Need advice on a larger chainsaw for an older guy.

[FERLING]

Thanks guys. Great advice. Agree with the power-to-weight-to-fatigue ratio. That can be a hard call. I guess I'm looking for the perfect combo there.

It takes two saws to make a perfect combo. With the bigger saw already owned by your co-owner a nice 18 inch bar saw and a 24 inch bar saw. Light weight and mid weight and leave the bigger to your co-owner. By the time you saw up limbs and smaller stuff he will have taken care of the saw logs.
You can always switch off when you have that surge of energy and run the heavy saw for extra exercise.The following will work for 24 inch bar:

Husqvarna Gas Chainsaw, 24in. Bar, 60.3cc, 3/8in. Pitch, Model# 460R | Northern Tool

The 2-cycle Husqvarna Rancher 460 Chainsaw is a heavy-duty workhorse that's perfect for demanding cutting jobs. It'...

www.northerntool.com

Get a Chisel skip chain for the 24" bar and chain.
Will give you more power and faster cut. If you want more power and less weight for limb work buy a 20 inch bar and chain. Run the 20 which gives it more power then switch over to 24 in bigger stuff. Keep old saws as back ups and sawing where nails or rocks may be.
New saw that takes the place of two and weight not so heavy.

 

[kenmbz]

I took my "baby" saw the cs-490 out last night and had 4 medium Ash down and mostly bucked.
They are dead, so the dust and rot plays havoc with the chain and dulls it pretty quick.

For the larger Ash trees, and for speed I get out the CS-620P.
Medium is 12-18" and 60-80', large here is 18-36" and some are about 100' tall.

Pole saw for trimming and the 3 saw combo always seems to work and I don't feel like I need another saw.

I do run the 20" bar, but this little saw is happier with the 18".
I just like the 20" for felling as it is faster to make the face cuts and cleaner to see them.

 

[Jstpssng]

Medium is 12-18" and 60-80',

That's a good sized tree for that saw. I bought my 490 mostly to brush property lines and do a little thinning in the patch cut I had done in 2009. I do leave it on the yard for bucking smaller trees, but prefer my 590 for felling and cutting firewood.

 

[Fxfymn413]

Finished doing next years wood yesterday, putting up three cords for the neighbors. We worked with our neighbors and their three teen-age, early twenties, sons so it goes pretty fast. The neighbor used my 390 and is now sold on the idea of getting a more powerful saw. I will never go back to a smaller HP saw since the 390 makes cutting so easy.

 

[Skeans1]

It takes two saws to make a perfect combo. With the bigger saw already owned by your co-owner a nice 18 inch bar saw and a 24 inch bar saw. Light weight and mid weight and leave the bigger to your co-owner. By the time you saw up limbs and smaller stuff he will have taken care of the saw logs.
You can always switch off when you have that surge of energy and run the heavy saw for extra exercise.The following will work for 24 inch bar:

Husqvarna Gas Chainsaw, 24in. Bar, 60.3cc, 3/8in. Pitch, Model# 460R | Northern Tool

The 2-cycle Husqvarna Rancher 460 Chainsaw is a heavy-duty workhorse that's perfect for demanding cutting jobs. It'...

www.northerntool.com

Get a Chisel skip chain for the 24" bar and chain.
Will give you more power and faster cut. If you want more power and less weight for limb work buy a 20 inch bar and chain. Run the 20 which gives it more power then switch over to 24 in bigger stuff. Keep old saws as back ups and sawing where nails or rocks may be.
New saw that takes the place of two and weight not so heavy.

Why do you need a skip chain on a bar that short? If the saw has the power full comp will be faster and smoother. Myself I don’t start running skip till 60” bars and that’s mainly for chip clearance.

 

[turnkey4099]

I've been running saws since 1953 to present (and still cutting at 87). I run saws from 14" (stihl 193T) to 32" (stihl 363 and 441). I run skip tooth on all saws except the top handle. I can tell no difference in speed of cut on a 20" chain beween full and skip tooth. Skip sharpens faster also - less teeth to do.

Even if skip was slightly slower, I'm in no races so less filing wins.

 

[JDZ735M]

Even if skip was slightly slower, I'm in no races so less filing wins.

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[airbiscuit]

Skip chains make sense on super long bars. Otherwise my experience has been that they cut slooowly.

 

[two_bit_score]

Skip chains make sense on super long bars.

Could you explain why that is, please?

 

[IrishLoader]

Could you explain why that is, please?

Best guess, less drag/friction from cutting teeth allowing longer bars for tree diameter.