Moving from NH to Lake County, Ca

[New Hampster]

Hello ya'll.
I'm new to this site, so greetings.
I am moving from New Hampshire to Lake County, Ca. in the spring and am looking for a single all around work horse of a saw.
I have never cut trees professionally, although I have worked a couple years in falling and
skidding out trees for my ex-gf's father using an Stihl 048 and a Husky 61. I also have a few hundred cords of wood cut and split under my belt. I do not own a professional grade saw, as all saws I've ever used have been someone else's. I am a master carpenter with 17+ years experience in all facets of carpentry and 5 years of machining/welding. I'm no stranger to hard work. I am also a combat veteran, so living in a tent long term is nothing new to me. I will be rolling out in the spring with a 15K generator, welding equipment, a 12X15 4 season wall tent, all my tools, a Springfield 30.06, chain-falls, come alongs, axes/mauls...etc. all loaded onto my Ford F250 7.3L turbo diesel.
I need to kick down for a pro quality saw that I will be using daily for falling and bucking on 40 acres (which also abuts a 1,680 acre forest). I understand trees are slightly bigger out west than on the each coast. So, I have been thinking that a Husky 372XP or a Stihl 044/ms440 w/ a 24" bar will be a sufficient all around saw. Considering I will not be skidding logs out, my plan will be falling, limbing, bucking in place and then hand rolling the rounds to the access road for pick up, so I probably won't be taking anything bigger than 30". I'd like to meet some people out that way that I can rely on for accurate information and strategy as well as gaining any helpful tips. Thanks for taking the time to read. All input is welcome.

 

[HuskStihl]

Sounds like an awesome adventure! Thanks for u'r service! 70cc pro saw sounds perfect, and you listed the two most popular. Good luck with u'r quest

 

[windthrown]

Either of those saws will be fine in that area. You could probably get away with a good 60cc saw as well (I did for several years). Where in Lake Co. are you heading? I know a lot of people there and in Mendo Co. and I have been through there many times. Be careful about taking guns into California though. Its not Live Free or Die there. Its ban all guns and ask questions later. All handguns have to be CA approved as well as registered and all rifles must now be registered as well (you have 60 days to get them registered after moving there). Many rifles and handguns are banned there, and the list grows each year. That is the main reason I live in OryGun., even though I had a special permit there to own my Ar-15.

Also there is a multi-year drought going on down there now, and water is really getting to be a huge problem.

 

[lfnh]

Couple or three Skookum snatch blocks, cable, chokers, canthook or peavy, handyman, some crosby's.
Keep on the lookout. New, way spendy. Might save some hiking out.
Sured be good to see fuel just a tick above a buck by then. or sooner.

 

[Gologit]

Where in Lake County?

 

[CTYank]

I need to kick down for a pro quality saw that I will be using daily for falling and bucking

Clearly, there's your first mistake- one saw. That just won't do, for you.
Lots of folks here go for at least a 2-saw plan, 40/60 cc, 50/70 cc, or the like. On the premise that a saw that's really capable of felling, er, falling in west-coast-speak, and bucking will be a real load for limbing. That's where the lighter, more nimble one comes in.

From your description of the "target", I'd say that a Dolmar PS-6100 w/24" bar would do well for the felling & bucking. If I didn't have my 40 cc RedMax, I'd go for a Dolmar PS-421 for 16" & smaller. They're both powerful, pro-quality, and excellent values. They enjoy hard work. You can even get a 28" (K095 mount pattern) bar which could work well with th 6100 and skip-tooth chain. (I've run mine with a 24" and semi-chisel chain noodling sugar maple- worked great.) The 6100 is a "strato" and will make a lot of chips on its 27 oz tank.

One "must-have" for any chainsaw is a really sharp chain, that gets its cutters tended to at least once every other fill-up, with chisel chain. Semi-chisel chain can go much farther between touch-ups, but it's not a great idea to push things.

Good PPE, that you use, is a much better bargain than ERs, but you likely know about that.

