Hey gang!
I've decided too go buy me a new saw this morning....after reading here and trying too make up my mind.....its looking like a 5100 dolmar...or a 361 stihl!
The dolmar dealer is 30 miles down the road.....I have 3 stihl dealers that are full service within 5 miles of the house...so the stihl is winning right now. I have a bandmill and we do some light logging, but mostly, I cut a lot of firewood in the 20" and down range. I'm 44 years old and my back is starting too let me know that the big saws is not the direction I want too go!!!. QUOTE]
Are you sure bending over cutting isn't the culprit? I tried running a Husky 55 with an 18 inch bar several years ago and it seemed like my back would always hurt after using the thing for a short while when cutting firewood on the ground. Had a 066 mag at the same time and it didn't seem to bother the back. Working with elevated wood the short bar feels ok to me , however most of the time I still like the reach of the 20 in that situation.
20 inch seems to be my minimum to keep the back comfortable working with wood on the ground. ( For me ) 24 or 25 seems better, and inbetween best, however I haven't seen that size in a stihl bar availuble.