Extreme cold weather saw storage/use

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StihlyinEly

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Until this coming winter, my saws always sit drained of fluids in a fairy warm basement over the cold season, and if I've had to cut in winter I just pull a couple out, fuel them and run them as needed, and then return to the basement dry.

But with the handyman service running really well now, the two saws that sit in my truck toolbox (026 and 034AVS) are going to sit there all winter long because I'm not going to be putting saws in and out of the truck every morning and evening.

So for sure I'll run winter weight bar lube. And all my saws run on non-oxygenated fuel with Amsoil. Now, -30 F isn't even considered cold here. Locals don't wag their tongues until it hits -40, and the record, set in 1996, was -60. Yikes!

I expect that, when I KNOW I'm on my way to a winter saw job, I'll pull the saws in for the night or will put them in the cab on the way to the job to warm up.

But has anyone had much experience storing saws that cold for weeks at a time and having to run them without notice?

Thanks!
 
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Our sit in the bed of the truck, under the cap all winter. Rarely do they come inside. We cut wood everyday in the winter. Never had much issue.
 
Our sit in the bed of the truck, under the cap all winter. Rarely do they come inside. We cut wood everyday in the winter. Never had much issue.

But your saws are from Sweden and Norway. Maybe they stand -40 F better than my German saws. :D :D

Yeah, just ribbin ya. Thanks for helping. :clap: :clap:
 
I wouldn't even bring them in.


Forgot to mention: I cut regular weight bar oil with diesel. Works great when its 20F and below.
 
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I cut in the cold but don't usually when it's below zero or not for long periods. My saws sit in the garage which is heated I think if the saw is keep in a warmer place it's not so hard to start. Sometimes leave a saw in my shed that not heated usually not a problem to get going. I like to cut when it's cooler out sometimes that's when I have time take the snowmobile and otter sled to get the wood out. As long as you dress warm and work a good pace you can stay warm.
 
I cut in the cold but don't usually when it's below zero or not for long periods. My saws sit in the garage which is heated I think if the saw is keep in a warmer place it's not so hard to start. Sometimes leave a saw in my shed that not heated usually not a problem to get going. I like to cut when it's cooler out sometimes that's when I have time take the snowmobile and otter sled to get the wood out. As long as you dress warm and work a good pace you can stay warm.

Thanks for answering, Warroad. I'm out in all weather in winter as a nature photographer, fishing guide and handyman, regardless of temps, and can for sure keep myself warm. :)

It's the saws that have me wondering just a bit when it comes to extreme cold-weather emergencies with cabin maintenance clients.
 
Your 660 and 460 might be able to be converted to the artic options. I'm pretty sure the 026 or 034 never came with the artic option.

What about selling a few of your saws and replacing them with xpg (winter option) model that husqvarna sells. It is a option ya know. :monkey:
 
Do winter packages just make things easier on the sawyer, or are they easier on the saw? I'll look into the 460 Arctic a bit. Thanks for the input! :)
 
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This may be a wild suggestion, but what about insulating your tool box for the winter and/or possibly wrapping the saws in an electric blanket for the night and unplug before leaving in the morning. If nothing else your electric company will love you.
 
This may be a wild suggestion, but what about insulating your tool box for the winter and/or possibly wrapping the saws in an electric blanket for the night and unplug before leaving in the morning. If nothing else your electric company will love you.

Cool idea. :clap: :clap:

The Ely Utilities Commission already robs us blind each month for the paltry bit of electricity we use (oh, uh, wait, it takes a good bit of juice to keep my computer on so I can post on Internet forums :D :D). I'm not overly inclined to plug in an electric blanket a bunch of nights over winter and hand more greenbacks to the EUC. :dizzy:
 
A new air cleaner cover and a new plastic shroud that goes inside the recoil cover.

Well, I don't know how these will benefit the saw in extreme cold weather. Got more detail about that? I can just start doing searches and I expect I'll find some answers about these packages that way. :)

I'm not looking to make things easier on me, BTW, but simply wondering whether going from -35 or -40 on startup to full warmup and then full throttle use and then back down to -35 or -40 will harm a saw? Or how easily one starts at those temps.

And thanks for much for the replies so far. Looking forward to more! :clap: :clap:
 
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cold weather is hard on everything mechanical

Put the saws in the cab with you & warm them on way to job.

I think we pay 11 cents/kw hour here for juice, how much is it up north?
 
Put the saws in the cab with you & warm them on way to job.

That occurred to me, too. But if I'm half an hour from the job and I pull the saws from the toolbox in those temps and plop them in the cab, the cab doesn't even warm up for 10 minutes, and there's just not much time for the P&C to warm in that time frame. I don't have any clients farther than a 1/2 hour drive at this point.

There also will be times I need to toss the saws in the back of an Otter sled and tow them out to an island with my snowmobile to do some cutting with no/little notice.

Probably I'm overthinking this, but that's how I am. It's preparation that enables success when faced with unexpected opportunity. :D :D
 
Actually I justed looked the intake air preheating kit up and there are two different ones for the 026 depending on serial number. The part number I have is 1121-007-1027 for ser. numbers up to X 30 976 774
 
"Heated" saws start the same as non heated in the cold , the "heated " stuff only comes into play when the saw is running .
Most of the Stihl (I'm not familiar with Husky's) saws have some sort of deflector to channel warm air from the cylinder to the air intake and some have shrouds to direct more warm air .
I have found that my saws , MS660 arctic, 2171WH ,MS361, 026 were all slow to start at 5f , a couple of minutes under the heater in the truck made all the difference .
The winter air filters usually have less filtering because of less dust in the winter .
Give your saws plenty of warm up time before going WOT and I found that they cool off real fast in the cold .


:cheers:
 
Ahem,,,,,,,,,clearing throat,,,,

In the U.P. of Michigan, we usually wait till it gets up to about -20 before we start the saws for the day. But then when it doesn't get that warm for about two weeks, we just go for it at any temp. If the truck starts, the saws do as well,,,,even easier! Haha!

Just start the saw and huddle over it till it warms up,,,,,nothin like 2 stroke exaust fog in January to make a body feel good!!! Hahaha!

Good luck with the winter cutting,,,,,seriously it isn't really that bad on a saw, just let 'em warm a bit at idle before givin her hell!

Bob

Then you get the old time lumber jacks sayin stuff like,,,,,,,"Whell sheite, we loved it when it got to 30 below,,,,,just dump them trees and all the branches snapped right off, never had to carry an axe in the middle of the winter"!!!! But then we always knew they were nothin but STINKIN LIARS! Haha!
 
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