let's here your chainsaw woes.

[starmac]

Huskies are generally thinner and have quite a bit better av system than stihl, which is especially important with folks with carpal tunnel or other vibration sensative issues. Stihl feels more like holding a brick because it is wider due to the outboard clutch. Many like the outboard cluth enough to pass on huskies, especially those prone to getting their saw stuck.

[Cmm_3940]

My first 'real' saw was a Husky 372XP. It did an absolutely awesome job of cutting in the three years it lasted before the lower needle bearing in the connecting rod disintegrated and destroyed the engine. I replaced it with a Stihl MS441. It is about the same as the Husky was in terms of power and cutting speed, and has given me zero problems. The Stihl is a little pickier about the startup procedure: choke-depressurize-pull-pull-pop-depressurize-unchoke/FastIdle-pull-pull-whirrrrrgrowllll

Starmac -

I'm curious, what is this outboard clutch you mention? My Stihl has the same clutch setup my Husky did, to the point of even using the same drive sprocket.

-Chris

[sthwestvictoria]

My woe is that we moved to the city and I don't get to use my husquvarna! It gave service for five years however.

Snowolfe - if you have a husky I suggest their sharpening kit, just a jig and two files but works for me.

[jonp]

Only the cheaper stihl homeowner grade saws are made in the U.S. You can get stihl parts, but you have to go through a local dealer, is what I understand. Some of the older stihl icon saws have had parts discontinued, and no or very few aftermarket parts available.
Since I bought my log truck and sawmill, I have met quite a few of the local loggers, actually most of them, all of which use huskies. Primarily the 372 xp series.

Stihl is made in america but use foreign parts like chinese carbs. I used to deliver to one of their warehouses in Va Beach around the corner from the plant and there were crates of Chinese Carbs there. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the saws but charging a premium for a Stihl as "made in usa" is a gimmick imho.

[jonp]

I sharpen all my chains by hand, just like docone31 describes. Follow his technique and patience...with some practice, you'll be an expert.

Photo's show my MS360 Pro (62cc engine) with 20" bar. I don't know what you have for log handling equipment? but all I know, I can cut larger logs than I can load by hand, onto my trailer. and yes, standing Dead/dry Oak. like the white Oak in this photo is slow cutting. when I cut somthing like that, I will touch up(sharpen) the chain "everytime" I have to fill the fuel tank and bar oil reservoir. With Big dry Oak logs like these, I usually get about 7 cuts per tankfull...except the crotch cuts...they take more time and gas.

You can cut a tree about twice the length of your bar. Sharpening is the key. Buy a stump fork. Makes life easier and the tip about being anal in sharpening each tooth the same number of strokes is very good advice and don't neglect the rakes.

As for Husky's running at a higher rpm Husky's line as most other lines have saws specifically for different jobs. The engine displacement is the same but they are designed to run at different rpm's.

[Lloyd Smale]

I know one thing for sure back when I cut for job (in school) I used a homelite and a sachs dolamar saw. I would have given my eye teeth for one of the new sthils or huskys. I can remember going in my uncles (actually my grandpas brother) who was a logger all his lifes barn and seeing two man 4 stroke saws that looked like death machines!! He said when he went from saws and axes to those big saws his output doubled. I wish I had one today. I don't know what ever happened to them. My cousin doesn't even know what his dad did with them. He had quite a collection of old outboard motors too. His hobby was boat racing. He built his own canvas skinned race boats.

[Clay M]

My dad use to run old Poulans We spent more time working on them than running them. I finally told him lets tape a twenty dollar bill to one and throw it in the Skip so when someone finds it they will have something.
He finally bought a Stihl.
I do still have my dads old Homelite bow saw.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Sharpening. I can get a chain to throw ribbons or potato chips all day - sharp - ! But I'll be kicked and beat up if I can make it buck square. Jig or no, just cannot do it. Been at it off and on since I was 12...
...snip

This is kind of obvious, but I'll mention it anyway.
When sharpening by hand, half the teeth get sharpened with your right hand, and the other half get sharpened with your left hand.

When you are sharpening with your weak hand (Left, if you are right handed), you need to concentrate extra hard making full strokes with the file at the same pressure you did with the Right, as well as concentrating extra hard on keeping your file square.

For me anyway, filing teeth with my strong hand (Right) almost comes second nature, but I need to concentrate extra hard when using my left hand. Also, if I am fatigued from a day of cutting wood, I know my weak hand is extra weak...then I'll wait to sharpen the chain til another day.

Lastly, once a chain has been severely dulled on one side or mis-sharpened on one side more than the other, So it cuts a curve and binds, it is extremely difficult to bring them back without a machine. I have done it once successfully and it took a lot of time...lots more time than is worth... the local small engine shop, does a special once a year, called the wood cutters ball, the chain resharpening fee that day is $6, but he gets so many chains, it usually takes a month to get mine back.
Good Luck,
Jon

[starmac]

I'm curious, what is this outboard clutch you mention? My Stihl has the same clutch setup my Husky did, to the point of even using the same drive sprocket.