 

[New Hampster]

Just north of Middletown, Harbin Hot Springs area. Even after this long prolonged drought there is spring water flowing up on the property into a 2500 gallon tank.
It's been tested for mercury and it's cleaner than bottled water. There's a few licensed springs also in the area.
The area I'm in is unincorporated, so open carry is permitted. I already talked to the sheriff and Chamber of commerce about weapons.
I will have my shotgun for camp and my 30.06 for hunting. I have no reason at this point to
carry a handgun. Maybe some time down the road after I get to know the area and townspeople I will have my .357 shipped out. I do like to carry it when I bow hunt.
Thanks for the list lfnh. That's definitely some good, important equipment.
I just found a 576XP for sale for $600 and a 570 for $400.

 

[windthrown]

Ah, south of Clear Lake, north of Calistoga. Wine country. I know that area very well. I am surprised you still have spring water there. Amazed, actually.

It is really hard to get a CCW/concealed carry permit in CA. You have to have proof of need. There are court cases currently in San Diego Co. that may loosen up the laws though. When I went to a CCW class in Nevada they said that CA approved all of a dozen carry permits the previous year. Open carry is not common around there, so I would be careful. It is allowed here in Oregon and in Washington state, but they are clamping down on it more lately (by county). CA is simply not a gun friendly state. Make sure that your 357 is an approved handgun, o/w they will not let you import it into the state. Look online for the list of approved handguns in CA here (if it ain't on the short list, you are SOL):

http://certguns.doj.ca.gov/

The 576xp is a good saw. My favorite of the Huskies that I have owned (all 4 of them anyway). A bit bulky, but it will cut just about anything.

 

[lfnh]

Sounds like an awesome adventure! Thanks for u'r service! 70cc pro saw sounds perfect, and you listed the two most popular. Good luck with u'r quest

+1

Flowing springs are everything, especially in hard drought times. Lucky to have one handy as it sure makes the day to day stuff a whole lot easier. If you geta chance while refueling or boiling coffee, a few pics of that area (esp of the spring) would be nice to see.

 

[windthrown]

Water if any kind is a rarity anywhere in the west. I have lived in the states from Sandy Eggo, CA to Portland, OR, and many places between. It is not easy to find any place with a good well along the west coast, rarer still to find a good spring. My ex actually has both. She has a gushing well and several good springs, as well as 2 year round running creeks. The springs get spritzy at times in summer, but were good for an hour a day of water at least for the barn animals and my half acre Pinot Noir vineyard. And that is in an area that is fairly parched for water in southern Oregon. One neighbor within a mile of her has to have water trucked into his farm in the summer months because his well runs dry. All around that area water is a rarity, especially to the east. Were it not for water limitations, southern Oregon would be on par with Burgundy, France for producing large amounts of top quality Pinot Noir. The climates are virtually identical. In California just north of Ukiah (not far northwest of where you are moving to) there has been a building moratorium for many decades due to a shortage of water. You can buy land there, but you cannot build anything on it. I know the wells in the deep end of the Anderson Valley are being depleted by the vineyards. Farther south along the coast it is really bad, and in Monterey Co. there are all kinds of water restrictions and building limitations. Here in the north Oregon Cascades? I have a good well. I have some of the best and cleanest water in the world. Portland pulls their water from near here in the Bull Run watershed. They pay a fortune for it. I get it for the price to pump it, so it is virtually free. It also rains a lot here, over 80 inches a year. But even up here good wells are not the rule. Not far from me several people have wells going dry for reasons unknown. I do not have a spring here, but I wish I did. It is better water for plants, and I have a nursery here.

 

[flashhole]

I agree with a two saw plan. Something in the 60 - 70 cc range and something at least 20 cc bigger. I have a Stihl 460 and Husky 394. Sold everything else as these were the only two I ever used. For me standardizing on a 3/8" sprocket and equal size bars and chains was a real money saver. I modify the Stihl bars to fit the Husky.

You didn't say what your long term goal was but if you plan to build from materials you harvest you might consider a chainsaw mill as well.

 

[New Hampster]

I agree with a two saw plan. Something in the 60 - 70 cc range and something at least 20 cc bigger. I have a Stihl 460 and Husky 394. Sold everything else as these were the only two I ever used. For me standardizing on a 3/8" sprocket and equal size bars and chains was a real money saver. I modify the Stihl bars to fit the Husky.

