Chain for Australian hardwood

[Mike Gudgeon]

There is no secret in cutting our hardwoods it's easy to cut it's all to do with the chain keep it sharp and sharpened correctly for our timber! how they sharpen for softwoods overseas doe's not apply!
If ya just farting about even a ms211 will cut a boot load of firewood in short order with a sharp chain lol



Personally for me if ya have a **** tonne to cut that's when 90cc plus and .404 shines. Yes 3/8 also works fine but it just means you will be doing double the sharpening than with .404
This is an Aussie ms660 .404 RS and hard-nosed bar seems to cut Aussie hardwood fine to me and it's not even a slow revving gear drive go figure...

That's a hell of a retirement pasttime your Dad has! Good on him! I read once that the word 'luck' actually meant hard work a long time ago.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

I remember when I was a kid dad was cutting for one of the big mills up north, the forestry would come out bush gathering seed with a shotgun to shoot down branchs full of seed and being very selective and only getting seed from the big healthy old growth hardwoods.
This seed being the next generations of mill logs, I don't think whoever got the seeds for California was this selective lol

That is how they used to collect Kauri seed here- via the 12 gauge method.
Think they use a guy on a sling under a helicopter now.

 

[rogue60]

lol Maybe they forgot the shotgun shells and had to buy seeds from Jo Blo down the pub.

A bit like the dude who sold Apple seeds all over America way back when.
Ya couldn't eat them bitter as so they made plonk out of the apples apparently drunk town folks was becoming a big problem made em all get rid of the apple trees lol

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

That's a hell of a retirement pasttime your Dad has! Good on him! I read once that the word 'luck' actually meant hard work a long time ago.

Agreed- that there is the generation that made Australia great.
And ifin he is needing an 066, I have three for sale.

 

[joe.snow]

If anyone owns a Shindaiwa 488, should i have the oiler turned all the way up for cutting hardwood? I have it on the second highest, wondering if it should be higher..

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

If anyone owns a Shindaiwa 488, should i have the oiler turned all the way up for cutting hardwood?

I dont- but I would.

 

[Mike Gudgeon]

Agreed- that there is the generation that made Australia great.
And ifin he is needing an 066, I have three for sale.

Ha ha ha Never miss an opportunity, eh! He did say they like 'em.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Ha ha ha Never miss an opportunity, eh! He did say they like 'em.

Thinking the shipping would kill the deal- but I am looking to drop at least a couple of 066's off the working saw stable held here.

 

[J D]

Not often you see an old Commodore worth taking home... Not sure what you'd do with it once you emptied out the boot though

 

[rogue60]

If anyone owns a Shindaiwa 488, should i have the oiler turned all the way up for cutting hardwood? I have it on the second highest, wondering if it should be higher..

Personally I have all my oilers on max flow no matter the cc or bar length more oil the better especially cutting any dry timber helps keep heat down.
Also dress ya bar minimum every new chain only takes a couple minutes to dress a bar.
As for rims and sprockets meh I get my money's worth out of them and only charge them out when chain tensioning gets erratic.

 

[rogue60]

Not often you see an old Commodore worth taking home... Not sure what you'd do with it once you emptied out the boot though

Nothing wrong with the good old commodores VK's had the last of the mighty 202 black motor that one was just a paddock basher had her valve bouncing a few times never missed a beat lol

 

[rogue60]

Thinking the shipping would kill the deal- but I am looking to drop at least a couple of 066's off the working saw stable held here.

NIB? We got plenty of clapped worn out old 066/660 with thousands of hrs on em lol
Had bout 10 runners at one stage down to bout 3 that still run but are past it as a main saw but still get the job done if ya just cut a ute load here and there.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

NIB? We got plenty of clapped worn out old 066/660 with thousands of hrs on em lol
Had bout 10 runners at one stage down to bout 3 that still run but are past it as a main saw but still get the job done if ya just cut a ute load here and there.View attachment 931842View attachment 931843

Not NIB, one is as near as new out of box as I can get it, another is new out of box except crank and another is just a good used one.
Besides, couple of thousand hours use in the North Islands exotic forests over here probably only equates to about 300 hours run time with what you cut.

 

[rogue60]

Not NIB, one is as near as new out of box as I can get it, another is new out of box except crank and another is just a good used one.
Besides, couple of thousand hours use in the North Islands exotic forests over here probably only equates to about 300 hours run time with what you cut.

