Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[rarefish383]

View attachment 656132 After my daughters soccer practice I had a few minutes to spend outside so I took my little scrounged homelite to some Manitoba maple I had in 4’ lengths. View attachment 656129 The plan was to have a little fun and then fire up the poulan 5020 and just get er done as some of the pieces were 12” or better. But I was having so much fun with the diminutive 30cc homie. View attachment 656130 It throws real chips just like it’s big brothers. Lol. Anyways before I knew it, it was all cut up and the poulan got no love. View attachment 656131 It was such a nice cool evening, I couldn’t make myself come inside before dark.

Jeff, I picked up this little Super 2 for $15 at an auction a couple months ago. The only thing wrong is the bar mount stud is stripped right at the point it tightens up, so the previous owner put 3 washers on it to get to good threads. It is a blast to play with, and it does throw nice chips. I took it to the GTG but never got it out of the trunk. I should have pulled it out and stuck it in some of those big Oak logs and made some of those big Orange saws feel bad.

 

[James Miller]

Jeff, I picked up this little Super 2 for $15 at an auction a couple months ago. The only thing wrong is the bar mount stud is stripped right at the point it tightens up, so the previous owner put 3 washers on it to get to good threads. It is a blast to play with, and it does throw nice chips. I took it to the GTG but never got it out of the trunk. I should have pulled it out and stuck it in some of those big Oak logs and made some of those big Orange saws feel bad.

One of dad's friends has two of them and want let either of them go. Both runners and look as good as yours.

 

[MustangMike]

I cut all the wood to heat my house for the 1st 4-5 years I cut with a Super 2. You can keep it. No AV, slow, recoil problems, go Stihl!!!

 

[MustangMike]

My 260 gets the most hours on it.

I got a ported one, and really like it, but if you get a ported 261 C Ver II, you won't look back. Very light, very strong.

Couple it with a strong running 60 or 70 cc saw, and few people will need anything else. IMO, the 460/461/7900 are great for bucking, but are a little too heavy to be all around saws.

A good running 044/440/372 is hard to beat.

 

[rarefish383]

Your age is showing again, and I'm not talking about in regards to driving a stick, but a 4 speed lol.
We are talking about stick in the good morning thread right now, too funny.

My room mate had a Doug Nash 5 speed in his Super Stock Cuda, but he could only use 4 gears running in Super Stock. If I had a 6 speed, I'd loose count and have to start over in 1st.

 

[James Miller]

My room mate had a Doug Nash 5 speed in his Super Stock Cuda, but he could only use 4 gears running in Super Stock. If I had a 6 speed, I'd loose count and have to start over in 1st.

I've only driven one 6 speed car an 03 SVT Cobra. Driven in anger down a back road it's just a 4 speed car with 2 extra gears for cruising on the highway.

 

[chipper1]

I got a ported one, and really like it, but if you get a ported 261 C Ver II, you won't look back. Very light, very strong.

Couple it with a strong running 60 or 70 cc saw, and few people will need anything else. IMO, the 460/461/7900 are great for bucking, but are a little too heavy to be all around saws.

A good running 044/440/372 is hard to beat.

Are you saying the 044/440/372 is a good all around saw, but not the 460/461/7900/7910.

 

[MustangMike]

Yes, at least for me, the 460/461/7900 are just a little too heavy to use for limbing. They are better for bucking the big wood, not IMO, not as good as an all around saw.

That said, the 460/461 are the primary saws for a lot of tree guys around here, but that may be because the 440 is NLA and the 441 is just as heavy as a 461.

IMO, the new 462 S/B a big hit.

 

[Philbert]

Spent quite some time trying to put an order of Tsumura bars together with Nate but got nowhere.

Maybe try him again? Did a surprise visit to his shop last Saturday, and he looked pretty swamped. @fordf150



Philbert

 

[chipper1]

Yes, at least for me, the 460/461/7900 are just a little too heavy to use for limbing. They are better for bucking the big wood, not IMO, not as good as an all around saw.

That said, the 460/461 are the primary saws for a lot of tree guys around here, but that may be because the 440 is NLA and the 441 is just as heavy as a 461.

IMO, the new 462 S/B a big hit.