-Chris

Most stihls have the sprocket/rim onthe outside of the clutch, it makes it easier to change the chain and sprocket. it also makes it possible to remove the power head from the bar and chain when the bar is stuck in wood, so that you can either put on a new bar and cut your old one out or push the tree over without damageing your saw.
Huskies (there pro saws anyway, have the rim behind the clutch, so removing them while stuck in the cut is usually not an option.
They have their pros and cons, but the total package on a husky is a little thinner because of it.

Jonp
Some stihls are made in America, as far as I know NONE of the pro saws are made or assembled in America, unless it has changed recently, only the homeowner saws.

[white eagle]

I have property filled with oaks such as JonB
always run with a 20"bar on my saws
there have been times when cutting BIG oaks that
a 20" saw didn't do the job,like someone pointed out that is 40"+
had one tree that made a punk out of a 20" saw tree didn't fall
don't recall what I did but it was scary looking at a tree that hadn't fallen with a 40"cut in it

[dkf]

I don't really have much issues with saws but I don't use them every day either. They get fed 87 octane pure gas, Amsoil Sabre and a splash of fuel stabilizer. Every now and then the carb gets rebuilt but that is about it. I would like to pick up a larger saw (around 65cc+) with at least a 26" bar sometimes, probably will be a Dolmar.

I have seen chains that the local rental place sharpens in house. Boy do they burn them. I do it old school with the round file myself.

[starmac]

I personally like longer bars, or all the bar the particular saw will pull up to 24 or even 28 inches, mainly because I don't like bending over. lol
I have an old 266 se husky built in the 80's that still purrs and will pull 24 easily, and has had 28's on it for a lot of it's life.
That said, I am in the market for a new 70 cc saw. I will probably go with jonsered this time a 2171, same saw as the 372 husky, but for some reason last year, husky decided that all of us folks in Alaska and Hawaii needs to pay a 12 % premium to have one of the huskies, The jonsereds are the same saw, owned and built by the same people, but don't require the 12% premium to be shipped to a dealer, go figure.

[dkf]

I don't like bending over either and usually put the biggest bar on that is recommended. The extra reach you get with the longer bar helps too. But I also have a limbing saw (Tanaka) at my disposal so I can use that little guy if I need a smaller saw/bar.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I had a large poulan with a 22" bar for about a year (I hated it, then sold it on the swap-shop). I found myself finding the dirt too often with it, that's the main reason I went with the 20" bar when I bought the Stihl to replace that Poulan, that was some ten years ago. You wouldn't think 2" would be much difference...but for me, it was all the difference in the world.

[starmac]

I have a couple of 346 huskies for small jobs and love them, but I even run 20 in bars for them. They get used more than the 266 by far, mainly because they are just handy, and they stay in the pickup for the most part.
I have been watching, or rather wanting a small, very small saw to carry on the four wheeler, canoe and just to keep on the log truck in the winter.
Years ago I had a stihl with iirc a 9 in bar, do they even make a bar that short anymore? I don't see them, even on the cheap home owner grade saws, which would be fine for my use for it.

[white eagle]

starmac
that reminds me of when I only had 1 saw and would cut firewood with my wife
she would always be asking me to cut something up for her,slash to burn
well the next trip through town I stopped at the saw shop to get a chain and came out with a small
limbing saw for her

[starmac]

If any of you guys are considering a new saw, from a saw shop, they have an extra bonus warranty of a year, or maybe even 2 extra years if you buy 3 quarts of the premix canned gas at the time of saw purchase. I know husky offers this (not to commercial users) and I think stihl and maybe some others offer a version of it.
The canned gas is expensive, BUT if a guy only occaisionally uses a saw you might want to look into it, they claim even if you use your own mix, but tend to put your saw up for a few months or a year at a time run the canned stuff for the last tank and you don't need to drain the carb.
I haven't used it, but that is how the mechanic at the saw shop I deal with explained it to me.

[Mal Paso]

The canned gas is expensive, BUT if a guy only occaisionally uses a saw you might want to look into it, they claim even if you use your own mix, but tend to put your saw up for a few months or a year at a time run the canned stuff for the last tank and you don't need to drain the carb.

Drain the Carb? My Stihl is 21 years old and I've never drained anything. Always in the truck and ready to cut.

50 years ago this Summer was my first time with a chainsaw, my uncle's Sears/McCullough. It wasn't very good and neither was the chain back then. The steel used for chain is so much better now. I stopped ruining files and switched to a grinder 15 years ago. I buy 6 to 10 chains at a time when Bailey's has a Sale and sharpen once a year. Bailey's Woodland Pro Chain is excellent.

I added a 14" Echo one hand saw 5 years ago. It's more tiring to run 2 handed though. A little 16" 2 handed Echo would be nice too.

It's just like the casting thing though. It starts with a couple saws then you get a hydraulic splitter and a tractor to move the wood and a trailer to move the tractor...........

****! Dry Lightning. Time to shut down the computer and watch for fires.

[Hannibal]

I've found Carlton chains to hold an edge a long time as well, but you really can't use a file on them, and definitely not a cheap file. I'm not sure what process is used on the teeth, but they're harder than woodpecker lips. They offer semi and full chisel teeth too, if you know what you need.

[crowbuster]

buddy and I split the cost of a good grinder 12yr or so ago. Best money we spent, still goin strong. When it's time to cut, it's time to cut. Put on another chain and keep cutting. Never looked back, nor will I hand file again. Its the way that works for me.