Husqvarna rancher 455 w/24" bar - durability?

[KC8QVO]

I have a Husqvarna Rancher 455 that I got lightly used from a co-worker. I put a 24" bar on it. I think it came with a 20, don't think its as short as 18..

In any event, for the cutting I have done thus far this saw has been great. It starts and runs every time I need it to. The only issue I've had is dull chains.

I am on the hunt for some good wood to burn in my smoker. I got a lead on some oak last weekend sitting at the dinner table with one of the guys I work with. He had "an oak tree blow down" on his farm. The story went that some guys came by to cut it up and started working on the trunk. They gave up because of the size. I asked him how big it was and he held out his arms saying it was "big". Coming from both sides around a log I can cut through 44" - 22" on each pass. I couldn't imagine much wood being bigger than that around here any more, certainly not something my saw is made for but I could make it work.

I got out to the farm today and found the cut part of the trunk here was 7 feet across (wide part). WOW! I wasn't expecting that, and now I can certainly see what the problem was with the other guys that were working on it.



If I work at it I can size up that trunk making a lot of intricate cuts to whittle at it. My question is how quick am I going to burn up my saw? I can let the saw do the work, but it is going to be in some big cuts for quite a while. I've never so much as stood next to that big a piece of wood, let alone try to cut it.

[shinnlinger]

Ill start by saying I have never done anything like this but this is an intriguing project.

The 455 is a decent homeowner saw, but it is not made for that in displacement or quality.  Not to say a couple of sharp chains and saw files couldn't get it done with time but I wonder if a husky bar will fit a Dolmar.  A rental 64cc saw from home Depot might be the way to go.  Still smaller then you would want but probably better to burn up a rental with insurance vs a decent firewood saw.  Maybe other rental options out there? Stihl or HUsky dealer nearby with big demo saws?

You would probably be best off ripping into half the diameter holding the bar at an angle (vs straight up and down)running the length of the tree and then try splitting it with wedges

good luck!

[thecfarm]

The only thing I would suggest is make as few cuts as possible at a time.Meaning saw,a little and split a lot.This way the saw could cool off between cuts.

[deerslayer]

The saw will handily cut that up into 16" wood. I would go back to the 20" bar. Make a bucking cut as far around the radius as you can. then noodle the face of the log into pieces that you can handle. Now make another bucking cut with the saw and noodle it some more. You will essentially be taking off the top half of the log. You can do this the entire length. Then work down a layer by repeating the same thing. It is hard to explain it with text but essentially, if you have a bar longer than the length of firewood you want to wind up with, a saw can cut up a tree of any size.

Note: The saw you have will do this job but you need to be kind to it. ie, keep the chain sharp. don't keep cutting if the chain dulls, even if you recently sharpened it. If it's dull, it's dull, so stop and sharpen.

If you have access to a big saw, use that, otherwise use what you have.

[celliott]

I have a husky 357XP with a 20" bar, and I wouldn't want to run anything longer. I'm going to get a 16" for it soon actually. That being said, I have done something similar. Neighbor had a huge old maple taken down, and trunk left. Gave us the wood if we cut it up. Well that old maple was at least 6' diameter. I cut as much as I could from 2 sides, all down the log. Then rolled the log with a truck and finished with a third cut. The pieces were huge and awkward to move. We had to borrow a vertical splitter and roll it to each chunk.
I wouldn't want to do it again, it was a very slow process. Like others have said, a sharp chain is essential. The rancher will do it, slowly, but only with a properly sharpened chain.

[Ianab]

If you really want to break that monster down with a 20" bar, you can. Just take a bit of cunning, and work.

Make a vertical cut into the end of the log, about 19" from the side, as far in as the bar reaches. Top to bottom. You will be ripping with the grain, and the saw should pull long "noodles" of wood. If they clog up the side cover, angle the saw up 10 deg or so. The noodles will be shorter and should clear properly. Now go around to the side and cut that big semicircle free of the log. Move over one more bar length and repeat. You loose a couple of inches each time, so you get some 19" firewood, and some 17" wood. No big deal.

Just keep doing that until the log gets small enough to cut from both sides, or it's all gone.

As long as the chain is sharp, the fuel mix is good, and the saw is tuned right you aren't asking anything of it that it's not designed to do. Don't force the saw, just let it rev normally and keep it cutting. That's not abuse, that's just running the saw.

Maybe you do a bit more sawing, but you are getting some big chunks of good firewood, so it's worth the effort.

