40:1 in my new saw

[bwalker]

I get 2-3 years of use out of a humble MS180 ( the strato edition ) used almost daily ,all year round , to deal with tasks way-way beyond it's intended use .

Tree service work?

 

[KostasVolos]

Tree service work?

Amongst others,yes that too.

 

[bwalker]

Amongst others,yes that too.

Which isn't the same as logging or commercial firewood cutting which is what Stihltech mentioned.

 

[KostasVolos]

Which isn't the same as logging or commercial firewood cutting which is what Stihltech mentioned.

The main task that we deal usually at my job is the clearing of all vegetation in order to form protective ,anti -wildfire ,zones around private
houses,hotels,industrial facilities,hospitals ,military bases ,etc .
The main power tools for the job are a powerful brush cutter ,usually equipped with an angled ,steel twin blade ( a "destroyer" as we call it ) and a tough lightweight chainsaw .Personally,I use the FS260 and MS180 ,both having a strato engine.

Everday routine ,starts with firstly clearing the ground level with the brushcutter and then clear any standing brush and climbing vegetation.
After that it's chainsaw's turn.
More than often ,the menu includes logging trees , sometimes with more than 40" of diameter ,with a humble 16" bar .After felling them ,they have to be limbed and bucked ,of course.And most of the times we work in a rough ,inclined terrain ,since flat land and light ,soft dirt are quite rare things here in Greece.
Most brush and trees here have nail-hard thorns ,stone-hard wood ,muddy or sandy bark ,growing in
all possible directions ,as there's a rather huge competition amongst local plant species ,for a better seat under the sun (Some are deadly poisonous ,while plenty of others contain furocoumarins in their sap and can cause severe sunburns and skin blistering ).
So ,the only thing actually that my poor MS180s are not subjected to is milling.They surely get high doses of everything else.

Just yesterday ,with a MS180 felled and bucked three dead -but still standing -chestnut trees.They had an average trunk diameter of 50 cm
(40") and were at least 25 meters (75') high.
Two of them where fully covered with alive (ordinary) vine from top to bottom .Took me almost six hours to finish the job .
Meaning that the MS180 was used for five hours,more or less.
And that was just another ordinary day for it .

 

[bwalker]

The main task that we deal usually at my job is the clearing of all vegetation in order to form protective ,anti -wildfire ,zones around private
houses,hotels,industrial facilities,hospitals ,military bases ,etc .
The main power tools for the job are a powerful brush cutter ,usually equipped with an angled ,steel twin blade ( a "destroyer" as we call it ) and a tough lightweight chainsaw .Personally,I use the FS260 and MS180 ,both having a strato engine.

Everday routine ,starts with firstly clearing the ground level with the brushcutter and then clear any standing brush and climbing vegetation.
After that it's chainsaw's turn.
More than often ,the menu includes logging trees , sometimes with more than 40" of diameter ,with a humble 16" bar .After felling them ,they have to be limbed and bucked ,of course.And most of the times we work in a rough ,inclined terrain ,since flat land and light ,soft dirt are quite rare things here in Greece.
Most brush and trees here have nail-hard thorns ,stone-hard wood ,muddy or sandy bark ,growing in
all possible directions ,as there's a rather huge competition amongst local plant species ,for a better seat under the sun (Some are deadly poisonous ,while plenty of others contain furocoumarins in their sap and can cause severe sunburns and skin blistering ).
So ,the only thing actually that my poor MS180s are not subjected to is milling.They surely get high doses of everything else.

Just yesterday ,with a MS180 felled and bucked three dead -but still standing -chestnut trees.They had an average trunk diameter of 50 cm
(40") and were at least 25 meters (75') high.
Two of them where fully covered with alive (ordinary) vine from top to bottom .Took me almost six hours to finish the job .
Meaning that the MS180 was used for five hours,more or less.
And that was just another ordinary day for it .

Which is a far cry from logging or commercial firewood work.

 

[KostasVolos]

Which is a far cry from logging or commercial firewood work.

