Saw lifespan

[JustinM]

Sounds more like abuse, rather than use, to me.

Yup.

I recently bought a saw that "needed work" - it was cheap enough ( a 2 year saw that retails for $800 up here, I bought for $160) but ive never seen so much superficial rust & poor maintenance. Its going to be a good/fun (although at times im sure frustrating) project, but I am not going to be making any money off of it when its finally done!

 

[StihlKiwi]

Thank youVERY much, StihlKiwi, This thread has been a really great eye opener for me! I thought pro chainsaws had a MUCH longer life expectancy.

I'm sure you can expect a much longer lifespan out of a pro saw, especially nowadays. I just thought it was interesting that they allowed for over one saw a year in their costing. When I get time I'll have another look and see what the daily production time was, it will give an indication of how many hours they expected these saws to last

 

[StihlKiwi]

Sounds more like abuse, rather than use, to me.

What looks like abuse to some is just hard use to others. Thinning is hard work, hard on the body and on the gear.

 

[struggle]

One of the few places that I can see a saw honestly being shot in a year, would be those cutting palm trees. The case will be eaten all the way through in about a year, by the acid. It's an amazing thing to see!

I learned that the hard way in FL with my lawn care business as I left a saw sit and didn't clean it and the next time I went to use it both the gas tank and oil tank had holes eating through them:bang: JB weld and it held. Always cleaned them after that:msp_mellow:

 

[roberte]

Unless of course the saw is being used on tv then its a commercial break. That was a perfectly good 460 and bar, omg

 

[Justsaws]

:hmm3grin2orange:

The last crew on my property dropped the faller of a few properties down from me at 7AM, he walked with his kit doing a 30' wide easement until dark. Support staff(guy in truck) would drop by with fuel/oil, food etc. when the faller requested. Picked up at dark. That fellow cleared a lot of ground in a day and that saw was running other than to sharpen, top off, clear the filter and drink/snacks/lunch. The slash/chip crew followed at a fair distance. None of these folks were $10.00 a hour employees. They did not cut in the freezing rain and heavy snow, but that was the only times I saw the trucks idle during daylight. When contracted distance was felled he would join the one of the slash/chip crews or move to the next contract if it was close enough to be quickly supported.

The slash/chip crews would work under light after dark if needed.

They ran Husky 365/372s.

The last NG easement I was at was being slashed and chipped after dark under lights, looked like an X-files episode coming over the hill. They were running 362s.

Abuse and use are fairly easy to differentiate. If they have contracts and the weather is good they run crews 7 days a week, muliple shifts if needed.

 

[Isna]

We change half our saws every 2 years. Our crew gets 15min per day cleaning and maintaining their saws. Had some saws last 5 to 7 years (MS440, MS361,372XP, 346XP). Also have a MS362 that was dead (not worth fixing) in less than a year. Average is 4 years for a well maintained saw.

 

[T0RN4D0]

If the saw is on the job every day the hours add up quickly. After a while you have 2 options to have a reliable tool- do a complete rebuild (well, for most people have a shop do it) and dump half of what the a new saw is worth into it, with no warranty. And most parts are still "old". They should last for a while longer but still.

OR you can sell the saw for half the of while everything is working but pretty worn out for half of what a new one costs, and buy a new one. Cosmetically pristine, everything OEM, warranty and QC at stihl/husky is better than at the shop, for the same price as first option.

There might be a slight price difference but the money difference is not that big.

 

[056kid]

As long as they cut a couple million feet they pass. Though back in the good days that happened every few weeks.

 

[TreeTangler]

Back when I was cutting full time for a small crew, I would buy 2 new 372's a year. I was averaging a couple hundred cords a month. The saws weren't dead, but getting to the point where they could use a little love. When I sat down and figured it out, it worked better for me to sell the two saws to another one of the crewman at $400 a piece and buy new. My dealer would give me a better deal on two new OTD and I never had a major failure. It was nice going into the woods knowing that I had two nice new reliable saws.

 

[Isna]

If the saw is on the job every day the hours add up quickly. After a while you have 2 options to have a reliable tool- do a complete rebuild (well, for most people have a shop do it) and dump half of what the a new saw is worth into it, with no warranty. And most parts are still "old". They should last for a while longer but still.

