btggraphix
ArboristSite Lurker
First post (and thread too......)
I spent a sleepless night last night reading up and searching all the great info on this site...waffling around on which saw to get. I wanted a professional grade saw that would last longer, be rebuildable when the time came, and be somewhere in the middle as far as size goes.
In the short term I have a lot of wood thinning to do near my house, and have also done and will do a fair amount of clearing at a friends property furthur into the mountains (so mixed pine tree sizes from fairly big (24" max probably?) to small stuff. Lots of cleanup of the downed trees/limbs. After this initial use, it will ride long with me in my truck/RV everywhere I go.
So it'll probably be good for this first use, but then perhaps a bit big for the travelling "prepared for most anything" saw after that, but it will work for that as well.
Having said that, I've settled on the 361 (I hear it'll turn gas to beer and vice versa as well). Good power to weight ratio, will do bigger trees reasonably well, not crazy heavy (lighter than the 390)....generally seems to be a 'sweet spot' in the Stihl line. They seem to hold their value very well. I could end up buying a smaller one later, which is one more reason for a bit bigger one now for these bigger guys, and then later end up with a 180 or something to ride in the truck/RV (my truck is a flatbed GMC C4500 4x4 so it's got plenty of box storage space
). The 361 may be a bit big/heavy for a lot of the smaller stuff I'll do, but if I'm a one saw family for now, it's a good choice it seems.
OK hopefully that gives enough of the background...I realize bars/chains don't cost THAT much, but I have a choice here to start with and want to get a good bet. Dealer is pushing the 20" (as it is better balanced he says) but since I do expect to do a lot of limbing. I'll be cleaning up all of the trees I down, and in fact, we have a big backlog of downed trees piled up around where my buddies house is to work through. So a lot of limbing compared to the number of big trees to bring down. Will an 18" bar be better if I am doing a lot of limbing with the 361? Or even a 16"? Would a 16" bar work later with one of the small saws like a 180 and buy a 20" B&C for the 361 at that time?
I think the chain they are suggesting is the 3/8", .050 RSC3 (green) and don't seem to be inclined to include a yellow pro type chain. I am relatively inexperienced sawyer, but a pretty big, strong and relatively careful type person. I'm leaning towards not pushing them for the yellow chain.
Any suggestions would be appreciated....I'm probably buying this thing on the way home from work in a couple of hours and pretty excited about it. Thanks for all the information I read last night...and for the loss of sleep.
BT
I spent a sleepless night last night reading up and searching all the great info on this site...waffling around on which saw to get. I wanted a professional grade saw that would last longer, be rebuildable when the time came, and be somewhere in the middle as far as size goes.
In the short term I have a lot of wood thinning to do near my house, and have also done and will do a fair amount of clearing at a friends property furthur into the mountains (so mixed pine tree sizes from fairly big (24" max probably?) to small stuff. Lots of cleanup of the downed trees/limbs. After this initial use, it will ride long with me in my truck/RV everywhere I go.
So it'll probably be good for this first use, but then perhaps a bit big for the travelling "prepared for most anything" saw after that, but it will work for that as well.
Having said that, I've settled on the 361 (I hear it'll turn gas to beer and vice versa as well). Good power to weight ratio, will do bigger trees reasonably well, not crazy heavy (lighter than the 390)....generally seems to be a 'sweet spot' in the Stihl line. They seem to hold their value very well. I could end up buying a smaller one later, which is one more reason for a bit bigger one now for these bigger guys, and then later end up with a 180 or something to ride in the truck/RV (my truck is a flatbed GMC C4500 4x4 so it's got plenty of box storage space
). The 361 may be a bit big/heavy for a lot of the smaller stuff I'll do, but if I'm a one saw family for now, it's a good choice it seems.OK hopefully that gives enough of the background...I realize bars/chains don't cost THAT much, but I have a choice here to start with and want to get a good bet. Dealer is pushing the 20" (as it is better balanced he says) but since I do expect to do a lot of limbing. I'll be cleaning up all of the trees I down, and in fact, we have a big backlog of downed trees piled up around where my buddies house is to work through. So a lot of limbing compared to the number of big trees to bring down. Will an 18" bar be better if I am doing a lot of limbing with the 361? Or even a 16"? Would a 16" bar work later with one of the small saws like a 180 and buy a 20" B&C for the 361 at that time?
I think the chain they are suggesting is the 3/8", .050 RSC3 (green) and don't seem to be inclined to include a yellow pro type chain. I am relatively inexperienced sawyer, but a pretty big, strong and relatively careful type person. I'm leaning towards not pushing them for the yellow chain.
Any suggestions would be appreciated....I'm probably buying this thing on the way home from work in a couple of hours and pretty excited about it. Thanks for all the information I read last night...and for the loss of sleep.
BT
