one and only one

[Bigfoot62]

I have three Stihls: 011, 024, and 046Magnum and I purchased them in that order.
If I had to pick one, I'd take the 046 every time. I use the smaller saws because I have them, not because I need them.

As far as bar length, I tend to use longer bars than most people, because I don't like to stoop over. I have a 18" on the 011, a 24" on the 024, and a 28" on the 046.

 

[Jbbies]

I have a 20 year old Stihl 036 runs like a champ. No need to replace it yet.

 

[Furu]

My Stihl 460 is one nice machine that I would not want to give up. However the old tried and true 026 had been running for over 20 years and I would not want to see it go either. Don't make me decide!

 

[MBTRAC]

I checked the archives for this question but could only go through two pages before I lost patience. This is a hard question for all of us chainsaw junkies. I have owned and sold a bunch of chainsaws stemming from my professional days and then from my chainsaw addiction days but I asked myself this question the other day when I was using my old and trusty 257 with a MM. For all of us guys cutting 5 to 10 cords per year: If you had to own just one chainsaw and it had to do all your duties from felling,bucking, limb removal etc, what would it be.?Let me start out by saying this is an impossible question for me to answer. No one felling and cutting should own just one chainsaw even for safeties sake where one chainsaw gets stuck and needs to be rescued with another. Lets just say the chainsaw you would always grab first and use for the entire harvesting process whether you were taking down and cutting up an 8"- 24" tree to limbing these babies and slicing rounds from them.

With c.35yr+ professional rural chainsaw use & logging experience, like most I have favourite saws & if it had to be one saw only I'd go fo a McCulloch PM850 or at a pinch if I was younger/fitter a PM1000.
I actually learnt on, used & earnt many $$$$'s from a Mc PM850 as my only saw when I kicked off earning an extra $ from timber at 15 on my own, everything from felling, bucking, splitting posts & fencing - an unbelieveable saw in their day & the PM850/1000's still give any modern saw a run for their money.
Unfortunately the US McCulloch PM850's/1000's became extinct in the early 80's, but then I'm not quite as fit as in the late 70's/80's to operate a c.10kgs/20lbs saw all day long...but I still have kept a few in running order for special occassions like the PM1000 as below..........This Mc & I continue to win a few "bets/challenges" against those who naively place their faith/back with $'s their modern gear in matched timber cutting races - the Mc cuts faster, longer (with a much larger fuel & oil tank), louder & with arguably more power/cc than any equal cc production saw on the market for the past 15 or so yrs....& if you want to ramp up the hp considerably just add a power pipe...

 

[Scooby074]

Im loving my 562xp. It just seems to get better and better with each tank. I know I need better chain, so a RSC is in my future. I cant wait to see how well it performs with decent chain. Oh and maybe a 20" bar to save the back.

 

[LD1]

I've got the old 346 w/o the compression release. It simply screams but not torquey enough to bury. I'm wondering if the new 550 wouldn't fit perfectly into my "one saw" criteria. How is it no one has mentioned the Dolmar 5105? LD1 mustn't have seen this thread.

Yea, I'm a little late.

I rarely check the chainsaw forum. I usually just click "today's posts" and if Its not on the first page......

Anyway, for ME, a one saw plan would be a 7900. BTU. Until about 5 years ago, I was just a one saw guy and that was it. With a 24" bar, limbing was surprisingly easy. Lotsa reach and not much bending over.:thumbsup:

However, for someone that doesnt cut ALOT of firewood, a good all-around saw is the 5105. But for me, its just too small. Heck, thats the size of my smallest saws, the 115i and 540, and I couldnt imagine either one of them being my only saw.:confused2:

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Shoot I guess if I had to pick one which is hard but it would be a Husky 346XP. Although having it hang off my hip climbing up and down a tree would be a little tougher as I get older. My top handle Husky with a 16" bar by far has the most hours since it is light and strong for limbs or bucking.

 

[Lou66]

I like the Husqvarna 240e but wouldn't mind having a Poulan PP3516AVX but on second thought the Solo 636 is a fine cutter just like the John Deere CS36LE but you can't go wrong with Stihl MS 210 C-BE or the McCulloch MCC1635AK okay the Echo CS-370 would be my first choice I think maybe.. Lou

 

[stormpetrel]

Well, I only have one saw!! I sold my 445xtorq to buy a 550XP, which I MMed before I ever fired it up. It cuts for hours on a tank, (well, except in BIG stuff like 30" cherry!) so I'm not getting it broken in as fast as I'd like. The difference between the 445 and the 550 is indescribable; the 550 goes at the wood like it has a killer instinct, and it the throttle response is getting almost unbelievably quick. Sometimes it revs scary-high in the cut, and cutting wood is twice as quick, and three times as fun as it used to be. I'm using the saw every day, and my wood pile is growing big!! I don't have a lot of big trees to take down, so the 18" bar works fine for me. The balance is perfect. And in a pinch I can easily get through 20"+ wood.

I would really love to get a 562/372/576...I mean REALLY. But the $$ just isn't there. I'm waiting for the saw to break in fully to see whether I should have it ported and polished with the aim of having mid-60cc performance in a 10 pound package....because it looks like I'm just gonna have this one saw. (that thought makes me wonder what kind of luck people have been having w/ported 550s.)

 

[groundcover]

Another thumbs up to the 562xp, as it breaks in and you get used to it you don't even realize what a performer it is till it runs out of fuel and you grab your old saw to finish up and think boy I could chew through this faster !

 

[Ken]

The New edition 346xp (50cc) as some decent torque for a high rpm screamer. But you're right, the old edition 346xp (45cc) isn't very torquey. I learned to let the saw cut at the rate it wanted. Worked great for 9 years! Then I learned about porting saws and all **** broke lose!

