What do you use to carry your saw?

[Philbert]

There have been several threads on saw cases. Wood boxes are easy to build, but they are almost always heavier than metal boxes - not an issue if you keep them in your truck or shop, but an issue when you carry it for any distance.

And metal boxes are almost always heavier than plastic cases. This is why I have been using the PowerBox style cases and modifying them to fit the saw, and to keep stuff I need with them:

EDIT - links lost - but here is a related thread: http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/carry-case-for-a-large-saw.202923/

Some other A.S. members have noted that they start with Rubbermaid style storage tubs, or plastic, insulated beverage coolers, and modify them to fit the saw. These can be quite cheap if you start with one from a garage sale.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Case In Point

Following the post, above, I stopped by a church rummage sale and bought a used, insulated cooler. It was about the same size as my PowerBox. It was light. It was $3. The sealed, plastic bottom would hold any mess. Plus, it had a drain hole for really leaky saws and would keep them from overheating (?)



Put some masking tape over the proposed cut-out area, and hold the saw up to rough out dimensions. A little work with a hole saw and a sharp utility knife, and voila! This hole is about 1-1/4" x 6-1/2", allowing extra room for the bar to slide through when working the saw into the case. Added a strap like the O.P.



Philbert

 

[joeclimbing]

Carry Box

I wondered if you guys have some sort of case to carry your saw, or if you just put in on your truck or in the trunk of your car...

I like your carrybox, SouthernX very well organized and it looks like you have room to squeeze in a bottle of chairn oil too. Am thinking about building one for the big saw; what size plywood,
half inch?

Joe

 

[SouthernX]

I like your carrybox, SouthernX very well organized and it looks like you have room to squeeze in a bottle of chairn oil too. Am thinking about building one for the big saw; what size plywood,
half inch?

Joe

Hi Joe,

yes, the Chainoil is in the big orange Stihl can, together with the fuel. There would be plenty of space left for some extra stuff if it's needed. I also have a spare chain hidden somewhere. The plywood I used is 19mm, which is a bit more than half an inch I guess. It gets quite heavy with all those things in it, so I wanted it to be steady, but I'd say if you build it properly, and use some angle iron, you could probably go with thinner boards too. Good luck, let's see how it worked out when you're finished!

 

[David (saltas)]

 

[Rearden]

Got a mish mosh of gear boxes that are constantly changing depending on the job. For small stuff it's usually an old carpenters' top handled box fitted for spare bar/chain, files, wedges, erl and the like. Carry that in one hand and saw in the other. Recently started switchin' over to the Husky PowerBoxes from the stealth shaped Stihl saw boxes,... which I HATE!
"I'm using the word hate here", (with apologies to Jack) 'cuz they are about useless. Roll over just sittin' still, handles pull out when used for the 460 with anything over a 24" bar, and if they get caught in the rain I never get the water out from between the two molded layers unless I drill holes all over the place.

For bigger jobs further from the truck and trailer I might drag along a big wheeled lawn cart, or bribe a buddy with some home brew. The kids have proved pretty much useless. Can't ever get'em to stop texting long enough to take any meaningful specific direction - "No, I said CHAIN saw, not circular saw. It's the one with the CHAIN for a blade, hence the name...why the hell do I even feed you?!" as they return a half hour later still texting and dragging the saw by the cord. :bang:

Sometimes I get lucky and get da wife to help out on her day off. She's a little thing, but amazingly resilient! Rigged and loaded just right I can get a saw box in one hand, 5 gallon gas can in the other, hang a gallon of bar erl 'round her neck and fill the sack on her back with a peavey, mauls, ax and some beer. She just loves workin' with me and my buds. (Helps if ya put the hearing protection on as soon as ya leave the house...and learn to sleep with one eye open).
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Tough to beat plastic but the closest competitor on strength to weight would be Okoume marine grade plywood (no voids or dry/missed glue spots between the plies) sandwiched between two layers of epoxied fiberglass. It ain't cheap, but compares favorably even against some of the fancy composites. If money and time were no object I could build a nice perfectly fitted box that weighed nuthin' out'a 4mm Okoume and epoxy/Kevlar, but that's time I could be cuttin' so the PowerBoxes and the old carpenters' box will likely stay busy for now.

