Best Stihl for running 20" Bar
- Thread starter trl91
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old-cat
Fir Man
This balance thing gets me!!! When the bar is in the cut, do you still feel the "balance"?:msp_w00t:
Lightweight and balanced is more comfortable when limbing and especially during long sessions:
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homelitejim
Full of Scrap
I had a 20 inch bar on my ms260 and it balanced just fine, it just didn't have acceptable power to pull it through bigger soft woods, backed it down to a 16 and it is a light saber. The 290 and 391 are ok saws, heavy for a plastic saw but will get the job done. If I were to spend the $400-$550 for a saw it would be for a good condition used pro saw like a 441 or 460 and put a 8 pin rim in it to get chain speed up on a 20 inch bar. I prefer an older more durable design like a 10 series McCulloch, for example a Super 6-10A which is 70cc and only 15.6 lbs and rated to run a 28 inch bar, with a 20 inch bar and 8 pin rim I bet it would walk all over a 290 and 391. I picked this one up for $4, just think of all the safety gear I could buy.
Granted she is not the purtyist gal in the stable but she does run, and sound way better than some choked up EPA saw.
[video=youtube;YX8oMZ3jcsA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX8oMZ3jcsA[/video]
Granted she is not the purtyist gal in the stable but she does run, and sound way better than some choked up EPA saw.
[video=youtube;YX8oMZ3jcsA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX8oMZ3jcsA[/video]
Didn't get to the dealer yet but got to run a friends 562xp. Felt and handled pretty nice. My buddy mentioned a dealer that sells both Stihl and Husky so I can do some side by side comparisons. Even told me that sometimes they guy has let him cut some cookies outback with some of his own saws. Anyway, I'll keep you posted
I'd like to have that 460 for $479, I think the MS 362 is $709 last time I looked at one
Naked Arborist
Hack from way back.
who's gota 20" what? lol
There is a lot to be said for balance of a saw. You guys have never run a saw for six to nine hours a day if you think a saws balance is not an issue. I mean actually felling trees, cleaning up the limbs and bucking it into firewood right there where they lay. If I could pull my wood in lengths up onto a buck rack and just cut firewood out of clean logs than I guess it would not be such an issue for me either. Now with that said I dought most of those who say balance does not matter have NEVER actually burned through 8-10 tanks of fuel in an afternoon balls deep in a briar patch.
I use an 18" pro tip 8 pin on the MS361 most of the time and go to the 20" non pro tip 7 or 8 pin when needed so I don't have to bend over as much cleaning up the limbs. The balance does not change running those setups. If I use a 20" pro tip the saw is heavy on the nose and IT DOES MATTER!!! If I'm just slamming then bucking trees on the ground most of the day out comes the PP455 with a 16" x 24" bow to make firewood, nuf said there. 101 runs a 24" light bar on his MS361 because he is a few inches taller than me.
The only time I use a 16" pro tip is for bucking nasty rock hard seasoned small oak and harder dead dry seasoned hardwoods. In that environment you need to open up the oil pump to full blast. I also use a Sugi hard nose 16" for those nasty, dirty, dry and rotten old hardened stumps. My saws are my bread and butter so having the right setup and balance is critical to getting the job done fast, easy and safely. Oh btw 3/8 chain rules my world in lo pro, reg semi and full chisel. You can keep that slow ass 325 stuff. Ran it and don't like it one lil bit!
The 20" bar really means nothing as just a bar. It is all relative to the job, the wood, the condition of the wood and how many hours you want to waste using an inferior setup to work with. If I cut fresh green pine all day I guess a ported MS260 Pro with 3/8 full skip chisel would be just fine but I don't. I've been known to whip out one of the MS660 Mag's and pop on a 20" pro tip 3/8 w/8 pin semi skip full chisel to blow out green hardwoods when the candle is a-burnin out to git-er-done! :hmm3grin2orange:
There is a lot to be said for balance of a saw. You guys have never run a saw for six to nine hours a day if you think a saws balance is not an issue. I mean actually felling trees, cleaning up the limbs and bucking it into firewood right there where they lay. If I could pull my wood in lengths up onto a buck rack and just cut firewood out of clean logs than I guess it would not be such an issue for me either. Now with that said I dought most of those who say balance does not matter have NEVER actually burned through 8-10 tanks of fuel in an afternoon balls deep in a briar patch.