I ported the old 346, bought and ported a 357xp, had Stumpy build me a ported 75cc 365, bought and ported a 359 (very good saw there). My only stock saws now are the newer 346xp and the 562xp. The 562 does not need any mods, it's perfect as is! Husky did a jam up job here. I still use the stock 346xp as is and it does a fine job.

Now for the 550xp, I have heard it has gobs more torque than the 346 it replaced. Several of the saw nuts that have run a 550 say it doesn't need porting, but a MM makes it even stronger. One guy said it cuts like a strong 60cc, but in a 40cc size package. I'll probably have to get one at some point.

I don't normally read this forum but the need for a better chain than standard Sthil 20" brought me to reading this.
My question is the porting the engine. Is this enlarging the exhaust port or intake port. or am I reading into the something else is done.
My Sthil runs good just wondering.

And is the standred Sthil 20" chain about as good as any other.
ken

 

[arrow]

I don't normally read this forum but the need for a better chain than standard Sthil 20" brought me to reading this.
My question is the porting the engine. Is this enlarging the exhaust port or intake port. or am I reading into the something else is done.
My Sthil runs good just wondering.

And is the standred Sthil 20" chain about as good as any other.
ken

Ken. there are 3 areas a chainsaw can be ported (enlarged). Intake port, exhaust port and transfer ports. Usually a "woods" port is the enlarging and/or matching the exhaust muffler port and then maybe a polishing of the sides. Racing ports do all of the ports plus they might deck the head for more compression (a great way to make any 318 come alive by the way). There is a general consensus that Sthil makes the best chains of all. I know my best chains have been Sthil.

 

[LD1]

Porting is for the advanced person only IMO. Lots to screw up and be worse off than before.

There is a whole science to it, and I suggest you do a search and read. There is literally days worth of reading on the subject. But there is meoe than just hogging out and making the port bigger. Its about WHERE to make it bigger. Unlike a a 4-stroke engine, the "timing" is controlled by the port location. If you mess with the top or bottom of the port in "making it bigger" you basically just changed the timing and duration of the intake and exhaust functions.

And it would help by telling us what saw you have to work with.

 

[arrow]

We/ve gotten a bunch of preferences. I am glad Echo got represented. I guess a light chainsaw with a large power band is probably the most popular type. I remember how thrilled I was to get a hold of Husky's first anti vibe saw in 1970. I bought 3 180's and was tickled pink. Ironically we have not come too far tech wise in the last 40 years. Chainsaws have been made mostly lighter and higher revving. Not until now where Husky has innovated once more and brought us small saws that act as large ones. How they hold up professionally remains to be seen but they are something. If I were buying one all arounder tomorrow, I'd go with the Husky 550 with an 18" bar. I'd keep the 372 with a 24" bar and a carbide tipped chain for stumping and larger stuff. If I wanted a larger and smaller combo and buying new, I'd pick the 365 and the 550. For the money, the 365 is a ton of chainsaw.

 

[Tollster]

I was going to match port the exhaust on my 550 using machinist bluing, but decided to leave well enough alone. It was just a matter off bluing the muffler flange, bolting it up for the bluing transfer to the exhaust flange coming off the head, then using a dermal burr to remove the unblued material closest to the exhaust tract. You can do this for the intake side as well.
Polishing the interior of the intake tract with various grits and rouge has always been up in the air and has two sides to each story. One claim is it increases flow, like a smooth bottom creek bed versus a rocky one, the other side of the story is, less atomization of the fuel/air mixture due to the smooth surface.
I did my Fatboy intake and added a 220 grit swirl pattern using the dermal with the flapping wheel. Could not tell a difference due to all the other mods I did at the same time.
Typically exhaust and intake mods offer the biggest HP and Torque gains for the least amount of money, however, nothing talks like cubic inches, everything else just optimizes whats already there.

 

[RobertN]

I think... my Husky is a 1100CD or 2100CD from the early 70's. It does not have a chainbrake, so maybe earlier 99cc 1100CD. It runs and cuts great.

I remember how thrilled I was to get a hold of Husky's first anti vibe saw in 1970. I bought 3 180's and was tickled pink. Ironically we have not come too far tech wise in the last 40 years.

 

[Scooby074]

Another thumbs up to the 562xp, as it breaks in and you get used to it you don't even realize what a performer it is till it runs out of fuel and you grab your old saw to finish up and think boy I could chew through this faster !

This!!

Ive been running the new saw exclusively lately, but I had to fire up the old 51 because it was handy... literally nite and day difference. You really do get spoiled.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

RobertN that looks like my 2100 that has had the muffler mods. It is a beast for cutting. I run a 36" or 28" bar with no problems

 

[arrow]

nothing talks like cubic inches, .

Actually something does…its called rpms. A Formula 1 race car carries about a 2.4 liter motor making about 780 hp. They also have about an 18,000 rpm redline.
I have never noticed great gains by polishing in any of the auto engines I was around and built.

 

[Bluegill2]

I don't normally read this forum but the need for a better chain than standard Sthil 20" brought me to reading this.
My question is the porting the engine. Is this enlarging the exhaust port or intake port. or am I reading into the something else is done.
My Sthil runs good just wondering.

And is the standred Sthil 20" chain about as good as any other.
ken

Like said, porting can make or break a saw. I did a bunch or reading on another chainsaw site before I did any porting. I decided to play it safe and just widen the intake and exhaust ports and drop the base gasket for a bit higher compression. I got some decent gains. The guys doing the best work, are cutting the squish band and base of the cylinder for higher comp and changing the port timing, along with opening up all the ports, opening up the muffler and sometimes going with a larger carb.

Stihl makes a lot of different chain, so I can't answer your chain question. I use RSC chisel and RMC semi chisel both yellow non-safety chain. I like semi best of all for my conditions.