Our chainsaw journies

[petefrom bearswamp]

Well as you fellows and gals can see I am very long in the  tooth, and think it may be interesting to find out what folks here have had as far as experience with saws.
I first operated a chainsaw while at the New York State Ranger School at Wanakena NY in 1958.
We had, and I think memory serves 2 Homelites, a 6-24 and a 7-21 as well as a Mall a Lombard a Strunk and maybe others.
Got to operate three of the  previous and they were pretty heavy with the Mall causing arm stretch so that after a day of operating you could nearly scratch your ankles without bending over.
After RS I joined the then NYS Conservation Dept as a Forest General Foreman and we bucked  Red pine and Norway spruce pulpwood with an xl12 and a xl15 gear drive, both state of the art and reliable at that time.
Worked part time with a couple of friends doing tree removal with another larger Homelite which I cant remember, an  xl12 and then an early Stihl, I dont remember the model. The Stihl seemed superior to the Homilites weight wise.
Then promoted within the department to a supervisory capacity and my woods crews doing TSI used primarily McCulloch 10-10s which gave a fair amount of trouble and a couple of virtually trouble free xl12s.
in the early 70s I bought in fairly rapid succession an xl12, an xl101 and an xl103 that I used part time in doing TSI work on the side.
good saws except the 103 which was a hot number and didnt last long.
Upgraded in 1973 to a super xl12 which I still have and is a super saw except for the vibration.
In 93 I bought a Husky 61 which my son has and sees limited service as a backup. Great saw.
Since then I have had with pretty good reliability an Echo cs600p, a Husky 460 rancher two smaller Huskies and my newest and so far barely used Husky 562xp.
Weimydog has fixed my Echo for me and helped with a self caused issue with the 562xp.
I admire his knowledge
Dont know how many years I have left but still piddle around bucking a little firewood and leaving the felling and limbing to my son.
It will be interesting to see replies and Im sure a lot of saw brands  mentioned  a lot of us have never heard of.

[DHansen]

Wow Pete, lots of history in that post.  At 23 I bought my first saw.  A brand new Husqvarna 266xp that was 1985.  No where near as far back as you have experience.  I still have my 266xp and even the receipt, owners manual and sales brochure.  Has been and excellent saw.  

[barbender]

Pete that is quite a journey. I think of all the incremental improvements you saw from model to model, but if you compare that new 562xp to the Mall what a difference!

[sawguy21]

My dad bought a Mac 15 for use around the cottage at a closeout sale in the mid 60's, they had lost it in the rather cluttered store and found it when they cleaned up after shutdown. I was tasked with keeping it going but it was a cranky beast, he finally gave it away. I later got into small engine repair and landed at a Stihl dealership, got thoroughly indoctrinated on 041's and 051's for the farmers and loggers which fueled my addiction to logging and saws. I have a collection  of old timers but health problems and lack of space means they sit unattended.

[firefighter ontheside]

The first saw I operated was my dad's old Skil with a 24" bar.  I think my hands are still vibrating from that experience about 35 years ago.  Other than that saw, my dad always had McCulloch saws and thats what I used for a long time.  At the FD we also had McCulloch for a long time.  Then my dad(the fire chief) bought a couple Stihl 025's for the FD.  We still have those saws 25 years later on the reserve fire trucks.  When I was 22 I broke my leg very badly while skiing.  I spent many months on crutches after major surgery to fix my leg.  I was dreaming of building a log home and so my parents bought me an 025.  I spent several months just handling that saw while laying on the couch.  Eventually I got off crutches and was able to go outside to my land where I was going to build my house.  I ran the 025 and became a Stihl fan.  While fighting forest fires out west years ago I was not a certified sawyer for the forest service.  I could carry the saw for the sawyers which I did many times, because it didn't seem fair them having to lug the saw up and down mountains all the time.  I decided that I needed to go take the Wildland Saws class and I did, but then I never went back to wildland firefighting.  Once I got my sawmill about 5 years ago, I started to feel the need for a bigger saw than my 025.  I bought an MS291 which was bigger and more powerful of course, but even that eventually proved underpowered for what I wanted to do with logs.  Earlier this year  I upgraded to a used MS362 with a 20" bar.  Then a few months ago I got a great deal on a new MS261 and also bought a 25" bar to be able to use with the 362.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Regarding McCulloch, I think I saw here where they were sometimes referred to as cats as the repeated pulling of the starter cord gave a purrr purrr purr sound.
Also reminder of in the movie, Sometimes a Great Notion when I think it was Richard Jaekel tried to start the saw with the tide coming in to no avail.