 

[zogger]

I use a wooden box I made

I use a little wooden box I made to tote the saws around...

Also notice the spiffy round generic tractor supply universal tool boxes, complete with carrying handle....added bonus, they stack nice....



I like Philbert's home made individual saw cases though.....need to scrounge up some more cheap used coolers.....

 

[Rearden]

I use a little wooden box I made to tote the saws around...

Also notice the spiffy round generic tractor supply universal tool boxes, complete with carrying handle....added bonus, they stack nice....



I like Philbert's home made individual saw cases though.....need to scrounge up some more cheap used coolers.....

Amish?

 

[zogger]

Well, not exactly

Amish?

More "cob jobbish" than Amish..and that's a tractor, not a mule....

Dang handiest tool I have though, use it for all sorts of stuff. Turns the tractor into a truck..with a powered tailgate lift....

 

[Rearden]

My last Super Duty Ferd broke me of the "bigger is always better" truck affliction. Big trucks mean Big bucks! Nuthin' ever broke or wore out on that sucker that wasn't priced in increments of a thousand. Plus it rode ... well, like a truck. Not the most comfy reward for a day breakin' my back to feed the unappreciative. Found trailers behind a smaller truck that rode nice was the better way for me (epecially compared to what insurin' a dump was runnin'). Now I've got a tandem 6 ton dumper for the bigger stuff, a smaller beefed up single axle landscape type for general utility and a big tandem aluminum cargo body for movin' on site and bad weather, or the occasional rarity of helpin' a kid move out instead of back in (they're like freakin' boomerangs).

Wish I had a good enough excuse to get a tractor. Maybe if I keep usin' da wife like a rented mule she'll she the light? :msp_sneaky:
I guess I should probably wait til Spring though? She always gets kind'a skittish when she see's me oilin' up that plow harness. (Also real handy fer skiddin' logs!)

 

[zogger]

Barns and chicken houses and...

What are you using your chainsaw on a roof for OP? I just can't think of anything we would use one for other than big timbers like in block and pier foundation.

...other sorts of rough lumber and metal roof and siding structures. Watched a crew build several buildings on the farm here, they did almost all their cuts with chainsaws. They just got good at it, it's fast, and for that sort of construction, fits the bill. Heck, I watched one of them rip a board, freehand, with a chainsaw, just walked it down a snapped chalk line marker. They use big cordless drills/drivers and chainsaws for like..sorta guressing...75% of their work. The other twenty five per cent is nailgun action, but the sides and roof are all screwed on. Almost all the wood I saw was cut to size and notched, etc with chainsaws. Not completely, but almost all of it.

They said it just goes much faster then always stopping to use a circular saw or something else. A small crew builds a 500 foot house in around 4-5 days. And that's everything, even hand making the rafters.

For what it is worth, they use small Echos, they said they tried different other ones but the echos always start one pull, and are cheaper than stihl/husky, etc, and cut lumber just fine.

 

[zogger]

Vehicles

My last Super Duty Ferd broke me of the "bigger is always better" truck affliction. Big trucks mean Big bucks! Nuthin' ever broke or wore out on that sucker that wasn't priced in increments of a thousand. Plus it rode ... well, like a truck. Not the most comfy reward for a day breakin' my back to feed the unappreciative. Found trailers behind a smaller truck that rode nice was the better way for me (epecially compared to what insurin' a dump was runnin'). Now I've got a tandem 6 ton dumper for the bigger stuff, a smaller beefed up single axle landscape type for general utility and a big tandem aluminum cargo body for movin' on site and bad weather, or the occasional rarity of helpin' a kid move out instead of back in (they're like freakin' boomerangs).

Wish I had a good enough excuse to get a tractor. Maybe if I keep usin' da wife like a rented mule she'll she the light? :msp_sneaky:
I guess I should probably wait til Spring though? She always gets kind'a skittish when she see's me oilin' up that plow harness. (Also real handy fer skiddin' logs!)

