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Old grizzly 708

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
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Location
North idaho
I have a Poulan "pro" PP5020AV and it's been a great saw for me.
When I lived in Michigan I was cutting large hardwood but now in idaho and cutting smaller pines.
Question is, what do I need to do to drop down to a 16" b/c ?

Thanks!
Bill
 
Try to get non safety chain at a husky dealer it cuts much better and seems to last longer and is easier to sharpen i switched my brothers saw to this and he is very happy with it.
 
Try to get non safety chain at a husky dealer it cuts much better and seems to last longer and is easier to sharpen i switched my brothers saw to this and he is very happy with it.

Or you can order it and save big $. Loggerchain.com, Left Coast Supplies, or Baileys.
 
Note that nobody who actually lives in or near Idaho has answered. Got a saw shop nearby? One that has dented pickups reeking of saw gas and maybe diesel? Guys coming inside in the afternoon reeking of sawgas, sweat, and tree sap? That is the place to go ask questions.

Yes, there are such places in Idaho. Follow a logger to them.
 
Note that nobody who actually lives in or near Idaho has answered. Got a saw shop nearby? One that has dented pickups reeking of saw gas and maybe diesel? Guys coming inside in the afternoon reeking of sawgas, sweat, and tree sap? That is the place to go ask questions.

Yes, there are such places in Idaho. Follow a logger to them.
Why would someone NEED to go to a local dealer to ask questions (especially on a saw that was originally sold in a box store)? Certainly there are folks on here who can cover this stuff. And if he can do the job himself he can save big money ordering the parts online.
 
Note that nobody who actually lives in or near Idaho has answered. Got a saw shop nearby? One that has dented pickups reeking of saw gas and maybe diesel? Guys coming inside in the afternoon reeking of sawgas, sweat, and tree sap? That is the place to go ask questions.

Yes, there are such places in Idaho. Follow a logger to them.
Lol, good idea. There are only 2 saw shops in the area that I know of. One is a Yamaha dealer that sells Stihl and husky, parts guy seemed clueless. The other is a rigging shop that I have not been to yet.
 
Why would someone NEED to go to a local dealer to ask questions (especially on a saw that was originally sold in a box store)? Certainly there are folks on here who can cover this stuff. And if he can do the job himself he can save big money ordering the parts online.
I can do the work myself no problem, just never have changed b/c size before and don't want to screw my saw up.
 
Sounds like you have all the info. Just need to figure where to buy from and how much you need. You could probably get away with an Oregon Pro-Lite bar or other lighter bar to save on some weight. There are others like Husqvarna Tech lite, lighter, stronger, but may cost more.

There is also the chance you could find a set up at a big box store like Lowes on the shelf since they deal in Husky. If they have a Bar and Chain combo they probably also have extra chains.

But regardless of where you buy, just make sure the gauge of the bar and chain are the same too. Probably .050 is most common, but I don't know in idaho
 
Lol, good idea. There are only 2 saw shops in the area that I know of. One is a Yamaha dealer that sells Stihl and husky, parts guy seemed clueless. The other is a rigging shop that I have not been to yet.

Go to the rigging place if you mean logging rigging. Most loggers in my area, which isn't Idaho either, run 32" bars on their saws. That isn't just to fit the tree. Longer is good for working on steep ground. That way, you don't have to move around the tree. The shorter time spent at the stump, the safer things are.
 
Why would someone NEED to go to a local dealer to ask questions (especially on a saw that was originally sold in a box store)? Certainly there are folks on here who can cover this stuff. And if he can do the job himself he can save big money ordering the parts online.[/QUOTE

LOCAL conditions vary and he's asking about a local area. Idaho is not flat. Wel maybe the south, potatoey part is flat.

Let me clarify. I am in no way a saw person. I bought what the locals recommended and when the nearby dealer ran specials. I live in the midst of timber country and worked amongst the loggers as a contract inspector type. I am an expert tree painter. My neighbor, who is now semi-retired and in the local speak "is a hell of a faller" said this when seeing a guy using a 440 for falling second growth conifers with an average diameter in the 16" range. He said that a 440 is OK as long as all is going well, but it would get you killed if you suddenly needed a burst of power--which happens. So he and his son used at least a 460 in the woods.

I cannot imagine falling with a small saw, but that's my problem. I'm definitely not a faller, just a firewood hack. One thing that surprised some "coasties" was how hard the Rocky Mtn. subspecies of Doug-fir is. Trees grow slower to the east of us and have denser wood so it is not as soft as the coastal DF. We've had Idahoians come out here and cut timber and they ran the same set up as the locals.

So, check locally. Maybe you are going to drop trees on pasture like ground. Maybe it will all be fine, I don't know.
 
I can see that in your self administered absence from this site you apparently also forgot how to properly quote a post.

The OP had enough experience to be able to determine that a shorter bar would better fit his new cutting needs and simply needed to know what parts were necessary to accommodate that. Send him to a dealer and he will probably walk out of there with a bar and chain worth more than his saw or most likely he will get the hard sell to upgrade. Doesn't matter if he is in Idaho, Iowa, or Indiana. If he is cutting smaller evergreens he likely doesn't need more saw than he has.
 
Geesh, just thinking out of the box. And trying to encourage him/her to think LOCALLY. I saw "drop trees" which makes me think of "falling trees big enough to hurt or kill you".

By the way, the precommercial thinners in these parts (probably Idaho too) run longer bars, on bigger saws, so they don't have to bend over so much. I'll just call that a bit of trivia so no feelings get hurt.

More trivia, we used to cut (yes I did that then) saplings using boat anchor Macs with bow bars. Then the bow bars were declared to be unsafe. You might find one of those handy--they worked well for precommercial thinning.

Precommercial thinning: Thinning out trees that are not yet big enough to turn into a board, or chip, or ...You pick the best tree and cut the others that surround it to get a desired basal area, or spacing.
 
I have a Poulan "pro" PP5020AV and it's been a great saw for me.
When I lived in Michigan I was cutting large hardwood but now in idaho and cutting smaller pines.
Question is, what do I need to do to drop down to a 16" b/c ?

Thanks!
Bill
As SVK says in answer to your post, but it might be worthwhile when you have the cover off to check your sprocket & if suffering wear replace at the time with the bar & chain, as if there are big groves in the teeth it will shorten your new chain life considerably & could also make it difficult to get correct & or constant chain adjustment, if you have to remove the sprocket/clutch give the clutch bearing a birthday grease. Please ignore if you are up on all this. :yes:
 
Thanks everyone for the info. I found a $10 original b/c at a local shop and went that route.
But, I have always been a motor nut but my disability keeps me out from under my race car hood and the doc says no more racing either. So what's a guy gonna do? He is buying a few old chainsaws off craigslist and see what kind of hell I can raise with them!
I'm sure I will be around asking more questions as I go, Thanks again for all the help so far!
BILL
 
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