Stihl MS251
Husky 445
Dolmar 421
Mods here are shit
Some other saw
Agreed. Just not willing to pay for it for some of the saws. My pole saws, top handles, and battery saws all run 1/4 .043 gauge, and the life span of those buggers is much shorter than a .325 or 3/8 and already weigh nothing.Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
I was unaware that they made lightweight bars that small. That totally makes sense.
On second thought a light bar for my 200t would be sweet.
I'm happy with my Dewalt 20V XR drill, driver, oscillating tool, circular saw, etc. Have any of you been using the 60V Dewalt chainsaw?
No experience with electric chainsaws but my 60v tracksaw is amazing. I broke down 12 sheets of plywood on a single battery. Some sheets with multiple cuts.
I think for an occasional use/homeowner who doesn’t want or need to keep some two stroke gas around electric seems like a great solution. Even for a chainsaw to keep inside an SUV. Or for individuals who have issues pulling a cord or starting a gas chainsaw - small or shoulder/arm issues.
If you are going to run a chainsaw for more than an hour on multiple occasions or often I would recommend a gas saw.
Also electric saws have the torque to chew through cheaper chainsaw chaps so just be careful out there.
Then again, someone with more experience with electric saws should chime in. Some Husky or Stihl battery saws could be reaching into serious use range.
I run the Stihl battery saws at a professional level, and we can do 75% or so of our work with those bad boys. A battery will last though lunch on the MSA200C no problem, and same on the 161T unless you're burying the bar constantly.
They do not have the power to chew through chaps, not true at all. The kevlar strips jam the sprocket tight as can be and stops them just like a gas saw. I verified this by taking our chaps to the wood pile, ratchet strapping them down, and taking an MSA200C to them full tilt.
Husqvarna auto-tune question for you guys.
My 550XP runs just find at my place at 8500 feet of elevation. About a month ago I took it to my dads place to help him with a few trees and I couldn’t get it started for the life of me. My dad live last at 1200 feet of elevation. I suspect that the auto tune has adjusted the carburetor needle to my low oxygen environment and it wasn’t allowing enough fuel to flow at my dads higher oxygen environment. Since then, I’ve been using it back at my place with no problems.
I can’t find anything in the technical info in the way of a manual reset for the auto tune system. Anybody know of a fix for this?
On Stihl, it depends what model of the Mtronic (auto tune) there is. One idles on choke for 60 seconds, and go. The other is idle for 30 seconds on choke, full throttle for 30 seconds, RPMS go sky high, when they drop let off the throttle.
From everything I've read on Husky's setup, you have to run it at full tilt 3-5 minutes of cutting (noodle, bore cut, will make the most of the log).
P.S. - this guy knows his stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkOC0JRfYdc
Well my Auto-tune problems continue, and it looks like I am gonna need a different saw.....
TL;DR - My dealer is gonna return my Husqvarna 550 XP for a different saw without Auto-tune. Looks like the 460, 365, and 372 XP would be candidates. I don't know what kind of pricing their are going to offer me yet. I'm a little nervous about going down out of the proline since I cut a ton of firewood. The 365 and 372 are very similar save for the top end of the motor and cost. Any recommendations here?
Full rant for those interested
I've been trying to block firewood at my place and my 550 XP either wouldn't start or runs like shit. I suspect my local elevation of 8500 ft is not really within the auto-tune adjustment algorithm. My local dealer doesn't currently have a service guy so they had me go see another small engine shop to look at it. Small engine shop can only get the saw to cold start by gripping the handle with throttle to full. Unfortunately, since the saw is auto tune you cannot manually adjust the carburetor needle valve or high flow jet since they are electronically controlled. The guy tells me he's done all he can and that if I keep having problems I should go back to the local dealer and make it their problem.
I get the saw home and block wood for the morning using the method from before, right hand holding saw and throttle down left hand pulling starter. The saw runs for the morning, but after coming back from lunch it won't start at all. I take it back to local dealer and detail what I've tried so far. They tell me that I'll have to have an authorized shop look at it for warranty. The shop with the authorized service is about 45 minutes away over the mountains. I call the shop on the other side of the mountains and they tell me they cannot fix auto-tune saws at altitude. Their elevation is about 7000 ft. They tell me that no matter what the auto-tune will always default to full lean and eventual the piston will crap out, and that they no longer sell any saws with auto-tune. I go back inside the local dealer and relay this info, and the manager tells me they have another problem saw for another customer and they will get with their sales rep and get back to me.
Husqvarna ships my local dealer a little black box that allows them to access the auto-tune module on my saw and they find an error code and the setting is stuck to full lean. They flash reset the auto-tune to default and say if that doesn't fix it they will get me a different saw to make it right. I brought the saw home and it started up pretty decently. I ran it for about 45 minutes until I ran the fuel tank dry. I stopped for a bit to get some fluids and file the chain before refueling and topping of the chain oil. The saw restarted decently, but when I would give it full throttle it wanted to stall. I slowly ramped the throttle to full and it eventually got to full RPM, but then it would drop RPM while still at full throttle and hunt back and forth between 100% and 60% RPM with the throttle pinned. I suspect this was the auto-tune trying to adjust the mix but struggle with the low oxygen environment.
Took my saw back to the local dealer who said that was not gonna work, and that he'd get with this rep to get me a new saw. A large chunk of the Husqvarna lineup comes with auto tune. My local shop sells a fair number of 460s, but I am worried that might not be the saw for me. Right now I am cutting about 12 cords of wood a year, and I am leaning towards the 365. Anyone have any experience with the 460, 365, or 372xp?
No Husky experience unfortunately - i desperately want to, but there's no good dealer support nearby for them. Is there Stihl dealer support in your area? The comparable model would be a 261CM - I'm not at that altitude, but run the snot out of our two commercially.
I got no Husky experience and only just looked at the online catalog to understand the models/sizes.
In general, cutting 12 cords a year, I would go with a professional series saw with the largest CC you want to handle.
For getting trees on the ground and limbing and general thinning around the homestead something smaller is often appreciated. Although the more I use my big saw, the more I just pick it up for everything. I might feel different in Spring after fattening up this winter.
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