Question about dropping dead/dying and leaning ash and bar/saw size.

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It never hurts to ask the local shops if they ever get any larger used saws brought in on trade. I was looking for something larger than my MS361 and scored a barely used 084AV with new carb, 48" and 36" bars and 4 chains for $1000! A guy was settling his dad's estate and wasn't interested in keeping it, so he just sold it to the shop I use. Ironically the saw belonged to the brother of a man that sits on the pew behind me at church!
That's a nice score. I don't think I mentioned it, but I did check out what my local dealer had for used and new stock before trying the 620P. I actually just called them today to see if they had the outside dawgs for my 261 and 400 and he goes, "Did you say you had a 400? Where'd you get that?" LOL Told him I had to make multiple phone calls and the local implement dealer had to get it transferred and the other dealer didn't want to give it up. No worries, they know I asked them first and will be back for spare chains and parts.
 
Worked this morning, then made a few calls and found the outside dog that matches the inside dog in stock at one dealer, found the larger double dogs with roller catch kit at another, and was talking with one of the guys that works at the dealer I usually go to and he was selling a clone 511 grinder cheap so I snagged that and a couple spare chains. I won't have the larger dogs until next week, so I just threw the small dog on my 400c for now, but once I get the larger dogs I'll move the smaller outside dog to my 261c.
I also, picked up a new 6" vise for my main workbench/welding table and moved the 4" vise to my small workbench I've been using for my saws and got both vise's mounted. Got the pup groomed, then weighed since he's right on the threshold for which pill he gets every month for flea/tick/heartworm so he's good to go and loves his new haircut so he's not so 🔥. All in not a bad day.
Have a game plan to aim to fell 11 trees this weekend.
 
Felled 10 trees today. Got half of them limbed and bucked, and have some more limbing and bucking to do then of course lots of splitting and stacking.
I'm really liking the 400. Got 4 or 5 tanks of fuel through it now, and ran a couple tanks through my 261.
I did brush one fence post with one tree, but no damage. 😜 One tree did give me some difficulty. It leaned backwards and I wanted to get a rope on it to pull it, but I couldn't get ahold of my one neighbor to see if I could tie to one of their trees so I just used wedges. I did end up ruining a couple wedges as I had to bore again to remove a bit more hinge wood as I left too much initially.
I'm glad I stopped by my dealer and grabbed a couple extra chains, and a couple larger wedges yesterday. I'm going to grab some more wedges next time I head out to replace the couple I damaged. Also need to get a new 3/16" wheel for the grinder I snagged. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
Still learning and striving to improve. I've been reading and watching YouTube videos.
 

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FWIW, when you're dealing with trees that size and in that condition, getting them on the ground safely doesn't really depend on whether you are running an 18" or a 24" bar, or have a 50cc or a 60cc saw. Bigger saw with a bigger bar will make it a little more convenient, but has almost no impact on safety.

As far as bars and chains go, 20" is the longest .325 bar you can get. If you want to go longer, you have to move up to a 3/8" bar and chain which is VERY easy to do. Bar + chain + $6 for a 3/8 rim and you are ready to go. Having said that, I would NOT put a 24" bar on a MS261 saw. Not sure the oiler will keep up and even if it does, its gong to be a dog.

You've already picked up another saw, but if you were wanting a step up from your MS261, I would have probably recommended going to a 70cc saw. It would be a true power house with a 24" bar, but also very capable with 28" or even a 32" bar which will handle a really big tree. a 28" bar is also handy for noodleing large firewood rounds in half so they are light enough to be picked up and put onto a splitter. I've done that with 18" bars and 50-60cc saws, but it kinda sucks. 28" and a 90cc is a piece of cake, but 70cc and the same bar would still be easy. I run a Stihl 026 and 036 quite a bit and the 62c 036 saws are my go to work horses. A lot of guys run 24" bars on them, and they run fine that way, but I run them with 18" .325 bars. 18" will make 90% of my cuts in one pass, and I'm not wasting torque and HP trying to pull an extra 6" of chain that I'm not actually using. I've also swapped my drive bearing and sprocket out so that I can rum a 9 pin rim which lets me convert my extra torque into more chain speed. For felling, and bucking firewood, I really like this setup. If I'm working on something that's 24" or more, I'll bump up to my big saw, and that does happen with some frequency so I'm glad that I have the option. Anything much under 24" gets dropped and bucked with an 18" bar though.

As far as your Echo goes, I'm not familiar with them. Your carb may be tuned a little rich which is probably a good thing for the first several tanks of fuel. After its broken in, you might look to see if there's a dual port muffler available for it. Cheap upgrade that will help the saw breath better and help you get the most out of it without actually putting any extra wear and tear on the machine.
How long are you cutting firewood rounds if a 28" bar is required for noodleing?
 
How long are you cutting firewood rounds if a 28" bar is required for noodleing?
I used to cut them 22" to 24", but over the years I've dropped back to 18"-22". The 28" bar was on the saw when I got it, but it was also needed originally. Now I adjust the length of my firewood depending on the weather I plan on burning it in. 25" bar would be fine for most of it, but the extra 3" gives me some flexibility.
 
I used to cut them 22" to 24", but over the years I've dropped back to 18"-22". The 28" bar was on the saw when I got it, but it was also needed originally. Now I adjust the length of my firewood depending on the weather I plan on burning it in. 25" bar would be fine for most of it, but the extra 3" gives me some flexibility.
If you noodle.You are a puusy or weak sister.

Get 4-5 steel wegdes, a 20-lb sledge , 2 6-lb mals and have at it!!!
 
Your saw is fine for the job, cut both sides in first, then cut from the safe side,
if you are not worried about the direction they fall then all the better.
If they are really rotten and limbs falling off, get an excavator to push them over,
you won't be much good if your dead.
 
Couple updates.
Got the remainder of the trees from last weekend limbed and bucked up. I now need to pause and split, but that will wait for it not to be 90 and stormy. It feels like a sauna outside!
In the meantime, I did get the double dogs and roller catch for my 400c. The roller that came was a tad too long so I had to cut about 1/8" off for it to fit. I had found a PN and asked my dealer about it. 1122-650-7700. Dealer said this PN goes to 7701 and is now 7702. They are going to order one for me.
I stocked up on some files and wedges to replace the couple I chewed up over the weekend and some bar oil. I've been going through bar oil like crazy!

I think I'm also going to be looking into renting a cherry picker to remove some of the dead leaders on the living ash safely, and clean up some of mine pines that took a beating in recent storms. I may get a couple quotes from a tree company with a bucket truck.
 

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