Expense account purchase for modern saw

[rmihalek]

I have the opportunity to purchase a new saw for my town's hiking trails volunteer group. Our current saw is a mid-1990's Craftsman. It cuts okay, but breaks down quite a bit and is a pain to start when it's hot. Due to the inferior quality of this saw, I've been using my own saws for trail clearing volunteer work. I actually don't mind using my saws for this purpose because I know these saws inside and out, so I don't have to worry about being 2 or 3 miles out on a trail and having a saw crap out on me.

The new saw will be used for trail maintenance and also storm clean-up. I'd like to get a light weight saw, but the other issue is (especially with storm clean-up) is we frequently have 20-30 inch trees (pine, oak, maple) come down across our trails, so the saw will probably have to pull at least a 20" bar with authority.

The final issue is that, because we're an all-volunteer group, sometimes maintenance is lacking: volunteers are pressed for time, so they want to show up, grab the saw, do whatever cutting is needed, and then the saw gets put away without being cleaned, no chain sharpening, etc.

Because of this, I want to get an m-tronic or auto-tune saw. I'm having a bit of trouble finding out what models from Stihl have the m-tronic feature and what Husky models have auto-tune. There's not a hard cut-off on the budget, but I'm hoping $700-$800 will do the trick.

Can I get some feedback from the group about what saws I should be looking at?

Thanks.

 

[Fish]

No models will do what you are asking.

 

[Fish]

Buy 2 MS290's while you still can, you will thank me later.....

 

[opinion]

Price is going up for 2013

 

[Ironworker]

562 xp 20" bar.

 

[rmihalek]

562 xp 20" bar.

Are all 562XP's fitted with auto-tune?

 

[REJ2]

"The final issue is that, because we're an all-volunteer group, sometimes maintenance is lacking: volunteers are pressed for time, so they want to show up, grab the saw, do whatever cutting is needed, and then the saw gets put away without being cleaned, no chain sharpening, etc." quote



Echo CS550P, CS600P, but someone is still going to have to sharpen a chain. There not m-tronic or auto tune, but they will start. Multiple users on a single saw, thats a tough one.

 

[B Harrison]

What about a 550XP on the occasion that there is a 20-30 inch maple someone might have to bring a bigger saw or just take their time with the 550.
If people can't sharpen the saw and clean it up a bit they don't need to be operating it. It can be done in 10 minutes easily, you can also hide the chisel chain so you know its sharp. Leave some round top safety junk on the saw.

 

[naturelover]

A few dollars more would get you a 441 M-Tronic.

Pulls a 20" pretty well......


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[Ductape]

562 xp 20" bar.

:agree2:

 

[Anthony_Va.]

I'd get either a 550xp or 555 autotune. Only Stihl m-tron you can get as of now is the 441CM, which is awesome but it's around 900 bucks or so. I don't know why they havent brought out more m-tron models already but they need to.

 

[Fish]

What again are you expecting this new saw to do????

 

[z71mike]

Having multiple guys use it, not care about it, and not do maintenance to it? Needs to be light for backpackers....

Just buy 10 fold up bow saws and camp hatchets. Cheaper and they'll last longer. No fighting over who pays the repair bill when the saw needs maintenance.

 

[Jacob J.]

I'd get either a 550xp or 555 autotune. Only Stihl m-tron you can get as of now is the 441CM, which is awesome but it's around 900 bucks or so. I don't know why they havent brought out more m-tron models already but they need to.

My vote would be the 555 with a 20" bar. People clearing trails do not need "Rev Boost" or any of that kind of stuff. Or, follow Fish's recommendation of buying two cheaper saws that will take a lot of abuse. Expect this saw to be run with a dull chain, dirty air filter, worn sprocket, etc. Having done trails work on a regular basis for 25 years, I've seen all kinds of sins visited upon saws.

What again are you expecting this new saw to do????

Scale mountains, leap wide streams, kill a Billy Goat on occasion.

 

[c5rulz]

Buy 2 MS290's while you still can, you will thank me later.....

I can't believe I am in favor of a MS290, but in this case, it may not be a bad idea.

