jackrabbit
ArboristSite Member
Hello Everyone! I have been lurking for a while now and have really enjoyed reading and learning about all there is to know about chainsaws. I thought I would share my story and come out of the shadows. If it's too long and boring, I would recommend not reading it. lol My love of chainsaws started when I was quite young. Dad had a junky Homelite homeowner saw that would never seem to start when you needed it. When we got a wood stove, he decided we needed a better saw. A local hardware store was a dealer for McCullough and one day Dad came home with a 610 with a 16 inch bar. Boy did it seem like a Cadillac! It was the saw we had on our farm the whole time I grew up till I was a senior in high school. I thought it was a great saw and have many good memories with it. I can still smell and hear it in my memory. It always fired right up, sounded cool, and cut who knows how many hundreds of cords of wood over the 20 or 30 years it was around. Dad took it to town and traded it on a new Stihl a while back. I have to admit to being a little sad upon hearing the news.
Back in those days, no one in our circle of friends had ever seen a Stihl or Husqvarna saw. There were no dealers in our area. then, somehow, a friend of my Dad's got a Stihl dealership out of his home and started selling saws and trimmers to friends. Dad came home with an 029 one day with a 20" bar and it was a gift to me. Wow! Was that ever cool! The 20" bar seemed huge over the old 16" one and it had lots of power! Later I started a business building fences and cutting and selling firewood. I used the snot out of that saw for several years and it was very good to me. In the meantime, the Stihl dealership had evolved into a bigger deal with a real store and repair facility. We had been felling and bucking some bigger logs and the ol' 029 was struggling. I had a couple of other Stihl saws that had been given to me as well. One had been straight gassed and the other ran over by a tractor. I wanted to trade them all for an 036 or 044 but those were popular saws and he didn't really want to trade. He would, however, make me a good deal on a brand new MS 660 with a 28" bar. It was so big, no one in our rather treeless area was interested in it. Looking at the specs, it only weighed a few more pounds as the 029, but it had a lot more power! Back in those days, I was strong and in great shape so a few pounds was no big deal. Anyway, I still have that saw today and it is still awesome.
We have been cutting quite a bit of firewood lately. Mostly dead Chinese Elms from shelterbelts that were planted in the 1950's and 60's. It is kind of tough cutting as it is surprisingly hard and the bark has a lot of dirt in it. Chains don't stay sharp real long. We are selling a bit of it for firewood here and there. Occasionally I get up to the mountains a hundred or so miles away and cut a pickup load of pine. My family and I always enjoy those days. I had a friend a while back that liked Husky saws and I thought I would try one sometime. Recently a acquired the 359 that was ported by Driller and for sale on this site. I also bought a 572XP that was for sale on this site and I think it is nothing short of awesome. I am totally amazed by both of them and few I may be becoming a Husqvarna man.....lol. Both sellers were super to work with and I really appreciated the good deals they gave me on such quality saws.
The other cool thing I acquired several years ago was an O90 Stihl. I took it on trade for payment on a job I did and knew nothing about it. I have a friend who is chainsaw genius and follows this site and he got it all tuned up and running well. It doesn't appear to have been used commercially as it is in great shape. I put a new 36" bar on it with full comp chisels. It is pretty impressive. I read on-line about guys saying they are overrated and outdated and todays smaller saws will blow them away. I am here to tell you that's not true. It is definitely a slower rpm saw, but It kind of reminds me of my Peterbilt. When you buy that bar in a big, hard elm, you know you've got a hold of something! Kind of like starting up a big grade with a big load on my Peterbuilt. Those little hotroads would never pull a load like it does. As big as the 090 is, it is still kind of fun to run and watch it have it's way with that hard wood. I don't have a lot of purpose for it and am not into collecting saws so I was thinking of trying to sell it. Maybe I will see if I can get permission to list it in the trading post here. If someone is interested, pm me and I'll send them some pics.
I hope my post was found interesting and maybe some of you guys can relate. I just wanted to say hello and thank you for all of the great information!
Cody Smith
Back in those days, no one in our circle of friends had ever seen a Stihl or Husqvarna saw. There were no dealers in our area. then, somehow, a friend of my Dad's got a Stihl dealership out of his home and started selling saws and trimmers to friends. Dad came home with an 029 one day with a 20" bar and it was a gift to me. Wow! Was that ever cool! The 20" bar seemed huge over the old 16" one and it had lots of power! Later I started a business building fences and cutting and selling firewood. I used the snot out of that saw for several years and it was very good to me. In the meantime, the Stihl dealership had evolved into a bigger deal with a real store and repair facility. We had been felling and bucking some bigger logs and the ol' 029 was struggling. I had a couple of other Stihl saws that had been given to me as well. One had been straight gassed and the other ran over by a tractor. I wanted to trade them all for an 036 or 044 but those were popular saws and he didn't really want to trade. He would, however, make me a good deal on a brand new MS 660 with a 28" bar. It was so big, no one in our rather treeless area was interested in it. Looking at the specs, it only weighed a few more pounds as the 029, but it had a lot more power! Back in those days, I was strong and in great shape so a few pounds was no big deal. Anyway, I still have that saw today and it is still awesome.
We have been cutting quite a bit of firewood lately. Mostly dead Chinese Elms from shelterbelts that were planted in the 1950's and 60's. It is kind of tough cutting as it is surprisingly hard and the bark has a lot of dirt in it. Chains don't stay sharp real long. We are selling a bit of it for firewood here and there. Occasionally I get up to the mountains a hundred or so miles away and cut a pickup load of pine. My family and I always enjoy those days. I had a friend a while back that liked Husky saws and I thought I would try one sometime. Recently a acquired the 359 that was ported by Driller and for sale on this site. I also bought a 572XP that was for sale on this site and I think it is nothing short of awesome. I am totally amazed by both of them and few I may be becoming a Husqvarna man.....lol. Both sellers were super to work with and I really appreciated the good deals they gave me on such quality saws.
The other cool thing I acquired several years ago was an O90 Stihl. I took it on trade for payment on a job I did and knew nothing about it. I have a friend who is chainsaw genius and follows this site and he got it all tuned up and running well. It doesn't appear to have been used commercially as it is in great shape. I put a new 36" bar on it with full comp chisels. It is pretty impressive. I read on-line about guys saying they are overrated and outdated and todays smaller saws will blow them away. I am here to tell you that's not true. It is definitely a slower rpm saw, but It kind of reminds me of my Peterbilt. When you buy that bar in a big, hard elm, you know you've got a hold of something! Kind of like starting up a big grade with a big load on my Peterbuilt. Those little hotroads would never pull a load like it does. As big as the 090 is, it is still kind of fun to run and watch it have it's way with that hard wood. I don't have a lot of purpose for it and am not into collecting saws so I was thinking of trying to sell it. Maybe I will see if I can get permission to list it in the trading post here. If someone is interested, pm me and I'll send them some pics.
I hope my post was found interesting and maybe some of you guys can relate. I just wanted to say hello and thank you for all of the great information!
Cody Smith
