What saw would you buy, a Stihl 362 (display model) or Stihl 461 (new in the box) with 25 inch bars? Price difference is $200. I am not planning on taking down trees, but mainly bucking logs over 30 inches in diameter.
MS 362 is same size and weight as my MS 290 Farm Boss, but has a little more power. I was in a bind (6pm) Monday and bucking a log when the MS290's bar sprocket locked up. I was in a frenzy needing to cut up some 2x6s for a buyer. Then and there, I decided I needed another saw, after I installed my original bar to finish the log bucking.
hugs, Brandi
Also, what length bar? 20 or 25?
hugs, Brandi
There's no replacement for displacement and power, buy once, cry once. If youre burying 25inch bars that 362 is out of its league.
I have a 036, 038 mag and a 460 any thing over 24 in I use the 460
The 362 will handle a 25" bar ok, but it's sub optimal. If you frequently have a 25" bar buried, I'd go with the bigger saw. If it isn't so frequent, I'd go with the lighter saw. I bought my 362 with a 25" bar, but 20" is a better match, if for no other reason, balance. After getting a 661, that gets the 25" bar when I want something shorter than 36". If you really like the idea of a 362 + 25" bar, I'd go with the ES Light bar.
Quote from: Upstatewoodchuc on April 14, 2021, 07:16:31 PM
There's no replacement for displacement and power, buy once, cry once. If youre burying 25inch bars that 362 is out of its league.
I brought the 362 home with the 20 inch bar today, but think I will take it back for the 461 with the 25 inch bar.
hugs, Brandi
I run a MS362 with a 25" bar and a full skip chain. With the full skip chain, it is more like running a 20" bar because there are fewer cutters, but you get the advantage of the 25" bar length. I have found it to be a good compromise.
I have both of those saws. Just as @WDH (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=4370) I run a 25" skip on my 362 and 28" skip on my 461. Granted I'm cutting Spruce and Hemlock, so softwoods, but those combos work best for me.
I am very pleased with both saws. The 362 is an older non cm and that thing just runs and runs. The 461 is a workhorse.
I run a 25 and 36 inch bar on my old 046 magnum, and just have to listen to the engine pull with a longer bar.
my chain for the 880 is a skip tooth for the 5 foot bar. :) ;) 8)
What about the two saws without skip chains and the bar lengths mentioned above? What I really want now (pretty sure) is a MS461 with a 25 inch bar. Now, skip or regular chain?
My old MS 290 has 56cc. The MS 362 I bought home last night is 59cc. The 461 has 76.5cc. That is a lot more power for the 461. Seems like the 461 would be fine with a regular chain on a 25 inch bar.
What are the cost differences in chains? Guess I could just buy a regular chain and if it bogs down too much, buy skip chains.
My friend and Stihl dealer said you can bog them down and burn them up, as the clutch (I think he said) has a cooling fan connected to it. Low rpms equal less cooling. But really, we all know when our saw is bogging down, like Doc mentioned above. Just like a tractor plowing or pulling a disc, low power settings kill the engine. Ya gotta roll coal!
hugs, Brandi
I run a 36 inch bar on my 046 that is the old version of what you are getting. It is full of teeth. I got it when that was the only saw I ran (owned). with a little common sense, it was fine. in a 12 inch log, not much different than a 20 inch bar ect. the trouble would be running a full chain in hedge with a 36 inch bar. you have enough scruples to know haw to run equipment. you will not want your rankers to low on a 36 inch bar and chain. that saw will pull. if you crank on the log dawgs and push into the log, almost any saw may bog down.
Skip tooth makes it cut slower for a given bar length, but it increases saw speed to what it needs to be. On the 461 with the length of the bar mentioned, I'd go full comp & not skip. I've never NEVER heard of any fan on the sprocket side, on on the flywheel side, that might be where the confusion was.
Quote from: Tacotodd on April 15, 2021, 05:09:32 PM
Skip tooth makes it cut slower for a given bar length, but it increases saw speed to what it needs to be. On the 461 with the length of the bar mentioned, I'd go full comp & not skip. I've never NEVER heard of any fan on the sprocket side, on on the flywheel side, that might be where the confusion was.
I've never NEVER made a mistake. no_no Except this time. :D It is on the flywheel side or is the flywheel.
Brandi
Quote from: doc henderson on April 15, 2021, 04:08:12 PM
I run a 36 inch bar on my 046 that is the old version of what you are getting. It is full of teeth. I got it when that was the only saw I ran (owned). with a little common sense, it was fine. in a 12 inch log, not much different than a 20 inch bar ect. the trouble would be running a full chain in hedge with a 36 inch bar. you have enough scruples to know haw to run equipment. you will not want your rankers to low on a 36 inch bar and chain. that saw will pull. if you crank on the log dawgs and push into the log, almost any saw may bog down.
You are right Doc. I got enough scruples. But there is a hole in my bag of marbles. I returned the 362, this evening, and upgraded to the 461 with a 25 inch bar and regular chain.
Log dawgs? I love log dawgs! running-doggy Just can't teach them to fetch!
hugs, Brandi
I've never seen a difference in cutting speed between skip and full comp. Not enough that I noticed anyhow. I know skip sharpens a lot faster. With a 25" on a 461, full comp should be just dandy anyhow.
