OB Approved Chain Saws

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Anak

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Awesome.

I expected that was all custom work. I hate to think what the price tag comes to.

I am impressed with starting up at -36* with no issues. My 12V Cummins doesn't appreciate it when I try to start it in the teens (positive). I suspect it would not start at all at -36* without having been plugged in all night.

I have heard good things about the Porsche diesels. I would love to get one for The Bride.
 
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AnywhereInTX

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Just picked up a nice Sun Joe 16" Lithium Battery Chainsaw. I don't have the land to require a large gas powered and my truck is diesel. No need to carry a third fuel (propane #2) on board when I get out in the boondocks. I'll post a review when I get my hands on it, nice unit that was on sale that I picked up for $200. 4AH battery and all.
 

Otis Porsche

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Awesome. I expected that was all custom work. I hate to think what the price tag comes to.
I am impressed with starting up at -36* with no issues. My 12V Cummins doesn't appreciate it when I try to start it in the teens (positive). I suspect it would not start at all at -36* without having been plugged in all night. I have heard good things about the Porsche diesels. I would love to get one for The Bride.
The Dodge Cummins parked next to us snapped their serpentine belt. Plug-ins were not available this -36F night and we none of us wanted to keep our engines running.
 

CO_Jeep_Zach

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My dad cut trees when I was growing up. I cut some trees for my wife's grandmother one summer so picked up a husky 36 for cleanup and a 268 for bigger work. I ended up selling the 268 after that was done and gave the little saw away to some friends. I'd like to find one but Colorado doesn't seem full have a big market.
 

Desert Runner

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I have a Stihl Ranch Boss with a 20" bar. A great in between size. 1 chainsaw i miss is the vintage baby McCullough, with the little 10-12 inch bar? That little saw was great at cleanup, and quick trail cleaning. It finally wore out, and would have cost more to rebuild, than a new one cost when new. I believe Stihl makes one in that size, as i have seen tree service personal trimming palm trees and smaller branches with a compact saw.
 

Desert Runner

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Not having enough saw is more dangerous than too much most of the time.
Agreed, but I do miss the baby McCullough chainsaw I had a long time ago. This pictured saw size is what i would get as a secondary for small trimming or smaller limbs for the firewood stack. 93821
PS. I loved those McCullough beaver ads when i was young. They sold a lot of saws in their time.:grinning:
 

CO_Jeep_Zach

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Agreed, but I do miss the baby McCullough chainsaw I had a long time ago. This pictured saw size is what i would get as a secondary for small trimming or smaller limbs for the firewood stack. View attachment 93821
PS. I loved those McCullough beaver ads when i was young. They sold a lot of saws in their time.:grinning:
Bet that chain gets dull real quick
 

jacobconroy75

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Expanding on why we selected Stihl MSA 200 C-BQ with 14" bar and Lithium-Ion battery.
Our rig is a diesel - did not want to carry petrol just for the saw.
Living in the Northwest with a large timber industry asked around for favorite brands. While many mentioned Stihl topped the others from those in the industry. This battery model was also mentioned as a 'clean-up' saw used. If professionals who do this daily picked it - good enough for us as a trail saw. Note we are getting an inverter to recharge it and run other things. If a trail needs more clean-up than we can do we will just find another way.
.For build info - Meet Otis - Rennlist - Porsche Discussion Forums
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View attachment 89380

I have the same Stihl saw and carry two of the largest capacity batteries. The saw is no joke....it will make quick work of 9 inch lodgepole for firewood. I find that two fully charged batteries and a sharp chain will fall, limb, and buck three 9 inch trees. Plenty enough for what I am doing.

Yes it's true, if my batteries die I'm out of business. But I REALLY didn't want to haul gas in my rig. The biggest drawback (that I didn't expect) was that even an electric saw will leak bar oil all over the place. I wish they would find a way to fix that.
 

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I have a Stihl Farm Boss and what a great saw. In a former life as a logger in MA (I know that doesnt sound normal but was ha!- no we weren't doing cable logging!) my boss was a Husky guy but I always preferred Stihl's from use in CO and my Dad who has had one for 30 years. They just last.