[firefighter ontheside]

Lol.  That sounds about right. Maybe that's why I liked Stihl so much compared to the McCullochs i was used to.  It always started up just like the instructions suggested.

[Wlmedley]

My mother bought me a new Poulan saw when I was about 14 years old to clean up an old pasture field so my uncle could run his cattle on it.At the time it was fairly expensive but I don't remember model.It was bought at a saw shop and had a 14 inch bar.My uncle had a big blue homelite saw and he came up to help me get started and give me some operating tips.Right after he finished telling me how dangerous a chainsaw could be he got in a bunch of grapevines and cut his knee wide open with his.Lesson learned.Little Poulan held up pretty good so when I got my own place I bought a Skil which was a rebranded 3800 Poulan which did a good job.Now I have a Husky 372 and couldn't ask for a better saw.I also have a small Echo top handle and a Tanaka top handle.Echo has given me a lot of trouble but Tanaka starts and runs pretty good although neither are ate up with power.

[caveman]

Pete, you are an inspiration.  I remember you saying you were going to hang up the sawmilling at 70 + 10.  If you don't mind getting me some dendro samples for my students, I'd appreciate the help.  They will be heading to Indy for the National FFA Forestry Contest in October.  Thank you for sharing a bit of your history.

[Al_Smith]

Hard to really say as I've been around them all life .I really didn't get too involved until I bought a Lombard Comango for 25 bucks at a yard sale that had not ran in years . I had it home in about 30 minutes I had it running so evidently I had " the gift " .The rest just followed .

[aigheadish]

When I was a wee tike I'd hang out while my dad would fell trees and cut firewood, I wish I knew the saws he ran, but the smells have stuck with me, I was probably 4 or 5 years old. 

I never had a need for a saw until we moved out to the country, where I'm at now. My FIL let me borrow his small Stihl with a 16" bar. It was light and small enough to not be terribly intimidating, I'm thinking it was like an ms212 or something but I could be way off on that. I quickly determined that the Stihl wasn't big enough for my trees (and I didn't have a lot of success with firing it up), and I bought a Husqvarna 455 Rancher which I promptly forgot to add oil to the fuel and seized her up. So I bought another. I'm still very, very green to sawing, and I'm pretty cautious with the saw in my hand. I've cut down some trees but nowadays I'd rather knock them down with the backhoe. 

[trapper]

Father had a bad hip so i was cutting our firewood with a swede saw.  (bow saw) Dead larch.  At 15 father felt sorry for me and bought me a used chainsaw.  Mc couloch super 33  

[Real1shepherd]

Regarding McCulloch, I think I saw here where they were sometimes referred to as cats as the repeated pulling of the starter cord gave a purrr purrr purr sound.
Also reminder of in the movie, Sometimes a Great Notion when I think it was Richard Jaekel tried to start the saw with the tide coming in to no avail.

I became a logger after I saw that film....not because of it though. I should watch it again now with a critical eye and see if it stands up with any authenticity.

 
Kevin

[Nebraska]

I had a post written but sent it to never never land. : So I will just say I cut firewood with my father as a kid. Not lots but an old pickup truck load a year. I ended up with that saw after college. Little blue Homelite XL.  Started heating with wood...Now I have  20 acres of woods, (I'm not going to admit how many chainsaws) and I'm on my second sawmill.   I like making saw dust.....
Dealing with its a pain but making it is fun......

