Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[GrizG]

You obviously have no need for that 661. You should just send it to me

I must need it enough to have convinced myself I needed it....

I've got a bunch of logs along the rail trail that will be Alaskan milled into cants that I can move for latter resawing... I plan to make new floors for my house and mother nature is felling live trees for me.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I must need it enough to have convinced myself I needed it....

I've got a bunch of logs along the rail trail that will be Alaskan milled into cants that I can move for latter resawing... I plan to make new floors for my house and mother nature is felling live trees for me.

Trade ya for a 170 .
I'll throw a 48" bar on it with Super Skip chain !

 

[GrizG]

Trade ya for a 170 .
I'll throw a 48" bar on it with Super Skip chain !

I’ve got a 170 and a 261 also. Between the 4 saws and the HT131 I’m set…

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I’ve got a 170 and a 261 also. Between the 4 saws and the HT131 I’m set…

 

[Cowboy254]

I ran a 25" on my MS461 for 7 years... I recently moved that bar to my MS661 and put the 20" that came with the 661 on the 461. I was given 3 NIB Stihl Rapid Super chains for a 20" bar (plus the one that came with the 661) so it was a reasonable thing to try.... It turned out the 20 on the 461 is a very useful set up and the balance is nice. When I need more bar it probably means I also need more power so the 661 comes out. I've had a 36" bar and chains for years and have not used the bar for anything but milling with rip chains. The "cross cut" chains are still NIB. This is because I haven't found a local tree yet that needed more than a 25" bar--though it may not reach all the way across.

You had a 25in bar on the 461 and a 20in bar on the 661?

Pros and cons to the bar conundrum as always. I think I'll get the 36in bar for Limby and put the 25in bar on the 460. I'm hoping that I'm either strong enough or dumb enough that I don't notice the 460 getting nose heavy. But I won't get rid of the 20in bar and chains. Worst case scenario, I can revert to the original set-up.

 

[farmer steve]

I’ve got a 170 and a 261 also. Between the 4 saws and the HT131 I’m set…

 

[WoodAbuser]

I know, right. There is a new saw that is coming, cause I'll buy Lord and I'll buy. Sung to the tune "Will the Circle be Unbroken"

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Hey guys! I'm staying busy but struggling. I don't think I'm charging people enough. This job was open for two years. No other tree service business in town wanted it they were all way over bidding on purpose. I bid on it and got it. Eight trees, six leaning hard over the house. Two of them required piecing out. Other six were full tree length directional. Some said FTD couldn't be done on this job. I had one hanger, got it down two and and a half hours later. No property damage. Owners were more than happy!ý Three days worth of work.



This was a two tree job that was supposed to be a full tree length directional. Originally planned as an in and out of e hour job. When **** went south quick. It turned into plan **** show. Ill equiped and six hours later tree nuber two was safely on the ground. Down in the hole below. I was a very exausting and humbling experience to say the least!


Talk to you guys later on man!

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[Lee192233]

You had a 25in bar on the 461 and a 20in bar on the 661?

Pros and cons to the bar conundrum as always. I think I'll get the 36in bar for Limby and put the 25in bar on the 460. I'm hoping that I'm either strong enough or dumb enough that I don't notice the 460 getting nose heavy. But I won't get rid of the 20in bar and chains. Worst case scenario, I can revert to the original set-up.

I have a 24"(25" in Germany)regular weight bar on my 460. I think it handles just fine. The only issue I have is when cutting big ash trees is it barely oils the chain enough. I think in the super hard woods you have it may be a problem, unless you already have the high output oiler.

Otherwise I think the 25" on the 460 and the 36" on the 661 is a great plan. And as Woodabuser said you can have your extra 20" chains turned into loops for the 36.

Keep the great pics coming! Have a great week.

 

[Jeffkrib]

You had a 25in bar on the 461 and a 20in bar on the 661?

Pros and cons to the bar conundrum as always. I think I'll get the 36in bar for Limby and put the 25in bar on the 460. I'm hoping that I'm either strong enough or dumb enough that I don't notice the 460 getting nose heavy. But I won't get rid of the 20in bar and chains. Worst case scenario, I can revert to the original set-up.

I think the general rule of thumb is run the shortest bar you can get away with. Im normally running a 20" on my 7900 but have a 28" which it runs fine. Now that I have a 661 it runs the 28 and I have a 36 too.
I'm a big fan of cutting through logs in one hit.

 

[JimR]

I stopped looking at Craigslist.... too many "deals" were found and too many other things were apparently made of gold... I've been getting rid of stuff--good things my sons stop by.

CL got me a really nice 394XP for $500 and a like new 36" bar for $50 from another seller. FB is my go to place for way too many deals and selling items.

 

[chipper1]

I stopped looking at Craigslist.... too many "deals" were found and too many other things were apparently made of gold... I've been getting rid of stuff--good things my sons stop by.

Lots of gold being sold everywhere right now, I think it's because of the transitory inflation we had a couple years ago .
I've been looking hoping to find some nice windows for my barn, it's been a tough search because of the size(shorter). I found some nice ones only 20min away, but the guy was a jerk and I didn't even want to do business with him. I did think about calling the company he works for and asking if they had any mis-ordered windows for sale, they were nice windows; but I won't work with people who treat others that way, not even to save a buck.
Saturday I found two windows 2hrs north of us, but we were leaving to go 2hrs south lol. I left him a message yesterday afternoon, he didn't get back with me until we were leaving for an event at church, had he called right back I'd have two windows for the south/gable end.
I may end up buying brand new, I do have one possible source a couple hrs away, he has a lot of windows and doors, just a bit more money than I had hoped to spend.
I did get a quote in for my concrete yesterday . Hopefully I can have the windows siding and concrete done by fall/winter, as long as I don't start anymore projects that should be doable. Of course I need to run power from the barn to the house underground and thru the basement wall and install the new panel, and I'm nearly 100% I have a cutting job for this weekend, 14 or 15 trees just dropping them (pretty sure noone will beat my price on that one). Yep, I'll get it all finished, just not sure how or when, but it always gets done.
My boys always wanting my treasures too, glad they are there for us to use.

 

[JimR]

Hey guys! I'm staying busy but struggling. I don't think I'm charging people enough. This job was open for two years. No other tree service business in town wanted it they were all way over bidding on purpose. I bid on it and got it. Eight trees, six leaning hard over the house. Two of them required piecing out. Other six were full tree length directional. Some said FTD couldn't be done on this job. I had one hanger, got it down two and and a half hours later. No property damage. Owners were more than happy!ý Three days worth of work.
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This was a two tree job that was supposed to be a full tree length directional. Originally planned as an in and out of e hour job. When **** went south quick. It turned into plan **** show. Ill equiped and six hours later tree nuber two was safely on the ground. Down in the hole below. I was a very exausting and humbling experience to say the least!
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Talk to you guys later on man!

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

As the previous tree warden in town I hired companies to do work for the town. Prices between companies are all over the place. I found that the average cost per day runs between $2500 to $3500 for a 2 - 3 man crew. More people and equipment brings up the price accordingly. A one day job I had done last year required a 120 foot crane, log truck, boom truck, a chipper truck and 2 extra ground guys. There were 5 hardwood trees involved in the cut at 2 locations. Two were well over 3 feet in diameter. The other 3 were approximately 2 feet plus. The cost for this one day job was almost $9k. Two trees needed to be lifted up over street poles and wires. All 5 trees had to be dropped in sections due to nearby houses and no place to drop them whole.

 

[JimR]

I think the general rule of thumb is run the shortest bar you can get away with. Im normally running a 20" on my 7900 but have a 28" which it runs fine. Now that I have a 661 it runs the 28 and I have a 36 too.
I'm a big fan of cutting through logs in one hit.

I too like to be able to just cut right thru a tree to fell it or downed logs in one swipe. My shortest bar is a 14" and my longest is a 36". After a major ice storm cleanup in 2010 we don't have very many trees over 36" anymore.

