Same here! Trimmers, snow throwers, lawn mowers, they will all numb my hands and forearms after a few hours use. Saws I can use all day long and not feel any affects.
Dok
What is the big concern with Stihl vibration levels?
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Same here! Trimmers, snow throwers, lawn mowers, they will all numb my hands and forearms after a few hours use. Saws I can use all day long and not feel any affects.
Dok
Never had a problem with it. You want vibration, ride a v-twin motorcycle with no balanced engine and no shock absorbing mounts on the engine. Yeah after several miles on one of those the stihls feel good.
spacemule
The Peanut Gallery
You don't have to be a nancy boy to appreciate superior engineering--just intelligent. 
rngrchad
Addicted to ArboristSite
You don't have to be a nancy boy to appreciate superior engineering--just intelligent.
I fit the description of Nancy boy, according to the original post. I'll take that description and run with it, just so long as I can feel my Nancy boy hands
I've been running the modern saws for 20 years and my hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders are still pretty decent. By the time my dad was my age, his hands and arms were like Oak trunks from running the huge Macs, Homies, and Pioneers. His falling saw for 13 years was a 125 with a 60" roller nose and his bucking saw was a 125 or a big Pioneer with a 42" roller nose. I saw him many times when I was kid knock a man flat out with one shot of those catcher's mitt-sized fists.
Before he died a few years ago he said he wouldn't have traded what he did for anything, but he sure wished he had the modern saws back in those days. My grandpa says that it was easier on your hands running a whipsaw and an axe than the earliest motor-powered saws.
Before he died a few years ago he said he wouldn't have traded what he did for anything, but he sure wished he had the modern saws back in those days. My grandpa says that it was easier on your hands running a whipsaw and an axe than the earliest motor-powered saws.
Well I doubt if I've cut down 2 million trees, but 1 million, yeah maybe, that's a long time clearing native bush and thinning to waste pine forests. For vibes, to me 036's and 044's buzz more than 372's, a 2165 is smoother still, depends on what springs are on too. The older 262's 266's 268's and 281's I've used I'm sure buzzed more than modern 372's, numb fingers pretty common then. Chains make a difference, sharpening thousands of chains won't mean you still can't sharpen slightly uneven, just enough to not cut dead smooth.
On thinning pine forests, for 50 foot trees up to about 16" diameter, and in rough terrain, the 18" 036 is my favourite, it's light, nimble, fast, powerful, easy on gas, smooth enough, and you travel light. Others have told me 357's are similar. On this job some lug 460's, 385's, 064's and their like, with all their associated extra weight, but over a day I'll drop 500-600 average size trees(14"-15") with an 18" 036, but no more using either an 044, 460, 372 or 365. With consistently over 18" diameter trees, the bigger saws are less effort cutting, but you're down to 200 -300 trees a day when they're getting that fat and the damn things are getting up to 80+ feet. No sweat to clear fell that size, but thinning you're havin' to drop thru skinny gaps. pita
A 16".325 026 can be Ok for thinning too, but only effortless if the trees are small, say 30 foot and 8" - 10" diameter. An 026 buzzes your hands, but not bad enough to complain about coz it's so easy to handle. An 044 is definitely gruntier than an 036, noticeable doing a scarf on an 18"-20" tree, but a straight back-cut or front-cut is little different between them. Dropping trees on a sparse enough hill, you can get away with no scarf, just a quick front cut. An 036 is heaps easier to wield than an 044, even more so if there's a 25" bar on the 044, which is usual with newbies who've come to the job from logging crews and skid-sites. Usually over gunned with 660's and 395's, after a few days thinning, off come their long clumsy bars for something more manoeuvrable and better balanced.