Still way-way beyond of the MS180 intended use.I suspect that the pro grade chainsaws are far more robust and rugged than the "toy of a chainsaw" I personally admire and use .

 

[bwalker]

Still way-way beyond of the MS180 intended use.I suspect that the pro grade chainsaws are far more robust and rugged than the "toy of a chainsaw" I personally admire and use .

The point is that your making an apples to oranges comparison.

 

[North by Northwest]

Still way-way beyond of the MS180 intended use.I suspect that the pro grade chainsaws are far more robust and rugged than the "toy of a chainsaw" I personally admire and use .

Absolutely K , although not a true commercial grade saw usage in realm , much more than a routine weekend warrior usage . You certainly utilize good oil & have your saw tuned & maintained well to accomplish that with a ms180 lol. . Although a consumer grade saw rather than a top tier Comercial or Professional Series Stihl it apparently serves you well . I believe you would love a MS400 if you ever had the opportunity to use one .

 

[North by Northwest]

Those older lawnboys are tough, but your not doing the machine any favors.
The lifespan of the newer duraforce are much shorter. The lawn care guys cooked them up pretty quick back in the day when using there 50:1 blower and weed whip gas in them.

50:1 in a lawnboy is pushing the envelope in my opinion . I have utilized Saber in a few lawnboys @ 40:1 with no issues . E & F Series , the M Series could handle 64:1 easily with Saber . However anything with babitt sintered crank pto bearing C &D Series require minimium 32:1 with a quality oil today although they were originally spec'd for 16:1 lol.

 

[ZeroJunk]

50:1 in a lawnboy is pushing the envelope in my opinion . I have utilized Saber in a few lawnboys @ 40:1 with no issues . E & F Series , the M Series could handle 64:1 . However anything with babitt sintered crank pto bearing C &D Series require minimium 32:1 with a quality oil today although they were originally spec'd for 16:1 lol.

Here's the thing. I have literally worn thr deck off this mower. The deck looks like Danny Glover's pants in Lonesome Dove. The motor is perfect. This is since maybe 1986 or whenever.
So, ya'll believe whatever ******** . Oil back then is different from oil now.

I may not work on as much stuff as Stihltech, but probably 40 pieces a week.
And, I never see mix related issues except when they just did not use any.

In the real world other **** goes south first.

 

[North by Northwest]

Here's the thing. I have literally worn thr deck off this mower. The deck looks like Danny Glover's pants in Lonesome Dove. The motor is perfect. This is since maybe 1986 or whenever.
So, ya'll believe whatever ******** . Oil back then is different from oil now.

I may not work on as much stuff as Stihltech, but probably 40 pieces a week.
And, I never see mix related issues except when they just did not use any.

In the real world other **** goes south first.

What oil manufacturer are you using primarily within your Lawnboy @ 50:1
since 1986 ?

 

[rogue60]

The main task that we deal usually at my job is the clearing of all vegetation in order to form protective ,anti -wildfire ,zones around private
houses,hotels,industrial facilities,hospitals ,military bases ,etc .
The main power tools for the job are a powerful brush cutter ,usually equipped with an angled ,steel twin blade ( a "destroyer" as we call it ) and a tough lightweight chainsaw .Personally,I use the FS260 and MS180 ,both having a strato engine.

Everday routine ,starts with firstly clearing the ground level with the brushcutter and then clear any standing brush and climbing vegetation.
After that it's chainsaw's turn.
More than often ,the menu includes logging trees , sometimes with more than 40" of diameter ,with a humble 16" bar .After felling them ,they have to be limbed and bucked ,of course.And most of the times we work in a rough ,inclined terrain ,since flat land and light ,soft dirt are quite rare things here in Greece.
Most brush and trees here have nail-hard thorns ,stone-hard wood ,muddy or sandy bark ,growing in
all possible directions ,as there's a rather huge competition amongst local plant species ,for a better seat under the sun (Some are deadly poisonous ,while plenty of others contain furocoumarins in their sap and can cause severe sunburns and skin blistering ).
So ,the only thing actually that my poor MS180s are not subjected to is milling.They surely get high doses of everything else.