I use an 18" pro tip 8 pin on the MS361 most of the time and go to the 20" non pro tip 7 or 8 pin when needed so I don't have to bend over as much cleaning up the limbs. The balance does not change running those setups. If I use a 20" pro tip the saw is heavy on the nose and IT DOES MATTER!!! If I'm just slamming then bucking trees on the ground most of the day out comes the PP455 with a 16" x 24" bow to make firewood, nuf said there. 101 runs a 24" light bar on his MS361 because he is a few inches taller than me.
The only time I use a 16" pro tip is for bucking nasty rock hard seasoned small oak and harder dead dry seasoned hardwoods. In that environment you need to open up the oil pump to full blast. I also use a Sugi hard nose 16" for those nasty, dirty, dry and rotten old hardened stumps. My saws are my bread and butter so having the right setup and balance is critical to getting the job done fast, easy and safely. Oh btw 3/8 chain rules my world in lo pro, reg semi and full chisel. You can keep that slow ass 325 stuff. Ran it and don't like it one lil bit!
The 20" bar really means nothing as just a bar. It is all relative to the job, the wood, the condition of the wood and how many hours you want to waste using an inferior setup to work with. If I cut fresh green pine all day I guess a ported MS260 Pro with 3/8 full skip chisel would be just fine but I don't. I've been known to whip out one of the MS660 Mag's and pop on a 20" pro tip 3/8 w/8 pin semi skip full chisel to blow out green hardwoods when the candle is a-burnin out to git-er-done! :hmm3grin2orange:
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Fairbanks Stump
iStumpgrinder
Im a bit oF A Big Boy I use a MS880 and a 20" bar makes butter out of Red Oak!
;~}
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View attachment 281576 ms 290 16" bar .325 chain. nuff said FS.
deye223
Addicted to ArboristSite
to slow
in this sceniario "small jobs occasional firewood"and you leaning toward a STIHL. check out a ms250. about 3lb. wt diff.i saw 40-50 cord yr.250 hasn't let me down yet.use the 290 for really big stuff. Where in pa?i'm in york co.FS
Centre Hall
I can't agree with that.
16" bars are suited to 50cc. 20" bars to 60cc, 20-25" bars to 70cc. For the 70cc I switch 8/7 pin rims with 20/25" bars. If I get a monster I put a 28" on my 056M/066 milling saws and that will do almost any trunk I have encountered if you attack from both sides.
My 036 saws have the best balance with 20" Stihl ES bars and I have been running at least one since the early 1990s.
For small/Medium firewood the 036 is my go to saw, as light as my 028S and only a bit more heavy than my 026. If I have a lot of bigger rounds (> 20"), along with the tops, the 60/70cc two saw plan goes into action.
My 50cc saws don't get too much firewood work unless small trees and small amount as the 036 has so much more power. Lots of small stuff I will use a 026/036 combo.
I have not got into the newer Stihl bandwagon as most of my saws were free or needed rebuilds, they all cut great now, plus they are a joy to work on.
Just looking at the carb setups on the new Huskys/Sthils turns me off from buying one, besides being portly compared to earlier models.
Arbonaut
Go Climb It
It is easy to get a date when you have a Stihl 044.
Ok, guys so got another question for you. I was at one of the Stihl shops in town and while looking at the saws and talking with the one salesman he started telling me about a Stihl credit card? Said Husqvarna has one also. Didn't really catch all of what he said but it was something along the lines of no interest if paid in full in 12 months. Anyone ever use the program or know anything about it. Just looking for honest opinions or reviews instead of the salesman pitch.
homelitejim
Full of Scrap
Credit in this economy? Cash is king, stay away from credit.
You'll get a better price if you show them a few $100 then credit
So I got down to the saw shop today where the dealer sells both husky and stihl. We narrowed it down to 4 saws. 2 landowner/ranch models and 2 pro models. They are the Husky 460 Rancher and the 562xp. The 372 is pretty nice but a little out of the price range. For the stihl looking at the MS 311 and 362. Now the hard part is trying to decide if it's worth it to spend the extra coin on the saw. So help me spend my money guys. Out of these 4, what would you go with? BTW, didn't have any used saws so that was not an option.
timberland ts
ArboristSite Operative
Go with the pro model worth the money, run them both if you can and you make the choice.
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
460 or 311, whatever feels better. Not a judgemental statement, but it doesn't sound like you will use the saw enough to justify the extra coin. If you happen to be a hedge fund manager, then get the 562:msp_biggrin:
