First of all, Greg asked me to discuss my experience with chainsaws, my expected use (especially the size of the trees I would be cutting), and how I felt on quality vs. quantity. I thought this a very reasonable and logical way to begin. I am posting my response in case any of my readers find themselves in the same situation.
Expertise - very little. I've used various chainsaws (usually rentals) about 6-10 times in my life. So far, I've never had any problems, but I'm still quite the novice. The most challenging thing I've done was cut down a tree that had a powerline running through the branches. But some thought before cutting each branch sufficed.Based upon this information, Greg sent me pages of useful information. I've edited his response in the (perhaps futile) pursuit of brevity.The trees in question are not that big - maybe a foot or so in diameter; some are bigger but I only expect to cut down a few of those. My short-term need is just a few trees and many shrubs. My long-term usage will be more. I own a decent amount of mostly wooded land (land is cheap here). I hope to build our dream house on it in a few years (if I ever get my current money pit fixed). Once we move out there, I'll be using it a lot. Both to clear some land for fun stuff and to provide heat (so long as I have so much free wood, I'm going to heat my house with a wood-burning solution).
I prefer to buy quality - I want it to last. However, I don't want to spend a lot of money IF I can easily do something stupid and break it. If this is a real risk, I'd probably be better off buying a cheaper model and just replacing it every few years.
Okay, after reading what you wrote, there is only 1 model for you, and about the only stupid thing that you can do to it is bend the bar - same risk for any saw, and Lowes carries Oregon brand bars and chains, so no problem if you don't want to buy the Husky bar to replace. Oregon chain is probably the best out there after the stuff that Husqvarna puts on at the factory.Armed with this treasure lode of chainsaw experience, I went shopping. I was able to find the best price on a Model 346XP at a site called Jack's Small Engines. I was also able to find reasonable prices on safety gear at Alamia. Once everything arrives and I have a chance to try them out, I'll post about my experience.The Husky saws are true commercial saws, they have all the extras in terms of safety and long life. Our oldest one is probably pushing 20 years old, and is used regularly in the same sort of deal you are talking about - we did about 10 cords of wood per year for 2 houses for about 15 years - this saw did most of it. We have several other saws as well, and hands down the Husky's are the favorites.
All this being said you want this saw: the 346XP. Unless your winters get extremely cold, then I recommend the 347XPG (heated handles - makes a big difference if it's very cold).
The 346XP gives you all the bonuses and the fastest engine speed - in a chain saw this is key as it gets the most inertia at the chain. The 346 is the second highest specific power in their line (HP/lb), the 357 is the highest but weighs a significantly more and is a little slower.
Our old version of the 346 has proven to be exceptionally balanced and well behaved. This is clearly the all around saw of their line. It will probably cost a little more but is WELL worth the cost for what you have described as your intended usage, and you will NEVER have to buy another saw. My 13 year old daughter can handle it in a controlled area (not in the woods or climbing over the wood pile) and the chain brake is powerful and sensitive enough to save you from a kickback. These saws do NOT have tip guards, they are professional saws.
To avoid kickback, DO NOT cut with the top of the tip. Face the bar with the tip to the left (side view, powerhead will be to the right) draw a clock face on the tip portion. If the chain is spinning and you touch the area between say 8:00 and 12:00 (small margin of safety there it's more like 8:30-11:30) the teeth will bite in and then the saw throws itself back into your face. This is about the only nasty habit that a chainsaw has. Don't confuse this with cutting with the tip AND the top of the bar....if you are using the top side of the bar to cut through a large tree and the tip comes into use ("plunge cutting" or "blind cutting" into the heart of a tree that is larger in diameter than the bar is long) the saw will be prevented from kickback by the material that the top is cutting - HOWEVER - as soon as the top breaks out that material is gone and kickback CAN happen.
I would also strongly advise picking up a Husky (or any brand I guess) helmet/face shield (screen mesh)/ear protection all in one. They make a very nice unit and it's comfortable from the hottest summer days to the coldest winter days and everything in between
When the chain is sharp on any of these saws you will not believe how they cut - unless you rented one of these, there is no comparison, the key is the chain speed. I did the numbers for our big saw, and it does something like 50,000 individual "cuts" per minute while cutting - and with that saw they are big cuts. The saw that I have suggested will make more than that number of cuts by several thousand (our big saw is only around 12,500 rpm - it's a big saw).
