Need advice on a larger chainsaw for an older guy.

[kenmbz]

When I was a kid in MA their were quite a few lumberjacks around town.
Seeing the larger manual saws, pretty much everyone had one and I got to try one with some of the locals.
Now that's a lot of work!

This would be the mid 70's and a lot of the pros were using mcculloch chain saws. 48" bar.
I could barely lift it off the ground, no less cut anything with it.

 

[dodge man]

On your existing saw, it might have a problem. This was a MS 250 I rebuilt a couple of years ago. The saw ran and still cut wood surprisingly good but wouldn’t idle correctly. Ericm979 from this board helped me with the rebuild. What you are looking at is the exhaust side of the piston. Even though I don’t know how it happened it was most likely run with straight gas. If you pull your muffler you can see any damage through the exhaust port.

 

[5030]

Modern saws are much lighter and have a much better power to weight ratio than earlier saws. I happen to own a Stihl 075 and it's a heavy saw. The MS Magnums produce as much power at a lot less weight. Always wanted an 090G but at my age, probably couldn't lift the powerhead with no bar on it. The 075 is heavy enough. Love that sound. Sounds like a MX bike.

 

[5030]

Never scored a piston from lack of oil. Always a first time however I guess.

 

[MossRoad]

We had one of those when I was a kid. We thought it would be fun and we begged dad to take it with us to get firewood. We were mistaken. I don't think it has been used since then.

My dad had a 4' hand saw with a normal saw handle on 1 end and a buddy peg handle on the toe end. I cut quite a few downed trees with him in our yard. I doubt I was much help, as I was under 10 years old, but still fond memories. That saw is hanging inside my garage in a place of honor right next to the Flexible Flyer sled.

My wife and I hit antique and junk stores fairly often, just for fun. She collects tooth pick holders, and I collect can/bottle openers. But when I see an old, decrepit two-man saw, and the price is right, I grab it. This one was $20. It'll hang on the outside of the garage.

I doubt it could be made useful again. Pretty rusted and pitted. However, all the teeth and rakers are there. None broken, which is rare in a junk store.

 

[John_Mc]

On a side note, it appears there is only one type of chain that will fit my Farm Boss and it is an anti-kickback chain. Both Stihl and Oregon list all of their non anti-kickback blades for that saw as no longer available. It is 0.325 pitch, 0.063 gauge with 81 links. But I know nothing about the various chain types. Maybe you can get different chains by going with a different bar and/or sprocket???

If it's 81 links in a .325" pitch chain, then it would seem you have a 20" bar. If you actually do have a Stihl MS 271, that's a 50cc saw. Others will argue, but in my opinion a 20" bar is too much for that saw. Stihl does say you can run one that long on that saw, and you might get away with it in softwood like pine, especially if you keep a VERY sharp chain and are not burying the saw in 20" of wood. Their recommended bar length for that saw is 16" - wich is exactly what I would be using on that saw.

Both Oregon and Stihl make good chains for use with this saw. I prefer full chisel chains, which give a bit better cutting performance than the "semi" or "micro" chisel (semi chisel chains do tend to last a bit longer when cutting in dirty conditions.) In full chisel, I would suggest using Oregon 22LPX chain (81 links for a 20" bar, that would be 22LPX081G) or Stihl 26RS (81 links would be 26RS81). (Part number links take you to Bailey's. You may be able to find better prices or free shipping from other sources)

If your need to cut larger wood is only occasional, and you want to minimize the weight you need to carry. I'd consider a 60cc pro level saw. Pro saws tend to weigh less and and have a bit more power than the same sized "landowner" or "homeowner" saws. For me, this is a sweet spot in the power vs weight tradeoff (I'm cutting hardwoods in VT, and I don't often have to deal with much more than 24" trees. I might want more power if I were regularly cutting larger trees.) Unfortunately, pro saws also come with a pro-level price. On a 60cc pro saw, you should be able to comfortably run a 20" bar. You could also go longer, but there is nothing wrong with just cutting the logs from more than one side to get through them. Good candidates are the Husqvarna 555 or 562XP or the Stihl MS 362. You might also consider the Echo 620P (or sacrifice a little power and get the significantly lower-price CS-590 Timberwolf). These are heavier than their Stihl or Husqvarna counterparts, but they are still well-made saws. On any of these saws, you probably want to be running a 3/8" pitch chain.

I would only go to a 70cc saw if you don't mind the extra weight and are cutting a lot of larger wood.

 

[N80]

@John_Mc Thank you very much to the links for those chains. I have not been able to find them anywhere else and Stihl lists them as "unavailable" and so did the Oregon site.

Agree that the 20" bar might be too much for the Farm Boss and I think you are right about it being a 271.

My son-in-law and I are going to cut down a large pine this weekend. Well, large by my standards...based on circumference it is about 23" in diameter. He has a larger pro level Stihl. I do not know which model. But, once he fells it I may use his saw to buck it. Will report back on my experience.

I do not think going to an 18" bar on the Farm Boss will solve my issues since I already have an 025 with an 18" bar. However, if I get a bigger saw I might then drop down to 18 on the Farm Boss and 16 on the 025. That would probably help the two smaller saws and give me a more useful range on all three.

 

[yomax4]

Seems like everyone puts one size larger bar on their saws but I do too on my limbing saw only. I sold my Hot 044 mag which caused me to laugh many times as it ate a 24" red oak or 30" green ash with a 24" bar. It was hilarious. I use a muff mod finely tuned 361 with a 20" bar for felling and bucking now days and a muff mod and fine tuned 026 pro with the oversized 20" bar for limbing only. To say the 026 size saw will buck with a 20" bar is crazy to me. Maybe if time is not worth much. My hot 026 pro would love to have it's old 16" bar back for firewood cutting and that day is near as firewood consumption goes down and age goes up. I realize that sometimes it's not the size of the saw it's the size of the chip.

 

[John_Mc]

Sounds like your chain not the saw. Get your chains professionally sharpened. That saw should be good for what you’re doing

You’d be better off to throw it away and get another one. 99 percent of so called saw sharpeners can’t make them even half way decent.

Which is really unfortunate, since hand sharpening a chain well is so easy to learn.

The typical hardware store flunky is NOT a professional chain sharpener. He or she has probably had about 15 minutes of training on their sharpener. They are probably using a grinder, which is the quickest way to ruin a chain in the hands of an untrained user.

Most people, when hand sharpening a chain should use a guide. It is possible to get really good results with just a bare round file. I've met dozens of people who think they can do so. I've met exactly 3 people who actually can get really good results that way. On the other hand, when using any one of several styles of guides, you can get chains that cut better than new out of the box with just a bit of instruction and a moderate amount of practice. (NOTE: there is more to sharpening a chain well than just making it aggressive. An aggresive chain is worthless if it doesn't hold up well.)

 

[kenmbz]

I like having the 24" bar, as others have pointed out, less lean over for bucking.
I don't think I would go to the 27/28 on my saw, even though it is an option.