Looking for advice on a chainsaw

[1bush2hog]

Someone mentioned flooding. My Dad's Stihl floods fairly often if it doesn't fire up at the start. (But Dad may be doing something wrong).

Once you learn proper way to start a Stihl - No Problem Man

I used to have the same problem until I was shown the correct procedure. Lock the bar/chain then put the lever all the way on choke with throttle trigger locked on - pull starter and it will fire and stop. Kick the lever off of choke and DO NOT work the throttle - pull starter once or twice more and it will fire right up. Blip the throttle lock off, unlock the bar, and you are ready to go. I never pump the throttle when trying to start any Stihl. This procedure works on all Stihl equipment whether it is a weed eater, blower, edger, or saw.

I spent so much time when I was young trying to keep my Dad's old Homelite running that I usually had more down time than work time. Haven't looked at one since Glad your results with one were better

 

[mboulais]

Farmwithjunk, I guess sometimes farming with junk isn't all its cracked up to be.

I do have to wonder why my Homelite 240 has been such a good saw? Maybe 15 years ago it wasn't a cheap junker? I have no idea. But maybe it was a decent saw in its day. I always thought Homelite was junk. May be junk now.

Someone mentioned flooding. My Dad's Stihl floods fairly often if it doesn't fire up at the start. (But Dad may be doing something wrong).

My Homelite, on the other hand, starts within a pull or two even on a cold morning. Pull a couple of times with the choke on. Once it sputters, turn choke off. Next pull and its running for the rest of the day. Once its warm, takes only one pull, no choke to start up.

I had a Homelite 360 for a while it was a great old saw, not the same as what they build today. I have now ruled out Husky due $$$ to get a similar sized machine to the Stihl MS310.

 

[mboulais]

I pulled the trigger tonight. Stihl MS310(including manual and wrench/screwdriver), 18" bar, two extra chains, some premeasured 2 cycle oil, jug of bar oil, and tax for $456.75. Got to use it breifly tonight. Love the saw.

 

[hazmat]

Congratulations!

If I ever kill my 270 I'll probably replace it with 2 saws - one as little bigger for firewood work & one a little smaller for trimming.

When you stop & think about it, you'll spend more on "tooling" than you did for the saw. I'm sure I've spent more on chains (6), sharpening, bars (2) and gas than I did on the saw...

 

[schmism]

if you feel comfortable running a full chisel chain the saw will cut a lot more aggressively.

ant that the truth.... i always wondered why my old school chain and 20" bar always seemed to cut SO much better than a newer ones.

got to looking at the teeth and they and its an oldschool full chisel design.

 

[N80]

Can someone explain what full chisel is and what the newer ones are?

 

[hazmat]

Can someone explain what full chisel is and what the newer ones are?

Oregon® Saw Chain has some pix of the various types. I think full chisel has to do with the cut of the tooth.

Basically the low kickback version has an extra part (not sure what they call it) in between the teeth of the chain that prevents the chain from digging in as it goes around the sprocket, reducing the chance of kickback.

The design of the anti kickback chain limits the amount of wood each tooth can cut per revolution. Thats why the "pro" chains are faster than the anti-kickback.

Personally I use the anti kickback chain on my Stihl 270. I've got plenty of hours on it & am comfortable using it, but feel the extra protection is worth the slower cut. It isn't a particularly powerfull saw, so I don't know how much speed I'd even gain going to the "pro" chain.

 

[Michael_E_Tx]

Hey George. Here's my brief summary of full chisel, semi-chisel, and safety chain.

Full chisel refers to chain with a tooth that is square on the outside corner of the cutting edge. In addition to the square corner, it also has a more aggressive angle on the top face. It cuts the best, but is least forgiving of hitting dirt or abrasive debris. If the very corner of the cutting edge gets dull, it's time to resharpen.

Semi-chisel has a tooth that is rounded on the outside corner. It doesn't cut as well as full chisel but will continue cutting longer in spite of hitting some dirt.

Safety chain comes in a number of different configurations, but all versions have in common a bumpered drive link or tie link. As Hazmat said, the purpose is to reduce the bite of each tooth in order to reduce kickback.

Personally, I use full chisel on my 036 Stihl and what might be called "chamfered chisel" on my little 021 Stihl. Chamfered chisel is similar to full chisel, differing by having a slight chamfer cut on the outside corner.

I personally do not like safety chain. I was ready to sell or give away my 021 until I discovered a full chisel-like, non-safety chain for it. The difference is night and day. My 021 is a nice cutting modest hp chainsaw now.

I do understand the inherent dangers of kickback and feel everyone who uses a chainsaw should experience controlled kickback to instill a sense of the power of this force to do damage. Nevertheless, safety chain is designed, imho, to save us from ourselves and I think often lulls one into a false sense of security that is by and large unfounded.

My last comment has to do with sharpening. It is nearly the same to sharpen any saw chain, only the angles and precision required vary. What is not the same is sharpening the raker/bumper links. Even full chisel chain has a protrusion in front of the tooth called a raker. This raker must be filed down as the tooth is resharpened and sits lower on the chain. This is easy to do with full chisel or semi-chisel with a raker guage. It is much harder, imho, to maintain the proper level on bumper links of safety chain. And the thing is, if you don't file down the bumper links, the chain will cut less and less well each sharpening. If you over file the bumper links, you no longer have safety chain, because the relative relation of the tooth to the bumper link is no longer the same.

End of my contribution. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[shaley]

Good post Tx Mike,

 

[1bush2hog]

You would definitely notice the difference. On the last two saws I purchased I had the dealer swap the chains before I even took them home -