Longevity of modern 90cc class saws

[2dogs]

2Dogs: You forgot “can I put a 24 inch ‘blade’ on my 35cc saw?”

Dang it man. You know a lot about this subject. I'm jealous.

 

[link]

That blade better be chrome finish and not some cheap aluminum core.

 

[Gabriel1982]

You are correct a magnet does not stick to the 6100 muffler.

Damn, I haven't tried that yet and I have the 160kg force Neodymium magnet form germany I bought many years ago. There was also for a brief period a 200kg force of atraction neodymium magnet Monolith! Just have to find that magnet and see if it sticks to the exhaust on the makita
Although I knew from the moment I took it out of the box that it "might" be stainless steel. Been working with various types of steel alloy for some time now. Can't tell you the exact alloy just by looking but usually I know if it's SS or not! The exhaust on the EA6100P might well be 316 stainless. The good stuff
It's still available https://www.supermagnete.de/eng/blo...lock-magnet-110.6mm-89mm-19.5mm_Q-111-89-20-E
But at 194 euros no shippment included from Germany. I paid about 120 euros more than a decade ago when I bought the 160kg Monolith. Shipping included to Romania,right to my door!

 

[tramp bushler]

I gazed long and hard into my favourite crystal ball (the left one) and it told me, for a saw not yet released like the 392XP, expect a production falling economic lifespan for a pro users daily saw of 24 months minimum.
Then it told me, expected lifespan in the hands of an experienced casual non-pro user- UNKNOWN.
Final revelation was, expected lifespan in the hands of a novice without a clue and no premixed fuel- approximately half of the first tank of gas.

@Den , keep your eyes and ears open for a 2188, sometimes they fly beneath the radar because they are NOT orange and do not have a 390XP sticker- but basically they ARE a 390XP.

24 months ain't happening !
If a saw makes it thru an 8 month season of falling timber, it is ancient !
6 1/2 hours a day , 5 or 6 days a week. 2 1/2 gallons of saw gas a day.
I've never had one make it past 6 months. Either brand. And I've had Lots of both.
I absolutely expect 3 months and hope for 5 or 6.
Some guys have saws last longer than other guys. Just how it is.
No stump wrenching at work other than putting on a new drive sprocket if one exploded and of course changing chains.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

24 months ain't happening !
If a saw makes it thru an 8 month season of falling timber, it is ancient !
6 1/2 hours a day , 5 or 6 days a week. 2 1/2 gallons of saw gas a day.
I've never had one make it past 6 months. Either brand. And I've had Lots of both.
I absolutely expect 3 months and hope for 5 or 6.
Some guys have saws last longer than other guys. Just how it is.
No stump wrenching at work other than putting on a new drive sprocket if one exploded and of course changing chains.

You might take not that my answer to the original question was more tongue in cheek than a quotation of fact. Having said that though, over hear 80-90% of all exotic forestry is machine felled now and a saw can last 24 months as a fellers saw- because it does not see continuous hourly use- usually reserved for fringes and areas not suited to the machine harvester on site.

 

[tramp bushler]

In the PacNW, BC and Southeast Alaska. Timber Fallers work full time falling and bucking. It's what they do. I don't know what the loggers do. Don't care.
Pro Fallers work generally 6 to 7 hours a day trigger time. Day in day out.

 

[tramp bushler]

Speaking of stainless mufflers. The 394, 395 could have benifited from a sturdier muffler. Out of 5 different 394s that I had and busheled with I had 3 mufflers go to pieces on me.
Also, there is a big difference between the 390 and the 395.
The 390 is like the 288. The 395 is just a little bit lighter than the 2100. But they are SOOO Smooth ! And still a Hoss !
I would pick a 390 Husky over the 660 Stihl.
Not for longevity tho the 390s last good. But for the smoothness ! 660 vibrate like crazy. !! And guzzle gas like they own a refinery.
The 660 does have good stump . But the 395 has more. Noticibly so. And the 395 is Smooth.

 

[Gabriel1982]

In the PacNW, BC and Southeast Alaska. Timber Fallers work full time falling and bucking. It's what they do. I don't know what the loggers do. Don't care.
Pro Fallers work generally 6 to 7 hours a day trigger time. Day in day out.

6-7 hours a day through the woods?! Carrying chainsaw and gas? You people work a lot! At least your "office" is in the wild)nature ,not some cubicle

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

In the PacNW, BC and Southeast Alaska. Timber Fallers work full time falling and bucking. It's what they do. I don't know what the loggers do. Don't care.
Pro Fallers work generally 6 to 7 hours a day trigger time. Day in day out.

What do you guys do with the worn out saws? Or does the company provide them?

 

[Dennbb]

24 months ain't happening !
If a saw makes it thru an 8 month season of falling timber, it is ancient !
6 1/2 hours a day , 5 or 6 days a week. 2 1/2 gallons of saw gas a day.
I've never had one make it past 6 months. Either brand. And I've had Lots of both.
I absolutely expect 3 months and hope for 5 or 6.
Some guys have saws last longer than other guys. Just how it is.
No stump wrenching at work other than putting on a new drive sprocket if one exploded and of course changing chains.

