They built them well in the early sixties. Can't speak for later models. The whole world seemed to go into a competitive/quality decline after that. Only Sears has invariantly sold lousy tools from the beginning of time. Bugs
Ive cut down 24"+ trees with a bowsaw, an ax, and a two man cross cut saw on many occasions.
Does this make any of the above the prefered tools?
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
Stihl or Husqvarna. Been using them for over 20 years. I've *never* worn out a Stihl, someone has always stolen them first :-( The Huskys are IMO these days a better saw, less plastic, less vibration. Since I badly broke my elbow I appreciate the Husky's low compression starting.
See above.
Never had any downtime on my Stihls.
Never bought spares for my Stihls.
For your size wood, the 16.
I use a 55cc power head with 18" bar. The longer the bar, the worse the balance and the more teeth you have to sharpen.
Get at least 2 chains with the saw. Hitting a rock, embedded nail etc will trash the cutting teeth instantly, and bring you to a full stop.
PDW
"Ive cut down 24"+ trees with a bowsaw, an ax, and a two man cross cut saw on many occasions. " -- Gunner
Do you know how to file those saws? I can't get them anywhere nearly as sharp as the factory does.
jw
I have a pet beaver that takes down trees of that size for me just to stay in shape.......
ABout the only spare parts needed would be an extra chain and bar.......and if the saw you have uses a rim type drive instead of spur drive, then a spare spur is nice to have handy as they only cost
3 or 4 bucks and have been known to crack, but usually they are about as trouble free as a stone.......Any other extra parts is a waste of money and storage space......The extra bar is nice for those occasaions when you may get one wedged in a cut even though you may have had bucking wedges in use, hell shit happens, so at least you can cut your old bar out of the wedged cut........The spare bar could be either smaller or larger, so you have more versatility........and of course your gonna need a chain to fit, as well as a fileing guide and files to sharpen the chain and dress the bar as they will get wire edged after use.
A 6" saw is able to take down trees of 32 or so >==="Ive cut down 24"+ trees with a bowsaw, an ax, and a two man cross cut
============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! "The original frugal ponder" ~~~~ } ~~~~~~ } ~~~~~~~ }
I like a longer bar so I don't have to bend over so far when limbing a downed tree.
Wes
Been sharpening my own chains since the late 70s, having said that I would add that they are never really as sharp as from the factory but they work good for me none the less, saving me the expence of driving miles, down time, and having it sharpened.
granpaw
It was SOP once a month or so at the small engine place I worked summers at to have an employee, come running downstairs from the 'used parts' area (where the dead/traded/obsolete machinery was cannibalized) shouting that someone had broken in during the night. The boss's eyes would go wide and he'd ask what had been taken. The reply was always;
" They didn't take anything, but they left a bunch of minimacs!"
Its a very arcane art. In fact...sawyers in the days when such tools were common..often worked in closed shops so no one could see how they did it. Ive fumbled around at it over the years and generally made em "sharper"...but....
Axes of course are simple.
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
Ditto on the electric, and the HD has a cordless as part of a set, mebee Hitachi, that might be my next.
My favorite was a sears electric with a built in sharpener, talk about handy, but they don't make it anymore
I am leaning towards the Husky 345, 16". $243 online, $10 shipping, and two spare chains. All new in box with warranty.
Try to sway me.................
Steve
I wouldn't wish a Poulan on my worst enemy.
Ah, good. We agree on that one. I guess the point I'd make is, just because they're owned by the same company doesn't mean they're all good. They're designed to sell at a price point. No clue about Jonserud, never tried one, but Husky is top-notch.
That's a good point, but with good gloves, that may be minimized for you. But yes, my Husky does feel smoother and is less tiring to use than my Stihl.
Mine is a "51". 15-20 years old, on it's third bar, and no problems at all. Either Husky or Stihl would be just fine, if I were to buy a third "good" saw it'd be a Husky.