 

[TK]

All 555/562's are AT, along with all 545/550's. Coming January-February you can pick up a 455 with AT if you're worried about a pricier large saw. No it's not the fastest saw with a 20" bar but they are durable as all get out and much less expensive.

 

[zogger]

Not sure why you want to buy a brand new primo saw and just kill it.

Volunteers who cut? Like a whole lotta guys on this site do all the time? They use their own saws mostly I guess, so can your volunteers. Let them bring their own saws. If they dont own a saw..not much in the way of volunteers and most likely not a good choice to be running saws.

Maybe for that same money, you provide the fresh mix and bar oil?

Really, not trying to be a smart aleck here, just sounds like it will be a croaked saw shortly. And one saw for at least two or more volunteers? How will that work? I can see teams of two, one sawyer, one groundie hauler, tradeoff now and then, but thats still just one saw for two people. What happens when you have half a dozen people?

Anyway, good luck, the other guys have stated which are the models available.

Light duty, sandvik or bahco bow saws, You can buy 8 saws then and extra blades, you keep carrying your own good chainsaw for larger trees. A 36 inch bowsaw will cut a 12 incher fast, about zip for maintenance, and this is it: dont cut dirt, give it a spritz from a spray can (any old cheap lube, wd40 whatever) after use..

If you have never tried a quality new design bowsaw (I dont know if you have or not, just generally speaking, perhaps someone else might be interested as well), give it a whack, spend a few hours with one, they are surprisingly good and effective on smaller trees and branches. Light to carry, lighter than any chainsaw out there, easy to start, ha! anyone remotely coordinated and in any reasonable physical shape can run one. Same rules apply as a chainsaw, watch for pinch, spring loads, etc and dont bite off more than you can chew. And, obviously safer with no kickback potential really, and if you have any ultra green volunteers, there ya go, 100% biodrive.

Modern bowsaws are nothing like the old misery whips gramps ran...

 

[Sagetown]

Buy 2 MS290's while you still can, you will thank me later.....

I think Fish nailed it. A pair of MS290's. They're like a Timex watch. Can take a beatin' and keep on workin'. As for the chains. Just buy several new loops with the saws. When you get down to the last two, take the others to be sharpened. That is if it can be done for a reasonable price.

 

[RiverRat2]

"The final issue is that, because we're an all-volunteer group, sometimes maintenance is lacking: volunteers are pressed for time, so they want to show up, grab the saw, do whatever cutting is needed, and then the saw gets put away without being cleaned, no chain sharpening, etc.

Multiple users and no maint. Thats going to leave a mark on your $700-800.00 saw and it will be an ugly one!!! hate to say it,,, but your plan is skewed!!! off kilter!!! not made up of sound reasoning,,, Not trying to be ragging you... it just doesnt sound good,,,,,

 

[Gologit]

Not sure why you want to buy a brand new primo saw and just kill it.

Volunteers who cut? Like a whole lotta guys on this site do all the time? They use their own saws mostly I guess, so can your volunteers. Let them bring their own saws. If they dont own a saw..not much in the way of volunteers and most likely not a good choice to be running saws.

Maybe for that same money, you provide the fresh mix and bar oil?

Really, not trying to be a smart aleck here, just sounds like it will be a croaked saw shortly. And one saw for at least two or more volunteers? How will that work? I can see teams of two, one sawyer, one groundie hauler, tradeoff now and then, but thats still just one saw for two people. What happens when you have half a dozen people?

Exactly right. I run a crew of volunteers and they all bring their own saws, gas/oil/ and PPE. They're happy to do it. More than happy really. It gives them an excuse to buy some new toys and they tend to take care of things a lot better.

There's no way in the world that we'd just supply them with a saw or two and let everybody take turns using it. Nothing would get done and the saws would suffer. We have a core group of thirty five volunteers, most of whom show up every time we have something scheduled. Our biggest problem is finding enough for everybody to do.

We have a saw safety class for the newbies and they cut under supervision when they first start. We also teach saw maintenance. We have a couple of local merchants that throw some chains our way every year or kick in with jugs of bar oil and other goodies.

We supply lunch...and plenty of it.