Chainsaws and those who use them

[Tubby’s Canteen]

still looking for a big 90th Husqvarna Callendar ..
View attachment 679045
View attachment 679046
View attachment 679047
View attachment 679048

They look like good candidates for framing that picture with the 625 630 and 670 especially

 

[Scott CWO]

I have two Stihl 18” saws for cleaning trails with horses. The shorter bar sucks sometimes but fits in our horse panniers.

Sorry if I missed it or to derail the thread but what do you guys think are the best electric saws? We clear a lot of wilderness trails. I would need lots of batteries for three days at a time in the backcountry.

 

[Daniel Cary]

I have two Stihl 18” saws for cleaning trails with horses. The shorter bar sucks sometimes but fits in our horse panniers.

Sorry if I missed it or to derail the thread but what do you guys think are the best electric saws? We clear a lot of wilderness trails. I would need lots of batteries for three days at a time in the backcountry.

Idk, other than they seem to be the thing!

I would imagine those "Stihl's' are nice, expensive perhaps. But whichever you have good dealer support & report with .. priceless.

 

[Daniel Cary]

Stihl 462cm for my main saw, and an O28 as a backup, as well as an echo 300 tophandle saw for limbing and such.

If you maintain your saws properly you don't have to worry about them not starting. Store them in winter with stihl pre mix gas for the additives, and start your saw once or twice a winter. Only takes 5 minutes.

As for chains, Stihl IMO is the best, but you have to know which chain to buy to not get the worst. Anything that says micro or pica or whatever is junk, get the super chain, and set up your saw for .063 semi skip or skip for softer woods, full comp or semi skip for hardwoods.

Learn to square file, it's not that hard, makes a huge difference in speed of cut.

If you want to save a lot of money and only give up a small little bit of performance, order oregon square chisel chain from Westcoast saw for less than half the price of stihl chain, and 90% of the quality. The downside is they don't last quite as long and seem to stretch more, but they're still good quality.

The lowest price you can get is ordering chain from Madsens, but you have to call to order and hope they are around to pick up. They usually are but I find calling inconvenient a lot of times. But their customer service is the best around. Know what you need before calling and it will be pretty quick, with the lowest price you can legally get on chains.

I've always wanted to visit Madsen's ..
Stihl chain is great stuff, I got introduced to square ground semi-skip for the 1st time. Absolute raucous. .063 28"

 

[Dirtdart]

Sorry if I missed it or to derail the thread but what do you guys think are the best electric saws?

If by electric you mean battery, EGO is the best IMHO.

 

[Scott CWO]

Idk, other than they seem to be the thing!

I would imagine those "Stihl's' are nice, expensive perhaps. But whichever you have good dealer support & report with .. priceless.

My Stihl saws are gas. Was wondering which brand of battery powered saws is best?

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

My Stihl saws are gas. Was wondering which brand of battery powered saws is best?

Stihl also makes battery powered ones that appear popular with people on here although I have no personal experience with one. @rookhawk has mentioned them a couple times perhaps he’d be a good one to ask

 

[rookhawk]

Stihl also makes battery powered ones that appear popular with people on here although I have no personal experience with one. @rookhawk has mentioned them a couple times perhaps he’d be a good one to ask

Amen. The Stihl professional series battery powered stuff is amazing. (not talking about consumer) I think the chainsaw is called the 300 MCA and it comes in a 16", 18" or 20" bar. I recommend the 18" for best utility versus battery charge ratio. It uses the same battery as the commercial "combi-tool" that is a weed-whip back end that you can attach roto tiller, weed whip, edger, trimmer, pole saw, leaf blower, brooms and other tools to the front end.

They also make a lawn mower now that I'm thinking of buying for occasional clean up of my road edges...same battery.

The terrible news is the batteries are REALLY expensive to get the power you need: They are $400 USD each. If you jump in, the tools are relatively reasonable, but the batteries (you should have 2-3) are a serious commitment.

Up here on the lodge/farm/whateverwecallit we do big projects and then tools sit idle for months. It's no place to use ethanol-gas that gums up carborators. My tools work every time, all the time, but we made a $1000 investment in the battery and charger system.

My chainsaw can cut 47 sixteen inch logs per charge. That's enough to buck up a 300 year old oak, or enough to kill 25 boxelders in a single use. Meanwhile the kids are using the pole chainsaw with the other battery to make shooting lanes, or using the roto tiller to mix deer minerals into the soil of our wallows.

It's a great system and its whisper quiet, its just not appropriate for a working forester. Stihl is the only credible chainsaw manufacturer that made a true Rancher/Land Manager grade chainsaw that runs on battery, but at a cost of a very expensive battery.

 

[Longwalker]

My good buddy who is a recently retired professional forester from Cologne, Germany highly recommended the Stihl electric chainsaws. My wife likes mine so much I hardly get to use it at our BC bush camp. I usually keep it in the truck to clear the way on narrow logging roads where fires have created blowdowns. It is perfect for that application. I also have a Stihl battery powered lawnmower. Love it. Uses the same batteries, one battery cuts my whole yard - silently, efficiently, and with no fumes or spills.

 

[Tam Dl]

I have owned mostly Stihl saws in gas. But I heard good things about the Husky electric. One thing to consider is the overall battery system. Husky doesn't get you very far in that.

I needed a replacement for my beloved barrel jigsaw that I had used to build almost 300 feet of personal boats. I got into the Dewalt System of batteries, the 20V, because of that saw. That was my entry point.