First thing I notice now when trying a saw is the vibration level, smooth is always best. Haven't used a 361, but if they're half as reliable as an 036, with less vibes, then it could be possible that the 361 may just have a chance of being a fairly reasonably handy chainsaw in the bush
On thinning pine forests, for 50 foot trees up to about 16" diameter, and in rough terrain, the 18" 036 is my favourite, it's light, nimble, fast, powerful, easy on gas, smooth enough, and you travel light. Others have told me 357's are similar. On this job some lug 460's, 385's, 064's and their like, with all their associated extra weight, but over a day I'll drop 500-600 average size trees(14"-15") with an 18" 036, but no more using either an 044, 460, 372 or 365. With consistently over 18" diameter trees, the bigger saws are less effort cutting, but you're down to 200 -300 trees a day when they're getting that fat and the damn things are getting up to 80+ feet. No sweat to clear fell that size, but thinning you're havin' to drop thru skinny gaps. pita
A 16".325 026 can be Ok for thinning too, but only effortless if the trees are small, say 30 foot and 8" - 10" diameter. An 026 buzzes your hands, but not bad enough to complain about coz it's so easy to handle. An 044 is definitely gruntier than an 036, noticeable doing a scarf on an 18"-20" tree, but a straight back-cut or front-cut is little different between them. Dropping trees on a sparse enough hill, you can get away with no scarf, just a quick front cut. An 036 is heaps easier to wield than an 044, even more so if there's a 25" bar on the 044, which is usual with newbies who've come to the job from logging crews and skid-sites. Usually over gunned with 660's and 395's, after a few days thinning, off come their long clumsy bars for something more manoeuvrable and better balanced.
First thing I notice now when trying a saw is the vibration level, smooth is always best. Haven't used a 361, but if they're half as reliable as an 036, with less vibes, then it could be possible that the 361 may just have a chance of being a fairly reasonably handy chainsaw in the bush
Try running an 041 non AV or a Mac 700 or a Poulan Wild Thing for an 7 or 8 hour day
and I bet anyone would know where he was coming from I don't care what age they are. I never did like running an 041 non av long even back in my 20's. Testing a Mac 700 a while back after about 3 cuts I dreaded cutting a tankful through it although I did through much discomfort. Same with the other 2 mentioned. As far as Stihl AV I find that I can run most any of them many hours a day comfortably, even an 041AV at 50 + years old not to mention my semi healed battered up bones , sockets and joints. To me an 346 or 372 xp feel a bit smoother but not enough to choose either over the same era stihl AV. I wouldn't be surprised if an ms 361 was smoother then the huskies but I never run them side by side.
I am sure some people are more sensitive to vibration then others. So mabe they speak accordingly at times or it is human nature to exagerate. Some do more, some less then others and people have a hard time not believing what they say. So the story is told and so on.
windthrown
361 Junkie
When I was 22 I could run a Mac 380 all day and feel fine. Now? No way. Even my 044 leaves my arms tingling for a few hours. The FS85 string trimmer is really vibration prone. I have a 3 gas tank limit on using that thing. Age and exposure seem to be the two main factors to sensitivity to power tools. Over time you get worn down and beaten up. If I were young, I would buy the best AV tools out there and use them. You may not feel it now, but it may well catch up to you in time. I use my 361s the most becasue they are the easiest to use and a good all-around saw, and they do not wear me out after using all day long. So if I was an old sod, which I am, I would buy the best AV tools too. 
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spankrz
ArboristSite Operative
a lot of people don't take their chain into consideration. saws will vibrate like crazy if the chain if filed wrong, or if the rakers are to low, ect. i don't really notice vibration on newer saws, and i "unnotice" it on my 441 (it is so smooth in the middle of a cut i mentally pause and think, wow.this things smooooooooooooth) i have a early 70's partner p100, and running it every once in a while makes me appreciate the vibe technology on newer saws. that things fast though.
my boss was around with all the old saws and his wrists are like the diameter of 24 oz beer cans
Tzed250
Addicted to ArboristSite
I think individual sensitivity has a great deal to do with how you judge saws.
My Stihls have never bothered me...
My Stihls have never bothered me...
