New Husky 372xp

[gallegosmike]

My 372xp(with 20" bar) came in thanksgiving week, so no review till now. The week end of thanksgiving me and my father went for for firewood in northern NM. We cut down mostly small pinyon pine and juniper. I did take down a nice 22" juniper on my grandfathers ranch. The stock re-branded Oregon 72LPX sucks donkey #####. It is soft as hell and needs to touched up quite a bit. I am trying to be nice to the saw and not cut more the 3/4 throttle while breaking it in. This last weekend I got cut up some downed blue spruce on Sandia national forest land(lottery permits) that was downed back in Aug. The logs were all about 20" or more. Who ever downed them had a sick sense of humor, because they were all on really steep hillside. I was like a mountain goat with a chainsaw. Here are some pictures of the wood that cut with my new saw.

 

[ropensaddle]

My 372xp(with 20" bar) came in thanksgiving week, so no review till now. The week end of thanksgiving me and my father went for for firewood in northern NM. We cut down mostly small pinyon pine and juniper. I did take down a nice 22" juniper on my grandfathers ranch. The stock re-branded Oregon 72LPX sucks donkey #####. It is soft as hell and needs to touched up quite a bit. I am trying to be nice to the saw and not cut more the 3/4 throttle while breaking it in. This last weekend I got cut up some downed blue spruce on Sandia national forest land(lottery permits) that was downed back in Aug. The logs were all about 20" or more. Who ever downed them had a sick sense of humor, because they were all on really steep hillside. I was like a mountain goat with a chainsaw. Here are some pictures of the wood that cut with my new saw.

Shoot run that puppy wide open loaded just don't let it idle alot
it will take it no problem

 

[lovetheoutdoors]

thats what i figured...2 stroke runs cooler wide open...its a husky run it

 

[ak4195]

Dang thats purty,hope the ole lady dont get jelous of that young beauty.
Whole lotta saw for 20" bar,could take that training bra off her and get her a more full figured 24" bar and and a few loops of LGX,let her spread her wings a bit.
Its 21 degrees and blowing a steady 45 mph out of the north,but I may have to pull "natasha" out of the shed tomorrow to work the log deck,its been at least a week.

ak

 

[SawTroll]

Shoot run that puppy wide open loaded just don't let it idle alot
it will take it no problem

:agree2:

Actually, less than full throttle may eventually fry the engine, as it probably will run lean (no middle jet)......:jawdrop:

 

[jack-the-ripper]

Like the others said, run it WOT in the cut. Let up on the throttle coming out of the cut. There are alot of threads on here about breaking a new saw in.

 

[danrclem]

Congrats on the new 372. It's a doosey.

The chain on the 372 I bought earlier this year looks like the LGX. It appears like it has the same rakers. What are the numbers on your chains? I just ordered a couple LGX chains for my 24" bar so I guess I can compare them when they come in.

 

[Pablo26]

Congrats on the new saw, excellent choice.

 

[gallegosmike]

Chain Question

Congrats on the new 372. It's a doosey.

The chain on the 372 I bought earlier this year looks like the LGX. It appears like it has the same rakers. What are the numbers on your chains? I just ordered a couple LGX chains for my 24" bar so I guess I can compare them when they come in.

It came with Oregon 72LPX, it is kinda like 72LGX. But it has a drive bumper(safety feature) right beside the raker with the same chipper as the 72LGX. Its pretty crappy chain, but it came with the saw. The metal is pretty soft so its easy to sharpen, but dulls pretty fast! So I will use it up till its wore out and switch over to stihl RS or RSC. I cant justify tossing a usable chain even though it sucks cutting. Stihl chains are best that Ive used so far. They use a really hard alloy metal, it is hard on files but stays pretty sharp. Ive gone two firewood cutting trips(2-3 cords) without sharping and it still cuts good! It is pricey whe compared to oregon chain, but it lasts longer and doesn't stretch like crazy. A local dealer has a special buy two chains get one free. It comes out to about $22.00 per chain. I wore out two oregon 72v(vanguard) chains pretty quickly before I switched to stihl chain and never looked back.

 

[Andyshine77]

Stihl chain does stay sharp for a long time, but if you're cutting 3 cords without sharpening your chain, you're cutting quite a long time with what I would consider a very dull chain. It only takes a few minutes to touch up a chain, and in doing so you're preventing excess heat buildup and stress on your saw.

 

[SawTroll]

It came with Oregon 72LPX, it is kinda like 72LGX. But it has a drive bumper(safety feature) right beside the raker with the same chipper as the 72LGX. Its pretty crappy chain, but it came with the saw. The metal is pretty soft so its easy to sharpen, but dulls pretty fast! So I will use it up till its wore out and switch over to stihl RS or RSC. I cant justify tossing a usable chain even though it sucks cutting. Stihl chains are best that Ive used so far. They use a really hard alloy metal, it is hard on files but stays pretty sharp. Ive gone two firewood cutting trips(2-3 cords) without sharping and it still cuts good! It is pricey whe compared to oregon chain, but it lasts longer and doesn't stretch like crazy. A local dealer has a special buy two chains get one free. It comes out to about $22.00 per chain. I wore out two oregon 72v(vanguard) chains pretty quickly before I switched to stihl chain and never looked back.