[petefrom bearswamp]

Dang, I forgot but the state crew had some POulans too. They worked OK butnot stellar

[OddInTheForrest]

As one of the younger men here, I dont think I can contribute with old stories from old saws. But still, its been a few saws.

My father and uncle ran a gardening / lawn care firm here for years.
I had my first job there at 12 or 13. 
Started running saws, the trusty old Stihl MS 180 with a 14" 00.43" chain at 13 I think.

Ran through a few of the smaller saws in the lawncare buisness.

After I started working rotations at sea, I had a lot more time for the firm on my time off from the boats.
Ended up doing more and more urban jobs, felling trees in gardens etc.

Got my first top handle saw in 2012, still have it and use it, a Stihl 192T.

So the need came for better saws.

I got an 039 from 1994,red lever, that I had for a few years. 

Then a 660, 036, 361, 441, 200 rear handle, a 170 that I ported, a few 193s, and a few 260s.

As of today, I have a 150, 151, the 192t, and a 261. The 441 just got sold, and the next one will be either a 661 or a 500i.

Nowadays its mostly firewood, with the trusty Pilkemaster Evo 36 Processor, and a 2009 Polaris atv with a chinese trailer.

Best regards
Odd

[Al_Smith]

It had to be 40 years ago and my dad ,brother in law and myself cut a lot of fire wood .Dad and I used McCulloch Pm 610's and dad "tweaked " his .The BIL was always trying to find something to out run us but not with much luck . 
Then he had a plan Mac right hand start 10-10  running aviation gasoline laced with  nitro methane .Worked pretty good for about 10 minutes until it became a sacrifice to the piston gods .Later in life I used the crankshaft in another saw and have what's left of the piston in a drawer .It did run extremely fast just not extremely  long .  :D

[Spike60]

Two tract story for me; 1 as a dealer and 1 as a saw geek. Opened the store 30 years ago, and closing/retiring at the end of this year. Had  been in the OPE biz for a few years before that as a sales rep. Prior saw experience was helping the ex-wife's family cut firewood on the weekends. First saw I ran was their Homelite 330. Always liked that saw and in fact have 2 in the collection. Their other saw was a Stihl 011. Had a cool sound for a small saw.

As a new dealer, we had to start out with what lines were available. For us, that meant Solo and Olympyk. Actually some decent saws, but they just didn't sell. The Olympyk distributor was also the Jonsered distributor, and eventually offered us Jonsered and that's when things began to happen. Jonsered had a nice following around here going back to the early 70's. But an older dealer I knew once told me, "If you don't have Husky or Stihl, you're not really in the saw business". Sadly that's the truth, and why most of those other brands have gone away. But 2 years after we got Jonsered, we also got Husky and that's when the business exploded. Turns out old Frank was right.  

Quickly became apparent to me that saws were the best part of the OPE biz once you get the pro users coming in. Huge amount of accessory business in relation to the original purchase price. No pick up and delivery, no flat tires, no dead batteries, no lying on the ground to work on them. Most loggers and tree companies have plenty of saws, vs a landscaper that owns 1 mower and who's world comes to an end every time it breaks. Also became apparent that most dealers don't like 2 stroke in general and only have enthusiasm for larger equipment. If it ain't got 4 tires and a big mowing deck, then they can't be bothered. Saw service for most of those shops is relagated to "when we get caught up on mowers", which never happens.

So, we eventually became the dominant saw shop in the area, except for the Stihl users. Not just from surrounding towns, but all the surrounding area codes as well. We stock a LOT of parts. Guys don't even call and ask; they just figure we have what they need. Only work on Husky/Jonsered. Got all the work we can handle just doing our own brands, and I'm kind of spoiled by nearly always having every part I need to finish a job on 1 trip to the bench. Have no parts for other brands, and zero desire, or time, to look them over, box them up and chase parts. Not to forget access to all the service docs and tech help. Can't stand working on other brands.

