346XP or MS261?
- Thread starter blsnelling
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sunfish
Fish Head
Brad, good work on that 261!
Guys, they are both good saws.
The 346 is smaller/lighter with a bit less torque.
The 261 is larger/heavier with a bit more torque.
Buy what ya like.
Guys, they are both good saws.
The 346 is smaller/lighter with a bit less torque.
The 261 is larger/heavier with a bit more torque.
Buy what ya like.
deye223
Addicted to ArboristSite
ptjeep
Addicted to ArboristSite
Brad, good work on that 261!
Guys, they are both good saws.
The 346 is smaller/lighter with a bit less torque.
The 261 is larger/heavier with a bit more torque.
Buy what ya like.
Well said.
sunfish
Fish Head
SawTroll
Information Collector
Surely I use mine mostly for firewood, but that includes felling and limbing the trees in the woods.
For just blocking logs in the yard (or wherever), the choise of saw is less critical.
sunfish
Fish Head
I always grab a 346 when I head to the woods. :msp_biggrin:
I am very much against limiting a 346 as a limbing saw. I muffler modded mine new, right out of the box, and broke it in cutting good size frozen hardwood. In the 50cc testing we did a couple years ago, even a OE 346 was stronger than a 5100. These comments aren't to knock other models, but to tell you not to label the 346 as just a limbing saw.
The 261 is the strongest of all in stock form. Once ported, the 261 and 346 are pretty much equal. It just takes a LOT more work to get there with the 261. It's probably the most labor intensive of the saws I mod.
The 261 is the strongest of all in stock form. Once ported, the 261 and 346 are pretty much equal. It just takes a LOT more work to get there with the 261. It's probably the most labor intensive of the saws I mod.
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hardpan
Addicted to ArboristSite
Brad, with all due respect, I bought my 346xp for a limbing saw and it does an outstanding job for me as I climb through the fallen tree top and the inevitable brush it fell in, cutting everything possible for firewood and the remaining limbs small enough to drag and stack in a neat pile. Then I proceed toward the trunk until I need to use my MS362, and here we go again, for me it is not a "tweener" but a logical step up for the larger wood. If I only had one saw it would be the 362. Perhaps a 70cc will be added someday for that big end. To me limbing is the hardest part of the cutting, bucking is much easier. I treasure a good limbing saw that can extend a bit further. We all have different ideas on methods and procedures and that is what makes this site so interesting, we learn different strokes.
I rarely limb a tree up. Most of the time I just cut the top and big limbs off. We pull the trunk and what limbs we want to use for firewood and the rest is pushed into the woods with the tractor. Limbing might be the hardest part but we cheat on it. I usually don't mess with wood under 4". There's too much easy to get wood where I'm at to mess with all that little junk. I would much rather have a 40" log to process.
SawTroll
Information Collector
Your problem, not mine! :big_smile:I always grab MS 250 when I go
Had to say that
hardpan
Addicted to ArboristSite
A classic example of the different circumstances we work under. Occasionally I can do the same but not often. Sometimes I can high grade and cut nothing but the good stuff and sometimes I have to do with any crap I can find. The last few years I've cut mostly storm damage, the good, the bad, and the ugly. If in my woods or as a guest somewhere else I always do as described earlier.
Most of what I've been cutting is blowdown or fencerow stuff. The fence row was almost all cedar so it just went straight to the woods. The one cherry was 30" at shoulder height above the top strand of wire. I don't burn wood myself except a little for smoking and outdoor cooking so I can be picky. I do help a couple friends cut their firewood but if it's on my grandpas place we don't mess with the little stuff when there's probably 50 truck loads of big stuff already blown down.
hardpan
Addicted to ArboristSite
I obviously depend more on a small, strong, light saw than you. It's all good.
I like the points you make. It's a fantastic limbing saw, perhaps the best ever, but it's usefulness doesn't stop there.
hardpan
Addicted to ArboristSite
Perfect. We're on the same page.
Yeah the only reason I was using the small saws was cutting the trees off on top of the fence row at shoulder height and a few a little higher on the lower side of the fence. I know the 066 was too much to be using like that. The big cherry was chin height on the lower side when I put in the undercut.
hardpan
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have a standing, dead white oak in the fence the same size as your cherry. Good thing I don't need it yet. I'm not looking forward to that one as it's already dropping big limbs. Dangerous tree.
