Help me pick a chainsaw

[Mad Professor]

Professor is that hackberry?

I’m really not sure. But that is a possibility.

 

[Mad Professor]

If you were in the Tulsa area, I’d pick up the logs for my woodworking.

I’d sure let you have them too!

 

[dennishoddy]

We were in OKC last week to pick up my generator from my sisters home. A guy could drive down the residential areas with a small limbing saw and get all the wood they wanted that was piled up at the curb. I took home a pickup load from my sisters house. All round wood but it will burn when dry just fine.

 

[Mad Professor]

We were in OKC last week to pick up my generator from my sisters home. A guy could drive down the residential areas with a small limbing saw and get all the wood they wanted that was piled up at the curb. I took home a pickup load from my sisters house. All round wood but it will burn when dry just fine.

There are piles everywhere. The City of Moore have hauled more debris than most areas that I have been to. They started that first week and have contractors helping on it. Midwest Wrecking hauled two semi trailer loads from my curb a couple of weeks ago. I’ll have another decent pile when the come back for a second round of cleanup.

 

[jakeman]

I spent a bit of time today dropping a tree that was severely damaged from the ice storm. It was about 50’ to what was left of it at the top of the main trunk. With the exception of one small branch everything was broken but still in the tree. I should have swapped to the 20” bar on the 026 Pro for the final cut at the base. But I left the 16” on it. I’m tired, I’ll have to drag the rest of the main trunk to the curb later!

I've got 5-6 of those to do as well. maybe more. I havent counted em. I also need to figure out a way to top 6-8, and I've got some widowmakers up around 50' or so that my South American tree trimmer/contractor is going to have to take care of. They are outside my area of expertise.

I've been pretty busy with what was actually on the ground, or that was within easy reach with my Stihl pole saw, and I'm not done with that by a long sight either. I've burned 5 piles that were as big or bigger/taller than a 2 car garage, and I've got 4-5 left to burn, and 4-5 left to build, plus the ones I've yet to fell.

I stood out in the wind yesterday, looked around and told my GF, it's depressing. That storm decimated my place. There isn't a tree on my 5 acres of pretty heavily wooded property that wasn't impacted, except for a scrawny little almond tree. I'm gonna have to cut the apple and pear trees down. They ain't gonna make it, and I've got a couple of 50' pine trees that will have to be dropped at some point in the future. They look like 50' fence poles. Not a limb left. when the ones at the top gave way, they fell on the ones below, and it was just like domino's, all the way to the ground.

It's depressing. I'll be cleaning this **** up for the next several years.

 

[Mad Professor]

Sounds very similar to my situation. I got everything off the ground and some low hanging limbs. I’ve still had a few large limbs get blown out of the trees the last couple of weeks.

I hope to have someone do some trimming on the high stuff. I don’t get up as high in the ladders as I used to and my pole saw is about 12’. But it is still going to be a long term recovery project.

 

[Dick Ried]

I ended up with a smaller (14" bar) Poulan back in the 2007 ice storm when I was in Moore, because well... that's literally all I could get my hands on. Shelves were bare. While a Stihl or Echo or real Husqvarna (not the cheaper Poulan/Weedeater/Craftsman analog model branded at Husqvarna) would be better, this gets the job done for the 2-3 times I year I dig it out. Has required little aside from replacing the bar once, the fuel lines and pick up filter and carb kit a couple years ago, and countless chains. Still runs well 13 years later.

It's a bit hard to start when cold, but does fire and works well there after and starts fine warm. From my experience with these saws in my days at Sears when I worked there, I recommend running a hair more oil than called for (mine notes 40:1, I run around 32:1) because when it's really lean on oil you can burn out the cylinders in those cheaper models pretty easily. So while there is the theory of "buy once, cry once" you can do alright with a cheaper saw if you just need a lighter duty cycle and you maintain it.

I will say that electric has a place, in that I really like using the 8" and 10" electric pole saws I've borrowed from my father and my neighbor in the past. They're lighter and easier to maneuver than a larger saw, and once we fell the limb you can work on it on the ground as you see fit (gas saw if a lot of work, or just use the electric for a few quick cuts). If you have a lot of taller trees, the small electric pole saws are actually really handy.

Richer oil/fuel mix runs your saw leaner. More oil=less fuel

 

[Dick Ried]

I may not be much help if you are remotely considering a battery powered chainsaw.

I three Stihls.
HT101 pole saw
260 Pro with 16 and 20” bars.
MS193T. 14” Top handle climbing saw.

Stihl has 3 basic lines. A homeowners occasion use. A more frequent use (I think they call it farm use) and a professional series. All of mine are professional use models but see but I fall into an occasional to frequent user category.

The saws have been great. I take care of them. The HT is 13 years old, the 260 Pro is 16-18 years old, and I bought the 193T early last year.

On the other hand, my dad always buys the cheaper occasional use Stihls and doesn’t get much life out of them.

You pretty much get what you pay for, even in the Stihl line.

All of mine are getting ready to get a serious workout over the next couple of weeks. I’ve already put a hour or so on the 193T clearing branches off my drive way the last 48 hours.

There are only 2 grades of stihl, consumer grade and commercial grade. The farm/ranch saws are the same as home owner saws. Only difference is the little cowboy sticker.

 

[Dick Ried]

Neither the 291 or 391 are pro saws. You would be looking at the 261 or 362 for pro saws in those two classes. Living in OK I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 362

 

[Dick Ried]

$3400??? I paid perhaps a tenth of that for a used one in VG condition!

The one advertised has never been fired. All original 044 it's worth the bragging rights alone