I already done my best pal, you're headed in the right direction I figure, just don't have the kind of luck I do and lose it like the other stuff last week.
granpaw
Thanks. Just discovered a new Makita 14" chop saw is gone too. I am now in the process of securing the place.
It was some bad luck, and some real stupidity on my part. Both happen.
We will be going back up to the cabin this weekend, and I doubt that this will ship in time to get here. I have been really considering this, and know what I want now.
Only one last question .......... someone said to get the .375" chain, and this saw comes with .3125", IIRC. Is there any real differences in chain besides dimensions?
Steve
One of the guys I was working with last week had one of those. It's a nice saw. I bet you'll love it.
My old Remington auto 8 or my Partner 400. The Remington is fine to use on the ground, but it is a royal pain to start on a ladder or in a tree due to its extreme compression kickback when starting. The Partner is much easier to pull - and at 40cc vs the Remington's 38 has almost the same power. The Partner has a chain brake and anti-vibration mounting, which is nice, but a mostly plastic case - compared to the alloy case of the Remington.(Alloy is much more durable) I'ce got a 20" bar on the Remington.
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AFAIK the chain you are getting will be a tad narrower on the cut Steve...Or it could be "square tooth" chain instead of "round tooth" . I haven't had any experience with the smaller totthed chains.
============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! "The original frugal ponder" ~~~~ } ~~~~~~ } ~~~~~~~ }
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They were named Poulan as thats what you all ways have to do to get one started, keep poulan and poulan and poulan than rope.
We call Homelites Homalots as if you own one your gonna spend more time at home than cutting wood.
We just call McColloughs junk, plain and simple and as stated by someone before, they are good for boat anchors in most cases.
Yep, Poulans are targeted at occasional use by home owners who may happen to have a tree fall down in their yard and want to cut it up......
Husky, Jonsered and Stihl are big names in the saw business, and all three also make consumer grade as well as commercial pro grade saws. I am not all that familiar with Stihls new method of naming their saws, but saws before their new system with odd numbers were consumer/backyard / occassional use grade and those with even numbers were commercial grade. The Husky 029 and o31 and 039 were big pieces of junk.......but the 028, 040 saws were fine saws any wood cutter would be proud to use and carry in the woods for a living.
Jonsereds are clones of a Husky, with a different color and sytle housing for the most part and in some areas of the USA are major players......but are a big player like Husky and Stihl in European countries...... They made a Turbo action saw one year which was a pretty neat saw, and they came out with the fan cleaned air cleaner system and electric handlebars long before Husky or Stihl did.
The reason I can tell so good is I had my left elbow crushed, and had a lot o=f nerve damage. They tried to repair the Ulnar nerve after they repaired the elbow, and they screwed it up worse. So after yet another surgery the elbow is as good as its gonna be, but the three main nerves that transverse the arm are all repositioned in my left arm and near the surface just barely under the arms fatty tissue, so they are prone to all kinds of sensitivity.... Just one of those things...
A good Gel filled glove makes for a good shock absorber and eliminmates lots of vibrations, but I have never been a guy that wears gloves for any reason be it super cold or welding, I just do not like or wear gloves......
============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! "The original frugal ponder" ~~~~ } ~~~~~~ } ~~~~~~~ }
The chain it comes with is fine. Its a smaller pitch chain and has more cutters to the inch than the 3/8" pitch chain does, so cutting is much smoother espeically on smaller diameter stuff like limbs. I would use it like it comes, and get a spare chain, and when you wear your sprocket out and bar, then convert it to a rim type drive instead of the sprocket or spur drive, and then still go with the original sized pitch chain which is .325 IIRC. I would not go with .375" (3/8" ) pitch on a smaller saw, as most times its used on small stuff and not just large diameter stuff as most larger saws are.
IIRC that saw comes with an asymetrical bar, (t>===
============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! "The original frugal ponder" ~~~~ } ~~~~~~ } ~~~~~~~ }
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