Larger Saw Purchase

[vtrick00]

Recently, I bought a MS261 Stihl to do some clean up after a storm. It done a great job, no complaints. In order to feel better about future storms, I need to take down a dozen or more 20 to 28 inch trees around the house. For the price our local cutter quoted the job, I can buy a larger saw and do the job myself.

Stihl dealers are the only ones around where I live. Was quoted a good price on a MS660 today. Was wondering if a 90 cc saw is too big for the job. Is it possible to have a saw too large for the job?
Thanks,
Rj

 

[Creamer]

I like the lightest saw that will do the job. Your 261 should have adequate power for those trees. A 20 inch bar will do fine on a 30 inch tree - just take little longer in the lower trunks cuts but those are relatively few as compared to all the others.

Can you have too much saw? Absolutely - when you get tired of handling it. I have a friend that almost always uses his MS170, he only pulls out his MS 290 when he needs it.

 

[newbury]

You can size the saw to the job. I've an 021, a John Deer CS62, 2 660's and an 088. The 088 is definitely overkill for most of my trees. The 660's are nice but a little heavy. The JD 62 is just right for most trees under 30" DBH.

 

[Tompet]

I like the lightest saw that will do the job. Your 261 should have adequate power for those trees. A 20 inch bar will do fine on a 30 inch tree - just take little longer in the lower trunks cuts but those are relatively few as compared to all the others.

Can you have too much saw? Absolutely - when you get tired of handling it. I have a friend that almost always uses his MS170, he only pulls out his MS 290 when he needs it.

Good points.

What size bar on your 261?
I looked at 261 and it was really a comfortable feeling saw. However, I went with the 362 and 20" bar and I am pretty pleased. I briefly toyed with the 441, but passed.
Since you have the 261 did you consider a 441 or 461? Those are a good jump from the 261 with plenty of power.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

The 660 is a great saw, but probably more saw then you'll need, unless you plan on doing some serious timber harvesting in the future. I'm far from an expert, but my 3 most used saws are an 026 PRO, 036 PRO and an 046 Magnum. Out of the three my 026 is my go to with the 036 coming in second. I have 7 other Stihl saws. I really enjoy the 046, it's often not required but I have a "chainsaw thing." They're enjoyable to me. Depending on how close to your home the trees are and how much experience you have felling, the cost to having a professional drop them and deal with them may be money well spent.

 

[xring100]

Recently, I bought a MS261 Stihl to do some clean up after a storm. It done a great job, no complaints. In order to feel better about future storms, I need to take down a dozen or more 20 to 28 inch trees around the house. For the price our local cutter quoted the job, I can buy a larger saw and do the job myself.

Stihl dealers are the only ones around where I live. Was quoted a good price on a MS660 today. Was wondering if a 90 cc saw is too big for the job. Is it possible to have a saw too large for the job?
Thanks,
Rj

Welcome to the forum my first question is how are you built and do you have good upper body strength and a good back? I have a 50" chest and can bench 2 sets of 15-20 reps at 250lbs

No the 660 is not to much saw for that kind of wood but it would make cutting fun. Is the saw to much for you the better question. I bought a m361 because my dad has a 026 predecessor to the ms260/261 it just didn't have the power to satisfy me when cutting anything close to 18"
The Ms361 cuts 20" wood descently fast, and alll was fine until all the ash died. My buddy and I had countless 24" plus ash trees the 361 is rated for 24" bar but I found it was painfully slow in the ash.
Maybe I should have tried skip tooth chain to get more power per tooth.

After taking 8 or more of these 80foot trees I said screw it I need more power. Thought about the 460 but it really was not much more saw than the 361 4.4 hp v 6. Didn't seem like a big enough jump. So I bought the ms660 this saw kicks but. I run a 25" bar 70% of the time with full chisel RSC chain and a 36" with RSF or RMF skip tooth the rest of the time.
The saw is perfectly ballanced with the 25" bar while the 361 is noise heavy.

The 660 is a beast and it is heavy. With 7 hp it flat out cuts and makes every one whom ive let run it giddy and giggle like a school girl My buddy runs a husky 372xp 5.3 hp and a very nice saw worth looking at. He agrees the 660 in the big wood is pure happy significantly faster than his. Pretty much now if I'm cutting 12-14" or larger I go for the 660 its just faster. I use the 361 for limbing and sometimes felling smaller trees up 16" - 18" if I have a bunch to drop.
With that said my nextor neighbor has a 290 farmboss it's been a goodsaw but he wanted more. I recommend him to go for the 460 which he bought and loves ive run his saw is significantly lighter but still cuts 20 plus wood pretty darn fast. I would say look at the 461 if you only have a few of these trees youd probably be happy with either.

If I had envisioned owning a 660 or 460 I would have definitely bought a ms260 or 261 instead of the 361. As its usued pretty much only for limbing.

In my book if your looking to pay someone or buy a new tool to get the job done id say go for it. But then again every time we have a project my wife claims I come up with excuses to buy new tools. I say fine pay more for someone else to do it.

 

[xring100]

Good points.

What size bar on your 261?
I looked at 261 and it was really a comfortable feeling saw. However, I went with the 362 and 20" bar and I am pretty pleased. I briefly toyed with the 441, but passed.
Since you have the 261 did you consider a 441 or 461? Those are a good jump from the 261 with plenty of power.

Yes agreed. I was drafting my initial response when yours came in.

although considering 441 and 461 are same weight might as well get the 461 unless you really want the electronic stuff. In the 441 hp range id go for a husky 372xp which is significantly less weight and almost as much power as the 441.

 

[boggen]

tree crew = removing branchs most likely out of the top via a bucket truck or like. and chipping everything into a pile or into a dump truck or like. and moving the stuff off your property. and they most likely have some sort of stump remover, either a stump grinder, or backhoe or like to dig the stump out. and they more likely have larger machine and trailer to deal with the bigger lower trunks. so ya not having to mess around with it. not to mention dealing with bring the tree down, and dealing with nearby homes, sheds, power lines, etc...

 

[s219]

Be careful comparing pricing, as a tree crew will still save you a lot of time, aggravation, and safety risks.

660 is way overkill. I'd say 441 or 461 (I have the latter with 28" titanium bar). Even the 461 is a beast. I use my 261 for anything requiring precision or athletic moves. The 461 is for the big stuff where weight and bulk aren't a problem. I've felled 32" cypress trees with an 18" bar on the 261 just because it was going to be more manageable for the task. Size isn't everything.

 

[square1]

Are they are mostly 20" trees with an odd 1 or 2 at 28"? You can take down 20" trees all day long with a 16~18" bar. You can also take down 28" trees with a 16~18" bar, it's just more work

I think minimum power would be in the 50 cc range for your task. As others have said, a bigger saw takes better conditioning to run for any period of time to do the same work to a point.

The tree below was probably about the biggest I would tackle with with my Husqvarna 445 (46 cc & 16" bar) but it didn't just fall over when I walked up to it. It was work.