I see, but what about the 044/440 and the 372.
I remember a guy saying something to the effect of the 044 was one of the best all around saws .
As I've said many times, I prefer the husky/dolmar handles for limbing especially on a 70cc saw as it's what I'm most comfortable with.
I'm sure that 261 is a sweet runner, I don't recall running a ported one yet, but if it's anything like the 550 it's an animal, sure it will get a lot of use. I liked the little 241's well enough to buy a ported one and sell both of my others, the 261 I had didn't have anything the 550 since I prefer the handling of the huskys it had to go(personal preference as they are both strong 50cc saws ).

 

[chipper1]

Maybe try him again? Did a surprise visit to his shop last Saturday, and he looked pretty swamped. @fordf150

View attachment 656209 View attachment 656210

Philbert

I've found it best to just call, although that might not be the cheapest route in this instance. These guys stay pretty busy and I think most would rather communicant by phone because it's quickest and they are about being efficient with their time.
Dealers can make money on smalls, but when you start to add in various payment types, customs/ international shipping I would think the profitability may go down on them.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Started messing with the small stuff.

 

[turnkey4099]

Are you saying the 044/440/372 is a good all around saw, but not the 460/461/7900/7910.

I find the 441 a bit too heavy for all-around use. My pick for that is my MS362 which usully wears 20 or 24" bars but can haul a 28" fine.

Got to re-dress soem saws today. My 32" bar/chain is married to a big rotten log. so the MS362 will go out with 20" bar, teh 441 with a 28". I jammed teh bar at the bottom of cut through the 30" log, Made 3 more cuts after that and every round jammed as it came free. Farmer will be there in the morning with his large tractor with forks to free up things.

 

[al-k]

Well that big old tree came down today. Now my work starts.

 

[al-k]

 

[KiwiBro]

Maybe try him again? Did a surprise visit to his shop last Saturday, and he looked pretty swamped.

I bought elsewhere after a few weeks (now a month) with no reply. I figured either he didn't get the last PM reply I sent with the order or for whatever reason decided it wasn't worth his while. I'd imagine international orders would be a PITA, especially ones that require a bit of back and forth to finalise. I have noticed of those USA suppliers still willing to deal with me, their processing and response times have certainly stretched considerably from in the past though, so where I would write a deal off and move on after a week with no correspondence, I now give it a few weeks because everyone seems way busier than in past years.

 

[Cowboy254]

This is the load of pine I got for free, it ended up being 2 trailer loads which would equate to 1 load of the hard wood I normally get but as I said I like having some pine in the mix.
View attachment 656089

I've got to admit, I'm a wood snob. Living on the East Coast, I've got pretty much unlimited sources of Oak. But, many people like Tulip Poplar for firewood. It dries fast, burns hot and clean, starts fast and easy, but burns a bit fast. Before I retired, a friend had one blow down in his Mom's yard. I milled most of it, the rest I cut for firewood. When I was working, I could pack my stove with Oak and get a 12 hour burn out of it. When I got home there was a bed of glowing coals, just throw more wood on and good to go. When I loaded the stove up with the Poplar, by the time I got home it was out cold. You could put your hand in the ashes. My cousin loves it to start his fires, so always has plenty on hand. I only start my stove once in the fall when I start burning and never let it go out, so I don't need easy starting wood or kindling.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Joe. I'd say Jeff and I are into wood snobbery as much as the next bloke. The issue here is the wood density. It's all a compromise. Most Aus grown eucalypts are denser than oak which is handy if you only have a crappy Subaru and 7x4.5 ft trailer so you can at least get some reasonable BTUs per trip. Burns longer - yay. Burns slowly - sometimes not so good if you want to get more out of the heater. Keep chucking in more dense wood and you end up with a firebox full of coals which take ages to burn down. This is where the softwood would be useful to mix in to keep the heat up while helping burn down the coals.

I certainly take your point though. A couple of my local eucalypts are similar to oak in density and they are a nice compromise in terms of heat output vs burn time.

 

[al-k]

A couple of short vids

 

[LondonNeil]

Someone will get a nice saw here. I just don't have the time to build it right now. I'm excited by the thought of the makita though

 

[MustangMike]

The 362 is a VG all around saw, and the Ver II (of both 362 and 261) are at least 1/2 lb lighter than the Ver I s, giving them both VG power to weight ratios.

Most of the 60 cc saws, when ported, run very strong and would make good all around saws, but if they are all not ported, a 044/440/372 will kick their butts.

I have a soft spot for the 044/440s because they are the lightest (available) 70 cc saws, and you can make them run very strong w/o any port work. That makes them very cost effective.