par38lamp
ArboristSite Lurker
I bit the bullet and bought a Dolmar 5100s last week. I was able to use is Sunday and last night, and thought I would post my observations of it, as viewed from a person new to chainsaws.
My prior experience has been with cheap saws, a Poulon Pro 16" and a Craftsman something or other (Poulon rebrand).
This saw feels so much more than the Brother-in-laws Poulon. More heft, solid feeling. Comes from the more metal/less plasitic I figure.
Starts easy. The firts ever pull was a little suprising, with the resistance it gave me, but because I was starting it as instructed in the manual, things went well.
I bought the saw witht the 3/8", .050 chain and bar.
Cuts through 10" oak, pine and mystery wood were quick, and made lots of large chips. Like I read on here, when I tried crosscutting, I got the long curley-ques, or lots of fine dust, depending on the wood and how much I forced the saw.
Only time I stalled the chain was crosscutting and my cut was less than straight. I am still working on finding the "sweet spot" RPM cutting speed/sound. When revved to full throttle right before cutting, this saw really screams.
Vibration is non-existant, at least in my gloved hands. Especially with lined gloves. I acutally had to try and notice any vibration while cutting.
Last night I cut without hearing protection, and was not deafend when I stopped.
I conusmed a tank of fuel while cutting Sunday, so I set out to sharpen the stock chain. That proved difficult. I am using Oregon 7/32" files, when held @ what I thought was the propoer angle (25 degrees), parallel to the cutters, the file also scraped the rakers. After a few strokes, the raker material removed, filing became much easier. 1 beer job. I marked a cutter with a sharpie since I could no find the "master link".
I also purchased a loop of 72LG64 chain, but have not used it yet. Not until I become more familair with my new saw. It looks to have much less obtrusive rakers so filing should be much easier.
I also bought Husquvarna chaps. They go on easy and fit good. They get hot. They hang over the top of my boot, so I get a little protection there as well. I already own hearing protection, prescription safety glasses and a hard hat (working around large Caterpillar generators). I wish I could just buy a hearing/face shield attachemnt to mount to my hard hat.
Wife said I looked funny in the chaps. I told her it's better than sawing my legs off. Especially with a 2nd new mouth to feed (2 week old son-AKA soon to be wood pile helper!)
Thanks to all here who graciously share their knowledge with the un-informed. I was ready to get a MS250, but I wanted a saw that would out last me, so I went with a profressional grade saw. I even considered a MS361 becuase of this site, but could not justify the $590 + tax. Especially when others here have suggested the 5100 and 361 are almost comparable saws.
Yes, I am now finding myself looking for another saw already. A Makita UC4000 electric for late weeknight cutting, and a Makita 6401 from Home Depot as a project saw. I need those like I need a hole in my head right now. My 5100 cuts so fast that I don't have enough wood to feed it.
If anyone is in/near St. Louis, MO, feel free to drop me a line if you would like to try out a 5100, or just want to GTG for cutting. Can't do too much with the little one and a 3 year old, though.
My prior experience has been with cheap saws, a Poulon Pro 16" and a Craftsman something or other (Poulon rebrand).
This saw feels so much more than the Brother-in-laws Poulon. More heft, solid feeling. Comes from the more metal/less plasitic I figure.
Starts easy. The firts ever pull was a little suprising, with the resistance it gave me, but because I was starting it as instructed in the manual, things went well.
I bought the saw witht the 3/8", .050 chain and bar.
Cuts through 10" oak, pine and mystery wood were quick, and made lots of large chips. Like I read on here, when I tried crosscutting, I got the long curley-ques, or lots of fine dust, depending on the wood and how much I forced the saw.
Only time I stalled the chain was crosscutting and my cut was less than straight. I am still working on finding the "sweet spot" RPM cutting speed/sound. When revved to full throttle right before cutting, this saw really screams.
Vibration is non-existant, at least in my gloved hands. Especially with lined gloves. I acutally had to try and notice any vibration while cutting.
Last night I cut without hearing protection, and was not deafend when I stopped.
I conusmed a tank of fuel while cutting Sunday, so I set out to sharpen the stock chain. That proved difficult. I am using Oregon 7/32" files, when held @ what I thought was the propoer angle (25 degrees), parallel to the cutters, the file also scraped the rakers. After a few strokes, the raker material removed, filing became much easier. 1 beer job. I marked a cutter with a sharpie since I could no find the "master link".
I also purchased a loop of 72LG64 chain, but have not used it yet. Not until I become more familair with my new saw. It looks to have much less obtrusive rakers so filing should be much easier.
I also bought Husquvarna chaps. They go on easy and fit good. They get hot. They hang over the top of my boot, so I get a little protection there as well. I already own hearing protection, prescription safety glasses and a hard hat (working around large Caterpillar generators). I wish I could just buy a hearing/face shield attachemnt to mount to my hard hat.
Wife said I looked funny in the chaps. I told her it's better than sawing my legs off. Especially with a 2nd new mouth to feed (2 week old son-AKA soon to be wood pile helper!)
Thanks to all here who graciously share their knowledge with the un-informed. I was ready to get a MS250, but I wanted a saw that would out last me, so I went with a profressional grade saw. I even considered a MS361 becuase of this site, but could not justify the $590 + tax. Especially when others here have suggested the 5100 and 361 are almost comparable saws.
Yes, I am now finding myself looking for another saw already. A Makita UC4000 electric for late weeknight cutting, and a Makita 6401 from Home Depot as a project saw. I need those like I need a hole in my head right now. My 5100 cuts so fast that I don't have enough wood to feed it.
If anyone is in/near St. Louis, MO, feel free to drop me a line if you would like to try out a 5100, or just want to GTG for cutting. Can't do too much with the little one and a 3 year old, though.
