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matty

matty

Border raider.
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Member Number
139
Posts
635
Location
England Scotish border
Its that time of year again, Get the saw out and give it a wipe oil the chain dress it up the usual thing.
I thought i would start this thread down to Saws being a relatively important tool many of us use.
Talk about chainsaws your current ones your past ones or those you would like.
any aspects of certain saws their quirks faults and merits, any ideas or insight into maintainance or chainsaws . any Thing regarding these usefull tools.
 
Had many chainsaws over the years Husquvarnas Sthils ECHO TOZ Sachs dolmar Poulan Mculoch Ryobi spring to mind.
Curent saw is a Ryobi PCN 45/45 its my only petol saw ATM, I have a corded 240V electric chainsaw and a few months ago i purchased two mini cordless chainsaws a 6 inch and an 8 inch.
The Ryobi is a hoby saw its reliable but despite being 45cc its not a pro saw and a typical Husquvarna or ECHO will out perform this saw in heavy stuff.
The fact is for what i do its ok i do not routenely fell trees or run a log plane all i do is gather and proses firewood mostly gathered in the summer off river tidal plats fallen trees birch clearance etc.
The elctric 240v saw is a cheap generic example and its great for around home its working with no fuel or mixing no effort to start and its powerfull and light with a biggish motor. It sends the electric meeter around faster than i would like but i think its very handy and would not be without one having had this one some years now.
The two mini chainsaws are again amazon cheapies both work ok and they will cut through bows up to about 4 to 6 inch with ease have two batteries and last long enough on a charge to recharge the spare battery.
I have used them a lot even for crude rustic fence making and scrapping waste wood for kindling etc pluss garden maintainance, they are useful and seem reliable in the few months i had them so far.
I think i would buy a more known brand next time, probably milwalkie or Ryobi or Mculoch. But even these generics are worth a try in my opinion, if you are thinking about one, i believe you wont be disapointed .
One other tool not a saw but relevant to this subject. Is a basic sharpening gig i bough its fast and i did some tests and with my skills i firmly believe this little tool sharpens teeth better than with just a file.
YOMV.
 
We have two 30 yo Stihl saws that are still working quite well and use carbide tipped chains. They are now on standby as we don’t have the 5 acres of wooded land anymore. They did come in handy after a few hurricanes getting our neighbors out of their house after a tree blocked their front door and garage. Funny how you only see them when they need you… 🙄
 
The old dinosaur my dad gave me a while back. A year or so ago I got tired of fooling around with the little plastic saw and gave this a try and holy f4ck does it cut. Pretty heavy, so not something that I'd be inclined to use on a ladder- but on the ground its a monster compared to my little plastic one and starts like a dream. Looking forward a couple weeks- a friend of mine has a ~70' tree, something over 2' diam at the base that just died this year. Once the arborist fells most of it (way too close to houses and fences- no place to drop it in one) then I'm going to give it some exercise.

I mix up the fuel using ethanol free gas- I've cleaned up so many carbs and rotted fuel lines I'll pay whatever it takes to get decent gas. Theres a gas station sort-of nearby that sells Stinger and VP Racing in 5 gallon pails; I keep the owners of all the mowers I service supplied with it by decanting into their 1 gal plastic jugs.


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We keep a few premix bottles of non ethanol gas in storage just in case. The one saw we have is a felling saw with a 3ft blade and the other is a smaller saw with a 18” blade for limb work. The felling saw is a beast with a decompression valve just to get it started .. Ethanol is the bane for all engines IMHO
 
I buy 4 star petrol from a fuel station what sells leaded fuel, (This is still available here at dedicated outlets) Or i de ethanolise Typical pump petrol with water and food dye many do it here . You loose some quantity but it works fine and is easy. Here is a vid of youtube how its done the same way i deethanolise mine. . .