Just yesterday ,with a MS180 felled and bucked three dead -but still standing -chestnut trees.They had an average trunk diameter of 50 cm
(40") and were at least 25 meters (75') high.
Two of them where fully covered with alive (ordinary) vine from top to bottom .Took me almost six hours to finish the job .
Meaning that the MS180 was used for five hours,more or less.
And that was just another ordinary day for it .

You must be paid by the hr?
Why anyone would fart about with a ms180 doing the work as you describe above it makes no sense who's time are you wasting?
And no not saying a ms180 can't do it yeah sure it might take all day to buck 3 logs but OMG get a real saw and actually do some work lol...
6hrs to fall and buck 3 logs yes that will happen using the wrong saw for the job..
The difference between a homeowner grade saw and a pro saw is about 5hrs by the looks on an ordinary day
The ms170 and ms180 are great little saws (I own both) but ya don't take em to work unless ya poor or paid by the hr..

 

[KostasVolos]

You must be paid by the hr?
Why anyone would fart about with a ms180 doing the work as you describe above it makes no sense who's time are you wasting?
And no not saying a ms180 can't do it yeah sure it might take all day to buck 3 logs but OMG get a real saw and actually do some work lol...
6hrs to fall and buck 3 logs yes that will happen using the wrong saw for the job..
The difference between a homeowner grade saw and a pro saw is about 5hrs by the looks on an ordinary day
The ms170 and ms180 are great little saws (I own both) but ya don't take em to work unless ya poor or paid by the hr..

Of course paid by the hour .
Seems that you got the whole point altogether.
;-)

Loggers use "real chainsaws" (
and charge accordingly ) .And I 'm not a logger.I will get the job done if needed ,but not as fast as a logger.I charge less per hour ,but takes me longer to complete the job ,whilst a logger would charge higher than me ,but will finish the job faster.But the logger won't do brushes and stuff.
I do .

PS

Side note #1:
For some reason ,clients are
( or at least seem to be ) happier when they pay less per hour ,no matter if it will take longer for a task to be completed ( which actually is about the same if they paid more per hour but for less total hours ) .In some cases ,they seem totally satisfied when they watch for hours the crew to work their a$$es off .Most probably they think that the money they paid was well worth for the job done or even that they "stole" us (meaning that they think they paid a low price for the amount of effort put by the crew !!! ) .
Go figure ...
A local logger would charge about 1500€ ( 500€ per tree ) for felling and bucking three dead -but standing -chestnut trees and would need an hour or so for the job .I got paid 1200€ ( 200€ per hour ) for the same job and finished it in six hours (with plenty of short breaks that sum up to more than an hour ...) .The client was more than happy,I'm happy enough ,so it's a win-win situation ! ( Keep in mind that I'm not a logger ,neither I have to own,run ,maintain and service a logger's pro power equipment )

All I know about my MS180s is that they ask nothing more than a decent fuel mix ,a clean air filter and a sharp chain ,while they give back quite an amount of money.
And cost nothing to replace
( not even bothering to fix major failures or damages ) .

Side note #2 :
I used to own a MS362 and a MS400.
Aside for being really heavy and bulky to carry around rough terrain here and there and being really awkward to cut thin trees and branches with them when needed ,a cracked bar oil tank of the MS362 cost me 600€ to fix .
With the same amount of money I could have bought three (3) brand new MS180s or -to phrase it differently- at least six years of chainsaw service life
( two years -trouble free- service from each MS180) .Which option do you think brings more money ( profit vs expenses ) back home -at my case ?
I have put them both to the test and trust me if you will,I'm pretty sure about which is the correct answer.

 

[ZeroJunk]

What oil manufacturer are you using primarily within your Lawnboy @ 50:1
since 1986 ?

Well, I used Lawn Boy 32 to 1 for a while. Then I used the blue Stihl 50 to 1 for a while. Then I used Stihl HP Ultra 50 to 1 for a while. Now I am using Sabre 40 something to 1. I can't tell any difference.

