What was your favorite chainsaw of all time and why

Real1shepherd · August 26, 2021, 07:55:37 PM

"Have to wonder why Tilton ever bothered messing with Olympyk when they already had the Jonnys."

Showcase the best and sell lesser saws if you have to. Or maybe an especially aggressive Olympyk rep who was giving Tilton fishing poles/tackle and or guns to carry them. :D

Kevin

Guydreads · August 28, 2021, 01:24:29 PM

My favorite saw is the Jonsered 2071 Turbo. Can't beat a saw that you could literally throw off a plane and it would still run. Close second is a 2150 with muffler mod. Extremely responsive, sounds mean, and has monster torque for a 2150. My first saw was a Partner 500 and it is tied with the 2150 as far as how I like it. Not as responsive, but is a pro saw, and I have run that thing with no oil for the chain (didn't realize it at the time) and have just beat this saw up. Doing a bit of restoring of it soon, paintwork on the cover is in bad condition, maybe I'll post some pics once I paint it. Anyway I love all my saws, they're great.

donbj · August 28, 2021, 01:31:33 PM

Quote from: Guydreads on August 28, 2021, 01:24:29 PM
My favorite saw is the Jonsered 2071 Turbo. Can't beat a saw that you could literally throw off a plane and it would still run. Close second is a 2150 with muffler mod. Extremely responsive, sounds mean, and has monster torque for a 2150. My first saw was a Partner 500 and it is tied with the 2150 as far as how I like it. Not as responsive, but is a pro saw, and I have run that thing with no oil for the chain (didn't realize it at the time) and have just beat this saw up. Doing a bit of restoring of it soon, paintwork on the cover is in bad condition, maybe I'll post some pics once I paint it. Anyway I love all my saws, they're great.

I have a 2065 Turbo in like new condition. Awesome saw!

Real1shepherd · August 28, 2021, 06:20:30 PM

And the Jonsered 2094.....first saw I ever pitted against the venerable Husky 2100/2101. Amazing 14,000rpm screamer with some serious butt. ;D

Kevin

Al_Smith · August 28, 2021, 09:11:13 PM

The mention of the 999 brings up by far the most talked about saw on the internet .It belonged to John Lambert AKA "Gypo Logger ",Franks Planks and Yukon John I'm not certain where it came from but at least 4 or 5 people had worked it over . I saw it once and it actually ran pretty good then big Dave Neiger had a go at it and it ran even better .He worked that thing over with a die grinder and never took one measurement and drank wine while he did it in about 15-20 minutes .

longtime lurker · August 29, 2021, 05:09:31 AM

My favourite saw is... I don't have one, hate all of the things to be completely honest. But I've made some dollars with them over the years, and if I'm a whole lot happier with my lot now I stay in the mill and don't go logging except for a couple of hundred tonne a year to keep all my certifications up, well... they are still a necessary evil.

So for me it's not about having a favourite saw so much as the saw I hate the least... and that would be the 395 Huski's. Before that it was the 066 Magnums, before that it was the 056 Magnum II's, before that it was an 076, and I came into the industry hanging off one of dad's big yellow things.
That 90cc mark is about right for most of what I do I guess. But there's no way I can look back at an older saw with worse AV mounts that weighs more and feel a blast of nostalgia... I miss feeling like I could swing them like a toy all day, I miss the big logs and the big machines and the men I worked with. But miss the saws themselves - no way!

Old saw fixer · August 29, 2021, 01:31:48 PM

I guess my Stihl 036 Pro is my favorite saw for the time being. I haven't worked my newer saws enough to see if one of them might bounce the 036 Pro off of the throne. Time will tell...

chet · August 30, 2021, 11:02:56 PM

Quote from: Al_Smith on August 26, 2021, 02:00:24 PM
As far as obsolete parts for anything you might wait decades for them to show up .One example I can think of is the cylinder head for a 1940 Caterpillar D4 7J series .90 bucks to buy it and 90 bucks to ship it from Maine. fleabay .That was over ten years ago and I still haven't installed it . :D

Try findin' sprockets for an early JD 2010 crawler. :(

Al_Smith · September 01, 2021, 09:25:43 AM

That's were you might need to get creative .I'm not familiar with them but it might be such a thing you could weld in "Dakota " sprocket caps if they even make them any more .That would be a lot of work though .
This is off topic but at one time there was a bone yard in North Dakota with a lot of old obsolete stuff .Some old some after market .I used to get their catalogs but it's been years ago . Old machinery just like old chainsaws are not for everybody .

blackoak · October 03, 2021, 09:57:03 PM

Mine will always be the Stihl 10mm 044. I used it today and it still puts a big smile on my face

doc henderson · October 04, 2021, 04:12:18 AM

Stihl 046 mag. fist prosaw, after some of the cheap big box store Macs, poulons, and Homelite. got it in 1994 just out of residency.

Al_Smith · October 09, 2021, 09:39:53 AM

Although I have no real "favorites" I'll put a plug in for the 044 and 046 .Fact any of that basic design .Usually dependable with plenty of power plus you can still get parts for them .Although I've operated them I've never owned one .Of that basic design the only model I own that is running is an 024 which was the smallest so called pro saws during that time period .I saved that one from a dealers "dead pile " it wasn't dead BTW. It's been a good one .

Sauna freak · October 09, 2021, 09:46:48 PM

Mine is my current Jred 2149. Not so much because it's the greatest design of all time...although it is remarkably sound for it's purpose...but because of how I acquired it and what I've done with it over the years.

