saw life span

[troutfisher]

A question for you pros who run saws every day, Do you have a set amount of time you keep a saw in service? Do you buy a new saw and run it a certain number of years, then get rid of it as part of a cost effective plan?

 

[Jacob J.]

Most pro fallers rotate saws out after two years, regardless of how much use they've seen. I know some fallers who work exclusively for helicopter loggers and they buy a new saw every 11-12 months whether they need it or not.

 

[Burvol]

I'm obviously not working this week, being online, but I prefer to buy them new from the dealer. It depends on what you will do with it too. Cutting big timber will wear a saw out after a few years, although the BIG poulan 655's go for an UNREAL lenghth of time. My dad ran one for over ten years of cutting big timber with NO major repairs. Not even rings. I usually run my 460 and 361 a tad rich, use Stihl oil, and don't rev the :censored: out of them if they do not have a load, like a big piece of wood persay. When you do buy a new saw, don't get drunk in the garage and wind it to the max for hours on end dreaming of using it. You need to put a fair load on it first to seat the rings properly. Really, they should last a while. And if you make a living with them, just a nessecary evil. You know? But hey, eveyone here loves a new saw Just don't lean it out too hard. That is a big killer of saws.

 

[ropensaddle]

A question for you pros who run saws every day, Do you have a set amount of time you keep a saw in service? Do you buy a new saw and run it a certain number of years, then get rid of it as part of a cost effective plan?

That depends on saw and who is running it but what I do is run until rebuild is necessary rebuild once and that is all as by then the crank is usually wore out and price of a new crank is usually not cost effective in my opinion unless there is a sentimental value. That changes everything and the sky may be the limit lol. Note by the time I rebuild saw and needs it again a decade has passed and they have made so many changes that I hate to part with the old saw! But a decade for a thousand or so is awesome and oh the wood cut in that time wow!!!! Of course that was before I got hooked to this site now I buy saw just to be buying it or make collection bigger so my advise would be pointless. Beware of the a.s. bug it is catching:rockn: :rockn: :rockn:

 

[Burvol]

Most pro fallers rotate saws out after two years, regardless of how much use they've seen. I know some fallers who work exclusively for helicopter loggers and they buy a new saw every 11-12 months whether they need it or not.

No one likes packing a dead saw out of a nasty clear cut.

 

[ropensaddle]

No one likes packing a dead saw out of a nasty clear cut.

See what I mean a.s. bug lol.

 

[blis]

when my uncle was still working as lumberjack he changed saw once a year, but he told me also that some lumberjacks chewed trought 3 saws a year, but thats extreme...

 

[Burvol]

See what I mean a.s. bug lol.

Ya, they sit under the shop bench next to the grinder. That's where my 90 was, she is going back into the fleet or for sale.

 

[Burvol]

when my uncle was still working as lumberjack he changed saw once a year, but he told me also that some lumberjacks chewed trought 3 saws a year, but thats extreme...

You know what? That is why my dad ran Pioneer and big Poulans. He had a lot of problems with Stihl in the early and mid 80's, kinda funny his kid turned into a Stihl nut. He said his saw bills were out of control in those days.

 

[blis]

You know what? That is why my dad ran Pioneer and bid Poulans. He had a lot of problems with Stihl in the early and mid 80's, kinda funny his kid turned into a Stihl nut. He said his saw bills were out of control in those days.

well, over here the lumberjacks had 2 (3 when there still were jonseredS raket's) choices, stihl and husky and noone used stihl... Almost all lumberjacks swtiched from rakets into huskies when they ended their production...

 

[Burvol]

well, over here the lumberjacks had 2 (3 when there still were jonseredS raket's) choices, stihl and husky and noone used stihl... Almost all lumberjacks swtiched from rakets into huskies when they ended their production...

Well, they are made next door....

 

[Al Smith]

How long??Depends on the use and who is running them.My oldest is 1959 but I have no idea of how much use it has had.

I have a Mac PM 610 that is on it's fifth bar and most likely a five gallon bucket full of chain loops. I ran the dickens out of that saw for a nine year period I sold firewood.It still runs strong and it is supposed to be a junk saw.