OR you can sell the saw for half the of while everything is working but pretty worn out for half of what a new one costs, and buy a new one. Cosmetically pristine, everything OEM, warranty and QC at stihl/husky is better than at the shop, for the same price as first option.

There might be a slight price difference but the money difference is not that big.

OR, if you run many chainsaws (we have 35 employees), you can run chainsaws until they die out and still use the parts to fix the ones that are still running. When I decide that a saw is not worth fixing, it goes in the "parts" pile. Spare parts are so expensive...
Good thing is that once the parts cannot fit any of the running saws, I get to bring them home... I am actually waiting for our last 361 to die, I will then be able to bring home all of our 361 parts...

 

[craig71]

I work at silviculture(Pre commercial thinning) and have used a Stihl 480 clearing saw as my tool of choice. I clean my air filter daily, I sharpen my blade after every tank,(6 tanks/day) I check my angle drive/gear head once a week, replace spark plug every 2 months,air filter once a month, replace starter pawl every 3 months. I work this saw 5-6 days/week for 30+ weeks per year and get 2 seasons out of each saw. I then sell it for $300 to a casual user/christmas tree farmer then get a new one and start the process all over again. This saw is not used easy but not abused, it is highly maintained so that I can depend on it to make me money and not let me down. Maintenance is the life blood of any product that is used to make a living no matter what the brand. I will also add that I feel that Stihl engines are very durable and by far the most reliable for my line of work and also for the other 12 guys that work on my crew. MS480, one of the smoothest running engines ever in a 2 stroke.

 

[jbighump]

local big name tree co runs ms310s as there primary saws and they get a year out of them...last year i bought 30 of them and some still ran, i think i was able to make 5 good runners:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[oaktree]

[asna }
French alps ??? really, If so,, I'm sure its cooler there ..Less wear and tear !

 

[zogger]

I learned that the hard way in FL with my lawn care business as I left a saw sit and didn't clean it and the next time I went to use it both the gas tank and oil tank had holes eating through them:bang: JB weld and it held. Always cleaned them after that:msp_mellow:

I didnt know that on the palm tree acid. What is the specific acid?

If you found that out, perhaps you can recoat a clean saw with something that would neutralize it better, or resist the corrosion.

Stihls/huskys and some others are used in the tropics, seems they would have addressed this issue by now.

 

[oaktree]

re

[Isna } Sorry that was Insa .

French alps ??? really, If so,, I'm sure its cooler there and ..Less wear and tear !

rt

 

[BIG JAKE]

Thank youVERY much, StihlKiwi, This thread has been a really great eye opener for me! I thought pro chainsaws had a MUCH longer life expectancy.

Depends on what you're doing. If all you cut is 3 cords a year, the pro saw should outlast you with proper maintenance. Magnesium engine cases are much better than plastic.

 

[Log slayer]

I'm with you on keeping up with the maintenance, I like it keep my stuff operating and looking new as well. But if I may question the financial advantage? I don't know your business, but a quick assumption would be a crew of three guys that are smart enough to work for at least $10/hr. $600 month in saw maintenance can buy some nice saws. Does it really cost you that much? Are they maintaining other high dollar equipment in those 60 man hours?

Yes to your question. We service skids,grinders, and so on and so on. I'm a young buck but I don't have the heart to let a saw get abused. Even at the coast of man hours it takes to service them. I take pride in the history of our industry. It's something my granddad taught me.

 

[Freakingstang]

Amish loggers were hard on equipment where I grew up. They would buy a new 660/066 every 6-8 months. The used one would be a backup and once the new one was "old" the previous backup would be sold. I've seen 1 year old 066/660's with as much internal wear as a a 20 year old saw. Logging is hard use that most of us recreational cutters will never realize.

With that said, my 365 special that was brand new in 1999 was use professionally for two years (by me)and then I bought it. It has been through 5 seasons of 200 cords a year in a firewood business, and 5-6 years of normal firewood cutting, as well as a couple different ported and high reving p/c combos.. ( not from use, from palying with different port configurations). IT ran about a year cutting 15-18 cords at 230psi an 16,500 rpm. Still kickin, still looks fairly good for its age and my ocd of keeping saws looking new...should have been dead years ago according to the experts here...It is still my Go To saw....

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

Logger's saw after 3 years of use...

Clutch and oil pump.