That sounds about right even for the older saws. I retired from forestery 20 years ago after 30 years. No matter what brand. We'd get anywhere from 1000 to 1500 hrs. a year of cutting in depending on the weather. Most of us would buy a new saw at least once a year. They get pretty beat up on the coast with all the slash and underbrush too. I have seen 30 year old saws that made mine look like a beater after a few months of working them.

 

[TheRealWorld]

I treat my saws gently, currently have two MS61s and several other small saws. I only use Sthil oil at the 50 to one rate, I have been using Sthil Saws for 42 years, and I use them hard but not on hot days. I have very good luck with them. They can last me for years, I have always watched the revs, I warm them up slowly, and my biggest issue is I crush them, run them over, or do something stupid. I had one 064 that I used as a backup saw for over 20 years, and I sold it for $300. I cut hardwood in the midwest.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Well maybe thats why we see ao many Magnesium iron bore saws still kicking around . 2 years logging and they got an over bore and a new piston! Some as much as .070 over . Without any plastic to break they just survive decades in any industry.

 

[Hermio]

24 months ain't happening !
If a saw makes it thru an 8 month season of falling timber, it is ancient !
6 1/2 hours a day , 5 or 6 days a week. 2 1/2 gallons of saw gas a day.
I've never had one make it past 6 months. Either brand. And I've had Lots of both.
I absolutely expect 3 months and hope for 5 or 6.
Some guys have saws last longer than other guys. Just how it is.
No stump wrenching at work other than putting on a new drive sprocket if one exploded and of course changing chains.

My local timber companies tell me they get 5 years minimum out of their saws. They mostl;y use Jonsereds.

 

[Gabriel1982]

Speaking of stainless mufflers. The 394, 395 could have benifited from a sturdier muffler. Out of 5 different 394s that I had and busheled with I had 3 mufflers go to pieces on me.
Also, there is a big difference between the 390 and the 395.
The 390 is like the 288. The 395 is just a little bit lighter than the 2100. But they are SOOO Smooth ! And still a Hoss !
I would pick a 390 Husky over the 660 Stihl.
Not for longevity tho the 390s last good. But for the smoothness ! 660 vibrate like crazy. !! And guzzle gas like they own a refinery.
The 660 does have good stump . But the 395 has more. Noticibly so. And the 395 is Smooth.

I must ask you since it's clear you have a lot of experience with chainsaws: do you think a makita 6100 might last 1000 hours using synthetic motul 2 stroke oil before considering "it's used/worn out/done"? Thanks

 

[LuDookie]

I think most saws will last 1000 hours or more, if you do it quick. Probably a better chance of that than a saw lasting 500 hours over 30 years of poor storage, stale fuel, etc.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

2088 hrs in a work year, so i wonder if poor maintenance and a lack of safe/skilled work practices play a major role in longevity?

 

[Lionsfan]

2088 hrs in a work year, so i wonder if poor maintenance and a lack of safe/skilled work practices play a major role in longevity?

I lived in SE Alaska for a couple seasons and it was some god awful wet, rough, tangled up miserable terrain. I could see destroying a saw a year in that environment.

 

[tramp bushler]

My local timber companies tell me they get 5 years minimum out of their saws. They mostl;y use Jonsereds.

They can say what they want. But a saw will not last that long unless all it does is sit on a shelf in the shop. I've been making a living with chainsaws mostly since 1973.
As far as full time professional production falling and bucking or Pre Commercial Tree Thinning. With a saw that is 100% reliable all day every day. Nope. Not happening !
And that is running the state of the art, Best saws in the World !
Either brand. There are only 2 brands that make those saws.

 

[tramp bushler]

2088 hrs in a work year, so i wonder if poor maintenance and a lack of safe/skilled work practices play a major role in longevity?

Around 1200 hours trigger time in an 8 month season . 6 1/2 hours a day. 6 days a week . Skilled work, this butt log was sold for more than $3,000. At the sorting yard. Where it was bought, scaled , bundled and dumped in the bay . To be towed out to the ship and loaded onboard.
I had 1 butt log from that timber sale that sold for around $7,000. For One Log.
If your not Really Skilled, you don't get to cut that kind of timber !

Saws don't get babied. They do get taken care of.
That's between 400 and 500 gallons of saw gas for the 90 + cc saws
My 064s would burn around 325 gallons in 6 months.

 

[tramp bushler]

I must ask you since it's clear you have a lot of experience with chainsaws: do you think a makita 6100 might last 1000 hours using synthetic motul 2 stroke oil before considering "it's used/worn out/done"? Thanks

I have no idea. It doesn't only depend on only the engine internals.
By and large , every single part of a chainsaw is responsible for it's success or failure. With a small saw like a 6100, alot depends on what length bar you will be running on it. What chain, how the chain will be maintained. And the bars. How you run the saw. Getting 1000 hours out of a pro grade saw mostly depends more on the person running it than on the saw's internals.