I agree on the Stihl chain because of metallurgy (thicker chrome really), but actually the LP design is superior in most cases to the LG/RS/RSC one, that have the large ramped raker - that small ramp in combo with the smaller raker (LP) doesn't take up much more space, and it is superior for bore-cutting.

Both Carlton and Stihl has sort of copied the LP design - but both failed, as the rakers and ramps are both too large.

 

[gallegosmike]

Sharpening Chain

Stihl chain does stay sharp for a long time, but if you're cutting 3 cords without sharpening your chain, you're cutting quite a long time with what I would consider a very dull chain. It only takes a few minutes to touch up a chain, and in doing so you're preventing excess heat buildup and stress on your saw.

I am only cutting lowly softwood and avoiding grounding at all costs. I normally do a detail cleaning of the saw, detail clean the bar(clear all junk out the rails) and sharpening the chain. But we all know things do come up and sometimes we have to make do. I do carry a file and sharping guide with me. I do touch up in the field when I really need to.

 

[gallegosmike]

Bore-cutting

I agree on the Stihl chain because of metallurgy (thicher chrome really), but actually the LP design is superior in most cases to the LG/RS/RSC one, that have the large ramped raker - that small ramp in combo with the smaller raker (LP) doesn't take up much more space, and it is superior for bore-cutting.

Both Carlton and Stihl has sort of copied the LP design - but both failed, as the rakers and ramps are both too large.

I cut firewood only and it is tiny stuff compared to the rest of the USA. No giant trees for me! I rarely do any bore-cutting or make notched face cuts. My normal method of cutting a pinyon tree down is the clear low branches off(also clear area around tree and make a retreat path), then make a flat face cut less the half way and finally make the back cut. Normally I make my cuts so that they use the shape(top heaviness)of the tree to fall where I need to go or a gentle push. It is very rare that I have to use a plastic wedge to take down a tree. I wish that had the giant trees of the PNW to cut down for firewood!

 

[gallegosmike]

Bar

Dang thats purty,hope the ole lady dont get jelous of that young beauty.
Whole lotta saw for 20" bar,could take that training bra off her and get her a more full figured 24" bar and and a few loops of LGX,let her spread her wings a bit.
Its 21 degrees and blowing a steady 45 mph out of the north,but I may have to pull "natasha" out of the shed tomorrow to work the log deck,its been at least a week.

ak

I am thinking about getting a 24" or 28" bar pretty soon! It does cut with authority when running a 20" bar. It is a toss up between a oregon or windsor bar. Maybe I might go with a clearance carlton bar from baileys.

 

[Andyshine77]

I am only cutting lowly softwood and avoiding grounding at all costs. I normally do a detail cleaning of the saw, detail clean the bar(clear all junk out the rails) and sharpening the chain. But we all know things do come up and sometimes we have to make do. I do carry a file and sharping guide with me. I do touch up in the field when I really need to.

I see. There is no way I could cut 3 cords of Hickory with one chain, that's for sure.

 

[excess650]

Amick's has or had smokin' deals on relabeled GB bars for Husqvarna. I bought a 28" for my mill.

http://www.amickssuperstore.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=gb+labeled

As for :censored: Vanguard chain, it makes lots of fine chips and dust for me, so I don't use it.

 

[SawTroll]

I cut firewood only and it is tiny stuff compared to the rest of the USA. No giant trees for me! I rarely do any bore-cutting or make notched face cuts. My normal method of cutting a pinyon tree down is the clear low branches off(also clear area around tree and make a retreat path), then make a flat face cut less the half way and finally make the back cut. Normally I make my cuts so that they use the shape(top heaviness)of the tree to fall where I need to go or a gentle push. It is very rare that I have to use a plastic wedge to take down a tree. I wish that had the giant trees of the PNW to cut down for firewood!

I cut a lot that way myself - it is how I originally learned to do it....

 

[SawTroll]

Amick's has or had smokin' deals on relabeled GB bars for Husqvarna. I bought a 28" for my mill.

http://www.amickssuperstore.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=gb+labeled

As for :censored: Vanguard chain, it makes lots of fine chips and dust for me, so I don't use it.

LP/LPX (as he mentioned) isn't anything like that....

 

[ropensaddle]

I see. There is no way I could cut 3 cords of Hickory with one chain, that's for sure.

:hmm3grin2orange: quit tilling with it :monkey:

 

[Andyshine77]

What I meant to say was:monkey: well you know what I meant. Without sharpening the chain, not one chain lol.