 
My dad and granddad used Stihl saws so that's what I've always used...actually I'm still using the ones that they used to. I typically just clean up brush and small trees. Last winter my main saw (023 C) became hard to start due to low compression so I was weighing my options as it's from the early 90s. During demolition of my garage and another small shed I discovered a never-used 025 wrapped inside a poly bag that my granddad had stored in the rafters. Tossed some fuel and bar oil in it and have been using it since, still need to address the 023 top end.
 
After using various saws I'm using stihl for everything. I have a 180 that I run a 12" bar on for limbs and trimming, a 211 for general use, and a 311 for bigger work.
 
We use our rancher series husky saws daily. Either for bucking or cutting through dead pack lumber. The 18 idles for hrs sometimes. Both saws run flawless but I think the smaller 18 has gotten louder over time. Sometimes I wish we had a cordless to cut pieces in our way. The team is 50/50 on this topic. I would most likely try a Dewalt with 60v univolt because it matches our hand blower. My home saw is a poulan pro with a 16 bar. For corded, I might try an oregan. I have owned 3 cheap corded models. All worked great besides cheap chains. I liked the torque but disliked the lack of a safety bar

Both work huskies were flee market finds. Around $200 and have years of daily use with gas, oil, bars and chains and alot of blue smoke!
 
I will add a Makita gas saw rental from 20yrs ago. The Makita was a nice gas saw.

I am fortunate enough to have ethanol free across the street. 89 octane and $5 a gallon. The only issue is the summer mix is wicked for 4 strokes. I had to set the snapper push mower valves to the tight side so the wife could start without kickback. I tried to explain TDC and then pull. But that mower and other pull starts bit me too. I think some fuel oil got mixed in the batch. I liked the torque but look out on startup.
 
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Knowing how to sharpen teeth, basic clean after use (oil screen, bar guide clear of debris, air filter).

I have echo pole saw(forget the model info) echo cs400 (18") and husky 372xp(28")

I used motor oil on hand from truck if I'm out of bar oil

Stihl/husky are better bar oil than others I've uses

2 in 1 file sharpener are great, sharpen both raker cutting teeth.

Swedish roller file are great to learn muscle memory on angle/movement of sharpening til you don't need it

Oregon brand are my preferred bar, chain and files

Lightweight bars are nice for those not wanting heavy bar. It'll get bent much sooner when caught in bind. I'd prefer the heavy and it'll take a beating long time.

Get bigger dogs if factory came with small ones

Check all bolt to make sure it's not loose. Tighten if so. More you use the saw, check them sooner

Flip the bar at similar time usage. For example 1 day I'll run it for 12 hours. I'll flip but next day just 2 to 4 hours. I wouldn't flip until next use
 
Going from real chainsaws and a little insight and experience i have gained from Electric chainsaws including the cordless mini chainsaws.
First p i am not a green electric car or bike kind of guy, the planet is important to me. BUT! i dont see Electric anything being the way to helping the planet, the tech is just not there yet in batreys or recarging, The power need is not magic it still needs making which is just moving the place polution comes from.
Right that out the way back on subject.
Mt first experience of a electric chainsaw was back in the 1980s New zealand, a black &Decker 16 inch model, it wore brushes out but cut thousands of bags of logs and was reliable quiet and was good in that it could be used indoors in bad or cold weather. I liked it and i have had several electric corded 240 volt saws since then, they have a purpose even though they are not as practical, i would term them as a complimentary addition to the petrol saws not a replacement and if i had only one it would have to be petrol down to where you could use it and for how long.
The corded 240 volt saw i have at moment is a generic cheapo makita clone which is proving durable and has sufficient power to cut big trunks and is well protected by a thermal cut out which helps stop abuse killing it in a cloud of smoke, but they live a long time in a home situation just cutting logs down to fire sized chunks years in fact.
Now the mini chainsaws (cordless), these are everywhere and the adds hype them up to be the new big thing. Straight away They are NOT!. But they again have a purpose and they are definitely worth having and why i have just got two of them.
The job of these saws could be done with a hand pruning saw or decent folder, but they work in tight pollarding sittuations cutting willows or brush clearance or cutting down silver birch trees which spring up everywhere. Alders near marshes and cutting drift wood down to managable lengths to say load on a small ATV or trailer.
I like them and you can use vthem to cut up scrap wood for kindling fast and indoors, they will even do basic woodworking tasks that are not presice obviously.
Chopping up pallets is another job i use them for.
Take your time, with them to prevent stupid accidents and actually help the saw survive.
.
 
