Husky:353 vs. 455R vs 350 Hardwood

[McNeely]

I live in North Carolina, I'm a farmer. A young farmer with absolutly no more than $350 to spend. I have 76 acres of hardwood, poplar, pine, ash maple, in that order. I need to convert some of that wood into cash to expand my growing operations. 70% of this standing has not seen a saw in one hundred years. Very little has been thinned. I also have some pine rows, to the tune 5 acres I want gone. I would like to develop a healthy hardwood forest for my youngins, I have contacted the NRCS to help with planning. I have run a timber cruise, and given them the info. I'm going to do all the thinning/harvesting myself. I plan to got at this over several years. Questions:
1.What saw should I get: I'm 250lbs and I don't care if it weighs 20lbs, my deer rifle weighs that. I want it durable, first and foremost. I'm young, and learning, I need my saw to be able to handle bumps, drops, and my learning curve. I first leaned towards the 455 Rancher, but it does not seem well reviewed within this group. It looked like it had more metal to it than the under models. What's the real difference between the 350 and 353 in actual usability? What lends to the 455's general disfavor? I don't care if it doesn't have lightwieght Magneisium parts, is that the only difference? Lugging some overweight hunk of metal around the woods will keep the Wife chasin after me I really don't want to spend a lot of money, nor throw it away on a piece of crap.
2.Chains? What is a good all purpose chain? From what I read, felling good clean trees a straight chisel is the way to go? A curved chisel for ease of sharpening?
3. Any modifications? Is this good stock? Can I put a muffler on it?

 

[clearance]

Welcome to the site, I would look for a good used pro model Stihl or Husky around 70cc. Big strong young guy that you are, no replacement for displacement. Get some ppe as well, that is always money well spent.

 

[sILlogger]

first off welcome to the site. now here is what i can tell ya...if u are looking at harvesting these trees in a fashion to make money at it. you are gonna want, and need a professional grade saw. u might have to spend more money to begin with but it will save u time, money, and headaches in the long run. now im guessing that these trees that are 100+ years old have got a bit of size to them, therefore you are gonna want a saw that will pull a 24" bar at the least. for this type of duty i run a 660 stihl but we are talking a $1000 saw. if i was you, and i only had $350 to spend i would be looking to get a good used 372XP or 044/440 or 046/460. if u look around enough u should be able to find one. good luck with this and i hope it helps

 

[redprospector]

It's hard to find a saw to do what you want for $350 in my opinion. I've got a little 350, but it doesn't get used much. I think you should look for a used 357xp, or a 361. As for chain use what you can sharpen.
If you don't know how, don't jump into felling trees without some hands on instruction.

Now, get ready to get slammed as a troll for asking what you need to get started.

Andy

 

[Lou]

Touch base with the Home Depot Tool Rentals in your area. Find one selling their used Makita (Dolmar) 6401s. Usually go for $200 - 300 and have been well maintained. Search previous threads for what and how to check a used saw. When you need parts quite a few sponsors already here (cuttinscott) and others. Plenty of help maintaining your saw. Welcome to the forum.

 

[McNeely]

Oh hell, I was terribly afraid of this, as it as been a concern of mine. An 18" saw isn't big enough? My father argues that his great granddaddy did it with an ax (bears of which on his gravestone), and that an 18'' -20'' saw would be all you need up to 35" trunk diameter? I conceded with enough power and patience he might be correct. I have brought down in the neighborhood of 60-75 trees in my life, and I have proccessed over 50 cords of wood. I believe i have the experience to get started. I am a newbie, not a pro. I have steel-toed boots, chaps, gloves and a hard hat; what other saftey gear do I need? I honestly don't have any more money than that, and I'm giving up dipping for that. I'm a dandy mechanic, so putting a top end in a two stoke doesn't much scare me, but 70cc---1000 dollars, your talking a lot trees on the truck to pay that off?
I'm probably going to start off small, as I plan to leave the real big beauties, so first out are the track trees, 20"BHM at 3-5 logs southern pines. If I can make enough off those, we'll look into more efficient tools. Please recomend something fitting for this project. My Craftsmen wedding present was sentenced to labor induced death upon receipt(maybe about 80 hours) Poor guy. After which I borrowed my cousins 142, and I tripled my output, gettting 6 trees down and proccessed that day. This turned me onto Husqvarna, the sticker turned me off of Stihl.

 

[Lou]

Oh hell, I was terribly afraid of this, as it as been a concern of mine. An 18" saw isn't big enough? My father argues that his great granddaddy did it with an ax (bears of which on his gravestone), and that an 18'' -20'' saw would be all you need up to 35" trunk diameter? I conceded with enough power and patience he might be correct. I have brought down in the neighborhood of 60-75 trees in my life, and I have processed over 50 cords of wood. I believe i have the experience to get started. I am a newbie, not a pro. I have steel-toed boots, chaps, gloves and a hard hat; what other safety gear do I need? I honestly don't have any more money than that, and I'm giving up dipping for that. I'm a dandy mechanic, so putting a top end in a two stoke doesn't much scare me, but 70cc---1000 dollars, your talking a lot trees on the truck to pay that off?
I'm probably going to start off small, as I plan to leave the real big beauties, so first out are the track trees, 20'' pines. If I can make enough off those, we'll look into more efficient tools. Please recommend something fitting for this project. My Craftsmen wedding present was sentenced to labor induced death upon receipt(maybe about 80 hours) Poor guy. After which I borrowed my cousins 142, and I tripled my output, getting 6 trees down and processed that day. This turned me onto Husqvarna, the sticker turned me off of Stihl.

