Yeah, only other saw I had was a Stihl 190 (had got it for the wife). While it "worked," it made me sweat a lot: got in a bind with firewood last year (got it all wet!) and had to go out harvesting snags! Get in and get out wasn't really happening! (lots of extra prep work to make sure the area was clear for escape!)
With Cottonwoods it's the high moisture content, in conjunction with their pulp-like wood, that makes them so dangerous. I'm thinking that if they're dried out a bit that that makes them a little less unsafe. Nonetheless, the things are monsters, with huge branches/canopies. I've got one that one day I'll look to measure: I have a picture of my
B7800 parked close by and it makes that tractor look like a kid's toy!
I figured that you'd be running a "346xp." At this point I'm going to keep going with my 562, but as I get older I may look to drop down a bit (I should look to decrease cutting larger stuff as my age progresses). I did, however, recently bribe a neighbor to cut a clump of Maples that was next to the road (I decided to have it cut because I was running fencing and figured doing it now with only having a road to worry about was best). He, like most all the other logger folks around me (nearby is a renowned logging community), is a Stihl guy; he didn't have any complaints with the 562, other than wishing that I had had a longer bar on it (I'd asked him up-front if an 18" would be OK and he said yes). Ladders, cables, a seasoned logger, and a decent saw made things go like clockwork.
Oh yeah, when I had that Cottonwood dropped I was telling the guy that once I cut it up and got it out of the way that I'd be cutting this Maple that was right next to it (all plans for my fence line). He looked at me and asked if he'd like me to do it, for free. Um, of course! Before I could even figure out all his approach that tree was DOWN, missing other trees and my pole shed. I was going to drop that tree in another direction for fear of hitting those very things. As impressive as the Cottonwood work was I thought the Maple was more impressive. I've become OK at felling, though Maples, with their multi-trunks up high, can be a bit tough (I don't like climbing up in order to cut).