You never stop learning, but 30 years of experience and you do soak up a lot of info that customers look for and appreciate. One example: Guy came in and asked for an air filter for a 55. Asked him if he needed the one that screws in or the one that snaps in. Says, "the one with the screw, and that's why I drove here. Nobody else would think to ask the question." Same thing happened with a 268 starter pulley. (big or little starter decal). Keeps you on your game also, because these folks could be coming from an hour away and you can't send them home with the wrong parts.

Well, I went off on another long rant here, didn't I? But this phase of my saw journey is coming to an end in a couple months. The collector/saw geek phase will continue and I'll get into that in another post sometime later. But it sure was easy to build a nice collection being in the business.

[Real1shepherd]

Great story Bob.....and I admire your business model of just two types of chainsaws, but know them explicitly well.

And you're correct......go into a big lawn and garden store and their bread and butter are the riding lawnmowers they sell along with push mowers. Chainsaws if any, are an afterthought. Even that guy I liked in Montrose, CO that I let work on my saws  when I was still loggin'.....he had his hands into other barrels as well. Not sure what else he was selling/servicing, because I'd just walk by that stuff. But he had a real soft spot for chainsaws.

Kevin

[rusticretreater]

Back in my teen years my dad got me a job working at Rippon Lodge(a 18th century lodge on the original Kings Highway in Virginia).  George Washington actually slept there!  My Marine Corps officer dad worked with another officer who did clean-up work on the property.  Before long, I was sawin, crackin and stackin.

A friend of mine borrowed a truck and we were in the firewood business.  My friend bought one of the early Shindaiwa chain saws and I got a Homelight.  This was in Northern Virginia and they were building houses left and right.  We would slide into construction sites and load up.

I did that for only one season.  I made really good money for a teenager but I couldn't convince myself to do season two.  I had cars, girls and drinking requiring my attention.

After many years in suburbia, me and the missus moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  It was still a housing development, but there were many scraggly trees on the fence lines. The wife surprised me by going out and buying a Poulan Pro as a gift.  It was adequate, but one day at the hardware store I just suddenly bought myself a Husqvarna 435 saw.

I have since moved to 8+acres wooded site and was in need of an upgrade.  I unloaded my 435 and bought a 562xp.  I cut with the 562 and limb with the Poulan.  Of course, being the tool nut that I am my pile of accessories has grown.  Saw cases w/ blade guards, electric chain sharpener, many many files, and the safety gear.  



 

[longtime lurker]

Figure I was about 16 years old before I was allowed to pick up a chainsaw. Before that it was all axe. It would have been a McCollouch - Dad ran yellow things - couldn't tell you the model but it would have been a fair lump of a pro saw.

First saw I got of my own was an 056 Super
Then an 076
then an 056 MagII, followed by three more just the same.
Then I kind of got away from it for a while, wasn't really cutting seriously and I just kept running them 056's until I had cannibalised two to keep the last one going.
Then  I came back into the industry and got a 395XP. Dude, why did you not upgrade those clapped out old vibrating things sooner???
And another 395
And a pair of MS461's - one for the skidder and one for the mill.
And another 395
And its new saw time again now... hoping I can still get one last 395, who knows maybe I'll get lucky with some old stock but if not I'll have to be all brave and try a 592XP.

90cc saws just work for me - enough grunt to carry .404 chain on my preferred 28 or 32" bar lengths without the weight penalty of the MS880/120XP. And if it ain't broke don't fix it...  I find a saw that I like and run with it.

[Patrick NC]

Before I got my first saw dad gave me a 5 gallon bucket of old chains and a file. Said I needed to learn how to sharpen one before I could run one. After I learned to sharpen he gave me a homelite xl12. Sold firewood for a year to buy my first new saw. It was a husqvarna 268. There have been several others over the years and my current fleet is a husqvarna 550xp, 460. 365, 372xp and a ratty little stihl ms170 that serves as a mud saw/ debarker at the mill.

