best chainsaw?

cisco · Dec 22, 2003

Heck, who knows? Really. I've a 180 Stihl for my wife and daughter (both in the 5'5"-5'6" and 120-125 lb range}, but I like it alot for trimming. In truth, its' 16 inch bar and "micro-teeth" chain will cut through 12" oak quickly and with minimal vibration. For bigger stuff I use my other chain saw, a 18" Sears (42CC), and for the huge (to me) stuff I borrow my neighbor's 22" Husquvarna, which must be 20 years old (but well cared for).
Last week, I rented a 34' lift, in order to trim some tree limbs I couldn't access with my front end loader platform (see attached photos- dumbed down to under 100kb). All of us preferentially used the Stihl (even my 19 y/o and 6' son), because most everything was less than 12" and it is so light (? 8 lbs fully loaded with gas and oil).
That early morning at a bit less than 40 degrees, I started up all 3 chainsaws, because if you're on a lift it can be a bit frustrating when your chainsaw won't start. Stihl took 3 pulls, Sears about a dozen (and a few curses), and the Husqvarna about the same. Did they all work - yes - which cut the fastest - the Stihl (and I'd had all chains sharpened by the same repair shop during the prior week) - but the difference wasn't immense, and the limb thickness addressed by each saw was different - check with me in 10 years (very much hope all of us on this forum are alive and well), and I'll give you a progress report.

28RedHorses · Dec 22, 2003

Thanks Daryl!

28Red
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

powerstroke2000 · Dec 23, 2003

Around here lot of the tree trimmers are using Echo small bucket saws. Main reasons they say are
1 Price lot cheaper than Stihl
2 Start a lot easier
3 better handle set up
4 goes back to #1 cheaper to replace if dropped from the bucket

1bush2hog · Dec 23, 2003

I like Stihl.

I used an old homelite back in the 70's - what a piece of junk. Every time it ran out of gas, it was hard to start back up.

Since then I've owned 028 woodboss (stihl have), 034 super (a lemon), 009 (stihl have), and more recently purchased a MS250 (OK for homeowner use as it is light) and just purchased the 360 pro.

The only thing better than having a good saw to use when you need it - is having a good tractor to use when you need it.

I'm sure there are other good saws out there too - I just haven't used one yet.

disk_drive_eng · Dec 23, 2003

Like others have said, you won't go wrong with the Stihl or Husky, but the dealer/supplier is important! For my modest needs I bought a Husky Rancher 55 because my local farm/ranch store (Big-R) has a big inventory of Huskys and all the parts, tools and safety items.

Just keep up on the maintenance (sharpening, grease, oil, cleaning, bar flipping) and you'll be happy with any quality saw you pick.

5030 · Dec 23, 2003

1bush2hog:

I see that a few posters on this thread said they have or had Stihl 028's.

Actually, that's my saw of "choice". I have a 28WB the 075 and the 090. The 75 and 90 are way too big for anything but felled work and the 90 is way to big for one person to handle.

My 028 is around 30 years old and still (pun) going strong. I have the 028WB with the stirrup heating coil. Makes for warm hand's in cold Michigan winters. I probably gone through 10 bars and drive sprockets + 20 or more loops of chain. Never a motor problem except a new diaphragm in the carb one time.

Hoosier_Daddy · Dec 23, 2003

I have a Stihl 029 and 025. Looking at a small echo for tops or as has been called a bucket saw.

The 025 starts hard. Has since the day I bought it. Wifey bought me the 029 for my birthday one year. Gotta love that kind of woman. It always starts without a problem.

Miss the MAC's. I had a few Mac's years ago but got to where you couldn't get parts. At one Point in their history Singer owned them and then they just became a tax write off for the investors.

Shame.......

Tom

Slamfire · Dec 24, 2003

I can assume then Daryl you don't make many plunge cuts. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

5030 · Dec 24, 2003

Slamfire:

Don't do much cutting at all anymore. Just use the 028 around the farm. The 075 and 090 are sitting dry and greased, under the bench, waiting for my estate sale. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

bebster · Dec 24, 2003

Cisco - clicked on the attachment hoping to see your FEL platform. Any chance you might have a picture of that? I'm considering adding/building one myself. Thanks.

slowzuki · Dec 24, 2003

Thought about trying some chainsaw milling with the 090? I'm looking to try a bit of it but really need a bigger saw than my MS260.

