New saw help

[Maine_woodburner]

Hi all, rather heavy saw user. Have a husqvarna rancher 450 with a 20 inch blade that I primarily use for bucking with a aggressive full chisel chain. Great for that purpose other than how quickly the chain dulls with rough bark.
I also have an efco MTH4000 40 cc with a 16 inch bar and semi chisel chain that is my dominant saw I use now due to weight, and the narrow bar allows easy plunge cuts on nasty leaning birch and other higher risk trees and pruning standing trees.
I am happy with the large fuel tank and maneuverability of the smaller saw but being a month old needed to start chasing the carb tuning after a gallon of fuel and after almost 3 gallons seems like a trend.
Looking first for a lightweight smaller saw that keeps tune better, looking at echo or stihl having dealers for both here.
Then a larger bucking saw, keeping in mind I have a busted neck and 3 messed up lower disks in my back mangled from the Army.
My goals are to keep a few trails in my woods cleaned up, process that into firewood and process between 20-40 cord a year with a good amount being full length truckloads to process and sell some to try and break even on heating costs here in Northern Maine.
Wanting to get more professional quality saws with a bit better power to weight ratios to let the dogs do the work a bit more. More looking for low end grunt I suppose on a larger one and just a 16 inch 40 cc with both a large tank and more oomph.
Thanks.

 

[Squareground3691]

Stihl MS 400

 

[Maine_woodburner]

Stihl MS 400

A little much for now for me, I am seriously considering the MS 261 C-M. A good amount lighter and it is the NE so not much need for a larger saw.
My first priority is finding an efco upgrade since I find myself running the small saw much more than I expected.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

The 261 is a great saw!

 

[ammoaddict]

You can't beat echo for value and reliability. For your small saw I would recommend the 3510. I have the older version of it (352). It's a great little saw for the price. At 35cc it would outcut the 42cc craftsman I had. Plus a whole lot lighter.

 

[Maine_woodburner]

You can't beat echo for value and reliability. For your small saw I would recommend the 3510. I have the older version of it (352). It's a great little saw for the price. At 35cc it would outcut the 42cc craftsman I had. Plus a whole lot lighter.

I have been handling a lot of echo saws since it is a local dealer. My only concern is run time on a tank of fuel. That efco has a massive tank and runs way longer on a fill than my 50cc husqvarna.

 

[ammoaddict]

My little echo just sips fuel. I've never timed it but it goes a long way on a tank.

 

[link]

Hi all, rather heavy saw user. Have a husqvarna rancher 450 with a 20 inch blade that I primarily use for bucking with a aggressive full chisel chain. Great for that purpose other than how quickly the chain dulls with rough bark.
I also have an efco MTH4000 40 cc with a 16 inch bar and semi chisel chain that is my dominant saw I use now due to weight, and the narrow bar allows easy plunge cuts on nasty leaning birch and other higher risk trees and pruning standing trees.
I am happy with the large fuel tank and maneuverability of the smaller saw but being a month old needed to start chasing the carb tuning after a gallon of fuel and after almost 3 gallons seems like a trend.
Looking first for a lightweight smaller saw that keeps tune better, looking at echo or stihl having dealers for both here.
Then a larger bucking saw, keeping in mind I have a busted neck and 3 messed up lower disks in my back mangled from the Army.
My goals are to keep a few trails in my woods cleaned up, process that into firewood and process between 20-40 cord a year with a good amount being full length truckloads to process and sell some to try and break even on heating costs here in Northern Maine.
Wanting to get more professional quality saws with a bit better power to weight ratios to let the dogs do the work a bit more. More looking for low end grunt I suppose on a larger one and just a 16 inch 40 cc with both a large tank and more oomph.
Thanks.

MS241cm with a 35cm bar in the field, 372xp or MS400/562xp with a 20" at the sawbuck.

 

[soloz2]

Stihl 261c will do what you want. It's a little lighter than your 450 with nearly a full HP more power. It is also mtronic, so the computer manages the carb for you, and does a great job as well.
For limbing a 30cc saw would pair well with the 50cc. Look at a Stihl 180, or echo 3510 already mentioned.

The 400c is a great saw, way more power for the larger stuff and bucking. It is a great combo with a 261 that's still light, but it sounds like getting into the 8lb and 10lb range would be better on your neck and back than the 10lb and 12lb range.

 

[Maine_woodburner]

Stihl 261c will do what you want. It's a little lighter than your 450 with nearly a full HP more power. It is also mtronic, so the computer manages the carb for you, and does a great job as well.
For limbing a 30cc saw would pair well with the 50cc. Look at a Stihl 180, or echo 3510 already mentioned.

The 400c is a great saw, way more power for the larger stuff and bucking. It is a great combo with a 261 that's still light, but it sounds like getting into the 8lb and 10lb range would be better on your neck and back than the 10lb and 12lb range.

Thank you, this is a very informative answer. After about 4-5 hours with my smaller saw, and about 2-3 with the larger one I am really feeling it.

 

[Maine_woodburner]

So my for now bucking saw is the Holzfforma MS 460 knockoff 75.5 cc with a 25 inch blade. Had an issue with the clutch exploding on the 2nd tank. Had the parts shipped out the next day to me and no issues since.
Figure I can get enough wood done to afford the real deal stihl saws with that and the efco.
But my poor Husqvarna rancher is just sitting anymore, cuts slower than either of them, and either too small or big for felling tasks. 3/8 is what I like using I guess, trying to file that 20 inch pico chain V/S 16 or 25 inch 3/8 is horrible.
I will keep all the advice above in mind and hopefully get a chance to try a few of these saws out before purchasing them.