Coffee 12-01-12

I bought an 046 Stihl back in 1995 and I have run it ever since. I have had really good luck with it though it has been batted around by tractors, bulldozers and excavators. It just refuses to die. I would buy its replacement tomorrow, what is a MS460 now as I live by my saw. Being a farmer I use it for making fence posts, clearing land, making corals and even cutting wood. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't fire it up, and yet it keeps running, though I am not sure how. Unfortunately that saw was only $650 when I bought it, but its replacement is now $950 and I always have something else to spend that much money on. Still it is a justifiable expense because I really do live by my chainsaw. I used to run Husqvarna, but the same size saw, a 372 would only last about 9 months before blowing a motor, so I switched to Stihl and never looked back.

SMITTY wrote:

Poconoeagle wrote:........
I brought both size saws cause i didnt know which size tree would fit in the cube ...

You have a Cube ... and a Smart?? Your scarin' me Pocono!

Geez how bout the land rover but now the awd astro. That's a go anywhere Chev

I used to run Husqvarna, but the same size saw, a 372 would only last about 9 months before blowing a motor, so I switched to Stihl and never looked back.

Hmmmm, we always had Jonsereds years back when these others didn't exist and all you could get was a McCulloch or Homelite. Brother went to Husqvana and I went to a Sachs Dolmar. Good saw until I ran over it with a 6x6. I have had a Husqvana 61 for a long time because I havn't burned wood in 5 years and I havn't cut wood for money for many more years. I think I'll keep it that way.

kevin

Couldn't beat a Jonsered 90 in the woods

Jonsered and Husky are the same saw, both are owned by Electrolux. Neither are a bad saw, they just have characteristics that I do not like when compared to a Stihl.

The biggest is that Stihl uses thicker rings and has two per cylinder which makes for more drag which slows down the rmp's some. This gives the saw less blow-by though and more compression so you have more torque at the lower rpm range. Husky uses only one and are thinner to boot. It make's for higher RPM's though.

Which method is better???

Neither really. The point of cutting wood is to go from point A to Point B the fastest, so you can do that by making a smaller chip, but a lot more of them quicker with the Husky, or you can utilize the extra torque of a Stihl and make less chips, but bigger ones; both will achieve the same amount of cutting speed. For me; I prefer the higher torque that keeps my saw from stopping "bogging down" in a cut, but that is just my preference, plus I tend to file my saw chain a bit more aggressive then the manufacturer does. But this is purely preference on my part.

As for longevity of the chainsaw itself...no matter what brand...that is accomplished by the operator. Always keeping the chain sharp will add years to the lifespan of the saw. When you allow a saw to run dull, it heats up the chain and that heat travels into the bar that is bolted to the saws chassis heating up the lower portion of the saw body. That heat is concentrated near the crankshaft of the saw which will eventually seize it. If you do not believe that this heat is considerable, run a dull chain for awhile and see how loose the chain gets. This is from heat expansion of the links, then let it cool down and see how much the chain re-tightens itself. Keeping a sharp chain stops all that nonesence and will greatly increase the life of your saw...and make a lot less work for you!

I don't even own a chainsaw.

Dad always did all of the chainsaw work, my brother and I were in charge of the splitting and stacking. Dad learned how to cut huge trees while working for NYSEG, he had a monster John Deere (Echo) chainsaw. I don't remember the model, but I remember him opening the decompression and holding it down with his foot while starting it. That thing would really crackle.

When I was logging in Vt I always had 2 or 3 guys working with me & made sure one was left handed--I would sharpen right teeth & pass the saw to him at lunch break--worked real well--team work's real impt in the woods. After Jonesered--yes I got Stihls--045 & a Farm Boss

I have owned almost every brand mentioned too. I am currently down to 2 saws and both are Sachs Dolmars. One is an old 120si and is one of the best saws I've ever owned. It's 70cc class with a fuel injection carb that was way ahead of it's time. I've used it with an alaska mill to cut cedar planks and it's really been a peach and always starts on 2 pulls no matter how long it sits.
The everyday lightweight 50cc saw that post people call my "go to" saw is a Dolmar 5105 or 510S. High performance screamer with great torque for it's size. I don't use these near as much as I used to but anyone needing a good 50cc all around chainsaw should have a look at the Dolmar 5105.

The last time we cleared land we used this for a felling saw...it had high rates of production and not so high rates of production!





BTW: I was shocked at how inexpensive clearing land was, and this included stumping. It penciled out to $201 per acre! I will certainly do some more of it in the future.

This photo was taken in the same spot as the stuck feller-buncher after the field had been cleared of stumps, graded, rocks hauled off and re sown with grass seed... Big change huh!!?

Why did you park the Deere in that hole?

I parked this Deere in an even better spot!



I had to get my Bride's help to pull this one out as well (Not really, we were doing a Trash the Dress Photo Shoot and thought making it look like my little Kubota was pulling out that 850 John Deere would make for a cool picture. You can be the judge)



For those that do not know: a Trash the Dress photo shoot is where a Bride puts on her wedding gown and goes into mud, streams, old houses...whatever and just trashes her dress, taking photos of the event as it unfolds. The Mrs and I, decided to be part of this new trend and did ours while clearing this field. It was cold, but a lot of fun!

For those that are interested in seeing a lot more photos of our Trash the Trash photo shoot, which includes lots of bulldozer photos and MUD; you can take this link to my Flickr account and the photo set called Trash the Dress.

BTW: We were too sentimental to actually trash the wedding dress my wife wore on July 9th 2011 in North Haverhill, NH so we bought one at Good Will and trashed that instead!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnsonsheep/sets/72157630022264496/

NoSmoke wrote:Jonsered and Husky are the same saw, both are owned by Electrolux.

correct

Neither are a bad saw, they just have characteristics that I do not like when compared to a Stihl.

Yep, its like comparing Ford against Chevy.

The biggest is that Stihl uses thicker rings and has two per cylinder which makes for more drag which slows down the rmp's some. This gives the saw less blow-by though and more compression so you have more torque at the lower rpm range. Husky uses only one and are thinner to boot. It make's for higher RPM's though.

I believe all of Husqvarna XP saws use a 2-ring piston.

As for longevity of the chainsaw itself...no matter what brand...that is accomplished by the operator.

I agree 100%

I'm not a fan of Stihl for the same reason I'm not a big fan of Harley-Davidson, and GM for that matter -- buying parts! If your Echo or Husqvarna weedwacker or chainsaw breaks, you do a quick google search of the model #, and BAM! You have 100's of choices of online microfiche, accurately describing the part, giving you the part #, and showing EXACTLY where it goes. Click, add to cart, checkout, DONE.

Try that with Stihl, Harley, or Chevy. Sometimes you'll get lucky and find what you need on eBay ... but not always. I spent an hour online trying to find parts for a HS80 hedge trimmer! After that ordeal I added Stihl to my list of brands NOT to ever buy. Don't care how reliable it is - everything mechanical WILL break at some point. I want to be able to get my parts quickly ONLINE, and not have to venture out on these congested, heavily patrolled, pothole-ridden streets to pay WAY too much for a part at the local dealer that wants to shame you into having THEM repair your equipment! Just my .02 on that.