You didn't say what your long term goal was but if you plan to build from materials you harvest you might consider a chainsaw mill as well.

Eventually yes, but I will weld me up a band saw mill sooner than later. thinner curf, less waste and energy consumed. Right now, I'm concerned with felling for heat and cooking.
Snatch blocks, basic rigging, winch...etc. I just picked up a sweet Warn package with (4) 4ton snatch blocks, straps, chains, turn buckles, crosby's for $300. Hardly used.
I'm welding up a slick little winch mount for my minute mount plow frame with a 12,000lb Warn winch right now. Tent is on order with Bravo Tent Mfg.
Things are starting to come together.

 

[Gologit]

Eventually yes, but I will weld me up a band saw mill sooner than later. thinner curf, less waste and energy consumed. Right now, I'm concerned with felling for heat and cooking.
Snatch blocks, basic rigging, winch...etc. I just picked up a sweet Warn package with (4) 4ton snatch blocks, straps, chains, turn buckles, crosby's for $300. Hardly used.
I'm welding up a slick little winch mount for my minute mount plow frame with a 12,000lb Warn winch right now. Tent is on order with Bravo Tent Mfg.
Things are starting to come together.

Don't forget skin stuff for poison oak.

 

[windthrown]

Don't forget skin stuff for poison oak.

I have not had PO in 10 years now, and I have been exposed to heaps of the stuff. I wash with cheap Suave shampoo with lots of laurel sulfate in it after any potential exposure. That is basically all that Tecnu and Orvus have in them. That dissolves the oil before it binds to your skin. I also pull my clothes off into the washer before I shower. You can get it from clothes that have brushed up against PO. It also helps to ID PO in all seasons, and avoid patting your dogs after then have run through the stuff.

 

[windthrown]

Oh, and the drought has become a flood now in CA. Flood, storm, snow and high wind watches/warnings are up from BC, Mexico through CA, OR, WA and up to BC, Canada today. Last I looked, Lake Co. looked to be right in the middle of things to come later today. It can and does flood in California between the droughts. Glug glug glug... rig for mud.

 

[flashhole]

Good luck. You will appreciate the wisdom of a two saw plan the first time you are at a remote work site and get your saw seriously stuck. I'm sure I was not the first person to learn that lesson and doubt I will be the last. The other thing I learned the value of is an inboard vs. an outboard clutch. You can remove the bar and chain from a saw with an inboard clutch in the event you get it stuck. Not necessarily so with a saw equipped with an outboard clutch. I learned that lesson too.

I'd like to see pics of your band saw mill when you get it finished.

 

[lfnh]

Portable propane camp/cookstove come in handy during fire restriction. Cold beans, etc, no more.

Metal storage box for food, esp dry loose boxed stuff will help keep it from some critters. mice destroy flannel just for the hell of it (and good wool socks). You could weld somthing together.

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

My old man lives just outside of Middletown and has lived in Lake County for 35 years.

You handgun does not need to be on the "approved list" but you do have to register it. You fill out the form and send it in with a check.

http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/forms/ab991frm.pdf?

It is not difficult to get a CCW in Lake County, but it is rather expensive.

Best of luck to you!

 

[New Hampster]

Portable propane camp/cookstove come in handy during fire restriction. Cold beans, etc, no more.

Metal storage box for food, esp dry loose boxed stuff will help keep it from some critters. mice destroy flannel just for the hell of it (and good wool socks). You could weld somthing together.

I'm buying a kick ass grill first thing. I also have an extra gang box. One for the tools, one for the yum yums.

 

[New Hampster]

My old man lives just outside of Middletown and has lived in Lake County for 35 years.

You handgun does not need to be on the "approved list" but you do have to register it. You fill out the form and send it in with a check.

http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/forms/ab991frm.pdf?

It is not difficult to get a CCW in Lake County, but it is rather expensive.

Best of luck to you!

I talked to the sheriff and he said it's no problem for me. I already have one from NH and I'm ex-military. He seemed very affable. Thanks for the link.