Favorite Chainsaws for Firewood Cutting and What is Your Woods Like?

[Al Smith]

I've got so many,it's hard to choose .I have 2 little Poulans,that ,in spite of all the mean mouthing,are great little limbers.What little climbing I do,I use the little 1.9 cu in,with 12 in bar.For the firewood,the 3 Stihl's,042,and 2 048's.The big wood,gets the big saws,Mac Sp 105,2 sp 125's,Homey 2100s.I haven't used the Sp 81 ,much yet,but it seems to be powerful,light weight[about the same as an 048]

 

[DanManofStihl]

favorite

I have 4 saws to chose from. A ms 180 for light pruning, a 036 pro for bigger stufff and a husky 359, I think my faavorite has to be my stihl 066 magnum. It is fast and powerful.

 

[CbaileyBG]

Some of you guys are talking about big saws to cut firewood. But I guess it has alot to do the your height and size. I am 5'8" and couldnt imagine cutting firewood with an 066 all day long. But I do understand different strokes for different folks and it is very interesting to see what people actually use to cut firewood. I have an 046 magnum that is an "Emergency Saw" that hasnt been ran in over 6 months for the fact that it is very seldom needed for firewood cutting or even thinning trees out. I do understand people using the heavy saws for logging because the smaller saws couldnt take it. I guess it has alot to do with the area you live in also. Interesting thread.

Curt

 

[stihltech]

saws

An 009 for the tops, and an 034 for the bottom.

 

[glens]

Depends on what you're classifying as firewood.&nbsp; If it's the tops left over after the logger's left, than a 50 or 60 cc saw (026, 036) would be dandy.&nbsp; If you can get there before they show up in the morning, the <i>best</i>, <i>easiest-splitting</i>, and <i>nicest-stacking</i> stuff is in the bottom 40' of the tree, and for that, nothing beats the 066; it's hands-down the best firewood saw ever made.

If I'm taking only one saw into the woods to help out with firewood, it's my 036.

Glen

 

[Al Smith]

I imagine physical size ,has a lot to do with .I'm a tad over 6 ft,230 lbs.I have used,what most people consider heavy saws,for years.I consider a 16 lb saw,as a mid weight,but that's just me .During the 70's, I was poor as a church mouse,and cut a lot of firewoods to sell .For about 2 yrs,all I had was a little 14",2.1 cu in Poulan .I got by with that little thing,just fine .I guess,just make due,with what you have .It is nice,however,these days.to lay into a large maple or oak log,with one of those 100 plus cc saws,doesn't take nearly as long.

 

[CbaileyBG]

I knew there was some logical explanations..

Curt

 

[lync]

Firewood Saw

Cheap but reliable 55 rancher 20" bar muffler mods, for everything up to 16" - 18". 372 xp 24 bar for anything larger.
Touch up the chain every other tank of fuel. sharp chain much more important than cc's, and keep it out of the dirt.
Get most of my wood from a golf course. Ash locust and beech
my favorites, but love splitung red oak.

Corey

 

[glens]

but love splitung red oak.

Are you German, or just speaking like a North American white man?

<tt>:</tt>)

 

[oldsaw]

I'm pretty partial to my Super XL

Enough power to get the job done, and with a 16" bar, can handle most of the firewood type crap I get into.

 

[trimmmed]

12" and down(primarily tops) either the 55R or the 350, for bigger stuff or felling, then the 359 or the 372.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Are you German, or just speaking like a North American white man?

<tt>:</tt>)

Corey's trying to tell you his Shtil is down and he borrowed his friends Husky.
John

 

[Gypo Logger]

Oh I forgot to mention, I'm not really into the girlie girlie saws, so I cut my firewood with a 385 or 088. The 088 is hidden in the snow on the right.
Also, I don't cut my firewood much in advance, but rather keep just enough sticks around to keep from freezing.
John

 

[cord wood]

I use my ms440 for falling, Johnsered 2152 for limbing and and husky181 or ms460 or ms440 for blocking.