I don't know what your plans were, but learn to sharpen the chain yourself, with a good file guide it is not hard. If you had planned on taking the chains out to be sharpened, you will pay a lot and more importantly, you will spend a lot of precious time going back and forth - especially in the early days while you learn/relearn to handle the saw.
If you are going to be working mano-a-mano with the tree (out by yourself while wife is else where or children are elsewhere) I very strongly suggest a pair of saw proof chaps - after 30 years I got my dad a set since he now does some of this stuff on his own - it will stop you from cutting your leg off, or badly messing them up. Think about it, seasoned oak or hickory is much harder than your leg - and after you see what these saws will do to seasoned hardwood - you won't argue the cost (I think that these were around $80 online - you can get all this stuff online and if you want to, I'll dig up links for you)
Basic care and feeding:
Fuel/oil mix : these all run at 50:1 mix, and run happily. IF you are unsure of measurements, err on the side of less fuel so that the mix comes out <50 : 1 richer is always safe(er) you can gunk it up a bit, but you wont burn it out. These are 2 cycle, no crank case, engine lube comes from the oil in the fuel. (overstating the obvious, but you were concerned about doing something stupid to kill it - this is sure fire way to kill it, but easy to avoid) The oil comes in premeasured containers to mix with 2 gallons of fuel (usually) so me are for 2.5 gallons....use a little of the fuel to rinse out the oil container and as stated, feel free to short the fuel side a little (say 1.9 gallons) especially for the first set of mix you make up - this will be the break in fuel anyway READ the instructions, they may require something richer for break in, it's been a while - though I don't recall having to mix special fuel for the big brute
Save yourself the "Oh Sh*t!!" and buy a separate gas can and MARK CLEARLY that it contains "chain saw mix 50:1" has saved me once or twice, I'll be a man and admit it....it wont take long if you start it up with the wrong stuff inside and then you buy a new saw
WRONG FULE MIX IS SUREST WAY TO KILL SAW - EASIEST TOO): Have I emphasized this enough yet?
ALWAYS fill the bar oil if you add fuel - fill the bar oil even if you don't fill the gas.
ALWAYS grease the tip sprocket if required every time that you fill fuel OR start the day/take a break.
The bar will eventually wear out - we've gone through one on ours and are nearly through the other - as they wear you flip them over to wear the other side and then replace ... oh yeah, we bent 1, it got stuck in a nasty tree that would not cooperate - so have bought 2 bars in 30 years - forget the bar oil and sprocket lube and you will buy one a month...and chains will wear out faster too.
Chains, well, depends what you hit - rocks and things buried in the trees and dirt shorten life of chain - we go through a chain about every 3 years, when were were really cuttng a lot, about every 2 years. When you start out, you might - especially if you are going to be cutting brush or clearing land - keep a second chain on hand
Spark plug and Air filter: Change plug annually, like a lawn mower etc, it may not look bad, but they are cheap enough and a new one generally works better - at the least regap it annually and replace when it does look bad, or saw gets fussy about running under load.
Air filter should be lifetime affair, figure out how to get it out of the case and clean it regularly - more often if you are cutting with dull chains as you generate more fine dust and fewer big chips OR if you are cutting in dusty environment (up here it get humid in summer and not too dusty, in winter there is snow, again not too dusty) The screen comes out and you wash with soapy water by hand and then dry, easy.
First, let me say that I have somehow mislead our fearless leader - I'm not from New Jersey, or even the Jersey Coast. I hail form a little farther North in New England - well, there's a "New" in it anyway.
Chainsaw jokes, - who knew! And boy that guy must have been tired.
In case anyone was trying to find a "Husky" that is the short name for Husqvarna - they used to make sewing machines, vaccumes, and motorcycles - now they've wised up and make chainsaws.
Don Quixote did indeed shorten things up a bit, I am certian that he cut out a gigabyte or two, I have been know to be a bit....long winded....on certain subjects, but he's got the gist of it there.
If anyone else has questions etc, I'll be happy to check in on this page from time to time and spout tomes of wisdom to anyone brave enough to read it all. I have been cutting wood for about...hmm...going on 30 years now, and to my credit I still have all fingers, toes, and the stuff in between. I've seen enough people who don't and it's a scary thing.
Now table saws, there is a whole different animal - mine recently has taken to throwing things at me "kicked by a horse" has taken on an entirely new meaning for me.
It's an old saw, but you can't be too careful when it comes to safety
Good luck to all would be woodsmen.
Alamia is in deed where I found the best price for the safety gear. The prices listed at Jack's are exceptional
A note on the "346XP Rancher"
The 346XP is NOT even remotely in the same class as the 55 Rancher. The 346XP is the chainsaw equiv of the patrolman's service revolver or the army's "M-16" It is the quinticential everyday, everyjob saw and does just about everything - with the 18" bar it would be happy cutting up a tree up to about 34" in diameter if you knew how to do it. The saw would be out of it's league in a tree like that, but it would do the job and it would not hurt the saw - if you took a few precautions - or just as happy sending small scrub brush to the composte pile...and unlike our happy but tired Italian gent, you can use it all day and feel pretty good when your done (assuming that you are in some sort of good physical condition, this IS hard work)
The right tool for the right job holds true, but the 346XP is perhaps the best tool for most sawing jobs that most of us will run into (for that tree I gave as example one of the big brutes of a saw would be a better choice for felling - when you get right down next to the base of a tree like that you realize just how big it is and just how small and irrelivant you - and your saw - are, you'd like to think that the saw at least doesn't feel the same way)
Okay, I'll stop now and I apologize for the atrocious spelling
Ah, New England. That does make more sense. I was wondering where in New Jersey you lived. When I think about New Jersey, wooded landscapes are not my first thought...
I miss my little Poulan :(
It was an 18" Farmhand model. The biggest tree I ever dropped with it was a Black Gum about 40" in diameter and 75-80' tall. I dropped several other Gums with it (all over 2') and cut them all up for firewood.
I even did a little carving with it (putting my daughter's initials in a stump)
Now I live in a development where you can't even THINK about cutting down a tree without appearing before 3 different commission boards.
Of course, with everyone living on 80X120' lots, I guess that keeps the idiots from putting a tree through someone else's window!
Can't put a tree through someones window? Where is the fun in that?
Pulan used to make a nice saw, I haven't really looked at one in over 2 decades, so things may have gotten better/worse I don't know. they didn't make anythign in the commercial/logging useage areanas back then and is probably why we went a different route. Black Gum, that's a fairly hard wood isn't it? Must have been a bit of a chore, but sounds like you know your way around a a tree and a saw - I've taken down Hickory and Oak in that size and larger - big trees are....BIG
Yes, Gum is a hardwood - about equal to
Oak (at least its not Hickory!)
The weird thing (to many people) is how the trees get bigger as they go up. Calculating for a drop, you really need to understand just how WIDE those suckers are!
bigger as they go up - interesting, I'llhave to come down your way and cut a few dozen down, they sound like a nice challenge ;)
Hard as Oak - ouch. Nice for heat content though - are they a brittle tree, or do they hold together well?
I have a Remington that is borrowed from the neighbor. When I go to use it as soon as I start to hit the tree, the chain stops but the chainsaw is still running. Why is it doing this?
the chain stops as soon a you hit the wood because the clutch is slipping. I suspect that it has just worn out. the clutch is a centrifugal device, the spinning engine causes 2 or 3 large masses to be flung out against the inside fo the drive drum. The friction between the outside surfaces of hte masses and the inside surface of the drum is what droves the chain sprocket.
1st tihng to check is to see if there are any oilly (sp) deposits on the inside of the drum and/or the driving masses - clean them with a degreaser such as CRC Breakleen.
If cleaning it doesn't work, then it may be time for a new clutch.
How is the engine running? If the engine has no power, then whe the chain hits the wood it will not hvae the tourque to maintain the rpm to keep the drive half of the clutch grabbing the drum half. Check the air filter and the plug, if they are good, try adjusting the mixure
so
1) clean and inspect the clutch
2) Clean and inspect air filter
3) Clean and inspect spark plug - regap
4) Check the mixture settings - this is a "by ear" thing, if it sounds like it is running smooth, and it accepts a jab of the throttle without getting lugged down then it's about right (better to be on the rich side than the lean side - fule/oil mix is the engine lubricant
Hope this helps
I COLLECT OLD BIG CHAINSAWS. I GET A THRILL OUT OF THEM THAT I FELT FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A KID WATCING LEATHERFACE. I KNEW THAT SOMEDAY I WAS GOING TO OWN A CHAINSAW JUST LIKE THAT.
I NOW HAVE TWO '70'S MCULLOCH 250'S, TWO SMALLER MACS OF THE SAME ERA FOR MY FIANCE, A BIG PIONEER, A NEWER STYLE MAC(LABELS MISSING, DON'T KNOW THE SIZE EXACTLY, BUT MEDIUM FITS),AND I AM ABOUT TO AQUIRE A FEW MORE MCULLOCHS. HOW DO THE OLD MCULLOCH 250'S I MENTIONED FARE PERFORMANCEWISE WITH SOME OF THE OTHER BRANDS? I WOULD LIKE TO FIND THE BIGGEST AND MEANEST MCOLLOCH EVER MADE. I WANT A CHAINSAW THAT IS HUGE, HEAVY, LOUD, OBNOXIOUS, AND COMPLETELY IMPRACTICAL.THE SATAN OF CHAINSAWS.ALSO I WANT TO REBUILD IT MYSELF.THIS IS MY HOBBY AND IT KEEPS ME OUT OF TROUBLE. ANY ADVICE OR INFO THAT ANYONE CAN GIVE ME AS TO THE TYPE, YEAR, AND WHERE TO AQUIRE ONE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. I LAY FLOORS FOR A LIVING. WOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN BARTERING FOR ONE?
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR TIME.
I have a craftsman chainsaw which I have done some work on(replaced gas tank and fuel lines) and I had it running and adjusting the carberater when it stopped and locked up. I wasn't able to pull the starter cord. I took the spark plug out and got it unlocked. Now it will not start. It seems like the piston rings or did I kill it? What are your thoughts on this because I prefer to do the work myself. Thanks for the help!
My first chain saw, a 16" craftsman, failed me this weekend out of the box cutting small juniper and cedar in the Texas Hill Country. Spent more time pulling the cord or trying to figure out why it wouldn't start than I did cutting. Primed it according to instructions but it acted flooded every time. Once running, it cut fine. Until it stopped and then it took me 20 or 30 minutes to get it going again. Finally, one of the bar nuts vibrated off (I may have loosened it too much) and the chain came off and it was time to call it a day. Never did find the nut. Packed up the saw and plan to clean it tomorrow and return it to Sears. Maybe I need a Husky since I have a lot of cedar to cut.
I live in California where there are a lot of Italian Families who have been here for years and who used to own the whole state when it was agricultural.
This old Italian on our street wanted to clear about 4-5 acres of his property in the hills, and he saw an add that Sears had Chainsaws on sale over President's Day Weekend. They were Craftsman and the guy told him it had the usual Craftsman money-back guarantee. The saleman further told him he would have no trouble clearing 1 acre per day of small trees and saplings.
So he worked really hard on Saturday, but he only cleared about 1/4 of an acre.
Sunday he decided he would give it his all. He started right at dawn, worked twelve hours, exhausted himself, but only cleared about half an acre.
Monday (the last day of the 3 day weekend) he was so exhausted he could only clear a few small trees.
He brought the new craftsman chainsaw back to Sears on Tuesday and told the guy it didn't work as the saleman had promised.
The salesman told him not to worry, and he could certainly get a full refund if he was disatisfied.
"Just let me make sure there is nothing obvious wrong with it," the saleman said, and he pulled the starter rope.
The Chainsaw immediately began to run smoothely "pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-"
"Hey!," said the old Italian. "Whatsa dat noise?"