire trunk. If the bar isn't through the trunk I don't have to worry about the far end that I can't see going into dirt.

Sometimes that 36 that we have now won't even span 1/2 the stump and have to to be chunked off just to reach the center piece.

Where my stump grinder excells. I don't worry about sticking loops in the dirt which dulls them immediately and I'm not about to buy a very expensive carbide tipped chain either

Randy, you might want to go to a skip tooth chipper chain that will allow the smaller saw to keep up with the demands.

Stump job I looked at 3 weeks ago included 2 60+ inch stumps that were cut off 6 feet high. and included 3 more stumps from 30-60 inches 6 inches above ground level but the stumps were cut off 2 feet high.

 

[RandyT]

I have a Stihl MS460 that I usually run a 24" bar on. I have used a 32" bar for large trees. I have a 36" for it but haven't used it. I think 36" would cut slow. The 460 is a pretty healthy 77cc saw so you're probably looking in the 80cc class, like a 500i. Or a 90cc class saw like a 660. The 660s are the best of the Chinese clones of older Stihls and would be useful if you need a 36" bar often. But at least for me, they're overkill for a 24" bar. A 660 weighs a lot more than a 460 and is much harder to start.

On large stumps I cut from all sides, so I don't need a bar that will span the entire trunk. If the bar isn't through the trunk I don't have to worry about the far end that I can't see going into dirt.

Bouncing between the 500i and the 661. Which comes down to the 500i is slightly undersized to run a 36 inch effectively, but a 24 inch on a 661 is overkill.

Currently running a older Solo 667 with the 24" and a Solo 694 with the 36" which was actually made by Dolmar as the PS-9010. Both saws have limited parts availibility at this point and any failure basically junks the saw.