olyeller
ArboristSite Guru
Greetings to all you AS fanatics! This is my first AS posting, and I’m not really a forums kind of guy. However, I’ve been lurking here for a few months and I need to join up to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge so freely. I’d be lost in big-box chainsaw hell without you!
I’m a long-time motorhead working in the motorcycle industry. So I know about two-strokes, engines, oil, spec pages, etc. I’m also an avid shooter/hunter suffering from serious FAD—Firearms Acquisition Disease. Up until my latest chainsaw acquisition a saw has simply been another tool for me. But that all changed when we recently built a small hunting cabin on our Central California ranch; the need for firewood became a larger issue and I finally killed my 20-year-old little Mac Eager Beaver trying to keep up with wood demands. So I began researching new chain saws but I couldn’t find any worthwhile information online until I stumbled across arboristsite.com, and boy, you all have been a fantastic help. I’ve tried to absorb and digest the many valid views posted here and I thought I’d share my thoughts about the saw I finally picked.
The ranch holds quite a few ancient coastal live oaks, which we never fell; the limbs they shed periodically are typically huge, often getting up to 24 inches across or larger, and they supply plenty of wood that’s very hard. So I wanted a bigger saw with good horsepower and a 20-inch bar. We only cut for a few hours on weekends, so weight and vibration aren’t huge factors compared to you pros who cut all day, every week. Big-box stores were out, but most of the chainsaw dealers in Southern California seem to cater to mow-and-blow landscapers; I visited two dealers who wouldn’t give me the time of day! So since the advice I got from this forum focused largely on Stihl and Husqvarna, I found a nursery that carried a good stock of those two brands. After handling the saws and checking prices, Stihl seemed to have the better offerings for price versus engine size, and after studying the Stihl catalog I decided on a MS390 because it produces the most power for the money. Yes, the MS360 felt better in my hands, but it’s not that much lighter and the $130 savings makes up the difference between a Simmons and a Leupold scope for one of my rifles—these chainsaw/gun dollars all come out of my “stashed” dollars!
My first session with the 390 and 20-inch bar was fantastic! I can’t believe how well it ran through my first cut—I just started laughing out loud! Some Stihl MS390 critics almost had me believing that the bar would simply bounce off the tiniest branch around, but it ripped right through one 18-inch section of oak without breaking a sweat. Yeah, the 390 is a touch heavy for this old dude to use all day, but my son-in-law and his brother were practically foaming at the mouth to have their turn at the saw by the time I was feeling a little tired—and they just laughed at the idea of this saw being too heavy. Bottom line: it took us longer to stack the wood and fill up the pickup truck than it took us to cut it. So what more do you need?
Well, actually, maybe a MS180 might be handy for limbing and chopping up the small kindling wood… another victim falls prey to CAD!!! I’m now officially hooked, thanks to you all!
I’m a long-time motorhead working in the motorcycle industry. So I know about two-strokes, engines, oil, spec pages, etc. I’m also an avid shooter/hunter suffering from serious FAD—Firearms Acquisition Disease. Up until my latest chainsaw acquisition a saw has simply been another tool for me. But that all changed when we recently built a small hunting cabin on our Central California ranch; the need for firewood became a larger issue and I finally killed my 20-year-old little Mac Eager Beaver trying to keep up with wood demands. So I began researching new chain saws but I couldn’t find any worthwhile information online until I stumbled across arboristsite.com, and boy, you all have been a fantastic help. I’ve tried to absorb and digest the many valid views posted here and I thought I’d share my thoughts about the saw I finally picked.
The ranch holds quite a few ancient coastal live oaks, which we never fell; the limbs they shed periodically are typically huge, often getting up to 24 inches across or larger, and they supply plenty of wood that’s very hard. So I wanted a bigger saw with good horsepower and a 20-inch bar. We only cut for a few hours on weekends, so weight and vibration aren’t huge factors compared to you pros who cut all day, every week. Big-box stores were out, but most of the chainsaw dealers in Southern California seem to cater to mow-and-blow landscapers; I visited two dealers who wouldn’t give me the time of day! So since the advice I got from this forum focused largely on Stihl and Husqvarna, I found a nursery that carried a good stock of those two brands. After handling the saws and checking prices, Stihl seemed to have the better offerings for price versus engine size, and after studying the Stihl catalog I decided on a MS390 because it produces the most power for the money. Yes, the MS360 felt better in my hands, but it’s not that much lighter and the $130 savings makes up the difference between a Simmons and a Leupold scope for one of my rifles—these chainsaw/gun dollars all come out of my “stashed” dollars!
My first session with the 390 and 20-inch bar was fantastic! I can’t believe how well it ran through my first cut—I just started laughing out loud! Some Stihl MS390 critics almost had me believing that the bar would simply bounce off the tiniest branch around, but it ripped right through one 18-inch section of oak without breaking a sweat. Yeah, the 390 is a touch heavy for this old dude to use all day, but my son-in-law and his brother were practically foaming at the mouth to have their turn at the saw by the time I was feeling a little tired—and they just laughed at the idea of this saw being too heavy. Bottom line: it took us longer to stack the wood and fill up the pickup truck than it took us to cut it. So what more do you need?
Well, actually, maybe a MS180 might be handy for limbing and chopping up the small kindling wood… another victim falls prey to CAD!!! I’m now officially hooked, thanks to you all!
