I Know It's Been Asked but Need the Latest Word on Saws ... Best Bang for the $$

[wi woodcutter]

How the heck do you guys "burn up" so many saws?  And clutch bearings don't "run out" of grease...

I dunno, I'm not sayin' that I'm the cool guy here or anything... but in 30+ years of cuttin' I have never "burned up" a saw...

Anyways... to the OP... Stay away from the box store Husqvarnas... find a dealer... look at the 359 or a 357XP... a Stihl MS361 (now MS362) is compareable to these.

Gary

I was kind of wondering how so many people "burn up" so many saws too? I have only seen one burned up saw. A friend of mines dad put straight gas in his Husky 55 and that did it in.

[ladylake]

 The only time the clutch bearing does anything is at idle without the chain turning. I was just sawing with a older gent that starts his saw with the brake on on fast idle. That would heat that bearing up fast.. Other than that there are people that leave their diesel pickup idle all day for no reason at all.   Steve

[DGK]

Hello Ladylake,

Thanks for the constructive reply. When we are using our saws, we apply the brake while it is idling. Maybe this is the true reason for the bearing failures that I have had. To keep things in perspective, I have had 3 bearing failures on 3 different saws each after about 200 hours of use. We need to keep the saws idling for cool down between loads of wood. Example we cut a turn of wood about 1/3+ of a cord in about 4 minutes (2 saws running) then, they idle for around 3 minutes then full throttle again for about 4 minutes. This goes on for about 4 hours straight. The saws don't get shutdown except for fuel & oil or chain replacement.I think that I'll try not applying the brake and see if this helps.

[ladylake]

 Doug   If your saws idle just a little bit too fast with the brake on that would be hard on those bearings, give it a try without the brake or slow the idle down just a little.  Steve

[beenthere]

DGK
A short 8 minute video of that "hot saw" work would be interesting. 

I don't like the idling noise, so shut the saw off if it is set on the ground. Also, never pull the brake on. That might not be the best idea in the world, but it is the way it is with me.

I don't understand the idling for cool down. Seems the saw would cool faster if shut off. Granted, there is no air moving past the cooling fins, but still....how much air does an idling saw move that cools more than the internal heat generated by the saw firing?  And to me, an idling saw doesn't burn clean which leads to plug fouling and maybe fouling under the head and in the muffler.  Don't know these answers, just thinking of other two-stroke engines and even some four stroke experiences.

[DGK]

Hi Beenthere,

When were bucking wood there is so much other noise from the Bobcat that the idling saw is no problem. Haven't had any plug issues at all. We have tried shutting down the saws in the past but they appeared to hotter than when left idling (sawdust smoking etc),plus we were going through pull cords.



. Sorry no videos available. but here is picture of one end of the bundle of wood being bucked.

[stonebroke]

DGK You guys ever think about a firewood processor?

Stonebroke

[DGK]

Hi Stonebroke,

Ya though about it, researched it etc. Our market here is primarily for round wood as opposed to split. Most of the trees that we use for firewood are under 12" dbh. When you start looking at processors, the production numbers are usually based on large diameter trees. We are able to buck about 3 cord per hour using the chainsaws. This works well for me. There are guys in town with processors but the cost of the machine vs. the volume produced doesn't seem too profitable.

[GASoline71]

I don't understand the idling for cool down. Seems the saw would cool faster if shut off. Granted, there is no air moving past the cooling fins, but still....how much air does an idling saw move that cools more than the internal heat generated by the saw firing?  And to me, an idling saw doesn't burn clean which leads to plug fouling and maybe fouling under the head and in the muffler.  Don't know these answers, just thinking of other two-stroke engines and even some four stroke experiences.

Me either... saws are not like diesels with a turbo... where they need to idle down to cool the turbo off.  Or after pullin' a hard load a transmission will get hot, so you keep the engine idleing for cool down.

Gary

[stonebroke]

Dgk, Are you cutting killed trees, so they are already dry?

Stonebroke

[Al_Smith]

 That's a pretty good sized operation there  I have to say . I think the most I ever cut in an entire year was around 60-70 cords and that was years ago when I sold the stuff .

[DGK]

Stonebroke,

We cut Beetle-kiled spruce which has been standing dead for up to 15 years. Very dry wood so it is ready to burn right away.

[Al_Smith]

 Now like Paul Harvey says,the rest ot the story 

Spruce is like cutting balsa wood which explains how you can cut up three cords per hour . I've cut and burned the stuff in the Colorado mountains deer hunting and it isn't the greatest fire wood I'll tell you that .

Of course if that's all you have you have to make do with it  .Then  too I suppose we in the east are spoiled  with our vast assortments of hard woods .Which by the way you can't get three cords per hour . One guy would be lucky to get that much in a day ,long one at that .

[DGK]

That's 3 cord per hour with 2 saws running and a bobcat supporting the operation. Bucked 16 or 18" lengths not split. Semi-trailer loads of wood nice and neat.

 

[Al_Smith]

 Like I said you could do it on those fence post sized soft woods all piled up nice  and neat .Never happen on good old eastern oak out of the woods .

[DGK]

I wish that we had some hardwood. Pretty much just white spruce and a bit of pine here. 

[John Mc]

... Then  too I suppose we in the east are spoiled  with our vast assortments of hard woods.

I'll say. I've run into people here in New England who say "Oh no, you can't burn softwoods. It's not safe. You'll get too much creosote build-up and start a chimney fire."

To which I reply: creosote build-up is mostly a function of burning green wood, or not operating your wood stove properly (starving the fire for air). What do you think wood burners use in areas where softwoods are the only thing that grows? The only difference is, they've got to make more frequent trips to the woodpile than someone burning hardwoods does.

John Mc

[cb6048]

husky 346xp nuff said

[Al_Smith]

No doubt a 346 is a nice little saw ,so are others in that size range for that matter .

As far as burning conifers for firewood ,if that's alll you have you really have little choice in the matter .  An air tight stove though will compound the creosote problem I can assure you that from prior experiance . Perhaps with more air and a hotter fire it wouldn't be so bad .

In those Colorado mountains I had mentioned you have two choices .Either dead blue spruce or quakeing aspen . Neither is the best but ya gotta do what you gotta do because once the sun sets at around 10-11,000 feet it gets rather chilly . Down right cold as a matter of fact .

[John Mc]

No doubt a 346 is a nice little saw ,so are others in that size range for that matter .

It sure is a nice saw, but it ain't cheap.

As far as burning conifers for firewood ,if that's all you have you really have little choice in the matter .  An air tight stove though will compound the creosote problem I can assure you that from prior experiance . Perhaps with more air and a hotter fire it wouldn't be so bad .

In fact, it burns quite nicely (although quickly, and without much coals) with the appropriate amount of air. That's one of the reasons the newer EPA certified stoves won't let you choke the air down as far as the older "airtight" stoves did. The fire burns a lot dirtier when starved for air - higher particulate emissions, and a lot more creosote. You lose a lot of BTUs burning that way as well... some of what's going up the chimney will burn, but not at the lower temperatures of a smoldering fire.  but I guess I'm getting quite off the OP's topic here.