I later bought Dewalt's cheapest pole saw, and chainsaw, on sale, and I find both, while relatively midget, are very effective. If you cut the odd tree, 5 or 6" trees are easy, but it isn't a production thing. One thing I don't like is the oil just keeps coming, they are a little messy. That may not be an issue with all of them, but I think they must be gravity feed.

Back to batteries. If this is the only tool, or economy is a nothing, then you can look at something unique like a Husky. If you want one system of batteries, you can get a lot out of single 20V, or a Saw that mounts two. But once you jump up into stuff like 40 or 60V batteries, I do not have enough use for those to lock into a battery system. I would just look at the best saw, and assume I will need batteries, and chargers, for that unique use.

Big game:

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I have owned mostly Stihl saws in gas. But I heard good things about the Husky electric. One thing to consider is the overall battery system. Husky doesn't get you very far in that.

I needed a replacement for my beloved barrel jigsaw that I had used to build almost 300 feet of personal boats. I got into the Dewalt System of batteries, the 20V, because of that saw. That was my entry point.

I later bought Dewalt's cheapest pole saw, and chainsaw, on sale, and I find both, while relatively midget, are very effective. If you cut the odd tree, 5 or 6" trees are easy, but it isn't a production thing. One thing I don't like is the oil just keeps coming, they are a little messy. That may not be an issue with all of them, but I think they must be gravity feed.

Back to batteries. If this is the only tool, or economy is a nothing, then you can look at something unique like a Husky. If you want one system of batteries, you can get a lot out of single 20V, or a Saw that mounts two. But once you jump up into stuff like 40 or 60V batteries, I do not have enough use for those to lock into a battery system. I would just look at the best saw, and assume I will need batteries, and chargers, for that unique use.

Big game:

View attachment 679157

If that is you milling I may have some questions for you, I’ve got a mill ordered and would take any advice I can get from a experienced miller

 

[Safari Dave]

I have no experience with Stihl battery powered saws, but a few co-workers have them and really like them.



When it comes to battery powder, I have "standardized" on Ryobi.

They are definitely NOT the "finest," but, I like the fact they just keep on making tools that work with the same batteries for decades, now.

I have a Ryobi 40V chainsaw, but have not used it enough to give it a review.

I have thrown away many tools when the batteries have become obsolete, but never a Ryobi.



If serious chain sawing is the priority, I would buy a Stihl.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

View attachment 676107
Please forgive me! BUT, this one is the one I use most. Perfect for pruning my fruit trees, prepping trees for deer stands, cutting firewood or this last season, our family Christmas tree. It is lightweight, fits easily in a daypack and requires oil but no pain in the can fuels. I use it indoors for my taxidermy projects. I already used it to clear a road of fallen trees while running spring cougars.
We use Stihl at the fire dept where I work but this little battery op works great around my home and camp. My kids even love to use it!View attachment 676112

I have two Husky's. 3 or 4 Stihls and my absolutely favorite saw is my Dewalt 12" electric saw that you have in your photo.

 

[Tam Dl]

If that is you milling I may have some questions for you, I’ve got a mill ordered and would take any advice I can get from a experienced miller

That is me.

The most important thing is storage.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

That is me.

The most important thing is storage.

I’m sure I’ll pm you an annoying amount of dumb questions at some point likely won’t get into that until the first of June or so.

 

[Tam Dl]

How the saw works is obvious. The board has angle irons permanently screwed to it. At the ends, they are supported by wood. Strings are pulled tight and screws mounted to support the board above the log for a straight cut.

This is part of the Will Malloff system from the book Chainsaw Lumbermaking. I bought the book when it came out in the 80s. His winch is brilliant but for my uses just pushing the saw has proven OK. The book has been reissued, though PDFs circulated while it was out of print.

 

[Tam Dl]

I love questions. It is pretty straight forward though. A lot of the issues come down to what you are trying to achieve. The scale. Is it to save money, or get something rare you can't buy. The mechanics for me were simple because other than milling cherry, mostly the projects were small, and I did not need to complicate them, the rationale was the wood was precious. So in this case the tree is beech. That is almost a worthless wood around here, so you can't get it. Cost me 50 Can. And I got enough wood out of it for a bench and a lifetime of planes, and we probably only milled for a few hour or so.

 

[Tam Dl]

The only special thing about my rig was that when I bought the mill, they guys at the shop insisted on directly bolting it to the bar. Rather than the clamps. That has turned out to be a great idea.

Paid something like a grand for the 090, and guide. Paid for itself on the first project. In theory, depends on what you then do with the wood.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

For me it’ll mostly be milling spruce , it’s the portable factor that drew me to a chainsaw mill I can mill the lumber for the camp I’m building on my woodlot right in place and not have to haul it out and then back in.

 

[Rifleman97]

I've always wanted to visit Madsen's ..
Stihl chain is great stuff, I got introduced to square ground semi-skip for the 1st time. Absolute raucous. .063 28"

Square ground semi skip .063 is a beast on just about anything other than really hard woods. 28” stihl, Tsumura, or Sugihara lightweight bar on a 70cc saw of your brand preference is about all you need for most anything under 50” in diameter.

Not sure if you’ve thought about it much, but I’ve noticed square ground chain is a lot easier to fix imperfect face cuts with. It doesn’t try and follow the existing cut if you undershot the first one a little bit, it just carves where ever you aim it. Which can be a little annoying when you’re bucking and you don’t get perfect alignment when finishing the cut from the opposite side. But it’s pretty rare I’m working on something big enough that it’s a struggle to align cuts with my 32” bar lol. Only downside is they dull faster than round grind, and have a lot more of a learning curve to sharpen properly. I’d love to get one of the simington sharpener grinders but at something like 1-2k, it’s a bit rich for my blood.