How large of a chainsaw does an average ....

[SwampDonkey]

I use the bottom end of the Husqvarna pro models, the 60 cc 550. I thin small wood for firewood, the woodlot is all second growth since 1994. A whole lot less splitting involved. ;D So I won't be cutting any 30" aspen or maple for a few more years. Although, with a few large tooth aspen, you can cut a few of them at 30 more years, but I'm not cutting wood in my 80's. There comes a time to hang up the hat. ;D :D :D

[Magicman]

Stihl's website lists the 362 as a professional saw

I know and my point was that Stihl's numbering system only describes a certain saw.  smiley_dizzy  It would be difficult to expand their numbering beyond that.  

[Randy1949]

Thanks for all of the great comments!   I think I fall in the "macho? category as I often think I need, or want, a larger saw although at 70 I'm still strong as ever but can't hold out near as long.   I just love chainsaws.

[longtime lurker]

the older I get the smaller the chainsaws get  Im not sure because Im getting smarter or lazier ;D. Now I pretty much run 462's , I have ran the ported 372 abit but not much , big saws sit in the shop around here , I got a real good ported 3120 sitting in the shop that I have not started in I guess 2 years and its even got a pipe if I want to run that , I sold the 395 and 661 as I just never use them . If I need to run a 36 inch bar I got a ported 461 that will run one but its going to need to be over a 5 ft diameter butt for me to even think about running that long of a bar , not many trees I cannot cut with a 28 inch setup on a saw

I got to thinking after reading this and what I'd written above and.... yanno we all tend to think everyone else uses a saw under the same conditions we do.
I don't really think anyone at Stihl is building an MS 720/070 today with no chain brake and a manual oiler to save throwing the tooling out. Best guess - that old banger can run on a grade of fuel a whole lot poorer than any of the subsequent designs, which probably matters when you're in the middle of the Congo or somewhere else where fuel comes in drums and is probably half stale and you get the rust for free.

Same as if I'm correct in thinking an MS651 is interchangeable with the 066 magnum... there was a big difference in the torque curve between 066 and 660, the EPA thing chopped the legs out of them and if you're running 404 chain that difference becomes really noticeable. I run 404 because it suits my species better so.... that was when I went to the 395's. Now I like those 395's and no way would I think about an MS660 but if I could buy a new 066 magnum I'd be thinking about it.

I got a couple 461's because they fit better on the skidder/dozer for a spare saw. Nice saws but I tried to put 404 on a 461 but even with a 24" bar they're pretty hopeless. So back to 3/8 which wont hold an edge for long. Hearing someone talk about banging a 36" bar on one leaves me.... yeah mostly a little jealous because I like those little saws they're just not capable of carrying the chain that works here. Weird world huh?

[sawguy21]

We are in different worlds my friend. ;D The 651 and 720, would love to see one of those, have never appeared in North America. I worked for an Oregon distributor, the .404 market has dried up. We gave the last of ours away to free up space, a few loggers on the west coast run it on the MS880 but that is it. My boss wanted us to push it in Alberta as sales were non existent, I pointed out nobody runs the big saws there. It's all tree length fence posts.
I had a call for a new 070 when I was with a Stihl dealer! You want a WHAT? He was going to south east Asia where they were still being used, it was cheaper to take it as carry on from Canada than buy locally. I had no idea they were still produced.

[gspren]

I have 3 Stihl saws, 041, 044, and 261, two of those are pros and I know it's not the 041 cause it says Farm Boss right on it. The 044 is a pro cause the dealer said so and she knows her Stihls while the 261 has to be a pro because it's just too nice to not be!

[Real1shepherd]

We are in different worlds my friend. ;D The 651 and 720, would love to see one of those, have never appeared in North America. I worked for an Oregon distributor, the .404 market has dried up. We gave the last of ours away to free up space, a few loggers on the west coast run it on the MS880 but that is it. My boss wanted us to push it in Alberta as sales were non existent, I pointed out nobody runs the big saws there. It's all tree length fence posts.
I had a call for a new 070 when I was with a Stihl dealer! You want a WHAT? He was going to south east Asia where they were still being used, it was cheaper to take it as carry on from Canada than buy locally. I had no idea they were still produced.

I assure you there are plenty of loggers here in the PNW still using .404 chain exclusively. Don't believe me, call up Madsen's in Centralia, WA. They probably sell more .404 chain than anyone in the US.

I run .404 skip-tooth, square file chisel on my little Jonsereds 80. That would be the minimum to run it though; 80cc. And on a 28" bar, it's a ripping beast for the 'smaller' stuff.

Then I have a Husky 2100 and a J'reds 2094 set up with 36" bars and the same chain. I use them all the time.
So speak for yourself on the on the decline and death of .404 chain.