The cordless models that I would consider have 14, 16 or 18 bars. The reason is as we deadpack 840 board feet in production and we have cut backs that can cause tripping issues before we cut the whole stack. A 10ft stack can have 6ft of crap lumber sticking out the end. This is soft wood and even a cordless skillsaw would keep someone from busting their ass from tripping over the junk end.. Nah just hit the decompression, make noise and smoke. Seems somewhat excessive for the task. Plus I want to save some ring ding to my ears and blue smoke to my nose for my woods bike. But I like hearing those husky run. Just not all the time.
 
Once a chain is sharpened with a stone forget a file. The chain actually heat treats and a file is a waste of time. I prefer files over stones.
 
I tend o agree with the use of a stone and subsequent file being redundant. I just stick with the sharpening tool these days, i could sharpen a chain good enough for work, but when i bought that cheapo tool it was noticeably better so i just stick with it now.
Now that could be a reflection of me being crap at chain file handling rather than the tool being superior. But i notice the difference in my case and thats why i go with that tool.
 
matty said:
I tend o agree with the use of a stone and subsequent file being redundant. I just stick with the sharpening tool these days, i could sharpen a chain good enough for work, but when i bought that cheapo tool it was noticeably better so i just stick with it now.
Now that could be a reflection of me being crap at chain file handling rather than the tool being superior. But i notice the difference in my case and thats why i go with that tool.
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I use my saw so infrequently for yard cleanup or occasionally for when I get free firewood logs that need to be bucked that the chain lasts a while. I just buy a new one instead of trying to sharpen it.

It seems that most of the time when I try to sharpen things it doesn’t work out so great. :lol3
 
DJ_MI said:
I use my saw so infrequently for yard cleanup or occasionally for when I get free firewood logs that need to be bucked that the chain lasts a while. I just buy a new one instead of trying to sharpen it.

It seems that most of the time when I try to sharpen things it doesn’t work out so great. :lol3
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Thats kind of my experience too, i had files and the stihl proper files and i had a pro harbourist show me just how easy it was, he even watched me do it and gave me the thumbs up. but once i am flying solo i never seem to get the chains near as sharp, hell if i know what i am doing wrong but i was getting frustrated with it all. Then Mate turned up with his new cheapo ebay tool and i watched a couple of reviews and bought one and never looked back IMo.
the Little 6 inch and 8 inch cordless saws i just buy chains they are like £3 each its just not financialy viable to bother sharpening them but i do save them, in case.
As a person who struggled to get chains sharp, the tool is a revelation AFAIAC.
 
matty said:
Thats kind of my experience too, i had files and the stihl proper files and i had a pro harbourist show me just how easy it was, he even watched me do it and gave me the thumbs up. but once i am flying solo i never seem to get the chains near as sharp, hell if i know what i am doing wrong but i was getting frustrated with it all. Then Mate turned up with his new cheapo ebay tool and i watched a couple of reviews and bought one and never looked back IMo.
the Little 6 inch and 8 inch cordless saws i just buy chains they are like £3 each its just not financialy viable to bother sharpening them but i do save them, in case.
As a person who struggled to get chains sharp, the tool is a revelation AFAIAC.
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Thanks matty. I’m hoping that our next house will be wooded enough that I’d actually save money by learning to sharpen my chains myself. 👍🏻
 
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