Ear and eye protection.
Read the post just above your quote. 64cc's for $200-300. When you out grow 64 it can be increased to 79 for a fairly small investment. If I had known about the 6401 when I bought my Husky that is where I'd have gone. If limited funds a good used saw makes sense. These are good saws and have been maintained. All you have to do is make sure some renter didn't do something terminally stupid. Then run a quality fuel and oil mixture without ethanol.

Dads right! It is possible to drop a 33" tree with an 18" bar. Am I willing to do it? NO!!! Should you do it? Not IMO. Once you have been at for a few years probably OK. If you do something that takes you out of the work force who provides for your kids? Who keeps the banker and auctioneer away? Once on the ground I've cut trees in excess of 50". I'm not dropping anything larger than my bar.

 

[DGDrls]

353/455r/350

Welcome, I'm fairly new to this board also.
Your gonna find a ton of great info and people here.

I'm gonna agree with the guys here on the board.
Your gonna need more stink than a 50cc saw is gonna have.
Look to the used saw section on this board.

FWIW. I went with a Jonsered 2145/16" I just cut some
dead cherry one 22" the other 18" DBH.
The saw did just fine, but I wouldn't fell 70 acres
of tree's with it, it would be worn out for sure.
Additionally, two sided felling cuts get old quick.

Good luck you'll find something

DGDrls
2145 Jonsered
Pioneer FS2

 

[peter399]

I think you would do fine with a 60cc saw. I strongly recommend not to use longer bars than you need for various reason, seems to be some kind of US thing with long bars. You can easily fell a tree with a trunk 2 times the bar length. All you have to do is to walk from one side of the tree to the other.
(For firewood cutting on the ground it might be handy with long bars since you don't have to bend over that much. But for combined felling/limbing, no..)

It's hard not to recommend a new saw since you will do quite much felling in the years to come but since you have a strict 350$ budget I would go for a used 60-70cc saw.

Try searching for used :
Husqvarna: 372, 371, 365, 362, 262, 357 (and corresponding Jonsereds 2171, etc..)
Stihl: 044/440, 046/460, 361

Good luck!

- Peter

 

[Steve128]

Touch base with the Home Depots in your area. Find one selling their used Makita (Dolmar) 6401s. Usually go for $200 - 300 and have been well maintained. Search previous threads for what and how to check a used saw. When you need parts quite a few sponsors already here (cuttinscott) and others. Plenty of help maintaining your saw. Welcome to the forum.

+1

If money is tight, the used HD 6401's are outstanding values with $$$ left over for PPE.

 

[Jim Mesthene]

One amateur's opinion:
Get a 350, start on the smaller stuff. After you've worn it out, make a more informed choice for your remaining work.

 

[sILlogger]

your daddy and granddaddy where right. a few weeeks ago i cut a 77" water oak with a 24" bar on my 660.

 

[SawTroll]

Touch base with the Home Depot Tool Rentals in your area. Find one selling their used Makita (Dolmar) 6401s. Usually go for $200 - 300 and have been well maintained. Search previous threads for what and how to check a used saw. When you need parts quite a few sponsors already here (cuttinscott) and others. Plenty of help maintaining your saw. Welcome to the forum.

I think you would do fine with a 60cc saw. I strongly recommend not to use longer bars than you need for various reason, seems to be some kind of US thing with long bars. You can easily fell a tree with a trunk 2 times the bar length. All you have to do is to walk from one side of the tree to the other.
(For firewood cutting on the ground it might be handy with long bars since you don't have to bend over that much. But for combined felling/limbing, no..)

It's hard not to recommend a new saw since you will do quite much felling in the years to come but since you have a strict 350$ budget I would go for a used 60-70cc saw.

Try searching for used :
Husqvarna: 372, 371, 365, 362, 262, 357 (and corresponding Jonsereds 2171, etc..)
Stihl: 044/440, 046/460, 361

Good luck!

- Peter

One amateur's opinion:
Get a 350, start on the smaller stuff. After you've worn it out, make a more informed choice for your remaining work.

All good advice, not much to add, except add the 268 and 272xp to the used saw options.....:rockn: :rockn:

To the original question; The most important difference between the 350 and 353 is that the 353 is buildt to last longer, but it also is slightly heavier, and has slightly more power.

The 455 is far too heavy for its power, the 460 is a better option, but still is too heavy for its power. The same is the case with the MS290, but that one has other weaknesses as well..........

