Chainsaws and those who use them

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Stihl 025 from 1994 to 2024, incredibly reliable machine! "Someone" managed to put in the same spot as a large pinetree landed...
Felled and bucked all firewood needed for our homes (approx 5 cubic meters-no idea what that is in American firewoodmeasuring system?), and a bit for sale from time to time.
I have it under my workbench in a box, at some point I will buy a parts kit and rebuild it.


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Bought a old Husqvarna 42, used but overhauled, and it works really well. But I miss the decompression valve of the Stihl!

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We use cords as a measurement which is 4’x4’x8’ I occasionally sell face cords which is 4’x8’x16”. Usually people in urban apartments can only handle a face cord.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Heard it from a friend, avgas instead of the low BTU, 30 day shelf life, government mandated fluid from the quickie mart pumps.

 

[revturbo9967]

For the small stuff, I run a 661

 

[ZG47]

Heard it from a friend, avgas instead of the low BTU, 30 day shelf life, government mandated fluid from the quickie mart pumps.

I remember, years ago, reading in a Land Rover Owner magazine about a Pom who bought diesel at a supermarket in/near London before his regular drive to Scotland in a fully loaded Series Land Rover . He got about 2/3 the normal distance before having to refill the tank. The supermarket was selling leftover winter diesel from Scandinavia!
I also took a couple of trips to the Mukamuka Magazines with an ammo tech. He was a motorcyclist and one day ran out of petrol on the way from Linton Military Camp to Wellington. A tanker driver saw him, stopped and gave him some 100 Octane Avgas. His motorcycle liked the high octane so much that he had to replace his brand new rear tyre when he got back home!

 

[WAB]

We’ve planted about forty thousand longleafs and three thousand oaks on our place. I wear myself out cutting and burning undesirable timber. I’ve got a couple of stihls and have become a pretty decent saw mechanic out of necessity.

Last weekend the management company I hired lost control of a controlled burn and burned up ninety acres of the neighbors timber. This is one of their rigs. Luckily the neighbor was pretty good natured about the whole thing.

 

[Field28]

Very cool on the Jonsereds TC!
So many people don't know how great they are.

A tool that I really miss is the Technic Tool Power Pruner. I worked summer break in college at a plantation here in the Lowcountry and we had three of them.
I have a Stihl equivalent now, it's good but not as good as the old Technics.

 

[thriller]

I have several Stihl saws myself they have never given me any real issues and the dealer is close by so it’s nice and convenient

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have a Stihl and an electric Ryobi pole saw for around the house type chores. A buddy of mine has a hydraulic splitter, so I usually cut and split a cord of wood each year. It doesn't get that cold, that often, in Louisiana, so I don't burn a lot of wood.

I recently bought some land in Oklahoma, near where some of my kids and grandkids live. I wanted to do some clearing around the fence lines and also expand a couple of food plots. For about $2k, I had a guy with a mulcher on a track skid steer work for 2 days. It was amazing results and money well spent.

 

[MS 9x56]

I had a little poulan twenty one fifty that I picked up at an auction for $30… it was a little difficult to get it running right at first.. but once I got it all tuned up, it was a good little saw… for normal residential type tasks it was fine…

I only stepped up to the farm and ranch grade stihl because of the volume of work needed to be done at our hunting property… I needed something bigger with more power out there… otherwise I’d probably still be running the little poulan..

When the emerald Ashe borers came thru 8-10 years ago it killed all the Ashe trees which was about a third of the trees on my hunting property. So we are cutting them up as they fall. Nice seasoned wood that burns great in our wood stove and is no challenge for my little poulan. All the saw I need.

 

[Philip Glass]

I have a Stihl and it is fine. I detest chainsaws and have my ranch hand do almost all cutting around here. We mostly have Mesquite which is a hard wood full of knots etc. it is unpredictable and miserable to cut. Like a rock! On the rare occasion that some hackberry or other soft wood tree needs to be cut or trimmed it is like butter. If I have to take in something big I use a hydraulic tree shear in my skid steer. For firewood I'll take a large tree, usually already down, cut with shear to about 18-24" lengths and then go to the log splitter. That's some nice BBQ wood.