 

[beowulf343]

A question for you pros who run saws every day, Do you have a set amount of time you keep a saw in service? Do you buy a new saw and run it a certain number of years, then get rid of it as part of a cost effective plan?

What kind of pros are you talking about? Fallers/loggers or climbers/arborists? Dad owns a logging company and it's usually a new saw a year for them too. But as a climber and especially as a takedown climber, my saws seem to take a beating. I am careful with them, maintain them religiously, but four brand new saws a year is not uncommon for me. And it's not from dropping them either. It's just fromm being banged around the tree and having the piss run out of them every single day, no matter what the weather. A logger may make 10 cuts in a tree. I make hundreds of cuts in a tree. Biggest problems is not usually the engine. It's chainbrakes, recoils, cracked housings, shut-off switches, throttle linkages, and fuel lines. Usually, if after 4 months, something happens and I have to put half or more of what i paid for it back into it, i'll buy new and keep the old as a parts saw.

 

[Ryan Willock]

When I was production logging I would go through usually one saw a year unless a d@mn tree got on one!! I have gone through as many as 4 in one year due to 1 factory defect, 1 to a tree sitting on it , 1 from a log truck backing over it (truck driver bought me to a new one, I had told him to watchout for it!) and one just plain worn out. I've had more 372's than anything else as I like their balance the best but they don't seem to last as long as the 460's stihl's do. I know a timber cutter that buys a new 395 every six months religously. He is paid like most cutters in my area by the mbf and he works for a HIGH production crew so he HATES down time! When he buys a new one he sells his old one (keeping one as a spare). He only runs 20 bar on it. I turned him on to calk boots and now you don't see him without them! Well I was going to post some pics but the site won't let me at the moment

 

[Timberhauler]

A question for you pros who run saws every day, Do you have a set amount of time you keep a saw in service? Do you buy a new saw and run it a certain number of years, then get rid of it as part of a cost effective plan?

On my MS200T's,I usually get around three years out of a new one,they last because they are only used in the tree and never hit dirt,so they are never run dull...On the mid-sized saws,I'm talking about the MS440's,I get about 18 months out of them before I rotate them.I always keep the old ones as either parts saws or spares.Out of the big saws,the 660's,they are good for about three years for us because they don't get run as much as the 70cc saws do.I'm curious to see how this 395 is going to hold up over time.Since I've had it I've used it every day.Those two 385 husky's are two years old,get used every day and are still running very strong..It all depends on how well the saw is maintained and who used it..The saws that I use personally and don't let anyone else touch mysteriously seem to hold up much longer than the saws everyone else on my crew run.

 

[West Texas]

Timberhauler wrote: "The saws that I use personally and don't let anyone else touch mysteriously seem to hold up much longer than the saws everyone else on my crew run."

A great mystery on longevity has just been solved.

 

[SRT-Tech]

i have a very old Husky 61, well maintained by its old owner, only on its 3 rd set of rings. Still fires up after second pull and cuts and mills all day long. did 40 cords of firewood last year, running it 9 - 10 hours a day. Needs a new chainbrake, will probably need a carb kit next year, but damn its a tough little saw. Real fun hauling 30lbs of saw up a tree though.....

 

[ropensaddle]

i have a very old Husky 61, well maintained by its old owner, only on its 3 rd set of rings. Still fires up after second pull and cuts and mills all day long. did 40 cords of firewood last year, running it 9 - 10 hours a day. Needs a new chainbrake, will probably need a carb kit next year, but damn its a tough little saw. Real fun hauling 30lbs of saw up a tree though.....

shhhh you are giving away secrets husky is why
I get a decade out of a saw and of course keeping sharp and maintained !!!

 

[mattinky]

My beloved Husky 50 is 16 years old and the engine has never been touched, they'le last a long time if you run good oil, keep the air filter clean, keep the sawdust cleaned out and the chain sharp. I am going to rebuild her before next firewood season just to be on the safe side though. Matt