Ian

[NCFarmboy]

24" bar is too much bar for a 455 period IMO.  My question is is that wood worth the wear and tear and hours it's going to take to cut it up?  Surely there is some other wood in your area.  Admirable project tho.  We have a hickory that's about that size available we aren't going to mess with it.  I have saws that will carry 36" bars. If you do tune it fat/rich go to 40:1 or richer on mix oil preferably synthectic or semi-synthetic.
Shep

[AdkStihl]

24" bar is too much bar for a 455 period IMO.  My question is is that wood worth the wear and tear and hours it's going to take to cut it up?  Surely there is some other wood in your area.  Admirable project tho.  We have a hickory that's about that size available we aren't going to mess with it.  I have saws that will carry 36" bars. If you do tune it fat/rich go to 40:1 or richer on mix oil preferably synthectic or semi-synthetic.
Shep

x2

[KC8QVO]

The wood is there for the taking, so I'd like to take advantage of it. It is fun too.

One question I have on bar size is, yea a bigger bar it might slow the progress down, but if you ease in to it the saw will handle it so what is the drawback? I can hear the RPM's drop when I get in to a cut harder than I should, and in some cases I stall out the chain if I go too hard on it, but I can hear that and adjust for it. The cutting would be slow goin', no way around that. The bar gives the reach to get the hard spots. You can also walk the saw around to decrease the cutting swath on the bar - using less than the whole bar.

On a side note, I run skip chains on the 24" bar. They cut very well. I just ordered 3 more, should have them tomorrow. My store doesn't have the gauge chain my saw takes so we get it from across town.

Another side note, I may be able to get a bigger saw - 59" bar. The guy I talked to about it today wasn't sure if it was a husq or a stihl. My guess is its an ms660 or ms880, but if he gets in to husqvarna more than I think he does it could be one of their big ones too. I will see about getting in touch with the saw guy tomorrow. If that works out I'm thinking of saving a couple of the "coins" from the real wide part of that stump = they would make excellent tables.

[JohnG28]

Anything pulling a 59" bar is one heck of a saw, probably over 100cc, ie MS880, 088, 084 or Husky 3120, something like that. If you get into that be careful, that's a whole other beast than your 455 rancher. If you're having fun with it and don't mind the work keep at it with your saw. Skip chain is the best option with a 24" bar on that saw, but you might try the 20" with full comp, it may just cut faster, or maybe not. As long as you're patient you can get it done. Good luck. Where you located?

[beenthere]

KC

My question is how quick am I going to burn up my saw?

Sounds like you have your plan thought out.

Now you can answer that question for the rest of us, and do hope you let us know. ;)

[KC8QVO]

Yea I think trying to keep the saw cool is going to be the biggest challenge. Otherwise I think I will find out the answer to that question quickly. Maybe one of these days I can get a bigger saw, I just can't swing the investment right now. I don't know if another opportunity like this will ever come up again, though I could see running a saw that would handle up to a 36" bar or so on occasion, with a shorter 24" for easier handling of the "heavy" work that my current saw sees. If the guy pulls through with the big saw that would be amazing for this round.   

[AdkStihl]

You said the wood is for your smoker right? So why do you need 24" pieces?
If it were me, I'd be running anything from a 16" to 20" and muscle your way through.....that's just my opinion.

You may want to consider a muffler mod to help rid the saw of excess heat, it will also end up being quite the little performance enhancement for you.

[KC8QVO]

I'm going to get as much of that wood as I can. I can size it up later. That's what I did the past 2 nights. I took the chunks I split off the bigger coin pieces the last time I was out there and split them further in to much smaller pieces. I have a couple uses for the wood, but cooking is the main one. My dad has wood stocked in his shed so we're going to load up a round of the oak in there too. What doesn't fit we'll let sit out. There are a few cases of fruit wood left, we'll need to stock those back up as well. 

I have thought about a muffler mod. It would add to the power. I want to be careful though, more power in the same engine won't be as durable = more stress. The same can be said with a bigger bar, but you can tailor the aggressiveness of the cut to how the saw cuts it. More power = you can push the saw harder without noticing as much.

[ladylake]

A muff mod won't hurt as they come choked up to keep them quiet, in most cases it will let the saw run cooler.  Most times it will need a little more fuel after a muff modd. Keep your saw tuned a bit rich and keep it in the right rpm range and cutting the big stuff will be no problem.   Steve

[AdkStihl]

more power in the same engine won't be as durable = more stress.

It will actually become "MORE durable". Being able to dissipate heat faster and more efficiently is only going to help the longevity of that clamshell.......take my word for it.

[NCFarmboy]

more power in the same engine won't be as durable = more stress.

It will actually become "MORE durable". Being able to dissipate heat faster and more efficiently is only going to help the longevity of that clamshell.......take my word for it.

+1 I highly recommend the MM on ALL newer saws.  The old ones were built for power and longevity.  EPA noise regulations choke them to a quick death.
Shep

[KC8QVO]

Good point guys. Although, I'd want a spare muffler to mod vs. the one I have so I can still run the saw as-is.

That having been said, I think I need a bigger saw.



