Husk Rancher 455

[Lloyd_E]

Bought a new 455 a month ago. Now putting it through the trial period. This saw with the 18 inch bar is amazing for its price point($399.95). I moved up from a stihl 025 - have 2. I am chunking jack pine up to 32-36 inches. I chunked 11-13 cords of wood over a two day period. It never powered down and worked great. Just starting to split it now. The challenge is getting the large chunks on the splitter. I used a ramp the other day which worked ok. The splitter is home made and we have to do some maintenance this winter. My buddy and I built it about 7 years ago... we have run about 60 cord through it so far. I suggested to him the other day that we rebuild it so that it can tilt vertically...

The stihls will be used for limbing etc. There are both goods saws but I am pushing the limit in terms of being able to chunk large stuff - 28 inches+.

Later...

 

[CTPhil]

I've had my 455 for a few years now, no problems at all, very reliable for me.

 

[Lloyd_E]

CT,

Glad to hear...

I estimated roughly between 10-12 cords of wood. I hauled home a full 13'x6'x2' load on my landscape trailer which is about 1.25 cords. Barely put a dent in the pile. So I am thinking it might be close to 15-18 cords... The picture shows about a third of the wood pile. It extends another 15 to 20 feet to the left of frame.

 

[Kyle241]

Another :thumbsup: for the 455. All round good saw, lightweight and easier than my big Stihl.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Photo didn't load...

 

[ttstpsvernon]

I have a Husky 455 Rancher also it is an awesome machine with a 20" bar and it likes to work a lot harder than i do. I did find that they have two differeent air filters for it, a summer one and a winter one. The summer one will work in the winter but it takes longer for it to warm up and power properly however the winter one will never run right in the summer or above 50-60 degrees out. Just an fyi if anyone has a won't start or stay running problem.

 

[xyz123]

The winter filters I have for stihl and husky saws are mesh screen which allow the saw to breath better.
If your 455 uses the same type winter filter and wont run right in summer with it you need a carb tuning. JMO.

I have used a winter filter in summer conditions depending on wood being cut.

 

[IndyIan]

What I do with stuff to big to lift is either split it with a maul if the grain is straight, or just rip the piece in two with the saw. Going parallel to the grain is quite fast and I'd rather wear out my saw than my back! I did 300+lb rounds of Ash this way, just ripped the ugly hard to split parts, and split the rest with the maul.

 

[arrow]

Affix a sheet of plywood the size you want to your forks. if you wish, you can stand and screw in some two-by's on edge to act as borders. Roll your large rounds onto the plywood. Sidle up to your splitter on the opposite side you stand to split and use the plywood as a staging table to roll the rounds onto the beam of the splitter. If you are close enough, the plywood can also act as a splitter table if you push the large halves onto it to await further splitting. It would be helpful to use either a log hook or picaroon to help drag the rounds to you more easily off the "table".