That being said I do like the idea of a battery saw for ease (and quiet) in camp. With the proliferation of battery powered tools with universal batteries I am thinking about adding a battery DeWalt sawzall to the mix for in camp work. I always have the chainsaw with me just in case (trail closing dead falls etc) but I can definitely see where a battery powered sawzall could fulfill a lot of the in camp duties and I already carry the batteries with me for other tools (impact, drill, etc.).

I do think safety is the most important aspect. I know some tool rental places will actually rent chainsaws to people! (Yikes! I cant imagine the liability with that! ) even with all the work I've done with saws I ended up in the emergency room- was cutting a tree on my Dad's property, my hat fell off, I tried to grab it and grazed the bar. Totally 100% involuntary (and stupid) reaction on my part grabbing for my hat, fortunately only needed about 10 stitches and didnt lose any digits. But safety is so key.

And wedges are critical for pinches. No matter how well you plan, some times a tree shifts (the core may be rotten that you didnt know initially (which is why looking at the sawdust coming out is so key), wind shift, etc.). But when it does or has the potential too, plastic wedges can make all the difference. But they come in handy with deadfalls too. Logs are heavy and you cant always see the weight or how it will shift until it does.

In the old days I used the arch or blade on the skidder to "re-position" the tree to free a bound saw, but I havent figured out how to carry one of those in my toolbox when travelling! Haha.
 

egilbe

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Growing up, we heated our house all Winter with firewood, so Spring and Summer were spent cutting it. Father was too cheap to pay for electric heat, but he had two sons that he fed and he expected us to pay him back with free labor. Even my sister didn't get a pass. She had to help stack it. We knocked the trees down in the spring after they had leafed out. At the height of the Summer heat, my father would drag us out into the woods on his Yanmar farm tractor to cut up the trees we fell a few months before. He had a plethora of chain saws, all different mixes and models. I remember a huge McCulloch that weighed something like 50 pounds, the engine was the size of a small block V8. My little pipe cleaner arms could barely pick it up. He ended up buying a Poulan from someone he knew, but that saw was junk and barely ran, then he had a Remington and a Homelite, which he really liked. These saws were all tons lighter than the McCulloch and became his saw of choice after he almost cut his leg off. He was standing in the pile of fallen trees, cutting these 8 to 10 inch swamp maples into stove length and was getting tired. He shut off the saw then, for some reason, rested it on his leg, but the chain was still spinning. Just like that, down though his jeans, into the meat of his quad. We had the next couple weekends off. We drive back up to the house, he cleaned out the wound as best he could and bandaged it up. No doctor visits, no hospital visits. It left a thick, sawdust filled and chain oil colored scar on his leg. I don't remember him using that McCulloch too much after that.

I had an Echo with a 16 or 18 inch bar I bought when I bought my house. Used it during the Ice Storm of '98 to clean up fallen trees, used it to clear snowmobile trails, used it to cut Christmas trees. Just a nice all around good saw. One day, cut down a nice, tall balsam fir behind the house, took the top 6 feet off the tree for a Christmas tree. Dragged it back to the house and my wife asked how I cut my pants. I looked and had a nice jagged tear through my jeans, my wool long underwear and it never touched skin. I have no idea when it happened. That was the last time I didn't wear chaps when using a chainsaw. I got divorced and sold my chainsaw to my brother and he's still using it to cut his firewood in the same woodlots we cut firewood as kids.

In the Guards, we started out with some German make of chainsaw. I can't remember the name of them, but they were OK. The real problem with them was partially trained soldiers borrowing them and screwing them all up. I would leave on a drill weekend, saws were cleaned, sharpened, running well, come in the next drill weekend they would be all dirty, dull and none of them running. WTF? Then we got Poulans to replace those and no one wanted to borrow them, so they stayed in halfway decent condition until the ice storm, and then when they had to be used, they turned to junk in short order. Those were quickly replaced with Husqvarna's and those are some nice, tough saws. They were still there and in good working condition when I retired. Can't go wrong with a Huskie.

