what is your chainsaw MPG ?

[motif]

miles per gallon or trunk diameters per gallon  ;D
Since my main purpose of wood cutting is for winter heating
I'm very interested in total actual cost of my fireplace wood
like transport, chainsaw maintenance and fuel etc. to be able
compare it to gas heating. I figure like with cars the bigger the saw
the more fuel and oil it takes but it cut faster so it's maybe overall more effective.
Are there any chainsaw rating in this regards?
I wonder for home usage only what would be the most fuel efficient chainsaw cc.


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[Cut4fun]

My time is more important then gas consumption of a chainsaw I'm using. I want mine to drink and getter done as fast as possible.

All kidding aside, it seems the strato's sip gas. But you can have them. JMO.

[JohnG28]

Ill tell you, although not a strato engine my Stihl 361 sips fuel.  It also makes pretty light work of most tasks I ask of it, will handle pretty decent sized wood without breathing hard and great power for its size. And for reference this is a 59cc saw. 8)

[Rocky_J]

The only way this would matter is if you were running a logging operation with dozens of fallers running saws all day every day and you were looking for a way to shave 5% off your fuel bill. As a homeowner with a Wally World chainsaw burning a gallon of gas every few weeks, who cares?

[HolmenTree]

I don't think logging companies are worried about saw mpg. They are more interested in production and if a gas hungry modded saw can produce that much faster then no one is worried about fuel consumption.
Fallers keep a quart of mix gas and a quart of bar oil hooked to your belt and that jerry can close by.

Willard :D

[beenthere]

motif
It is insignificant.
The amount of your own energy and sweat will be much more significant when making firewood. And if you don't enjoy the work and the excitement of making your own fuel and thumbing your nose at the gas truck, think it over some more.  ;D

After you do some chainsawing for 6 cords of wood, a lot of these questions will have answers for you.

[JohnG28]

motif
It is insignificant.
The amount of your own energy and sweat will be much more significant when making firewood. And if you don't enjoy the work and the excitement of making your own fuel and thumbing your nose at the gas truck, think it over some more.  ;D

After you do some chainsawing for 6 cords of wood, a lot of these questions will have answers for you.
Can't say it much better than that.

[Al_Smith]

 :D If you want hours per gallon get a mini Mac .They run forever on a teaspoon of gas .

Now then dumping fuel through a chainsaw is not like feeding a blown 460 Ford with a quarter inch over bore and quarter longer stroke . Even a souped up saw which might drink fuel at twice the rate of a stocker will not break the bank .

My super duper saws do drink gas, a 200T which goes through it  twice of a stocker is one example .By George though they do  cut with authority .

What you might make in pinching pennys I'll more than make up for in time --with a big grin on my face too .Nothing like a hot running saw . 8)

[Frickman]

I sometimes run two and a half gallons of gas and a gallon of bar and chain oil through a Stihl MS460 in a day. I may cut six to eight thousand feet of logs in that time. The gas and oil mix cost ten or twelve dollars.  A buck and a half for gas per thousand feet of logs is neglible. I don't waste gas, but I don't think about saving it either. Same thing goes for fuel in the skidder. It takes a certain amount of horsepower, and a certain amount of fuel to generate that horsepower, to get a hitch of logs out of the woods. I don't worry about fuel consumption on it either.

[Randy88]

Never really looked at it like that before all I can tell you is after about five gallons of gas mix its time to go home I'm tired of running a saw for the day and theres a lot of wood cut to show for it.  About twenty years ago there was a cost comparison between buring wood and heating with gas or fuel oil and I can't find the article anymore but it was hilarous just the same, they had the costs of the woodlot, the saws and accesories, a new pickup to haul the wood, the cost of the broken back window in the pickup, like two or three times from throwing wood into it and the number of broken taillights in his new pickup from his kids thowing firwood into them.    The cost of the emergency room visits due to cuts and scrapes and bruses and the replacement cost of his new pickup after he dropped a tree on the first one and the list went on and on.    I guess if your into the cost thing that much let us know how it compares but for me after knowing how much I spent on gas to heat my house simple math did just fine, I paid for everything including a new outdoor furnace in less than two years time and from then on its way cheaper and thats as techinical as it gets for me.

[motif]

The only way this would matter is if you were running a logging operation with dozens of fallers running saws all day every day and you were looking for a way to shave 5% off your fuel bill. As a homeowner with a Wally World chainsaw burning a gallon of gas every few weeks, who cares?

well, when gallon of gas was cheaper then the gallon of water here in NJ I didn't care either,
but now we're closer and closer to Europe gas prices so it may someday matter.  

[ladylake]

 Your biggest expence will be buying more and more saws.      Steve

[IndyIan]

The only way this would matter is if you were running a logging operation with dozens of fallers running saws all day every day and you were looking for a way to shave 5% off your fuel bill. As a homeowner with a Wally World chainsaw burning a gallon of gas every few weeks, who cares?

well, when gallon of gas was cheaper then the gallon of water here in NJ I didn't care either,
but now we're closer and closer to Europe gas prices so it may someday matter.  