It came into my life when I helped my brother haul some junk to his city's recycle day. There was a little red saw in the scrap motor pile. I knew nothing about the model, but knew the name and the size by the model number. Pulled the cord and it appeared to have compression, and if nothing else the bar and chain were good and would fit my current Husqvarna (forgot the model number, a very forgettable small saw), so I threw it in the truck. Dumped out the "gas" in the tank, and it wouldn't even burn in my fire pit. Pulled the fuel filter and soaked it in straight gas, and filled the tank half with straight gas also. Gave it a good shake and dump, put the fuel filter and mixed gas back in, and with a little dash of fresh gas in the carb, it was running clean after only a few pulls!

Since then, I've purchased my own hunting/forestry land, and that saw is my all purpose clearing, firewood, and light logging saw when I'm felling trees in the winter and need to pack light. It also goes with on the trapline or backcountry snowmobile/fishing trips. I've probably cut over 100 cords of cut to length firewood, and God knows how much brush, poles, hinge cuts, camp wood, ice blocks and other odd tasks. I run over 10 gallons of gas a year through this little guy and it keeps on performing. Relatively light but good enough power for occasional heavy cutting. Compact body, well thought out controls, and most importantly rock solid reliable in any conditions. Just an all around bullet proof saw that does exactly what I ask it to and then some!

Al_Smith · October 10, 2021, 10:52:11 AM

I've worked on exactly one J-red in my lifetime and it was some model of 49 cc's. A carb rebuild and a dull semi chisel chain and a choke lever linkage that needed a little bend or two .What ever model it might have been I thought it was pretty snappy for it's size .

jweier80 · October 23, 2021, 11:20:17 AM

New here, but been lurking for a while. I have a special place in my heart for the 041 farm boss (non-antivibe version). It was the saw I grew up with. Dad bucked who knows how many loads of firewood with it when I was a kid. Later when we moved off the farm we'd still help family and friends in the fall with wood cutting. When my brothers and I became boy scouts and dad the Scout Master we'd spend a couple of weekends a year clearing trees at some of the council properties. The saw never did die. just got lost. Dropped it off to have the chain sharpened, and the guy went out of business. When my dad was helping me with my first milling project a couple of months ago. He mentioned he'd like to have an 041 again. So I found a couple that were in rough shape, spent a week or two putting them back together and got them running decently. Dropped the nicer of the two off to him. He was pretty thrilled to have an 041 again. Until about a week later when an 041AV fell in my lap lol. I offered him a 262xp if he wanted it. No, he'd rather have the 041AV. So I'm going to swap it with him.

Tacotodd · October 23, 2021, 11:31:14 AM

@jweier80 welcome aboard. Good stuff awaits you!

sawguy21 · October 23, 2021, 11:47:32 AM

@jweier80 Welcome aboard! Pour a coffee and pull up a stump. I started working in a Stihl shop in the mid seventies, the Farm Boss quickly became my favourite. Light (for its time), easy to work on compared to some Stihl models and reliable as gravity. I picked one up recently, DanG it needed to go on a diet. :D

gspren · October 23, 2021, 01:23:32 PM

I bought a new 041 FarmBoss with no AV and still have it, it still runs but because of the no AV I don't use it much. I've kept it thinking it was the perfect power head for a Lewis Winch but never found a deal on one.

duane4238 · October 25, 2021, 03:31:12 PM

My 1st and favorite was a Stihl 028 Super AV Woodboss. Purchased it somewhere in the early 80's I think. I used it for many years at my hunting camp with no problems at all. I cut all kinds and sizes of firewood. Then in 2016, a shoulder injury and surgery ended using that saw. I switched to an MS192T. It was lightweight, didn't bother my shoulder, and had enough power and bar length to handle the firewood I needed. Still missed that 028, so when I had a chance to buy a like new MS270 last year for $200 I jumped on it. It reminds me of the 028 size-wise and has the same power. I'm able to use it now, because the shoulder is all healed up. Still wish I'd kept the 028.

treestump · October 25, 2021, 08:08:41 PM

My favorite saw was my first one, a 3-25 McCulloch, gear drive but the best one I have owned was a 385 Husky and also a 2100 husky, have had a pile of saws oh and I forgot a 285 Husky ( I have 3 of them)

bulldozerjoe · October 27, 2021, 12:39:20 AM

029 million miles on it

Scottiechop · October 27, 2021, 04:32:51 AM

Current saw MS260pro because it's kept me warm for 13yrs

thecfarm · October 27, 2021, 06:40:38 AM

Scottiechop, welcome to the forum. You will like it here.

Tacotodd · October 27, 2021, 07:01:20 AM

My 372XT. I've learned WAAAYYY more about the workings of saws from it than from the few saws that I had before. It's a 2018 but I don't think that it's going to be the same now as it's going to be in a few years. I've got some plans for it to return to non XT status but that's for when I have to dive fairly deep into it (degree wheel, grinder & tooling...). But for now, it's juusst fine with my leetle muffmod ;D

johndozer · November 12, 2021, 11:45:48 PM

Got a Dolmar 166 that milled a pile of wood for me over the years. The manual oiler was nice on the 36 inch bar. Found it pretty fussy to keep in tune but every now and then the stars would align, the chain would be sharpened just so and it would eat up what ever got put in front of it.
Day to day I ave a 266XP and an 026 that just keep going and going and going.