I'm going to go pick up an 064 tonight after work for $375. I bought my 036 from the same shop, and have sent co-workers to the guy and they've all been pleased with his work. This will be my "big saw". The biggest I have ran before was some old 041 farm boss's. My current go to saw is the 036. The 064 has a good 24" bar on it, and nearly new chain. I plan on using it as my log splitter, and also getting a longer bar for it to work on a large ash tree that my 18" bar can no longer reach through (I still have about 20 feet of the trunk left to go through), and also to work on a large Oak (about 7 feet across at the ground, and a touch over 4 feet across just over six feet off the ground) in the yard that I plan on having the power company take down next spring. I plan on buying a 32" or 36" bar for it to use for those very rare occations when I need it (mostly collecting dust though).
Here are my questions:
1. How does the cost sound? This saw has been put together from pieces. That's what this guy does. I've been in the shop, and he has a bone yard of parts that he has collected. When he gets enough good parts to put one together, he assembles it, puts in new seals, replaces what ever misc. parts he needs to with OEM, and puts it up for sale. Never had any complaints or returns. I'm in the middle of an addoption, and roofing the house, and needing some vehicle repairs, so money is tight right now, but I don't think I'll be able to come across a decent 064 or 066 again at this price before I have the oak taken down (or it falls down on it's own, which is a real concern).
2. Is there anything specific that I should know about running a saw this size? I wear my PPE religously, and I never make light of the fact that I'm basicly holding a lawn mower with an exposed blade in my hands. I would think that all the same safty, operation, and technique that applies to a 4.5 hp saw is the same for a 6.5 hp saw, but my experience on anything over 4.5hp is zero plus zip.
3. Will the 064 do a reasonable job with a 36" bar and chain? Maybe a better question is what's the biggest bar that it will handle with a 7 pin rim? I don't need it to be able to rip through 72" of black locust like a hot knife through butter. I will only use it on the rare occation that I have to buck something over about 3 or 4 feet in diameter. Anything smaller will get the 24" bar or the 036 with the 18" bar. I've read posts from several people that say that it does a really good job with a 32" bar, but if I'm going to spend money on something big that will rarely be used, I might as well go as big as possible and only spend the money once.
4. On a 24" bar for this saw, what would be my best chain option for noodleing? I generally run RSC chain on everything. I cut my firewood 24" long. I may see if he's got a 20" bar instead. I can pop the last 2"~4" inches pretty easy with an axe or mall. I just need it small enough that I can lift it into the truck. I lifted some 20" rounds of dry black locust into the truck last night with the tail gate down, but that was really too much. I just wanted something to stick the bar in before I pay for the saw. What about a ripping chain that they use on the mills? With this set up, I am looking for something that will noodle through ash, oak, hickory, and locust as fast as possible. I've seen a few members post that with a big saw (this is a big saw to me), they can actually "split" wood faster than they can with a traditional log splitter. That's what I'm looking for here. To me, $400 is cheap for a hightly portable and versitale log splitter. I've been using my 036 for this, but it certainly is certainly not as fast as a normal splitter. Takes me about 4 hours to split a truck load of big wood down far enough to fit it into the stove (10 x 10 door), and that's splitting the smaller pieces/chunks off with a maul or axe.
5. Is there anything else that I need to know, or should check before I make the purchase?
Thanks,
Mark
Here are my questions:
1. How does the cost sound? This saw has been put together from pieces. That's what this guy does. I've been in the shop, and he has a bone yard of parts that he has collected. When he gets enough good parts to put one together, he assembles it, puts in new seals, replaces what ever misc. parts he needs to with OEM, and puts it up for sale. Never had any complaints or returns. I'm in the middle of an addoption, and roofing the house, and needing some vehicle repairs, so money is tight right now, but I don't think I'll be able to come across a decent 064 or 066 again at this price before I have the oak taken down (or it falls down on it's own, which is a real concern).
2. Is there anything specific that I should know about running a saw this size? I wear my PPE religously, and I never make light of the fact that I'm basicly holding a lawn mower with an exposed blade in my hands. I would think that all the same safty, operation, and technique that applies to a 4.5 hp saw is the same for a 6.5 hp saw, but my experience on anything over 4.5hp is zero plus zip.
3. Will the 064 do a reasonable job with a 36" bar and chain? Maybe a better question is what's the biggest bar that it will handle with a 7 pin rim? I don't need it to be able to rip through 72" of black locust like a hot knife through butter. I will only use it on the rare occation that I have to buck something over about 3 or 4 feet in diameter. Anything smaller will get the 24" bar or the 036 with the 18" bar. I've read posts from several people that say that it does a really good job with a 32" bar, but if I'm going to spend money on something big that will rarely be used, I might as well go as big as possible and only spend the money once.
4. On a 24" bar for this saw, what would be my best chain option for noodleing? I generally run RSC chain on everything. I cut my firewood 24" long. I may see if he's got a 20" bar instead. I can pop the last 2"~4" inches pretty easy with an axe or mall. I just need it small enough that I can lift it into the truck. I lifted some 20" rounds of dry black locust into the truck last night with the tail gate down, but that was really too much. I just wanted something to stick the bar in before I pay for the saw. What about a ripping chain that they use on the mills? With this set up, I am looking for something that will noodle through ash, oak, hickory, and locust as fast as possible. I've seen a few members post that with a big saw (this is a big saw to me), they can actually "split" wood faster than they can with a traditional log splitter. That's what I'm looking for here. To me, $400 is cheap for a hightly portable and versitale log splitter. I've been using my 036 for this, but it certainly is certainly not as fast as a normal splitter. Takes me about 4 hours to split a truck load of big wood down far enough to fit it into the stove (10 x 10 door), and that's splitting the smaller pieces/chunks off with a maul or axe.
5. Is there anything else that I need to know, or should check before I make the purchase?
Thanks,
Mark