I don't-and can't-spend big bucks on vehicles, I buy well used, cheap. My datsun city truck is a diesel, gets between 30 and 40 MPG, will tote a half ton, cost me 450 bucks and I put three hundred or so into it to make it a daily driver. My chev 4wd half ton is also a diesel, cost 500 and my old scrap van in trade. I'll have around similar, 3-400 bucks more into it before it is farm and road worth, although it cranks now of course.

No way in heck I would pay what a house mortgage costs not too long ago for some pickup truck.

Used tractors aren't that bad in price if your needs are modest and you look around and shop around a lot. heck, before I moved here and got use of the boss's tractors I got by with my little wheelhorse single cylinder gasser, and still could if I needed to. it'll haul some weight in a trailer, or drag logs out, I've done it before last place we lived, it was the only tractor I had. Does the garden up spiffy as well with the rototiller attachment. Old small Deeres, wheelhorse, yanmar, simplicity, case, just look around, you can get them for fairly reasonable, or bump up to the N series old fords. Zillions of them things out there, I doubt they will ever really go away, every part imaginable still available and cheap enough, and absolutely every possible fix or repair or mod has already been done and you can find the "how-tos" on the net readily. I imagine a lot of them will still be running and working at a hundred years old. I bet there's a buncha guys here on this site still got one and using it.

Heck, the old lady proly buy you one to skip mule duty.....

 

[Rearden]

My other unfortunate reality is something of an embarrassment of riches. I have filled every available space with "stuff". Tools, equipment, vehicles, etc. so now I need yet another "shed" before takin' the plunge on another tool with wheels. Definitely one of life's most critical lessons. Whether building a shed or a barn...you can never go too big, and whatever it is that you just finished building...your "stuff" will rapidly act like a gas and expand to fill every available nook and cranny.

 

[wyk]

I wrap a car around my saws:

 

[s219]

Whether building a shed or a barn...you can never go too big, and whatever it is that you just finished building...your "stuff" will rapidly act like a gas and expand to fill every available nook and cranny.

Ain't that the truth. Happens to me every time. I sized my shed large enough for my tractor and a bunch of other crap, but then accumulated 3-4 different tractor attachments which are always in the way. Could have used a shed 50% bigger, and even had the space for it too. I might add on a shed annex or just a pole barn.

 

[K5krawler]

Following the post, above, I stopped by a church rummage sale and bought a used, insulated cooler. It was about the same size as my PowerBox. It was light. It was $3. The sealed, plastic bottom would hold any mess. Plus, it had a drain hole for really leaky saws and would keep them from overheating (?)

Philbert

I am confused, where does the :beer: go now? :msp_confused:? I mean you're supposed to hydrate after cutting right?



-K5

 

[struggle]

This box I use also has a lid as well. Picked it up at Menard's I think. It holds the small stuff the rest sits on the floor. The box is kind of heavy though with fuel two saws and other misc. stuff in it.

 

[Philbert]

his box I use also has a lid as well. Picked it up at Menard's I think. It holds the small stuff the rest sits on the floor. The box is kind of heavy though with fuel two saws and other misc. stuff in it.

That's kind of key: figuring out if you want a saw case, a tool case, or an-all-in-one container. The latter is fine if it stays in the truck - helps to make sure that you brought everything you might need.

With multiple saws, I lean toward having a tool box with stuff in it for all saws (files, screwdrivers, bar cleaning tools, 2-cycle mix, extra wedges, stump vise, etc.), and a separate case for each saw with the scrench, extra chains, or other saw-specific items (filters, spark plugs, etc.). PPE (chaps, gloves, helmet, first aid kit, extra safety glasses) goes in a duffel. Gas goes separate.

Some other things, like an axe, peavy, rope, etc. also won't fit into a saw case (unless your whole truck or trailer is your saw case).


Philbert

 

[joeclimbing]

Carry box

Your post has incented me to build a plywood carrier to handle either the 357 or 440.
What is the length, width and height, if you don't mind?Thanks!


This is a great little saw box for the baby ms200, and there is plenty of room for oil, tools and gloves. The fabric carrier is ok but I expect the dogs will cut through the bottom in no time.
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[joeclimbing]

op means original poster, the dude that started the thread. It also means ocean pacific for us old guys that remember the fashionable beach clothes.

I'm sorry - I thought it meant Over Proof rum from Newfoundland!


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