Stihl MS251
Husky 445
Dolmar 421
Mods here are shit
Some other saw
I tend to leave blue shop towels under my saw when I’m not going to use them for a few days because the slight leak is a feature not a bug. For longer term storage I am pretty sure most owner manuals say to dump the chain bar oil out of the tank to keep it from all leaking out. Chain bar oil is pretty cheap.Originally Posted by rob_s
I found myself in need of a big saw and with none of the rental places offering one up I went out and bought myself this,
It is a 572XP wearing a 28 inch bar only because the dealer didn't have a 32 inch in stock. Its been a while since I have had to tackle a large tree and being out of practice I did ok on the first big tree. It was 46 inches across the the stump. I had to bore from both sides and I didn't get them even. I bored through one of my big yellow wedges so I will blame the miss cut on that.
This is the second one I did yesterday, it was just a candlestick covered in ivy. It measured 38 inches across the stump.
This is the top out of the smaller one that was cut and left on the ground.
The saw will eat some oak and about 6 bucking cuts runs the gas tank dry.
I evicted a family of gray squirrels when I took the second one down. They were big enough to run off and find momma but not before one had to give me the what for.
I have only run a gallon of gas through it but I am impressed with it. I could not bog it down with a full bar full of oak. It ended up being tip heavy with the 28" bar. It would balance out even with a 24". I get to buck the big tree tomorrow. I probably should go ahead and mix 5 gallons of fuel in the morning.
I spent some time clearing limbs that were overhanging about 550 feet of gravel driveway last week. Last time I did this, I used a chainsaw and a ladder. What a stupid thing to do, I know. So, lesson learned, I brought a pole saw this time. Not only did it take 1/3 the time and pose 90% less risk, but it was actually enjoyable. Of course there were a dozen or so limbs that I couldn't reach, even with the pole saw, so, I screwed up my gumption on Saturday and climbed the ladder again to get the last few.
You already know where this is going. Life lessons.
Life lesson #1. Always wear a long sleeve, close fitting shirt when climbing trees.
Life lesson #2. Always check the tree for critters, before focusing on the cut.
Life lesson #3. The most dangerous part of using a chainsaw (or a pole saw), is when the end of the project is in sight.
This is 48 hours after. Both of my arms swelled like summer roadkill within 10 minutes of wrapping my arms around a Pine tree full of biting black ants. I knew better than to not bother looking. Totally my fault. It was hard to notice them with the saw buzzing through my arms, but the stings on my neck were a wake up call. I dropped the saw, jumped 4 rungs to the ground and squished a few dozen of them off my arms. Thankfully, I had some fresh Hydrocortizone for the Virginia Creeper my string trimmer tore into earlier in the week. I went and found one of my subcontractors and let him know what happened and to call 911 if I started wheezing.
So far I've managed not to scratch myself bloody.
Just another installment of "Don't be stupid like me."
On the good news side, my Stihl MS250 (aka the Suburban Husquy) is running like a champ and the $75 SunJoe pole saw I bought from Amazon in the spring has paid for itself many times over. Other than vibrating loose the bar oil cap twice it's been flawless. Time for a new chain, though.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
Picked up an MS261CM on Monday. In the few cuts I have been able to do with it, it seems to hit above it's weight class. I have high hopes for the M-Tronic system. It will be running at 10000 feet elevation here in about 2.5 weeks.
Has anyone here run an M-Tronic saw at high altitude?
I don’t have any experience with the M-tronic at high altitude, but I have posted several times in this thread about the Husqvarna equivalent, Auto-tune. My experience wasn’t good, but I have heard varying reports. I ended up returning my saw for one with a manual carburetor.
Hope your saw works better than mine did.
I will report back. I am expecting a 12-15% reduction in output. Simply hoping it doesn't swamp out on me...
I have 2 cords to cut at 8200' tomorrow. I am not expecting much difference there. (Hoping)
Go through the re-set as outlined in your manual (I don't recall specifics on the 261).. should just be idle for a minute or so with the control lever in the lowest (choke) position. Stihl's system should have no issues starting at altitude. No matter what type of carb adjustment a saw has, you will always see a reduction in power as altitude increases. The only thing that would solve that would be a turbo
Well, the two cords turned into about .75 cords. On the bright side, the guy had it limbed and bucked so all we had to do was load up, save cutting two long logs so they didn't stick 4' out of the trailer. I did calibrate the saw at 8200' and it ran fine. When we got back down to 6500' I did it again and we blocked the entire load. Great little saw. It cuts the smoothest and best at higher RPM's. Being a 50cc, it lacks the torque to cut larger logs at lower RPM.
Like both of my other chainsaws, it starts great cold, starts great hot. Halfway cooled down and starting is a challenge. I will have to get that figured out.
Three of the Doug fir logs we had were big enough to hide the whole bar. If you kept the R's up, the little saw did just fine. Way better than either of my puny 38cc saws that I put up with for waayyyy to long.
So far so good. I suspect with the small displacement engine and the powerband being in the higher RPM range, it may suffer at 10k'. I will know in two weeks.
Common for me and most of my saws. I also turn the oiler on max so that is some of my issues.
My pole saw, I hang bar down from the wall. I hang an old gallon bar oil bottle I cut the top off of from the bar with some cord.
No reason not to drain the bar oil for long term storage.
I have a couple of 261’s with 18 inch bars for the small woman that come through my crews. Actually it is a good saw for training folks up. No demeaning intended, they are great little saws that hold their own. Mine used to have 20’s but seem better with the 18’s. 5 to 6 years of opening roads and meadow clearing and they are still rolling good. When my shoulders give out and I get fat again, I’ll put down the 461 and do what I need to do with the 261. My 461 rips so hard it makes me smile and giggle. It does put the hurt on me.Well, the two cords turned into about .75 cords. On the bright side, the guy had it limbed and bucked so all we had to do was load up, save cutting two long logs so they didn't stick 4' out of the trailer. I did calibrate the saw at 8200' and it ran fine. When we got back down to 6500' I did it again and we blocked the entire load. Great little saw. It cuts the smoothest and best at higher RPM's. Being a 50cc, it lacks the torque to cut larger logs at lower RPM.
Like both of my other chainsaws, it starts great cold, starts great hot. Halfway cooled down and starting is a challenge. I will have to get that figured out.
Three of the Doug fir logs we had were big enough to hide the whole bar. If you kept the R's up, the little saw did just fine. Way better than either of my puny 38cc saws that I put up with for waayyyy to long.
So far so good. I suspect with the small displacement engine and the powerband being in the higher RPM range, it may suffer at 10k'. I will know in two weeks.
The way I was taught to run a saw is on or off. Either throttle nailed down or off. Sure there is feathering when trying to not rock the chain or cleaning out a felling notch or working out a problem brushing. Feeding is dictated by the depth gauge setting on the chain and maybe some leveraging if the dawgs are in. Low rpm isn’t a thing for me. But I am not a smart man.
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