One "final" felling/stump saw for hardwoods- Dolmar 7900 or Husqvarna 3120XP

[bigv]

I have acquired three felling saws in the last two months for which I am immensely grateful. I would like some advice on whether to buy a used 3120XP(powerhead only needing oiler) or another Makita 6401- but I have an 84mm kit it will receive immediately. The idea here is to have one final backup, that would add something to the stable but still be usable as a primary saw for a few days to a week if necessary.

The saws I already own for felling are:
Makita 6401 converted to 52mm 79cc
Husqvarna 365- early saw but very good compression & power
Husqvarna 575 - newer saw

I would like to have one more saw for my logging project(see below)

The saws I am looking at are owned by a friend who got out of logging after his brother died in accident.
They are:
(1)a Makita DCS6401 that has a 20" bar and 24" bar and 5 chains. He wants $300 for it. I might be able to get it for $275. It is an old Home Depot rental saw, but it is in good condition, no leaks, has a new piston and rings and 136lbs of compression. The bottom end is very solid, no chatter or looseness around the bearings. If I buy it, I have a spare 84mm conversion kit that I will do a mild port on to get the port timing right, and make the saw 84mm.

(2) Husqvarna 3120XP- Wants $400 for it.- period, no less, no negotiation. This saw has a ridiculous amount of compression, looks great inside the cylinder. Plastics are faded, but the saw itself is in great shape- except for one thing. The kicker is that he got into masonry work briefly and he took off the oiler and put on the parts to make it a masonry saw. He used it very, very little, but in a divorce he lost the oiler and the bar and his chains for this saw. So it needs the oiler setup, needs a bar, needs chains. It does not look great but the insides of the saw indicate it is in good condition. It was originally a chainsaw for sure, it was not originally sold as masonry saw.

My reservations about the 3120XP is that I will be walking a lot with the saw, and I have a bad left shoulder(labrum gone, rotator cuff torn). I worry about having to use it for long periods in the event of a breakdown. I think it could be useful with some of the 3- 4 foot OD hardwoods I've found. I think it could also be useful in dealing with stumps.

If I get the Makita, I have an 84cc kit I could put on it. I really like the Makita I've got and I think it has a great deal of power.

Whichever one of these I buy, I want it to be something I can use and not just have for looks. I don't know how much an oiler will be for the 3120xp. I don't know if it will be such a weight burden that I don't use it.

I am leaning towards the Makita because I know I can carry it without bothering my left should, it seems really reliable, and I think it would have good power.

Whichever saw I get has to have the ability that if the other 3 were broken, stolen, out of gas, abducted by aliens- that the saw could be used as a primary felling saw.

The other thing is that I am planning on whichever of these two I buy, to basically be my last saws that I buy.

I have TD6-62 and I am 90% finished on a hydraulic stump grinder, so between pushing out the stumps and being able to grind others, I may not need a stumping saw.

Project Details:
I am working through 20 acres of hardwoods and then 20 acres of loblolly and white pine. I am doing this part time when my machine shop work is really slow. I have gone through 2 acres worth of the hardwoods. I have run into a bunch of species throughout the 20 acres of hardwoods: there is oak, beech, elm, maple, cherry, sweet gum, an ash, cottonwood, redbud. Some of the big sweet gums have huge stumps. Minimum age of most of the hardwoods is 50 years, pine are all 40+ years old.

 

[Big_Wood]

get the makita. anybody who actually falls with a 3120 is a mad man. IMO there isn't a falling job left on this planet that a 395 couldn't handle. the 3120 is a mill saw to me and i wouldn't use it for anything else.

 

[zogger]

Are you just selling saw logs, or what? Or firewood? or both, or neither, just piling it up?

You need to eat what conan eats for breakfast to tote around and do felling cuts with that 3120 I would think, long bar and fluids, etc that is a heavy saw. I never ran one yet, just picked one up with a 60 on it, egadszooks....

..but..if I was firewood bucking a lot of big stuff, man, that would rock.

 

[Jacob J.]

I agree with Shane, there isn't much felling to be had anymore that would ever require a 3120. Get the Makita, build it up, and have a good time.

 

[Jimmy in NC]

I HAD a 3120 project. HAD being the key word there. They are just a big damn saw and no way would I carry one more than 200' from the truck and I'm 32 and in fairly decent health.

Now that I'm playing with chainsaw milling some, a 3120 is a bit interesting but even now, I'm a bit scared of a fixed high speed carb on a big motor. People I know that ran them said they were real easy to toast a top end on. If I get a huge saw for my mill it will be an 880.. again strictly a milling saw.

Only short coming of the Makita I've heard is oiling is sketchy over 32" bars... be the way I went though as I haven't seen much here in NC I can't get with my 32" bar.

 

[rburg]

I have run a 79cc Makita/Dolmar and a 84cc p/c on one and the 79cc with the oem p/c seemed more powerful. There are several builders on this site that have made good gains with porting the 79cc version. With the physical ailments you have, I think the lighter wt of the Makita/Dolmar would be much more useful.

 

[bryanr2]

you have three saws that basically overlap eachother. Id want the 3120 for the "occasional" need.If you have a big saw the big wood will find you. I dont see needing 3 back up saws in the same basic class.