Quote from: barbender on April 15, 2021, 10:10:41 PM
I've never seen a difference in cutting speed between skip and full comp. Not enough that I noticed anyhow. I know skip sharpens a lot faster. With a 25" on a 461, full comp should be just dandy anyhow.
Dandy is a good term.
hugs, Brandi
461 hands down is the saw you want of the ones you picked
I like my 461, minus getting it started; usually, once started I just let it run. For land clearing it has a place, but my heart goes out to our new little MS194T; she's a sweetheart. The only problem that I've mentally noted with the 194T, is that it's so *DanG easy to use with one hand, I need to be extremely careful with where my other arm, and body are at in relation.
I made two cuts in a 28 diameter pine today. That thing is the bomb! Cuts like butter and hardly hooked the dawgs into the log.
I feel sorry for my old 290 (even with a new bar and chain) now, as I now favor the 461. No problems starting, if I remember to push the compression release. The chain brake goes on before I turn the saw off, so it will be on when I start the beast.
I could have bucked more logs, but got rained out as I was dogging the log on the mill.
hugs, Brandi
now you have a back up and or a loaner saw. (not recommended) nothing better than a new saw.
Quote from: doc henderson on April 16, 2021, 11:14:25 PM
now you have a back up and or a loaner saw. (not recommended) nothing better than a new saw.
Saws are one of the things that don't get loaned out here. Having a backup saw is the #1 reason I bought a new saw.
hugs, Brandi
I love new saws!😊
Thanks guys for all the input! smiley_blue_bounce smiley_clapping smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bounce smiley_hollywood_cool splitwood_smiley
hugs, Brandi
You have to have a back-up saw to unstick the one you stuck ;D.
Quote from: WDH on April 17, 2021, 06:31:47 AM
You have to have a back-up saw to unstick the one you stuck ;D.
Since I got my grapple back in 2012, I haven't had any stuck saws. I pick up the logs I need to buck. Easier on the back also.
hugs, Brandi
I was told by my dealer that the best saw for sawing in the dirt and sand... was your neighbors saw. :). I have pinched a bar with a grapple but can usually get it out with the loader. most of my chainsaw use is within 100 feet of 8 more chainsaws.
Quote from: doc henderson on April 17, 2021, 11:52:50 AM
I was told by my dealer that the best saw for sawing in the dirt and sand... was your neighbors saw. :). I have pinched a bar with a grapple but can usually get it out with the loader. most of my chainsaw use is within 100 feet of 8 more chainsaws.
Doc,
How did you pinch your bar with the grapple?
hugs, Brandi
not with the grapple but despite holding it with one. I sometimes do things on an industrial scale. I got it out with moving the log, but you have to be careful not to crunch your saw.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/1DE60693-43A5-4939-8BB2-BAC866778CFC.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1546636527)
1/4 cord of firewood
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/C987F21C-538E-4A87-A7B9-6A16734FA11C.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1546636515)
bucking a little ERC
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/047.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1546893428)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/049.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1546893443)
brother in law following directions
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/048.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1546893454)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/046.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1546893258)
stuff taken to harvest about 5 standing dead elm trees.
the last 4 are real. whole standing dead elms that flooded and died. cut to fall into the crates below. the first two I will leave you to decide. I think we would get along fine Brandi. usually it is a big tree only partially supported by the grapple
oops forgot the smiley face. :) @Bindian (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=17364)
Good thing that strap is on the pickup load of firewood otherwise it would be a little sketchy.
Wow Doc, you can stack a mean pile of firewood!
Quote from: btulloh on April 17, 2021, 07:59:35 PM
Good thing that strap is on the pickup load of firewood otherwise it would be a little sketchy.
That there truck was Doc's first vehicle.
hugs, Brandi
Quote from: doc henderson on April 17, 2021, 06:55:54 PMI think we would get along fine Brandi. usually it is a big tree only partially supported by the grapple
Nope. think_not We would be arguing who would run the loader. smiley_argue01 It has air conditioning, right? smiley_thumbsup
hugs, Brandi
Doc, that large tree in the photo. Is the letters ERC mean Eastern Red Cedar?
Is that you in the photo background with the saw?
There's a bit of forced perspective in that erc photo. ;D
And after doing a bit of calculation on the pickup load of firewood, there's at least 3 or 4 sticks more than 1/4 cord. :D
the first 2 pics are jokes. the last 4 were mine. ;) :)
Doc, how many miles you have on that truck? My '01 has 354, and I still like it.
I carried it to get inspected last week, and it failed. Both turn signals flashed when the left one was supposed to. Everything looked fine from the driver's seat.
Expecting a terrible time finding an electrical gremlin, I slid under it on a creeper, hoping for something obvious maybe with the trailer brake controller circuit. The first thing I saw was the plug for the LED lightbar under the tailgate, so I decided to unplug that, and eliminate it from the possibles.
Turned out, that was the trouble! After unplugging it, I tried the left turn signal, and everything was working as it should. I went back, got it inspected, and we all had a good laugh about the easiest electrical fix Ever.
My 2003 Dodge dually has 417,422 miles her. If I wouldn't have retired early, I could have hit half a million miles, in about 3 years. 62 miles one way adds up quickly.
hugs, Brandi
190,000 0n my dually but the black truck is not mine. :)