Chainsaws

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For your intended purpose a box store Husqvarna or Stihl at about 18 or 20 inches would work for light to medium-heavy yard work. Either should last a lifetime if well taken care of. I have both brands and they work under fairly heavy use. For significant use I would recommend the professional grades for each above brand, but it sounds like the box store variety would work.

Look at the Husqvarna 445 (18 inch) the 450 (20 inch) or the 455 (20 inch). For Stihl, the MS 271 18 inch). I have the 450, the 455 and the 271 and I would recommend all. It is hard to give exacting advice as I just don’t know how large the trees are that you would be cutting.

You mention battery powered chainsaws. The wife and I have experimented with a couple brands, Ryobi first and now DeWalt. The batteries aren’t ready for prime time yet. Between two chainsaws and 4 batteries, at most you can manage a small tree before you need to recharge everything. Perfect for my wife when she is working on maintaining our firebreak, but the technology isn’t ready for real work, And the batteries don’t work well when the temps are in the teens or lower.
 
I'd thought that I discovered a surprising good cordless saw, especially for the money: wen 40v with 16" bar $150...

I had it riding around on my wheeler when my buddy stopped by and began telling him about it. "oh yeah, I know all about those. My dad has a business on the Columbia with several paddle boats. It's often a log gets jammed and he keeps one of those on every paddle boat to cut the logs outta the paddles."
 
Cabin Fever said:
I'd suggest buying your husband a safety helmet with face guard and ear muffs. If you really wanted to go all out, get him some Kevlar chaps and Kevlar gloves, too.
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Agreed. Although we are not a chainsaw using family with a lot of experience, after I bought that first 18" saw for my wife, within the next couple of days she had a patient (she's in orthopedics) who put their chainsaw right through the front of their leg, down to the bone. This is a big reason why we are intimidated by these devices. We do have all the Kevlar chaps, helmet, face shield, earmuffs, gloves, etc.
 
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I still have my bow-blade chainsaw, and will until I die because they are illegal to sell.
They are priceless if you have a lot of wood on the ground to cut up, they totally save your back because you can cut standing up instead of bent over.
I also have a 24" straight blade for it and have cut down 3' diameter trees with it.
They were nice enough to make the bow-blade where it takes a chain with exactly the same number of links as the 24" blade so you only need one chain for both. :thumbs:

(btw, that guy's chain is dull :mad:)
 
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I like using a skip tooth chain on my saws. They cut quicker than a regular chain, and they have half as many teeth to sharpen. The only downside is they have a tendency to kick back a little more than a regular chain. If a person isn't careful while using one, it could kick back and part your hair. And that could ruin your day.
When I was a kid we cut our firewood with an old buck saw. Around the late 60's Dad bought a McCullough chain saw. I couldnt even pick it up back then. I used it when I got older, maybe 13 or so. I think my son has that old POS saw now.
 
Supervisor42 said:
17452-IMG-0260.JPG
I still have my bow-blade chainsaw, and will until I die because they are illegal to sell.
They are priceless if you have a lot of wood on the ground to cut up, they totally save your back because you can cut standing up instead of bent over.
I also have a 24" straight blade for it and have cut down 3' diameter trees with it.
They were nice enough to make the bow-blade where it takes a chain with exactly the same number of links as the 24" blade so you only need one chain for both. :thumbs:

(btw, that guy's chain is dull :mad:)
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They should not be illegal, but man, are they dangerous. I thought I was bad using professional chain instead of the "anti-kickback (anti-cut) chains.
 
Alaskajohn said:
For your intended purpose a box store Husqvarna or Stihl at about 18 or 20 inches would work for light to medium-heavy yard work. Either should last a lifetime if well taken care of. I have both brands and they work under fairly heavy use. For significant use I would recommend the professional grades for each above brand, but it sounds like the box store variety would work.

Look at the Husqvarna 445 (18 inch) the 450 (20 inch) or the 455 (20 inch). For Stihl, the MS 271 18 inch). I have the 450, the 455 and the 271 and I would recommend all. It is hard to give exacting advice as I just don’t know how large the trees are that you would be cutting.

You mention battery powered chainsaws. The wife and I have experimented with a couple brands, Ryobi first and now DeWalt. The batteries aren’t ready for prime time yet. Between two chainsaws and 4 batteries, at most you can manage a small tree before you need to recharge everything. Perfect for my wife when she is working on maintaining our firebreak, but the technology isn’t ready for real work, And the batteries don’t work well when the temps are in the teens or lower.
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I would need about 40 batteries.
 
SLC said:
They should not be illegal, but man, are they dangerous. I thought I was bad using professional chain instead of the "anti-kickback (anti-cut) chains.
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Funny chainsaw story:
I probably have told this story before....
For several years I was the 'Homelite tech' at the Massey Ferguson dealer.
There were a lot of guys cutting pulpwood and they all used big bow chainsaws. A brother-man brought his big Poulan in and said "it didn't cut good".
I told him I would 'tune it up'.
The thing was a monster with .450 chain on it! :oops:.
The cutters had been diligently filed razor-sharp but the depth gauges in front of them were taller than the cutters. I put the chain in my machine and lowered the gauges .040" . He came to pick it up and I showed him the bill (~$20).
He said he wasn't gonna pay it until he saw it cut.
I of course, had a test log by the building :D .
I warmed it up, reved it, and sprayed wood chips 30-feet in the air.
His eyes were the size of saucers!:oops:
The next monday, when I rolled into work... they were 6 brother-men, each holding a chainsaw, standing in front of the front door.
"Do what you done to his, to mine:)".
I was 'the new messiah'.😇
 
Bacpacker said:
Always pays to know "THE MAN"
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Most people don't know how important the depth gauge is on a saw chain.
As the cutter gets sharpened several times, it gets shorter.
If it gets shorter than the depth gauge, it won't cut.
Here you can see a depth gauge that has been filed lower so the chain will cut again.
depth-gauge-1024x475.jpg

Notice how the depth gauge above is now flat on top, and not curved like the ones on a 'new' chain:
Depth%20Gauge%20Maintenance%20On%20Pro%20Saw%20Chain_01.jpg
 
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SLC said:
I would need about 40 batteries.
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Yes, the technology simply isn’t ready for practical and typical heavy chainsaw use.
 
Cabin Fever said:
We heat with firewood and remove many downed pines after storms on our property. I run a Jonsered 2152 (made in Sweden) and a Dolmar 5105 (made in Germany). These are both professional saws. If you go for a Husky or Stihl, buy a model made in Germany or Sweden, respectively. Sorry, but the big box USA-made models of these saw brands don't measure up to the ones made in Europe.
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I've got a Jonesred aslo, but I think I heard they were no longer importing them into the states, but I also have heard that most of the Huskavarnas use Jonesred parts, they are just assembled overseas.
 
Supervisor42 said:
Most people don't know how important the depth gauge is on a saw chain.
As the cutter gets sharpened several times, it gets shorter.
If it gets shorter than the depth gauge, it won't cut.
Here you can see a depth gauge that has been filed lower so the chain will cut again.
depth-gauge-1024x475.jpg

Notice how the depth gauge above is now flat on top, and not curved like the ones on a 'new' chain:
Depth%20Gauge%20Maintenance%20On%20Pro%20Saw%20Chain_01.jpg
Click to expand...
I can't tell you how many times I took a chain in to be sharpened and it still didn't cut for crap. I finally studied up on chain sharpening, started sharpening my chains myself. Now an 18" maple is like butter!
 
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