 

[ZeroJunk]

5 Hours difference in a day ??? That is comical. You have never had a saw running 5 hours a day in your life, much less 5 hours difference.

You guys are funny.

 

[sean donato]

Of course paid by the hour .
Seems that you got the whole point altogether.
;-)

Loggers use "real chainsaws" (
and charge accordingly ) .And I 'm not a logger.I will get the job done if needed ,but not as fast as a logger.I charge less per hour ,but takes me longer to complete the job ,whilst a logger would charge higher than me ,but will finish the job faster.But the logger won't do brushes and stuff.
I do .

PS

Side note #1:
For some reason ,clients are
( or at least seem to be ) happier when they pay less per hour ,no matter if it will take longer for a task to be completed ( which actually is about the same if they paid more per hour but for less total hours ) .In some cases ,they seem totally satisfied when they watch for hours the crew to work their a$$es off .Most probably they think that the money they paid was well worth for the job done or even that they "stole" us (meaning that they think they paid a low price for the amount of effort put by the crew !!! ) .
Go figure ...
A local logger would charge about 1500€ ( 500€ per tree ) for felling and bucking three dead -but standing -chestnut trees and would need an hour or so for the job .I got paid 1200€ ( 200€ per hour ) for the same job and finished it in six hours (with plenty of short breaks that sum up to more than an hour ...) .The client was more than happy,I'm happy enough ,so it's a win-win situation ! ( Keep in mind that I'm not a logger ,neither I have to own,run ,maintain and service a logger's pro power equipment )

All I know about my MS180s is that they ask nothing more than a decent fuel mix ,a clean air filter and a sharp chain ,while they give back quite an amount of money.
And cost nothing to replace
( not even bothering to fix major failures or damages ) .

Side note #2 :
I used to own a MS362 and a MS400.
Aside for being really heavy and bulky to carry around rough terrain here and there and being really awkward to cut thin trees and branches with them when needed ,a cracked bar oil tank of the MS362 cost me 600€ to fix .
With the same amount of money I could have bought three (3) brand new MS180s or -to phrase it differently- at least six years of chainsaw service life
( two years -trouble free- service from each MS180) .Which option do you think brings more money ( profit vs expenses ) back home -at my case ?
I have put them both to the test and trust me if you will,I'm pretty sure about which is the correct answer.

Not that I agree with your work practices, but we kept ms180's in the trucks as whatever saws. Whatever we needed to cut, plastic pipe, trees, brush whatever they worked, if painfully slow. Always started and ran. Great for the price. Actually tree trimming we never used them. We had time frames to meet.

 

[North by Northwest]

The OMC

Well, I used Lawn Boy 32 to 1 for a while. Then I used the blue Stihl 50 to 1 for a while. Then I used Stihl HP Ultra 50 to 1 for a while. Now I am using Sabre 40 something to 1. I can't tell any difference.

OMC at 32:1 would have been adequate for the mid 80's thu 90 Series engines also the Stihl Premium . As for the 4-Mix Ultra I would not use it in anything but its intended 4-Mix Stihl Engines . The Saber as I previously mentioned , has proven itself viable in more than one of my E, F & M Series Lawnboy Engines in either 32:1 40:1 or 50:1 Premix ratio's . However anything within Early Vintage C & D Series engines have to either have high viscosity or heavier mix ratio's to protect their marginal pto bearings . Anyhow thanks for the update , keep the ole girls cutting !

 

[rogue60]

Of course paid by the hour .
Seems that you got the whole point altogether.
;-)

Loggers use "real chainsaws" (
and charge accordingly ) .And I 'm not a logger.I will get the job done if needed ,but not as fast as a logger.I charge less per hour ,but takes me longer to complete the job ,whilst a logger would charge higher than me ,but will finish the job faster.But the logger won't do brushes and stuff.
I do .

