The chainsaw thread...

[Viva]

One can never have too many chainsaws! However, having just a 50cc and a 60cc seems like a lot of overlap. You could probably use either one for the same job. Maybe get the 60cc and sell/trade the 50cc for something in the 35-45cc range? That would give you a monster saw for the (rare) big jobs and a more wieldy smaller saw for most of your cutting pleasure. Have a couple of bar lengths (with appropriately-sized chains, of course) for each saw.

[bodywhomper]

^^that is not a bad idea. In my mind, a 60cc saw is not that big. But a light 40cc would be nice for myself, my wife, who has not run a saw before, and my kids when they're a bit older.

[rbtree]

i've never run a husky saw.

how do I compare the husky 562 to the stihl 362? what am i getting from one and not getting from the other? my tree friend is very biased to stihl - i will pick his brain.

also, important for me, and how i often buy things, what were the older versions of these saws called?

cheers and thanks

The 362 is a nice saw... but the 562 will walk all over it. It will easily pull a 28" bar in softwood, and is among the best Husqvarnas ever for power to weight ratio.... or any saw, fo that matter.... The Dolmar 7900 would be right in there.... it's faster than a stock 450 or 461 Stihl or 372 Husky.... and about the same weight. I love em.....once woods ported, the Husky 372 is sometimes faster.

[bodywhomper]

^^thanks for that info^^^^

I bought the used 361 that was at the bargain barn in town. I also downloaded the service manual.

Pretty happy!

[~mikey b]

Around here, most mills won't take wood from small private lands, especially that harvested near homes or around farms. Too much metal from nails and fencing swallowed up (a Doug fir in my yard will have completed swallowed an entire clothes line pulley by next year). Take care with any personal milling done with the chainsaw!

Shit like this...









...can fuck your shit up.

[char_]

bodywhomper- Nice choice on the saw.

Some of the best money you can spend is on a legitimate file guide. Not the marks on the chain. Get a file guide and a raker guide. Brush up the chain on every tank or two.

Sharp chains cut fast.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks

[BCMtnHound]

No shit Mikey! If it gets past the chainsaw, at least the big mills have modern scanners, and the head rigs are separated from the operator by steel and bullet-proof glass. Small operators with mills built around the turn of the 19th century, or worse, a band saw like a wood miser, not so much.

[~mikey b]

I found the 16nail imbedded deep in a round I was splitting by hand. The wire is in a log that was dropped last month (the tv antenna is way up in another tree with more wire). The spikes are in standing good trees. I think I have more shit like this in other trees.

[rbtree]

Here in the PNW, I've always been able to sell residential logs . I've only had a very few metal rejects. Always do what I can to look for nails, including watching for the tell tale staining.. and cutting it out....

[~mikey b]

Hey man thanks for posting here.

[bodywhomper]

Finally spent some time with the new saw!

It has a 24" bar and chain. I want to get something smaller anybody have a suggested length if i were to start out with two bars? Stihl recommended range of bars for the saw is 16-24.

[Meadow Skipper]

^What are you cutting, how big? 18" or 20" are pretty nice all around firewood lengths, depending. Probably doesn't make too much difference.

[BCMtnHound]

Probably not, but a long bar is nice for a tallish person, specially if brushing or limbing, and the torque is not so important. For bucking, whatever is a nice balance for stance and log diameter.

[bodywhomper]

thanks for the continual advise. i agree that the longer bar will be nice to some applications. i'm now starting to think that a 16 and 20" would be nice. There are 100's of 30yo cedar and fir saplings on my property that I want to thin, plus we have a fair bit of dead manzanita. the smaller bar would be good for felling and cleaning up those small trees, and the 20" would be good for some of the firewood/clearing work-trade deal that I have available with some larger trees. and i need to deal with all the pines that will be coming down on my property sometime this spring or summer.

next question (), what's up with the 10 different choices of usable 16" bars from baileys (and the various choices of chains)? is there a cheatsheet somewhere?

[XXX-er]

Running a saw is hard on the back so a shorter bar means you gota bend over more to cut something on the ground , why not just run the bar that came on the saw I thot you wanted to save money and you still need to buy files, a filing guide various other shit

[Meadow Skipper]

^Good point from BCMH and XXX. Keep an eye on the tip and you can stay more upright, especially for stuff like manzanita. A shorter bar isn't really an advantage for falling smaller trees, other than you have to watch the tip more with a longer bar.

[bodywhomper]

good points. thanks.

i can work with my existing bar, of course, but i saw that bailey has some inexpensive bars (compared to stihl bars).... the saw would be faster with a shorter bar/chain, no? i'm planning ahead from a cpu rather than out using the saw, which is opposite of my current personal preference.

[Meadow Skipper]

I expect that a 361 will be plenty fast enough for brushing and small trees with the bar that's on it. Try it before you get cheap bars.

But I understand gear lust.

[XXX-er]

24" isn't that long for the 361 its going to be plenty fast, what going to slow it down is a dull chain, I like the Husky jig for sharpening chain

http://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-Comb...19HZCFZJ0JD4Z9

[bodywhomper]

i think my ms361 had a bit of a rough life with the previous owner. i have used it the past two days and today it had a problem. it was smoking a little bit when running full throttle in use. i thought it might be chain oil and didn't think anything of it. later, it died as soon as it revved down to idle. it was near the end of my use for the day; fired it up and finished the job; died again as soon at it reached idle. fired it up again at the garage to let the engine cool while i put a few things away. i checked on it after a minute or two and it was smoking like a mofo from the cover that goes over the end of the bar, chain sprocket, clutch, etc. i cut the engine, took off the cover, and shit was super hot (clutch). i tried firing it up again and it die as soon as it idled. i'm now questioning if i'd fired it up in warm start and not flick the throttle to idle down.... not sure where to start. suggestions?

[rbtree]

i think my ms361 had a bit of a rough life with the previous owner. i have used it the past two days and today it had a problem. it was smoking a little bit when running full throttle in use. i thought it might be chain oil and didn't think anything of it. later, it died as soon as it revved down to idle. it was near the end of my use for the day; fired it up and finished the job; died again as soon at it reached idle. fired it up again at the garage to let the engine cool while i put a few things away. i checked on it after a minute or two and it was smoking like a mofo from the cover that goes over the end of the bar, chain sprocket, clutch, etc. i cut the engine, took off the cover, and shit was super hot (clutch). i tried firing it up again and it die as soon as it idled. i'm now questioning if i'd fired it up in warm start and not flick the throttle to idle down.... not sure where to start. suggestions?

Sounds like an oil delivery issue. Run it sans bar and chain and check oil output. Turn it to max (screw on bottom of saw) If a problem, make sure the oil pickup filter is clean--use a small hook to fish it out..... and also wash the oil tank with gas, but also run the saw to flush the oil lines. If no workee still, the saw will need a new oil pump drive gear or oil pump..both easily accessed and inexpensive.

Also, don't run it if the chain is dull. that is hard on all saw components

[bodywhomper]

Thank you for the direction of diagnosis, cleaning, and replacement. I was starting to consider that I needed to disassemble the clutch, inspect, clean, replace as needed, lube and reassemble. I'll start with the oiling system.

Thanks again for the knowledgable input for me and this general thread!

cheers

[riser4]

One things about a short bar is that there are fewer teeth to sharpen, which is nice. However, the point about ones back is equally valid, especially the older I get. I need a quiver of saws.

[XXX-er]

You can get skip tooth chain if you want less teeth to sharpen/ less weight, but seriuosly for the casual user with a saw this small lMO just go with whatever sthil specs for the stock setup