Yeah, for big rounds you really need a big saw. 75-78cc is marginal. I use an 066 with a 28" bar and 404 chain to noodle. Way easier than driving wedges.
I was gonna get one of those cheap Chinese knock offs of the Husky 288. Then I decided against it as the efficacy of these things seem to be hit or miss.
In addition to being a PIA I know someone who developed a hernia when on the ground pushing/pulling a huge round. Never again!
I believe your result, if based on time alone, and given the equipment used in the comparison. But if figuring in fatigue and some different equipment, I think you could still make an argument for noodling.
Yeah, I don’t disagree with that assessment. I don’t have what I used to have as far as equipment having once 20 chainsaws of all different types and sizes and now down to just three, i simply have to make do the best I could with what I had.
Agreed. I bought the 63cc Stihl 036 Pro with a 20" bar years ago, after reading more than once on various forums, that this was the best configuration any firewood cutter could ever want. I found the 20" bar was a bit much for it, when you have it buried past the nose in oak, but I was able to resolve that by installing some big cutting dogs that reduced exposed bar length to about 19". That seems to be about what that displacement can handle, again when burrying the thing into 30" oak rounds.
), and realized 63cc was just too small, and started buying bigger saws. After a few swaps (084, 056 Mag, etc.), I eventually settled on the light and fast 85cc 064 AV as the ideal compliment to the 63cc 036 Pro. It's a winning combo, that I'd probably repeat again if buying today, with an MS 362 + MS 662 (since there's no MS 642).In full disclosure, we kept a 48” barred Husqvarna on one of our skidders for when confronting that lone wolf tree as you describe. So yes, I have cut the fatsoes who had overhanging branches 2’ in diameter.Agreed. I bought the 63cc Stihl 036 Pro with a 20" bar years ago, after reading more than once on various forums, that this was the best configuration any firewood cutter could ever want. I found the 20" bar was a bit much for it, when you have it buried past the nose in oak, but I was able to resolve that by installing some big cutting dogs that reduced exposed bar length to about 19". That seems to be about what that displacement can handle, again when burrying the thing into 30" oak rounds.
Then I started bringing home all this enormous stuff (ever cut a Ø60-inch white oak? I have!
If not dealing with huge stuff, I'd have to say those 63cc saws are indeed the ideal compromise between power and weight, and a great one-saw solution for most. If I ever sell this property and want to keep just one "all around" saw for cutting firewood or yard maintenance, it will probably be my 036.
One of the channels that keeps popping up in my YouTube feed is TreeBeing, a tough but cute young blonde who makes her living as a feller in redwood country, but yeah I've also seen the showes like Axe Men where nearly all felling is done by feller bunchers and other machinery.
It's not that difficult. Generally they will limb it somewhst with thd saw head before cutting. Sometimes 2 cuts are needed.
I wonder how old that grand lady was?One of the channels that keeps popping up in my YouTube feed is TreeBeing, a tough but cute young blonde who makes her living as a feller in redwood country, but yeah I've also seen the showes like Axe Men where nearly all felling is done by feller bunchers and other machinery.
It seems the machinery is the economical way to go, when dealing with stands of timber up to maybe 18" or 24" diameter. But when dealing with real big stuff like redwoods, it's still all old-skool manual.
And yes, I've dropped plenty of 40" diameter trees, more than I can remember. But the 60" white oak I mentioned above was dropped for me by Hurricane Sandy. It broke off about 15 or 20 feet above the ground, and 59 inches was the diameter that high up! I did cut the remainder off the stump, even though it was mostly hollow inside down there, and the stump was big enough to park a Smart car on it.
This looks like the head that the feller had when doing my trees. It would cut a 14" pine in an instant...amazing.
The church goes back to the early 1700's, but the oldest mention I found specifically of that tree was something like 1850's. It stood over their picnic grove, and there was something in the meeting minutes from their annual summer festival about meeting under that tree. In fact, from that date (1858?) forward, the annual meeting was always under that tree.