 

[max2cam]

Max if you were closer I could turn you on to some Walnut I milled few years ago, got couple hundred ft waiting for a future project or whatever. I milled several chunks 3" and 4" thick for gunstock or bowl stuff. Not sure I would call our woods "exotic" but the Appalachian woods running from New England down through Georgia do have more different species/acre than anywhere west of the Mississippi. Only certain pockets of Florida (tropical) have more species. As for growing Walnut up where you are, keep in mind that Walnut, like Black Cherry is a species that needs good rich soil like that which you find in bottom-land to grow well. That's why you rarely see a (naturally growing) Walnut or Cherry tree on a rocky slope or near top of a mountain. Soil is usually not good enough for them. I've seen them growing in sandy soil in NJ and Md, but it has to be "good" sandy soil, mixed with peat, dirt and well drained. If you play your cards right you can get trees to grow where they don't naturally, but they'll rarely do well without constant nursing.

Dave

Thanks for the offer.

About the best gunstock wood growing here would be hard maple or birch and then apply the Alvin Linden blowtorch "suigi" finish.

The spot I planted the walnuts (hopeless) is on a little rise just above a peat swamp and where birch, oak, and pine grow. Obviously I'm dreaming and this isn't black walnut country!

Can walnut stand any flooding? The bottomland along this river has good peat-dirt soil, but it floods every spring....

When I lived about 150 miles south of here many years ago and rented an old farmhouse while going to college, there was great stand of black walnut mixed in with oak, etc. behind the house. The farmer didn't know what he had -- or didn't care. Some were good sized trees too. I cut out a butt piece of walnut crotch wood when a tree split in half and still have it. In my gun collection there's an old Schuetzen rifle barreled action that I plan to make a stock for with it.

If I ever get around to it....

 

[Stihlman15]

my favorite out here in idaho is my 044 with a 28" bar.

 

[canguy21]

Stihl 041?? Pioneer 1120??? This is the twenty first century. Seriously, I have some old saws and enjoy playing with them but my Husky 345 with 18" bar is the choice for the cutting I do. Light, powerful, and reliable as gravity. The poplars grow like dandelions around here and there is spruce and some birch

 

[woodshop]

Max this is off topic so I tired to send you a private message but it won't let me, is your PM turned off? Anyway, to answer your question, no, Black Walnut (juglans nigra) does not grow well in wet bottom land unless it is very well drained, like sandy soil that is not completely saturated all the time. That Walnut crotch piece you mentioned could be worth something. Walnut prices were through the roof in the 70's and early 80's, people were stealing them out of parks etc. Now its about same price as White Oak and hard Maple, but Walnut crotch is still pricey. Cherry is now through the roof like walnut was. In PA here you can't get "good" cherry unless you mill it yourself (with a 395xp which I also use for firewood !!!!) or know a sawmill guy or are willing to pay a fortune. Also, you got my curiosity up now... what is Alvin Linden blowtorch "suigi" finish?

 

[max2cam]

Woodshop,

I'll look at the PM thing.

Probably then the spot I planted the walnuts would be about the best. On a well-drained sandy saddle between swamps but within probably 8 feet of the watertable. Here you go from sand to peat with only a narrow fringe zone of peaty sand.

Linden's "suigi" finish (a Jap technique) was to apply the flame of a blowtorch to a light colored wood like hard maple or birch. The heat/flame wonderfully brought out any fiddleback or birdseye grain and turned the gunstock to a nice brown color. I have used the method and it works well.

So yesterday after bragging about my Echo I went out cutting and it was all frozen up from the previous day when it was snowing and coated it with ice! So instead I split and sledded cut firewood up to the trail. Still a few more down there.

Then I took a stroll around my swamp at dusk. Sunset looked like a glowing forge thru the trees of the river bottom. I went looking for open water spots in the swamp to develop and found only 3 open of the couple dozen I had marked last fall.

Crossed the creek on the ice with a stick tapping all the way. Had to be careful of a spring and YUP the stick went thru so I made a hasty detour. Not much sign in the fresh snow except for deer.

 

[scottr]

Black Walnut / Deer

Max , you'll need to protect your Black Walnuts from the deer , they will eat every one they can get . Scott