One of my father's friends was an Arborist. He swore by Stihl's. Never used any other saw. Most of the arborists I see around here use Stihls.
 
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grubworm

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Husky is pretty good. I have a 395XP with 32" bar I use for bigger logs and a Jonsered with a chisel tooth chain I use for slabbing. A little big to take on trips, so I bought a Harbor Freight 40v saw for travel and a corded Oregon saw with 18" chain for use in my shop where I don't have to breath in exhaust fumes.

The HF 40v saw is pretty impressive....my first use was cutting mesquite out in west texass and I made around 40 cuts on one charge (brand new battery) and probably a dozen or so cuts were 6-8" pieces and i can charge in my truck if needs be. and as mentioned earlier...they ALL leak bar oil no matter what. i also carry a milwaukee 18v sawsall with 12" diablo carbide tipped wood blade and i use that a lot for cutting fire wood and small logs...no oil and no mess and the carbide tipped blades cut about as fast as a chainsaw. also love to carry a 36" bow saw, it will go thru green wood like butter and is very easy to store and requires nothing but an arm to power it. (preferably someone else's arm....) :grinning:

IMG_0120.JPG
 
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Anak

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Husky is pretty good. I have a 395XP with 32" bar I use for bigger logs and a Jonsered with a chisel tooth chain I use for slabbing. A little big to take on trips, so I bought a Harbor Freight 40v saw for travel and a corded Oregon saw with 18" chain for use in my shop where I don't have to breath in exhaust fumes.

The HF 40v saw is pretty impressive....my first use was cutting mesquite out in west texass and I made around 40 cuts on one charge (brand new battery) and probably a dozen or so cuts were 6-8" pieces and i can charge in my truck if needs be. and as mentioned earlier...they ALL leak bar oil no matter what. i also carry a milwaukee 18v sawsall with 12" diablo carbide tipped wood blade and i use that a lot for cutting fire wood and small logs...no oil and no mess and the carbide tipped blades cut about as fast as a chainsaw. also love to carry a 36" bow saw, it will go thru green wood like butter and is very easy to store and requires nothing but an arm to power it. (preferably someone else's arm....) :grinning:

View attachment 156886
You need to add one more saw to your arsenal: Folding Trail Saw
 
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Defender 90 Keith

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You need to add one more saw to your arsenal: Folding Trail Saw
I have 4 chainsaws. I wont bore anyone with the details but they are Huskvarna and Sthil.

As for your comment on folding saws, my personal experience shows that folding saws arent great but i do have one of these instead .......

db_file_img_1800_800x800.jpg

Its a Silky Zubat. The curved blade helps massively
 

LostWoods

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I have 4 chainsaws. I wont bore anyone with the details but they are Huskvarna and Sthil.

As for your comment on folding saws, my personal experience shows that folding saws arent great but i do have one of these instead .......

View attachment 156972

Its a Silky Zubat. The curved blade helps massively
Silky saws are insanely good. I have a Silky BigBoy that has served me very well for a few years now because I really haven't found a need for a chainsaw here in VA. Most trails here are generally well traveled so I don't need to cut much aside from firewood from downed trees. It has a permanent home under my back seat.
 
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Gordo_K

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I have 4 chainsaws. I wont bore anyone with the details but they are Huskvarna and Sthil.

As for your comment on folding saws, my personal experience shows that folding saws arent great but i do have one of these instead .......

View attachment 156972

Its a Silky Zubat. The curved blade helps massively
I've had a couple folding saws for my mountain biking pack, and haven't been impressed by their stiffness. How is the Silky?
 

Defender 90 Keith

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I've had a couple folding saws for my mountain biking pack, and haven't been impressed by their stiffness. How is the Silky?
Amazingly sharp. The curved blade varient is better as it assists with the cut and you pull back and forth i always have it attached to my harness when im in the trees. Sometimes its easier to use than the chainsaw