Kevin

[Geotech]

I have 24 acres of small to medium hardwoods.  I bought an Echo CS-490 when I first bought the place.  Recently bought a Stihl MS 661 with a 36 inch bar to try milling.  I can't imagine needing anything else.  If something other than milling is too big for my Echo, I would just slap a shorter bar on the Stihl.  Actually, the 36 inch bar is quite serviceable for bucking.  Not really something I want to mess with to fell 24 inch and less diameter trees though.  

[Real1shepherd]

It all depends on the timber you're cutting down & bucking. But even in smaller stuff, I would never walk down a log measuring log lengths with my Spencer tape and use anything less than a 28" bar.....too hard on the back.

A chainsaw is just a tool....you match it to the job at hand.

Kevin

[ehp]

.404 is pretty dead around here , we can buy different grades of 3/8' in hardness . I keep hearing about a longer bar is easier on the back but when your stumps are 6 inches high or  lower to the ground your back is going to be sore until you get use to it and we pretty much bore cut everything so most days Im running a 24 or 28 inch setup

[sawguy21]

Kevin, I wasn't trying to start an argument. Obviously your market is different.

[Real1shepherd]

Kevin, I wasn't trying to start an argument. Obviously your market is different.

I know you weren't.....I'm cool with it.;D
It analogous to saying the car I drive everyday is dead and there's no parts for it. There may come a day when that's true, but in the meantime, I use it. Same with .404 chain......

Madsen's so far supplies me with everything I could ask for. Silvey quit making their old tree jacks, so Madsen's stepped up to the plate and had one just like it produced....maybe even better than the original. Cost is over a thousand, but obviously there's still a market for it and they carry parts to rebuild the old Silvey jacks. That's dedication to their loggers.

However there could come a day where Madsen's sells out like Bailey's and tries to be everything for everybody. I hope I don't live long enough to see that happen. Bailey's was a kick-a** store once, where you could call up and probably get Bill Bailey himself on the phone. Their catalogs were fun and you felt a part of the fraternity. A lot has changed there.

Kevin

[Real1shepherd]

.404 is pretty dead around here , we can buy different grades of 3/8' in hardness . I keep hearing about a longer bar is easier on the back but when your stumps are 6 inches high or  lower to the ground your back is going to be sore until you get use to it and we pretty much bore cut everything so most days Im running a 24 or 28 inch setup

All depends on what kinda scale you're working in and what shape you're in. Like I said, I'm not walking down a scale log, limbing, with anything less than a 28" bar.

Today in most places, you can get a lot of scale cut with a 28" bar.....just what the industry has become. Certainly most everything with a 36" bar.

Kevin

[dougand3]

The Stihl odd/even #s made more sense back when there were 021, 025, 026, 029, 036, 041, 044, 046 saws. Odd was homeowner/farm and even was pro. It still makes some sense (pay attn to 1st  2 #s) with MS250, MS290, MS311, MS391 = homeowner/ranch and MS261, MS362, MS460 = pro.

[doc henderson]

now that makes sense!

[longtime lurker]

.404 is dying here, which is as much about the decline of the regional timber industry as anything... demand for big saws rigged for day in day out felling operations is naturally going to fall off when it reaches a point where you can count the mills and logging contractors left without taking your boots off.

3/8 tungsten chain is slowly eating into what marketspace 404 has left. You carry 5 chains, change them out as required and sharpen in camp at the end of day. Tungsten always seems half blunt to me and it cuts slow... But it's also half sharp and you spend your day falling not filing. It's expensive to set up initially and you still need a 90cc saw to drag it but... tons on the ground at the end of day is what you get paid on and depending on the logs it can add up.

I'm mostly a sawmiller now so imma hold out with 404 as long as it's available. I can see the teeth to file them. :D

[Real1shepherd]

Yeah, I don't want to get into the perks & advantages of using .404 chain and there are many. It just becomes a shouting match between the wood cutters/homeowners/weekend warriors against the pro users.....pointless. In PNW wood, you can fell until lunch and then change out chains or sharpen....also a non-issue. But then as I noted in another thread when I moved to MO and had a big farm there.....the .404 square file chain cut through oak and walnut like butter. The myth being that .404 square file skip-tooth chain only works in softwood.  

If your work big cc saws a lot you have muscle memory for the weight...it's a non-issue. If the wood cutters/homeowners/weekend warriors pick up a big pro saw, then the weight complaining begins. But.....chainsaws are just tools and so using a saw bigger than the task requires, is foolish as well.

I never heard anyone on a loggin' show complaining about saws being too heavy and the generation before me using gear driven saws had to deal with even more weight in the woods.

Kevin