I've never really kept track of the amount of gas per cord of 16" firewood but I think it might be less than $6 for my 372.
$6 is about 8 tanks so it might be even less than that.  It really doesn't take too many 20" rounds to make a cord.  If you run a gas splitter it will use more gas than the saw.

[Cut4fun]

The only way this would matter is if you were running a logging operation with dozens of fallers running saws all day every day and you were looking for a way to shave 5% off your fuel bill. As a homeowner with a Wally World chainsaw burning a gallon of gas every few weeks, who cares?

well, when gallon of gas was cheaper then the gallon of water here in NJ I didn't care either,
but now we're closer and closer to Europe gas prices so it may someday matter.  

Take time saved with a faster cutting saw drinking gas at $2.59 a Gal, compared to a slower saw sipping gas.
Would you prefer to spend 8 hours in the woods at a rate of $$ per hour my time is worth a lot to me or 6 hours to get the same job done, using maybe a extra Gal of gas for a faster cutting saw.  All hypothetical.  Time is just very important to me a couple bucks extra in gas means nothing.
You ought to see me trying to explain to firewood guys to buy the 89 min or 93 octane gas for 10 cents to 20 cents per Gal more when they buy 2-5 gal at a time.  Cooler running means less wear and tear in the end. JMO.

[chep]

Cutting 16 inch blocks with a Husky 372 and a SHARP chain I use one tank of fuel per cord.... in the woods logging I use 1.5 gallons of fuel per 8 hours. Dont forget to factor in your two stroke mix. That stuff is not free

[chep]

by the way, I think its really good to care. I think that is an interesting question.  Your machine should be running to its maximum capacity, which is also efficiency, the better it runs, the less repairs etc.
really an interesting thought.

[Al_Smith]

Cutting 16 inch blocks with a Husky 372 and a SHARP chain I use one tank of fuel per cord....

Say what .Are we talking a full cord meaning 4 foot by 4 foot by 8 foot ,like 128 cubic feet ? Now I could see a face cord on one tank---possibley .

That amount of the fuel that Husky holds  I can blow through in twenty minutes with a Stihl 038 -Mag or AV and I can't cut a cord in twenty minutes . I couldn't cut a cord in twenty minutes with an 084 and it holds a lot gas .

[motif]

yeah, being from Europe originally I operate rather on cubic meters and as I see 1 cord = 3.62455636 cubic meters
this is a hell lot of wood to cut in 20 minutes...

[bill m]

Cutting 16 inch blocks with a Husky 372 and a SHARP chain I use one tank of fuel per cord....

Say what .Are we talking a full cord meaning 4 foot by 4 foot by 8 foot ,like 128 cubic feet ? Now I could see a face cord on one tank---possibley .

That amount of the fuel that Husky holds  I can blow through in twenty minutes with a Stihl 038 -Mag or AV and I can't cut a cord in twenty minutes . I couldn't cut a cord in twenty minutes with an 084 and it holds a lot gas .

When I am blocking up wood from my log pile I also get 1 cord of 16 to 18 inch blocks on 1 tank of fuel with my 372xp. Do it all the time.

[ladylake]

 I'd think it takes my saws 2 to 3 tanks for a full cord of oak.   Steve

[John Mc]

You guys are doing a lot better than me. I usually cut 16" long. No way I can get a full cord, which would be three 4' high x 8' wide stacks of 16" long rounds, out of one tank of fuel in my Husky 357XP (or my Josered 2152). One stack probably (though I've never measured gas per cord or face cord).

Are you sure we're not talking face cords versus full cords here? Or are you cutting larger diameter wood (=fewer cuts per cord), or cutting mostly softwood?

John Mc

[bill m]

I am cutting all hardwood 4 to 20 in. dia.  Oak, Hard Maple, Ash, Black Locust, Black Birch and Black Cherry. Full cords - 128 cu. ft.

[Al_Smith]

 Just how long does it take you to cut said cord of hardwood ? A stocker might make it 40 minutes on a tank  full . BTW the old reed valve  Macs unless souped would run 40 minutes per tank--but that tank held a bunch of gas .

Trivia but as a younger man I cut out of a pile and toss a pick full in about 1 hour or basically a half a cord .Now days I still get a pick up  full in about the same time but it's a Ranger which is about a face cord . Seems I don't get as many truck loads as I used to in a days time either,smaller or not .Kinda sucks in a way but that's life .

[chep]

word to Bill M! A sharp chain does wonders. An improperly sharpened chain will signifigantly change fuel consumption!
   I run a 16 inch bar on my 372, blocking northern hardwoods, diameters ranging from 8 to 16 inches.
  I really thought about it today, and I ran a jonsered (equivalent of the 372) that was not idling properly yesterday, and it used far more fuel then my saw which was idling proper, but went in the truck due to a broken handle...
  I think that being clued in to your saws fuel consumption is really important. The more I think about it, I usually run a saw for more days then I drive my truck, I havnt run any numbers, but I can burn through 5 gallons of saw fuel per week, between tree work and logging... over time a thats a lot of fuel. *DanG straight it matters.

[chep]

oh, takes near an hour to buck "said" cord of wood, still measuring 128 cubic feet...