 

[nstueve]

Felling work requiring these big saws might be down but a buddy of mine got one for stumping the giant old oaks that we were cutting down. Some of the trunk diameters were up to 40-50 inches belling outward on the bottom. I used his 3120 to do some bucking work too. It does make quick work of the big trunks with a 42-48in bar and some full skip. Keep in mind that long bars and giant loops are expensive. Price them out...

That being said I think the 3120 and your other saws are all the same D009 mount so no biggie there. Biggest problem with the Makita is it has oiling limitations. I wouldn't go over a 28-30in bar without modding the oiler.

Also the guys are right about the fixed jet, but there are guys on here that can fix that problem and tap the carb for a High side screw.

Steven's right, your two choices are hurt the bum shoulder or overlap what you already have. You need a balanced saw plan so what you really need is a ported 90cc saw. It would be a happy medium between the two choices.

 

[fuzz1500]

get the makita. anybody who actually falls with a 3120 is a mad man. IMO there isn't a falling job left on this planet that a 395 couldn't handle. the 3120 is a mill saw to me and i wouldn't use it for anything else.

AGREED !!!

 

[zogger]

Just another thought, 400 beans for a 3120 is a "you suck" level pretty good price if it is in good running shape. Use it for whopper stuff, milling, and or would make good swap bait for someone who wants to start milling.

 

[bigv]

The hardwoods- logs. And everyone wants different length logs. There is lady out towards High Point that has a boutique furniture company. She came out and followed me around and had me mark 100 trees she wanted, signed a contract, and paid me a deposit. The rest I've been selling to a lumber company out near Asheville, some to a company somewhere around Sweetwater TN.

I am selling the hardwood logs by 1000 foot quantity.

The few pines I've cut out thus far have only been pulpwood grade. As far as lumber pines, there are quite a few that a lumber company in Chattanooga want out of the 20 acres of loblolly and white pine.

I'll get some pictures of the two trees that have been making me think about getting something bigger than the 3 I already have.

I honestly don't like the idea of the fixed speed carb on the 3120xp. I don't like the weight. I'm 31 and I just don't want my right shoulder to end up like my left shoulder. I carried a C-51, a Pro Mac 700, and an XL 925 around the woods from the time I was a teenager until I finished a four year degree. I usually carried with my left arm, and I think that and laying down my FLH did my left shoulder in.

 

[zogger]

There's a guy on the trading post, currently page three, who really wants a 3120 and will tote the note for overseas shipping. You could buy it, sell it to him after you check it out, for a reasonable but not gouging profit, then use the proceeds to get you like a 394-5 or something else, which should handle any of your large wood chores and be way mo lighter than the 3120.

I have a 394 and even being a scrawny neo geezer with a bad back, I can run it for awhile before it kiks my azz...hahahaha!

 

[Jimmy in NC]

I just orderd parts to put my 394 back together this morning. I'm game for heading west if you want to run it one afternoon when I get it together. I know for me, holding a saw and looking it over on a tail gate is worlds different than running one in a stem or two.

 

[Big_Wood]

I HAD a 3120 project. HAD being the key word there. They are just a big damn saw and no way would I carry one more than 200' from the truck and I'm 32 and in fairly decent health.

Now that I'm playing with chainsaw milling some, a 3120 is a bit interesting but even now, I'm a bit scared of a fixed high speed carb on a big motor. People I know that ran them said they were real easy to toast a top end on. If I get a huge saw for my mill it will be an 880.. again strictly a milling saw.

Only short coming of the Makita I've heard is oiling is sketchy over 32" bars... be the way I went though as I haven't seen much here in NC I can't get with my 32" bar.

you can just do what i did and get the carbs modified by terry. mine have the high speed adjustment. one has 12.5k limiter and the other is unlimited. oh and the top ends are not as easy to roast as people say. i milled with my main 3120 at 32:1 on the fixed jet for over a year and the thing was unharmed.

 

[machinisttx]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 3120 for $400 in good mechanical condition.

 

[JT78]

Well if its mostly just gonna be used for bucking and stump cutting the 3120 would be much better but trust me when I say you don't want to have to run it to fell trees all day. I would also say the price on the 3120 is really good but she a heavy *****. If you are asking which one will be an all around better saw for multiple applications the Dolmar wins hands down if you just need raw torque and brute strength the 3120 is by far better. Just depends on the application. If you have 3 other saws what are the chances all 3 would really be broke down at the same time?

 

[fearofpavement]

Guys, regarding how "good of a deal" the 3120 is, keep in mind that he posted it is not currently in operating condition. No oiler parts, bar or chain. Those will add a bit of coin so keep that in mind.

If you are cutting out what is essentially a forest, what is a stumping saw needed for? That said, if you are going to be in the stump grinding business, the bigger the saw the better. Even if it weighs 50 lbs you're not going to be swinging around through the trees with it. Just having to support the weight until you get the bar in a kerf and then long bars are good for cutting the absolutely widest part of the tree in that root flare. (and finding rocks, iron stakes, wire fencing, staples, etc)

So if you are thinking "felling" go with the Makita, for "stumping" the 3120 is the tool to use but do some research as to what it'll take to get it going and set it up in a configuration you need. By the way, the Makita sounds like it has pretty low compression so take that into account for value. Just because someone wants a certain price for something doesn't mean it's worth that much.

Does the 3120 come as a cut off saw? ie, has the wheel and parts?