I spent about an hour and a half on a smaller part of the tree and got maybe 2-300lbs of wood all said and done. i was trying to be careful with the pieces i cut so I wouldn't make something so big I'd hurt myself getting it in the truck. One piece was about all I could handle. I cut 4 pieces off this part you see. I sized up the wood so the first pass was around the tree (top to bottom against the grain in the picture) about 18-19" from the end so my bar would get through. Then I went top to bottom with the grain to take the sections off.

The last top/bottom cut I made the saw wouldn't get through. It also made the last 1/32 or so of the bottom of the cutting edges on the saw as well as the guide in front "shiny". It did not feel like I hit metal, like an old nail, but the saw wouldn't go through.

I talked to the guy with the saws today. Stihl 084's and a Husqvarna 3125 with an assortment of bars.

With the weather the next couple days I figured I'd make another trek out there tonight. That way if it rains tomorrow and I can't do any cutting i at least have some wood to haul tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity - what are some good used saw options on the heavy/big power side? It seems to me I've heard the 084's mentioned on here in the past. I don't want to buy an old worn out saw, rather something that has some life left in it that will tackle some big wood. Since I'm not doing it all the time I don't need a new saw - this 455 I have was used too. I've spent as much or less $$ on the set up than an equivalent new stihl, at a discount too. For the work I do the 455 has been plenty until this monster If I can get a bigger power unit then the bars and chains won't matter, I can start with 36" or so. If I need a bigger bar I can get one at that point in time.

[beenthere]

Looks like you are doing just fine whittling that big log up with what you have.  8)

But if you want bigger, go for it. ;)

As to pieces that you can lift, just make one more cut if'n they are too big.

Maybe you hit something with the saw teeth, so be sure to get them sharp again. I touch up every tankful, or sooner if the saw stops cutting good. By the looks of the black on the end, there may be some wire or nails or other hardware in that wood.
Even a bigger saw will stop cutting when a stone, touching the ground, or hardware have a meeting with the edge of the teeth.

[AdkStihl]

390XP , 395XP or 3120XP in Husky colors.
MS660/066/064, MS880/088/084 in Stihl colors

[ladylake]

 
I'd rather get a good 70c saw, it will cut a lot faster than a 455 plus be more usable for normal sized wood. If you get huge logs a lot then a 95cc+ would be nice.   Steve

[maple flats]

While the 455 is rather small for the task, as I see it, a sharp chain and lubrication are the biggest issues. Sharpen as soon as needed, anytime the "saw dust" changes from large to fine, stop and sharpen. For lubrication, when asking a saw to run a bar longer that it was designed for don't force the saw and frequently lift the saw from the cut and rev it a couple of times to get more oil on the bar. That saw puts less oil on the bar than a saw designed to run a 24" bar.
I do the same thing on one of my saws, designed to run 30" but I have a 34" on it. I use full skip chain (only has half as many cutters as standard), sharpen as soon as needed and rev the saw out of the cut about every 20 seconds. That's been working well for me for 3 years now.

[KC8QVO]

I got back to the wood today. Looking at the weather pattern last night I thought I was screwed. After breakfast this morning I looked at the radar again and everything broke up well enough to go cut. So I made it back out around 4:00.

I started in on some of the wood and after a few minutes of cutting my saw started falling apart - rattling all over the place. So I pulled it out of the cut and found only one bolt holding my muffler on (barely). So out came the bolt and off went the muffler, heat shield, and gasket. Then back to cutting I went   8)

After running the saw without the muffler some I could tell a difference. Though, it probably woke the dead too. I'll have to talk to the farmer next time I see him and see if he heard the difference in the sound - his house is at least 1/4 mile up the road.

I think I am going through these chains pretty quick. I usually have the chains sharpened at the store, but I don't normally cut enough to burn through more than a couple chains in one use. I may stop by N.T. on Tuesday and get me a sharpener. Someone recommended the dual file set ups that hit both the cutters and the guides that Stihl has. Any thoughts from the seasoned pro's here?

[NCFarmboy]

Get a Husky roller guide kit PN: 505-6981-91 has guide for cutters and rakers with 7/32" file (3/8" chain) flat file for rakers and a file handle.  Or get 3/8" roller guide for cutters PN: 505-2437-01 and a Carlton File-O-Plate for the raker height.  I don't like the combo that files cutter and raker.  Tried it lays in drawer collecting dust.  I use roller guide and File-O-Plate.
Shep

[AdkStihl]

So out came the bolt and off went the muffler, heat shield, and gasket. Then back to cutting I went   8)

That was a dumb move. A saw engine needs back pressure to operate efficiently. All you did was make it louder and start the process of burning up your saw. I guarantee you had LESS power, it just sounded cool right?

Youre next thread will be "What saw should I buy" or "Why did my Rancher stop running"