Wild Knight
ArboristSite Guru
My godfather has been working with his hands and running old Stihls his whole life. He now wears an XXL glove and a size 20 wedding ring. His hands are swollen from nerve inflammation and a little thing called arthritis. It will never go away. He loves his 361 b/c he says he can run it and still move his fingers. He wishes he had one twenty years ago. He is no nancy, I can assure you.
I'd like to believe we are intelligent enough to not have to repeat the lessons learned by our fathers. You can learn real-life lessons vicariously.
I guess some guys rely on their Neanderthal instincts and go about life using only their brawn while bragging about their physical prowess to others. They compensate for their lack of intelligence by criticizing those who use their brains first and brawn second with indignant playground terms like Nancy. Whatever makes you feel all big and strong in your little sandbox.
The rest of us will rely on our intelligence and enjoy our dexterity when we are old, rather than facilitating their attrition and reminiscing about how strong they used to be.
I think that vib. problems are mostly accumulatory ( is that a word?) A guy could just do like other things and not worry about it until you need glasses.
2000ssm6
Stihl User
I beleive vibes on the newer saws are blown out of proportion. Many who are complaining have already screwed their hands/wrist up before so running any saw is going to hurt. Brand bias is also playing a big role......
I got a springy 272xp that is no better than my 460 but neither have these "crazy" vibe levels.
I got a springy 272xp that is no better than my 460 but neither have these "crazy" vibe levels.
Octane
ArboristSite Operative
I personally dont see how Stihls vibrate all that much either. Although you could make the arguement that vibration is an issue on Stihls, because they felt the need a while back to come out with the special, "AVS" models that were designed to dampen vibration.
While you could say that people who whine about vibration are just a bunch of skirt-wearing nancies who need to man up, over time that vibration can cause problems with your hands and can result in a conditon known as Raynaud's Syndrom, in which the blood vessels are restricted, causing a lack of blood flow to the hands/fingers. Over a long period of time, it can cause problems for your hands.
Like someone else said, yeah, those oldtime loggers were real men because they used saws that vibrated way more than saws do today, but by the time they were 30 or 40 years old their bodies were so beat up that they couldnt do anything without being in serious pain.
I dont have problems with vibration on any of my saws, but the 021 is so small that vibration isnt an issue and the Echo has padded grips and it has a good rubber mount setup for the engine and the grips, so it doesnt seem to vibrate at all.
Ive got a Honda trimmer that will has hard plastic grips and after about 20 minutes of using that thing I can feel my hands start to tingle and I know that I need to stop and take a little break. Ive tried wearing thick gloves 9Mechanixwear gloves) and it helps a little, but not much.
Im looking to sell the Honda when spring gets here (its kinda heavy and it wears you out much more than a 2-stroke trimmer does), so it hopefully it wont be an issue anymore, but if no one step up wanting to buy it, Im probably going to try wrapping the grips with some foam tape and see if that helps.
While you could say that people who whine about vibration are just a bunch of skirt-wearing nancies who need to man up, over time that vibration can cause problems with your hands and can result in a conditon known as Raynaud's Syndrom, in which the blood vessels are restricted, causing a lack of blood flow to the hands/fingers. Over a long period of time, it can cause problems for your hands.
Like someone else said, yeah, those oldtime loggers were real men because they used saws that vibrated way more than saws do today, but by the time they were 30 or 40 years old their bodies were so beat up that they couldnt do anything without being in serious pain.
I dont have problems with vibration on any of my saws, but the 021 is so small that vibration isnt an issue and the Echo has padded grips and it has a good rubber mount setup for the engine and the grips, so it doesnt seem to vibrate at all.
Ive got a Honda trimmer that will has hard plastic grips and after about 20 minutes of using that thing I can feel my hands start to tingle and I know that I need to stop and take a little break. Ive tried wearing thick gloves 9Mechanixwear gloves) and it helps a little, but not much.
Im looking to sell the Honda when spring gets here (its kinda heavy and it wears you out much more than a 2-stroke trimmer does), so it hopefully it wont be an issue anymore, but if no one step up wanting to buy it, Im probably going to try wrapping the grips with some foam tape and see if that helps.
HUH! Your jokin right