[Spike60]

Warning: another long and drawn out post on the way......

Up early, so here's the hobbiest side of the story. Always enjoyed the saw/firewood activities outside of the business. How's this for an ideal day: Kind of a raw, chilly day outside, meet up with a couple buddies at a nearby log site and load our pick ups with firewood, maybe stop at the local pub for a couple beers and watch a little football before heading home to unload the truck and reload the woodstove. Tell the citiots that stop in the bar NO the wood is not for sale!

First saw I ever rebuilt for myself was a Husky 359 that was just too nice to not fix it. But like the majority of saws in my collection, it was a "walk away" by the customer. Parts and labor on anything but the 70cc and larger pro saws has always crept too close to the cost of just getting a new saw. And a lot of people just prefer to get a new saw anyway. Especially if the saw in question is an older model. People are hesitant to rebuild an older saw like a 268XP, and they also feel that after that many years they got their money out of it, so it's time for a new one. I have a close to mint 257 that a guy didn't want to fix for the above reasons.  

Sometimes these older, low hours saws get pulled out and are the victim of bad fuel, a cracked fuel line or whatever. Sometimes a guy will want to trade in a larger saw that he no longer wants to run for something lighter. Have a SWEET Homelite XL925 with the original bar that was traded in on a 346. Have an ureal condition Jonsered 90 that got traded in on a 2171. Customer said it was at another dealer and the NLA coil was bad. I didn't even have a coil, but thought I might be able to find it. Turned out it didn't need one. Just cleaned the points and she fired right up.

Mostly stuck with Husky/Jonsered for obvious reasons. Pretty much have them all by now, and in many cases, more than one of some models. Sometimes 3-4. Yeah, it got out of control, but once you define yourself as a "collector", the entire rationale changes. Your SUPPOSED to get more and more of whatever you're collecting. And most of the saws found me, not the other way around. Got attached to certain saw chassis. Jonsered 920/930 is a favorite for whenever something bigger than 70cc saws is needed, but sometimes I'll just run one with a 20" bar on the woodpile cause I like them. 70E is another example. And I just plain enjoy running some of the older saws. In addition to our own parts stock, we have bought out 4 other dealers parts inventory over the years, so I have a lot of NLA parts to support these older saws.

So, what do you do when you have just about every model? Well, you kind of start over and begin looking for heated handle versions of your favorites. Only have about a dozen so far, but some real sweet examples. A 154SG that's kind of too nice to run. A 262XPG that's beat up and ratty that gets run a lot. Favorite that gets run every year is a 2163W I got from a buddy up in Vermont. Next up project, is a pair of heated 900's, one 920 and one 930. Complete other than the top handles being scuffed, but may have a source for them. Thing that's fun with the heated saws is you get them to the point that they run and then it's "does the heat work?" Always smile when those handles start warming up.

No, not done yet.............and not stuck in Sweden either. Gotta have some saws from the home team, and have about a dozen Homelites, half of which are different versions of XL12/SXL. Have 2 Macs, cause they are part of the history, but prefer the Homelites by a wide margin. Always seemed easier to get the Homelites sorted out and keep them that way. Have 4-5 Dolmars, back when the were Sach-Dolmar. 114/116/119/120. Guess I liked that chassis. Have ONE Stihl, which is not meant as a joke, but gets interpreted that way occasionally. A close to mint 041AV from a good friend that I trade with often. Idles like a harley and it's a cool saw.  

In general I need to have some fun with the nicer saws and stop fussing over them. Seems like I've gotten into this rut of only running the ratty, scuffed and ugly saws. In fact I have about a dozen of them that I've dubbed the the "Rat Patrol" and they get used quite a bit.

Time for breakfast.

[bigblockyeti]

Any experimentation with cooled handles?  The last thing I need down here is more heat, I have just the right amount as is.

[Guydreads]

Bigblockyeti you just gave me an idea. I'll have to think about that lol