( Slamfire:

Don't do much cutting at all anymore. Just use the 028 around the farm. The 075 and 090 are sitting dry and greased, under the bench, waiting for my estate sale. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif )

5030 · Dec 24, 2003

slowsuzki:

The 90G is a really heavy, bulky saw. Takes 2 guys to deal with it. Not as heavy or cumbersome as an old David Bradley, but close.

snowbound · Dec 26, 2003

I have no clue. My wife is the forester. Back when she was in the Forest Service in Oregon and Washington State she had a lot of use for chainsaws. It's definitely old information but here's a chainsaw story she told me just last night. One of the experienced Oregon timber crews (from a hippy-style organization called "Hoedads") she knew bid on a timber contract near Juneau and they bid high enough to get all new saws for it. When they got the contract, they went to their favorite dealer in Eugene and bought all new Stihls. Which tells you what they thought were good saws. Apparently this was a new type of saw at that time (probably about 30 years ago) and it had a magnesium alloy housing. So when they went up to Juneau it was unusually cold and all the saw housings cracked. They ended up throwing the casings on a big pile and burning them which made a light that could be seen for many miles. She doesn't know what they replaced the saws with, but apparently there werent any Stihl dealers in the area of the contracted stand so it wasn't more Stihls.

slowzuki · Dec 26, 2003

5030, yes, I've read about them in www.forestryforum.com they seem to like the 90 gear model for use in chain saw mills.

Definately a monster saw.
Ken

slowzuki · Dec 26, 2003

Snowbound, I think you'd find they tensioned the chain in a warm climate then brought them to a cold climate. On any saw this will either break or bend the crank, or break or damage the housing.

The manufacturers all warn of this. The length of the chain changes with temperature.

5030 · Dec 27, 2003

Powerstroke and other posters:

When I had my tree trimming business many years ago, we had a bucket truck for top operations. At that time we use the Stihl 009 or McCullough mini macs.

I would always require the bucket operator to "tether" the saw to the bucket itself. That way, if the operator lost his grip on the saw, it didn't fall to the ground. We used a rope tether about 10 feet long. One end tied to the stirrup of the saw and the other end tied to the bucket rail.

You never wanted a saw coming out of a tree and hitting the ground men anyway.

snowbound · Dec 27, 2003

( Snowbound, I think you'd find they tensioned the chain in a warm climate then brought them to a cold climate.)

Maybe that is what happened. After all they didn't expect Juneau to be that cold.

But they were also experienced professional forestry workers so maybe it's not just as simple as that. According to my wife it was a fancy new allow for Stihl that year that didn't behave as expected.

snowbound · Dec 27, 2003

( According to my wife it was a fancy new allow for Stihl that year that didn't behave as expected. )

That is supposed to say fancy new "alloy".

northnightboy · Dec 27, 2004

Just to give you a quick run down...I work for the Forest Service as a wildland firefighter I have my unlimited Class C cutting certification. Which lets me cut all complexitity and sizes of trees. Just to give you an idea of my scope of pratice.
I've had the chance to use the two major brands of chainsaws Huskies and Stihls quite extensively. I would have to say that if you are looking for a good reliable chainsaw that can stand up to some good abuse and keep on running I would say a Stihl would have to be your choice. Really in the end the life of your saw will be dictated by how well you maintain it. Huskies tend to take alot more maintance to keep running and still tend to break down. Stihl takes a lot more abuse but takes less time to maintain. I would recommend a Stihl farmboss for what you are doing. look at the 036-039 models they will give you the power you want for hardwoods and can power up a larger bar for the larger populars on your acreage.
I use larger versions of the Stihls and have run 5 year old saws for 16 hours straight for 14 days with minimum maintaince and no break downs. This is above average use of a chainsaw. An during this use they take quite a bit of punishment sucking in dirt, soot, ash, and burning embers. This is probably why the firefighting Hotshot crews use Stihl esclusively. Hope this helps...