 

[computeruser]

Bar length and engine displacement are two different creatures. My 79cc Dolmar and 92cc Stihl regularly wear 20" bars, and I can assure you that their behavior is markedly different from that of a 455 Rancher similarly equipped.

As a landowner and regular saw user, you are going to want to own more than one saw before too long. Do a search for "three saw plan" and you'll have a sense of what I'm talking about. No single saw is going to meet all of your needs, especially with the kind of acreage that you're going to be working.

There are a lot of good choices out there in your price range, but they are going to be used saws. There are NO $350 new saws out there that are truly capable of being all-around machines. The closest that you're going to come to it, as suggested earlier, would be a used Makita 6401 from Home Depot's Rental Department, and then only if it is in good condition. I've purchased/traded/sold a few of these over the years and the one I still have contact with (gave it to a buddy so he'd stop using my saws) continues to run flawlessly; it cost me all of $217.30 plus a new GB Ti bar that I gave him from my collection.

A number of ArboristSite sponsors also sell used saws on eBay, and these would be reputable sources for good used machines. You might also wish to look in the trading post section here at ArboristSite, too.

 

[goof008]

Touch base with the Home Depot Tool Rentals in your area. Find one selling their used Makita (Dolmar) 6401s. Usually go for $200 - 300 and have been well maintained. Search previous threads for what and how to check a used saw. When you need parts quite a few sponsors already here (cuttinscott) and others. Plenty of help maintaining your saw. Welcome to the forum.

+1
I picked up one of these saws this spring. It cuts great, isn't real heavy and you can put a big bar on it. I have a 20" on mine with a chisel chain, both full comp and skip. Both work great, skip is easier to sharpen...you have half the cutters. A lot of people are gonna say get a 361, which I wish I could afford, but since money is tight, the Home Depot rental saw fit the need and budget.
Welcome to forum, there is a lot knowledge to be had here....but with it comes an unhealthy urge to have more saws!
Good luck

 

[blis]

Bar length and engine displacement are two different creatures. My 79cc Dolmar and 92cc Stihl regularly wear 20" bars, and I can assure you that their behavior is markedly different from that of a 455 Rancher similarly equipped.

As a landowner and regular saw user, you are going to want to own more than one saw before too long. Do a search for "three saw plan" and you'll have a sense of what I'm talking about. No single saw is going to meet all of your needs, especially with the kind of acreage that you're going to be working.

There are a lot of good choices out there in your price range, but they are going to be used saws. There are NO $350 new saws out there that are truly capable of being all-around machines. The closest that you're going to come to it, as suggested earlier, would be a used Makita 6401 from Home Depot's Rental Department, and then only if it is in good condition. I've purchased/traded/sold a few of these over the years and the one I still have contact with (gave it to a buddy so he'd stop using my saws) continues to run flawlessly; it cost me all of $217.30 plus a new GB Ti bar that I gave him from my collection.

A number of ArboristSite sponsors also sell used saws on eBay, and these would be reputable sources for good used machines. You might also wish to look in the trading post section here at ArboristSite, too.

agreed, three saw plan is what you will eventually need, but for getting started 353 would be your best choice out of those saws and later it will make fine limbing/small wood saw. Also if you dont mind taking your time felling trees it can and will fall bigger wood too, it just wont be fast as bigger saws. But taking your time to cut tree when starting never hurts..

 

[romeo]

I'll be an echo. Stay away from the home owner class saws if you can. A shot last legged 372xp will out last a new rancher. The home owner market saws just aren't built to really be used. Most homeowners put only a few hours on their saw per year so they can get a few years out of one. You will also find that most pro model saw parts are cheaper and more readily available.
Cheap saws have their place, just doesn't sound like your place. If you are set on one of the saws that you mentioned, it would be the 353.
You might also check your local dealer for a good used saw. Pro's bring them in for trade in often and sometimes you can pick up some descent saws at a good price, if they are like my brothers shop they will usually go through them thoroughly before they sell them.

 

[McNeely]

Alright gentlemen, WOW, I have never entered a specialty forum and been recieved with so much welcome. Your info invaluable, your opinions served so eloquently. Now, to saws; there is no rental at my Home Depot, and I drove 60 miles to get there. Bummer. I did, however, find a saw shop. They had a Stihl 59cc "MS 310" for $410, which after a good week of strawberries seems like it could happen

 

[sILlogger]

just as a bit of caution i would stay away from the 290/310/390 class saws.

 

[McNeely]

I realize that before long, I'm going to need an array of saws for my various situations. I am fully aware there is no perfect saw. But, there is a number of saws that would be capable of satisfying a large portion of my needs, albeit not as efficiently or quickly as others. I really like the way Bliss is going, it even inspired me to watch the Swiss instructional videos. Can anybody give specifics on the difference between the "medium duty," and the "pro," I'm looking for specifics. The motors on the Husqvarna seem similar except the carb?

Is anyone aware that "three saw plan" is rejected by the site's search feature because "the words entered are either too common or too short?":jawdrop: