Colonel428
ArboristSite Operative
Hey Don. Out of curiosity how old are you?
What is the all time best chainsaw
- Thread starter donmakesallthefuelbegone
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donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
I know that many of the best are only available second hand but where I live you can find a lot of old chainsaws for a pretty cheap price, I don’t have the budget to buy new anyway so I got myself a compression tester and learned about what to check when buying a second hand saw and I’m willing to take the risk.
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
I am 18.
out of curiosity,why?
I ran my first saw at age 17 and the first time I came into contact with chainsaws was at 16 when we got a free saw that didn’t run and I just took it apart and put it back together for fun and in hopes of getting it to run
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
If you want me to narrow it down:
I’m planning to use it for everything people throw at me (within some limits, I’m not planning to destroy the saw) so that’ll be falling trees, limbing and bucking them, cutting firewood… and probably some other tasks like clearing out overgrown gardens.
I now work with my homeowner saw that doesn’t like this work so I wanna upgrade to pro saws because I need to earn money to become an arborist
huskydave
Addicted to ArboristSite
Look for a Husky 346xp or a 2153 Jonsered. Stihl 026/260pro were also great in that size range but used an older design. They made a lot of those saws and parts are easy to come by.
"I know that many of the best are only available second hand but where I live you can find a lot of old chainsaws for a pretty cheap price, I don’t have the budget to buy new anyway so I got myself a compression tester and learned about what to check when buying a second hand saw and I’m willing to take the risk."
That plan doesn't work well. Pro Saws typically see a very HARD life and and worn slam out by the time they are sold.
Parts are NLA for a high percentage of them, unless you stumble on a decent 372XP. Anything much over 15-20 years old may have a poor selection for parts like OEM P/C's, bearings, seals, you know....the IMPORTANT stuff. For example, not mentioned all that often but a Husky 268XP or 272XP are excellent, but parts availability isn't that great and getting worse by the day. I have one in my arsenal and altough it's an tattered looking "war horse" it's in excellent condition with a mint P/C, new OEM carb, fuel line, tank vent, rubber mounts, crank seals, etc, etc, etc.
Instead of grinding it up I bought an Echo CS-590, 600P and 620P instead. I've been running the bag off the CS-590 for over 10 years and it never grumbled once. The only part it's needed is to replace the laminated bar which didn't last very long.
I actually use it for "noodling" and cross-cutting HUGE pieces into smaller ones so I can manage them to the splitter. It will NOT clog for any reason, another excellent feature of that design.........
That plan doesn't work well. Pro Saws typically see a very HARD life and and worn slam out by the time they are sold.
Parts are NLA for a high percentage of them, unless you stumble on a decent 372XP. Anything much over 15-20 years old may have a poor selection for parts like OEM P/C's, bearings, seals, you know....the IMPORTANT stuff. For example, not mentioned all that often but a Husky 268XP or 272XP are excellent, but parts availability isn't that great and getting worse by the day. I have one in my arsenal and altough it's an tattered looking "war horse" it's in excellent condition with a mint P/C, new OEM carb, fuel line, tank vent, rubber mounts, crank seals, etc, etc, etc.
Instead of grinding it up I bought an Echo CS-590, 600P and 620P instead. I've been running the bag off the CS-590 for over 10 years and it never grumbled once. The only part it's needed is to replace the laminated bar which didn't last very long.
I actually use it for "noodling" and cross-cutting HUGE pieces into smaller ones so I can manage them to the splitter. It will NOT clog for any reason, another excellent feature of that design.........
Approaching the question from this angle, if I could only have one saw, in my entire life, to use for everything, it would be the pre auto carb MS 362. With patience and a sharp chain it can do everything from felling, limbing, and bucking. It’s light enough to use all day but heavy enough to handle big wood. Wild fire and trail maintenance crews carry them. With a 25” bar it’s the closest thing to an all in one saw for me and has never let me down. The 400 wouldn't be a bad choice either.
| POWERHEAD WEIGHT | 12.3 lbs. |
| GUIDE BAR LENGTH (Recommended) | 20 in. |
| OILOMATIC® CHAIN | 3/8" RS3 |
| CHAIN OIL CAPACITY | 11 oz. |
| ENGINE POWER | 4.6 bhp |
| FUEL CAPACITY | 20.3 oz. |
| DISPLACEMENT | 59.0 cc |
The best all time chainsaw is the 133 Sachs-Dolmar my dad bought when I was in High School. We cut a LOT of wood together with it and spent many an hour out in the woods with each other learning about life, entertainment, and each other. It has the throatiest sound ever, and power to spare. He gave it to me 5 or 7 years ago when he could no longer start it, and I was doing most of his cutting for him anyway. It feels good in the hands, and every time I look at it I think of him and smile.
That being said: It is HEAVY. Has very old technology at this point, and is a saw I can't use very long. I have a plethora of Stihls in different sizes that I use most of the time, and it mostly sits. But every time I look at it I think of Dad and smile. He's still here at 91 and some day I know that won't be true anymore, then I suppose the smile will disappear.
My MS-261 is the saw that does 90% of my cutting from limbing to bucking, so it is close, but it won't do 60" felling, so it is not perfect. My son and I use it the most when we spend our time in the woods learning about life, entertainment, and each other. There is no such thing as a perfect saw, but the ones that bring the best memories are the best ones to own.
That being said: It is HEAVY. Has very old technology at this point, and is a saw I can't use very long. I have a plethora of Stihls in different sizes that I use most of the time, and it mostly sits. But every time I look at it I think of Dad and smile. He's still here at 91 and some day I know that won't be true anymore, then I suppose the smile will disappear.
My MS-261 is the saw that does 90% of my cutting from limbing to bucking, so it is close, but it won't do 60" felling, so it is not perfect. My son and I use it the most when we spend our time in the woods learning about life, entertainment, and each other. There is no such thing as a perfect saw, but the ones that bring the best memories are the best ones to own.
I would second that, but if you also own a MS261, the 362 will sit a lot...
Like I said before, general use something 60-70cc will work. Won't be able to handle real big trees efficiently and smaller jobs/climbing with it will suck, but they are nice rounded saws for most use. With your lack of experience/ knowledge you shouldn't be tackling the bigger/difficult jobs anyway. Joining up with a tree crew would be very good advice too. Start at the bottom and work your way up to a climber.
The 362 went extinct when the ms400 came out and was a turd vs a 562xp. It never once fell into a "best" of anything category.
I would suggest working for a professional arborist, and getting experience if ur interested in going into that field of work ,
ColinNS
ArboristSite Operative
I only way to ask is “What is your personal all time favorite saw?” Even then it is hard to answer!
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
For now my plan is to go to Belgium this year (I am originally from Belgium but live in Bulgaria) and then go on a course to become a climber. I probably won’t be able to start climbing straight outa school but one day I’ll get there. I indeed don’t wanna take to big of a job but I do love a challenge (not in a way to endanger people property or myself) the biggest tree I got down was 13,5 meters and 30cm at the bottom. I would love to find someone who can teach me to become better because so far I only learned from YouTube and forums. It works good enough that way but some real life coaching would make me feel safer. Living in Bulgaria as a Belgian guy makes that fairly hard because I don’t speak Bulgarian.
I hope to soon have saved up for climbing equipment and a better top handle than my 35-40 year old McCullough mac130 and then I’ll be of to Belgium.
Thanks for the advice
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
Easier said then done where I live. I would love to have professional guidance but like 90% of people where I live I am self taught, the difference being: I learned from professionals online and only took reoccurring advice, I never took personal advice because that is different with a lot of people. The locals and gypsies here they just do whatever gets the tree down
There’s no professional tree services, where you live,
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
Not near me and I don’t speak Bulgarian
Seems like you have a lot going against you/tough road ahead. Tree work is very rewarding, but unforgiving at the same time. At least you seem to have a plan for getting some training, which is at minimum a very good idea. Anyone seasoned in felling/cutting would be good to follow around/ ask for advice. We all started as novices from various backgrounds. Just be careful and do not take any jobs you arnt confident can be done 100% safely. There's no shame in turning something down because of lack of skills or proper equipment. Climbing especially. There's a lot to go wrong in a tree vs standing on the grand when an oh shite moment happens. Be smart and be safe.
donmakesallthefuelbegone
ArboristSite Member
I guess this is one of the jobs that needs a healthy fear, I already learned that going into this overconfident can get dangerous. I have not dropped anything very big yet even though I got the chance. I was asked to drop 4 pines that went up about 15-18 meters about and they stood close to a house, they would have had to go into the open garden but I was very new back then and only had dropped 3 trees before so I didn’t have the needed experience to feel safe doing that. I kid you not, the next tree I had to drop (it luckily stood away from anything) I cut the notch to deep and it sat back on my saw ready to drop backwards. I feel like if I took the big trees I might have made the same mistake because I didn’t learn about that danger yet.
I see it as a wise lesson, if I took those big trees I would probably have had one of them had a to deep notch and those big trees would have gone back onto the house, now I had this learning experience in a safe place where this mistake was forgivable I feel more confident but still careful.
A few days ago I did get to drop a 13,5 meter tree with back lean over electric wires but I did put a rope in it and connected it to a hand cranked winch. I safely dropped it with a nice notch and a plunge cut (I choose a plunge cut because I had to have a lot of tension on the rope due to not having wedges, I was afraid the tension could result in a barber chair so I went for a plunge cut)
I will for now not drop anything that is over 15 meters or sketchy because of my lack of experience
I do tend to agree with you on this. 70cc is kind of an oddball category for me.
40-50cc (543, 346/353, 242, 550) obviously for limbing, falling, and small stuff. The 562, despite my qualms with it prior, they are still beasts of a saw. I feel like it hangs with a 372 for felling, though not as stout bucking hardwood all day or pulling a 28 with as much authority.
However, the feel-in-the-hand weight of a 390 vs. a 372 is negligible, imo. With more grunt and the ability to run/oil long bars, even in hardwood if needed. Talking stock, not modded, in all these instances.
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