Thinking of getting a new smaller chainsaw
No metal blades till late fall here, or there either my guess.
I did a bit of hogging a couple weeks ago and did hit some small rocks and nervously watched the vicinity for a while. I had my 2.5g water fire extinguisher in the bucket and there was no wind (other than that made by the blades) but things could get ugly fast anyways.
ponytug
Super Member
Yes, here, too. My trimming and mowing stops mid-April or so, depending on when the rain stops. Generally, here it is green Thanksgiving to Tax day, but being California weather, highly variable year to year. For important fire items, I've hauled water hoses out once or twice to trim things like the solar fence charger, but that's it, and only happens when I have a couple of helpers.
I don't trust the gasoline trimmers once it is dry either because there is just so much dust flying around.
Much after Thanksgiving, I can't get out on the slopes; the clay is like 25 degree inclined ice. You will fall, and the only question is whether it is two steps up, or ten. Crampons would probably work, but nothing pressing has every happened.
All the best,
Peter
Duds13
Gold Member
My Echo dealer will often give me the 15% discount regardless of when the Echo Days sale is coming up. Doesn't hurt to ask!
Duds13
Gold Member
I assume these are logs since you were cutting them up? If so, they probably aren't semi-dry to well-seasoned, especially oak.
Not logs, really. 4-8" branches for the most part. Very dry, they've been sitting out for a couple years.
Also cutting some thicker stuff (10-14" dia) that hadn't been cut into stove-length rounds but wasn't a full "log" per se; that stuff isn't fully seasoned, but it's also not the target of the replacement saw.
oosik
Epic Contributor
I bought a smaller chain saw for a couple reasons. The 280 is just too big for what I do now. AND - my son liked the 192 and it fits him fine.
I get just about the same pleasure watching him thin my pine stands with the 192 - as doing it myself. My pleasure comes with chipping the pines.
I get just about the same pleasure watching him thin my pine stands with the 192 - as doing it myself. My pleasure comes with chipping the pines.
ponytug
Super Member
I've cut about 1/4 cord of small crap with the new saw (Echo DCS-2500T -- 56V) -- not quite two batteries' worth.
The battery charge seems to go a long way.
Saw came with a very snug scabbard, no case.
I'm cutting 3-6" dry oak branches; when I trim trees or cut them down I cut the really small stuff off with loppers and that goes to a burn pile, and leave the main branches "to cut up later". Some of my piles of branches are 6 years old, so it's generally all really dry stuff. Some of it gets too dry and starts feeling light and then it's used for getting burn piles really hot so I can toss greener stuff on... but that's not what I'm cutting for firewood.
The little saw really tore through that; I'm quite impressed.
I've been cutting other logs & splitting rounds and here and there will cut up a bunch of the small stuff to put a layer of small in my totes as I fill them with splits. I make ~20 cuts in a row, then go grab a few more branches, cut them up, then go back to splitting.
When the battery got low (I've only charged it once yet, so it only got low once) I didn't notice any degradation of performance till it quit. Would've startled me if I hadn't been checking every once in a while what the battery level was at.
Note that it's a top handle saw and as such does requite a little bit of down pressure to cut. Not a lot, just some. It's got little bumper spikes; they're definitely little but it's a 12" bar and they seem to get the job done just fine.
I can see how a serious user could need two batteries, but honestly I made a ton of cuts with one charge.
Having the saw stop and go dead quiet as soon as you let go the trigger is wonderful. The sound of the chain tearing through dry oak is, well I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it's really raspy. I've never heard it before, usually there's all the engine noise. The sound of the chainsaw itself is really minor compared to the chain cutting wood sound, and that's not very loud either. Definitely no need for hearing protection with this saw!
My old wood splitter smells even worse now that I wasn't using a slightly-less-smelly gas chainsaw right before the splitter. Luckily I still use the relic 031AV when I find something that's not quite ready for the splitter to make up for it.
Saw was shipped with oiler turned all the way up; I realized it was using a lot of oil and checked the tank and found it was almost empty about 3/4 battery used. I've turned it down a little; bar oil is cheap compared to time messing with torched chains so I prefer to over oil rather than under oil.
Minor complaint: saw doesn't doesn't have much of a base to keep itself standing upright when you set it down. Often falls over.
Expected failure point: power button is right where your thumb is likely to go. It's a plastic membrane button; I doubt that's going to last in rough usage.
Given how long the 2.5Ah battery lasts in use, I'm not surprised they set it up so that no other battery would fit in it. You pick it up and it feels perfect in the hand; a bigger battery would make the bar swing up.
The battery charge seems to go a long way.
Saw came with a very snug scabbard, no case.
I'm cutting 3-6" dry oak branches; when I trim trees or cut them down I cut the really small stuff off with loppers and that goes to a burn pile, and leave the main branches "to cut up later". Some of my piles of branches are 6 years old, so it's generally all really dry stuff. Some of it gets too dry and starts feeling light and then it's used for getting burn piles really hot so I can toss greener stuff on... but that's not what I'm cutting for firewood.
The little saw really tore through that; I'm quite impressed.
I've been cutting other logs & splitting rounds and here and there will cut up a bunch of the small stuff to put a layer of small in my totes as I fill them with splits. I make ~20 cuts in a row, then go grab a few more branches, cut them up, then go back to splitting.
When the battery got low (I've only charged it once yet, so it only got low once) I didn't notice any degradation of performance till it quit. Would've startled me if I hadn't been checking every once in a while what the battery level was at.
Note that it's a top handle saw and as such does requite a little bit of down pressure to cut. Not a lot, just some. It's got little bumper spikes; they're definitely little but it's a 12" bar and they seem to get the job done just fine.
I can see how a serious user could need two batteries, but honestly I made a ton of cuts with one charge.
Having the saw stop and go dead quiet as soon as you let go the trigger is wonderful. The sound of the chain tearing through dry oak is, well I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it's really raspy. I've never heard it before, usually there's all the engine noise. The sound of the chainsaw itself is really minor compared to the chain cutting wood sound, and that's not very loud either. Definitely no need for hearing protection with this saw!
My old wood splitter smells even worse now that I wasn't using a slightly-less-smelly gas chainsaw right before the splitter. Luckily I still use the relic 031AV when I find something that's not quite ready for the splitter to make up for it.
Saw was shipped with oiler turned all the way up; I realized it was using a lot of oil and checked the tank and found it was almost empty about 3/4 battery used. I've turned it down a little; bar oil is cheap compared to time messing with torched chains so I prefer to over oil rather than under oil.
Minor complaint: saw doesn't doesn't have much of a base to keep itself standing upright when you set it down. Often falls over.
Expected failure point: power button is right where your thumb is likely to go. It's a plastic membrane button; I doubt that's going to last in rough usage.
Given how long the 2.5Ah battery lasts in use, I'm not surprised they set it up so that no other battery would fit in it. You pick it up and it feels perfect in the hand; a bigger battery would make the bar swing up.