 

[rarefish383]

Did up some beef ribs and a chuck roast (poor man’s brisket) on my “new” (purchased 2.5 years ago but not used till today) smoker. The roast was pretty good and the ribs were delicious. My first time smoking on anything other than a Weber.

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I went to an electric smoker when I started smoking King Mackerel, it does fish really well. The one nice thing about it, you load your wood chips from a tube on the side. The tube is cut out on top. You load the chips in, and slide it in a hole in the side, turn it over and the chips fall into the burner. You don't loose a degree of temp, opening the door to ad chips. I still have a charcoal smoker if I don't like the way it does meat. I haven't tried it on meat yet?

 

[rarefish383]

I too like to be able to just cut right thru a tree to fell it or downed logs in one swipe. My shortest bar is a 14" and my longest is a 36". After a major ice storm cleanup in 2010 we don't have very many trees over 36" anymore.

Some one here once asked why I never share advice on taking a tree down. Most people that come to a web site to look for advice, are homeowners too cheap to pay a pro. They post a pic of the tree. My advice is shoot a tag line as high as you can get it to help direct the fall, make an open face cut that doesn't slam shut too fast, then make a fast back cut. Then they post a video and say, it didn't go as planned. No tag line, the saw is a box store 16", trying to notch a 30" tree, so dull the notch looks like anything but a wedge, and the HO looks like he's going to have a heart attack pushing on it. Starts the back cut and is taking so long a gust of wind comes up and blows the tree in the wrong direction. Hypothetical of course. But, I like a bar that goes through a log in one cut, from one side, and SHARP.

Long story just to say I agree. I like to match the saw to the job, not make any saw try to do the job. But, I have more saws than most people.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

So, with my back "raised" garden all tilled,

I put the trencher on my tractor,

and put a trench in the tilled ground,

Then it was just a matter of throwing the flower bulbs in the trench and pulling the dirt over them with a hoe,

It was easy peasy!

SR

 

[MustangMike]

I currently have 15 running saws, but (except for milling) generally just use 4 of them for 90% of what I do.

All are ported: MS261 w/18" 3/8; Two MS462s (20" + 24") and a Hybrid 460/440 w/28". ALL of my bars are either light weight or the plain "E" bars which are much lighter than the ES bars. Not only does this make the saw lighter, but more importantly they balance much better.

If I run into big stuff, I have a 661 w/32" 404 and two 660s with 36" B+C.

I remember going into a Stihl store and comparing two MS 362s. One had a 20" light bar on it, the other a standard 20" ES bar. The light bar saw balanced perfectly, the one with the ES bar was so nose heavy it felt awkward! That sealed the deal with me wanting light bars on all my saws.

 

[Philbert]

View attachment 1086805

What’s the story there? Looks like more than typical fiber pull. Just from using different color wedges?!?

Thanks

Philbert

 

[GrizG]

You had a 25in bar on the 461 and a 20in bar on the 661?

Pros and cons to the bar conundrum as always. I think I'll get the 36in bar for Limby and put the 25in bar on the 460. I'm hoping that I'm either strong enough or dumb enough that I don't notice the 460 getting nose heavy. But I won't get rid of the 20in bar and chains. Worst case scenario, I can revert to the original set-up.

Yeah... When I ordered the 661 the only kits available from Stihl had a 20" bar... The bar length didn't phase me as I figured I'd swap the bars between saws and put the 3 free chains to use. I also had the saw in 2 days instead of waiting on a backorder. My standard set up is 16", 18", 20" and 25" across my four saws with the 36" in reserve. As I recall the store (my son works there) ordered 4 of the 661 kits and buyers could upgrade bars if they choose too. They had 462, 500, 661 and 881s on the shelf for the first time in years due to supply issues. Having the power heads was the key.... They have a full assortment of bars and chains to meet customer needs.

Quite frankly, almost all the guys buying the 881s around here act like guys back in the '70s who had to have a S&W Model 29 .44 magnum... no practical use to them but they had to have one! There are rare exceptions who can actually put them to good use in Alaskan Mills, not for felling around here. Same as there were rare exceptions who actually hunted with .44 magnums.