Was talking to dad the other the day he's due for a new saw its for his firewood cutting. He asked what's Stihl got that's reliable now I'm like stuffed I know.
He thinks the 661's are made in China some bloke told him up the road he recons yeah I've tried telling him no they are still made in Germany with no luck lol
Said maybe a 500i internet's said they are good but IDK how they would go pulling .404 25inch bar in Ironbark and he doesn't exactly polish and pamper his saws or mix exactly right every time or use clean fresh fuel all the time.
If ya was in Australia I'd go for a drive and have a look at ya 066 around here all the 066 and 660 are clapped and used up.

 

[Dennisthemenace]

My dad in his early 70's retired hardwood cutter/logger does firewood now so he doesn't get bored.
For firewood he cuts Ironbark/Box and some Spotted Gum. His saws are ms661 running .404 20 and 25 inch bars.
He'd rather run 066/660 but sadly you can't buy one of the most reliable saws ever made anymore.

Here's some of the nasty hardwood over 50 years dead standing ring barked hardwood he cuts and splits for firewood.
For his age he puts some of the armchair internet cutters to shame.
View attachment 931796View attachment 931797View attachment 931798View attachment 931799View attachment 931800

Blokes from the wartime generations of your dad and his dad made our nation great. Respect.
Hope I can still fire up the 84 and 66s in 10 years when I'm his age.

 

[rogue60]

Blokes from the wartime generations of your dad and his dad made our nation great. Respect.
Hope I can still fire up the 84 and 66s in 10 years when I'm his age.

He is a tough old bugger that's for sure I won't go into detail of what he thinks of the way society has gone lol
He told me a story about when he first started out as a cutter for the mills. They all run 090's there was one old cutter that didn't wear boots! He said he's feet were like tough dry old leather they don't make em like that anymore lol
He's only been cut by a saw once he said it was pissing down rain falling with an 090 and his hand slipped off the handlebar and he put his finger into the spinning chain.
Another time a limb came down and hit him in the elbow. He could still run and fall with he's 090 but couldn't start it so the mill sent a bloke bush to follow him around and start his saw for a couple weeks.

 

[Dennisthemenace]

He is a tough old bugger that's for sure I won't go into detail of what he thinks of the way society has gone lol
He told me a story about when he first started out as a cutter for the mills. They all run 090's there was one old cutter that didn't wear boots! He said he's feet were like tough dry old leather they don't make em like that anymore lol
He's only been cut by a saw once he said it was pissing down rain falling with an 090 and his hand slipped off the handlebar and he put his finger into the spinning chain.
Another time a limb came down and hit him in the elbow. He could still run and fall with he's 090 but couldn't start it so the mill sent a bloke bush to follow him around and start his saw for a couple weeks.

Absolute pearler mate.

 

[Ando81]

He sounds like a legend and I could listen to his stories for hours. This type of bloke reminds us that we shouldn’t whinge when times get tough, he’d just put his head down and bum up and get on with life [emoji1303]

 

[Bwildered]

I've only used semi-chisel(.325). If i'm cutting 95% of the time clean green eucalyptus will the full chisel be a better choice than semi chisel?

The advantages of full chisel are it cuts straighter and doesn't wander, so less wood is removed from the cut, therefore it is quicker, semi chisel in dry HWD will chatter & while its chattering it isn't cutting as efficiently, the only time semi is better is if the logs are dirty or sandy, and then it's only marginally better & cutting longer between sharpens

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Was talking to dad the other the day he's due for a new saw its for his firewood cutting. He asked what's Stihl got that's reliable now I'm like stuffed I know.
He thinks the 661's are made in China some bloke told him up the road he recons yeah I've tried telling him no they are still made in Germany with no luck lol
Said maybe a 500i internet's said they are good but IDK how they would go pulling .404 25inch bar in Ironbark and he doesn't exactly polish and pamper his saws or mix exactly right every time or use clean fresh fuel all the time.
If ya was in Australia I'd go for a drive and have a look at ya 066 around here all the 066 and 660 are clapped and used up.

I doubt he’d be happy with a 25” .404, on 500i but this chap is running a 20” bar in iron bark and doesn’t seem to be causing it any issues - it’s ripping through easily, I guess it would be 3/8 pitch