PS

Side note #1:
For some reason ,clients are
( or at least seem to be ) happier when they pay less per hour ,no matter if it will take longer for a task to be completed ( which actually is about the same if they paid more per hour but for less total hours ) .In some cases ,they seem totally satisfied when they watch for hours the crew to work their a$$es off .Most probably they think that the money they paid was well worth for the job done or even that they "stole" us (meaning that they think they paid a low price for the amount of effort put by the crew !!! ) .
Go figure ...
A local logger would charge about 1500€ ( 500€ per tree ) for felling and bucking three dead -but standing -chestnut trees and would need an hour or so for the job .I got paid 1200€ ( 200€ per hour ) for the same job and finished it in six hours (with plenty of short breaks that sum up to more than an hour ...) .The client was more than happy,I'm happy enough ,so it's a win-win situation ! ( Keep in mind that I'm not a logger ,neither I have to own,run ,maintain and service a logger's pro power equipment )

All I know about my MS180s is that they ask nothing more than a decent fuel mix ,a clean air filter and a sharp chain ,while they give back quite an amount of money.
And cost nothing to replace
( not even bothering to fix major failures or damages ) .

Side note #2 :
I used to own a MS362 and a MS400.
Aside for being really heavy and bulky to carry around rough terrain here and there and being really awkward to cut thin trees and branches with them when needed ,a cracked bar oil tank of the MS362 cost me 600€ to fix .
With the same amount of money I could have bought three (3) brand new MS180s or -to phrase it differently- at least six years of chainsaw service life
( two years -trouble free- service from each MS180) .Which option do you think brings more money ( profit vs expenses ) back home -at my case ?
I have put them both to the test and trust me if you will,I'm pretty sure about which is the correct answer.

Sure if ya got endless time to do a job is nothing wrong with using a ms180.
They are light would be fine for cutting small stuff but bucking up 40" logs with one would send me insane!
I'd personally own more than one saw and pick the one best suited for the job at hand time is money.

 

[rogue60]

5 Hours difference in a day ??? That is comical. You have never had a saw running 5 hours a day in your life, much less 5 hours difference.

You guys are funny.

Go back to sleep Santa.

 

[KostasVolos]

Not that I agree with your work practices, but we kept ms180's in the trucks as whatever saws. Whatever we needed to cut, plastic pipe, trees, brush whatever they worked, if painfully slow. Always started and ran. Great for the price. Actually tree trimming we never used them. We had time frames to meet.

Sure if ya got endless time to do a job is nothing wrong with using a ms180.
They are light would be fine for cutting small stuff but bucking up 40" logs with one would send me insane!
I'd personally own more than one saw and pick the one best suited for the job at hand time is money.

Just one last thing to clarify about my work practices.
As stated before the main task I usually deal with is making "zero vegetation" zones to protect buildings ,facilities and people in case of a wild fire.
Occasionally ,the zones that have to be cleared do have medium to large size trees that have to be cut down .
I always ( ALWAYS !) advice the customers to hire a logger to do those trees.They initially agree and then they get in touch with a logger to ask for prices.Loggers here they do not work by the hour,but by the tree.Prices ( per tree ) start at 200€ and can rise up to 2000€ or even more ,depending on various factors .
Then customers (most often disappointed by the pricing of loggers ) come back to me and ask if those trees can be cut by my crew.I respond that yes,we can deal with them ,but it is going to take some extra time .I give them a rough estimate about how much is going to cost them and usually my prices are lower than those given by a logger.So,they agree for my crew to cut those trees ,even if it takes longer than a logger .
Yes,I can assure you that myself gets insane when I have to buck large logs ,but keep thinking that since my main job is not logging but mainly clearing thick low level vegetation it is not worthy to invest on larger chainsaws .
The MS180 serves me and my crew well enough for small trees,
bush ,branches and stuff and occasionally can be used to handle medium or large sized trees ( yes,with a lot of patience included ..)

I'm never in a hurry to finish a job ,
since I do not accept time frames from clients .I try to keep my weekly schedule full ,but never overloaded.It's a difficult,dirty and quite dangerous job and on top of that doing things in a hurry is not the best practice.
And since my company is the only one available in the area that does
this kind of job ( zero vegetation wild fire protective zones ) I 'm the one that "sets the rules":
"We are not Burger King.
You either accept what we offer or by all means try your luck elsewhere".