 

[fourfive8]

Been thinning and burning my property periodically for fire mitigation for last 25 years. I give the fuelwood byproduct to friends. Enough carbon to warm the planet and acidify the atmosphere downwind. Prior to that, used a chainsaw primarily for firewood. Took 20 years of hard use and abuse to wear out a Homelite. Now have two, a Stihl and a Husqvarna (with made in Sweden tag). They are comparable in power and size. The Husqvarna is more user friendly and easier to start. I pay attention to maintenance, chain tension and sharpening and use only ethanol free gas.

They are simply a tool. I’ve no more interest in collecting them than I would be in collecting shovels.

 

[Pheroze]

I have had no luck with Stihl. I bought a chainsaw and bush cutter for my camp. Both had manufacturing defects. After about five years of light to moderate work the chainsaw is dead. The other thing needs repair. I have replaced them with Husky equipment and I am very impressed so far. Part of the issue is definitely me as I underestimated the volume of work the machines needed to cope with. But I am still unimpressed with the build quality of the Stihls

 

[Pheroze]

I looked up Jonsered as I had not heard of them. They seem to be owned by Husky and the website said they were discontinued in 2022!

 

[mdwest]

I have had no luck with Stihl. I bought a chainsaw and bush cutter for my camp. Both had manufacturing defects. After about five years of light to moderate work the chainsaw is dead. The other thing needs repair. I have replaced them with Husky equipment and I am very impressed so far. Part of the issue is definitely me as I underestimated the volume of work the machines needed to cope with. But I am still unimpressed with the build quality of the Stihls

My buddy that I hunt with runs a Husky saw and brush cutter… they seem to perform equally as well as my Stihl … but do seem to be easier to start and a little less finicky…

 

[RLL]

I have a Stihl and it is fine. I detest chainsaws and have my ranch hand do almost all cutting around here. We mostly have Mesquite which is a hard wood full of knots etc. it is unpredictable and miserable to cut. Like a rock! On the rare occasion that some hackberry or other soft wood tree needs to be cut or trimmed it is like butter. If I have to take in something big I use a hydraulic tree shear in my skid steer. For firewood I'll take a large tree, usually already down, cut with shear to about 18-24" lengths and then go to the log splitter. That's some nice BBQ wood.

Same here. Most people don’t know those mesquites incorporate a large amount of silica from the ground in their cellulose structure and literally make them hard as a rock to cut and dull steel blades incredibly fast. I’d too rather use the skid steer, shear and remedy if I can. When I can’t, the Still Farm Boss works good. Only had to work over the carb diaphragm twice in 10 years.

 

[dogcat1]

I hate them…. I have run thru several and switched to electric as I have no really big jobs. From not getting them to start, to changing chains, to tightening chains - I hate them…

However, they do the job.

My current one is a Mikita battery powered. It is awesome..so far…

 

[Zinz]

Heard it from a friend, avgas instead of the low BTU, 30 day shelf life, government mandated fluid from the quickie mart pumps.

Our family has been running 100 Low Lead Avgas in all our small engines for many years (oldest brother is a pilot). Chainsaws, gas trimmers, generators, etc… all of them start immediately even after sitting since last season.

I run a Stihl 391 with square ground chain and it rips mesquite and live oak. I keep the little top handle Echo going because it was Papa’s.

Ed Z

 

[Hogpatrol]

Still running a MS362 for moderately large firewood and recently traded in an 201T for an MS201TC.
The TC starts with one pull. In recent years, the Stihl's have been plagued by their brand but cheap China made replacement parts. Have gone through three coils on the 362. I burn three to four cords of wood a year. The ash borers are keeping me busy.
Edited the first model, it's a 14" bar version, IIRC, pre rev-limiter.

 

[mdwest]

Our family has been running 100 Low Lead Avgas in all our small engines for many years (oldest brother is a pilot). Chainsaws, gas trimmers, generators, etc… all of them start immediately even after sitting since last

I’ve had pretty good success using the husqvarna pre-mix fuel.. it’s pricey.. but it’s also easy and convenient.. and since the mix is the perfect ratio, I get a much better start and much better run when using it than I do whenever I’ve mixed my own…

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/fuel-oil-lubricants/2-stroke-fuel-and-oil/

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I looked up Jonsered as I had not heard of them. They seem to be owned by Husky and the website said they were discontinued in 2022!

They were owned by husky in the later years along with partner, more specifically husqvarna jonsered and partner were all owned by Electrolux. Both started out as independent stand alone companies.