What has 50 years given us? ( In saw design )
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But some poor sad individual may have been forced to still be using that thing in the 70's!
Like me using my Mac Timberbear in 1977. A blunderbuss, but it still runs. To make sure that is does, I salvaged a Mac 5700 from a garbage can a few years back and repaired it. Virtually the same engine, this saw pulled a 28" bar to my surprise and hardly complained while doing it:But some poor sad individual may have been forced to still be using that thing in the 70's!
My back complained, however, after I loaded those big elm rounds onto the truck.
Huskybill
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I remember first cutting with my two sears craftsman chainsaws. When driving home with the pickup truck loaded trying to steer with my fingers cramped up. No anti vibration back then. Wow what a improvement.
Knowing nothing about cutting firewood I purchased a sears craftsman 2.0 chainsaw with a 12” bar. They were clearing trees for a new highway. I was cutting 24” diameter trees with a 12” bar. I then realized that’s not going to work too well. I went back to sears and got that craftsman saw I think made by roper with a 18” bar. It took forever to cut. I swore my next saw was going to be a big one. I was going to buy a Stihl 041 farmboss and a Stihl 020. My co worker said to buy Husqvarna saws. He said he ran there bikes hard and there swedish quality was good, I bought a 2100cd and wanted a 480cd to go with it but ran out of cash so I grabbed a Husqvarna 240sg. The anti vibration was awesome. After a while at the dealer a pro logger told me to get a 266. And put that 2100 boat anchor away. I admit for smaller trees the 266se did fine, but I still ran the 2100 with a shorter bar with 404 chain. My dealer made the bars for me. The highway clearing was written up in the news paper they were missing piles of logs the size of ranch houses. I have no clue who did that. Lol
Knowing nothing about cutting firewood I purchased a sears craftsman 2.0 chainsaw with a 12” bar. They were clearing trees for a new highway. I was cutting 24” diameter trees with a 12” bar. I then realized that’s not going to work too well. I went back to sears and got that craftsman saw I think made by roper with a 18” bar. It took forever to cut. I swore my next saw was going to be a big one. I was going to buy a Stihl 041 farmboss and a Stihl 020. My co worker said to buy Husqvarna saws. He said he ran there bikes hard and there swedish quality was good, I bought a 2100cd and wanted a 480cd to go with it but ran out of cash so I grabbed a Husqvarna 240sg. The anti vibration was awesome. After a while at the dealer a pro logger told me to get a 266. And put that 2100 boat anchor away. I admit for smaller trees the 266se did fine, but I still ran the 2100 with a shorter bar with 404 chain. My dealer made the bars for me. The highway clearing was written up in the news paper they were missing piles of logs the size of ranch houses. I have no clue who did that. Lol
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Ok Ok OK...... how 'bout the air injection/turbo air pre filtration on the Husky and Jred later saws. Pretty cool set up....
Turbo pressure air boxes came out in the 70s
Fifty years has given us light saws with lots of plastic that wear out or break up in four or five years, maybe less. Meanwhile, lots of older saws are still around today and run fine. This is especially true with the lighter weight saws. Plastic was brought in to make these top-handle saws and others easy to use, but many just plain do not last. The plastic invasion remains.
Timber MacFallen
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There's good and bad plastics out there just like there's good and bad metal quality. Anyone who has broken a cheap wrench in two and busted their knuckles in the process can attest to that.
Quality plastic have been used for decades in everything from cars to airplanes to the space program and they keep improving. While I like metal and have older saws that are mostly all metal construction I can't deny that a pro-level modern saw typically uses quality plastics that should hold up for many years (or decades).
Plastic has many advantages over metal besides weight:
- You can make it into shapes and designs that would be very difficult, impractical or impossible to copy with metal.
- Metal transmits vibrations very well, but plastic does not. It would be hard to achieve the same level of smoothness and vibration control we have today without plastic.
- Metal requires prep and work to be made ready for paint. Color impregnated plastic requires none. For the end user the lack of chipping paint and a ragged looking saw after a few weeks of abuse is the primary benefit.
- Lower cost to setup machinery and manufacture than metal which means cheaper prices for consumers.
More RPM's to die sooner.
Skeans
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Or more rpm’s to get chain speed to help get ahead of barber chair.
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I haven't had a barber chair in 45 years of cutting.
Skeans
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Come cut some Red Alder it chairs if you look at it funny.
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Haven't had a barber chair since changing my technic ... not that I should recommend what I do, but I bore cut from the front, not the side. With the ash it IS the hinge that begins the 'chair....
SO I leave enough hinge to get the tree where I need it to go, but not enough to initiate a chair. Been 15 almost 20 years since I've had one. All I have to deal with now is all the experts telling me I don't know what I'm doing 'cause I abandon the "spec right way" to do things ( face cut, bore cut from the side, release from the back is the spec right way...works great with most trees, and leaves a nice clean looking stump )
SO I leave enough hinge to get the tree where I need it to go, but not enough to initiate a chair. Been 15 almost 20 years since I've had one. All I have to deal with now is all the experts telling me I don't know what I'm doing 'cause I abandon the "spec right way" to do things ( face cut, bore cut from the side, release from the back is the spec right way...works great with most trees, and leaves a nice clean looking stump )
We have some species here that you have to be more careful with, but no Alders in Virginia that I know of.
Being a firewood cutter I don't have to fell that much. I have to say I've been lucky in many ways.
I was taught by a old logger I was cutting behind in 1976. What he told me I soaked it up like a sponge.
Even now every time I start a saw I think to myself, There are a thousand ways for me to get hurt.
Skeans
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I was lucky as well I was broke in by the old growth fallers and still production cut from time to time still. Actually falling timber all the time makes you appreciate a faster turning saw very quickly especially on steep ground where you can’t bore the back cut.
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No one would suggest any of the antique saws would be relevant for production work. That's a different discussion than what we are dealing with here. BUT having said that, a lot of "production" work had been done with some of these old saws. And in the "spectrum" of saws, a lot of the old pro level saws perform very well, especially relative to even some of the new "land owner" grade saws like a 365 or 555. ( ms391 ). That old L77 with the right sprocket and chain grind will stick with any 365 X-Torq and have more speed than any ms391 or 455/460 Rancher... Safety is the biggest gain in my opinion, but also the 800 lbs gorilla in the room. An L77, 272, Stihl 038, 044, early Husqvarna 372 can cut wood fast set up right. I would argue a 044 and 372 built and tweaked right will stick with any stock modern saw, even the 572 and 462. And....I think I will leak out a video here and there to hammer that point home at some point.
understand that isn't arguing an old saw "built to the hilt" is a good option for a pro logger who also needs a reliable saws with a warranty and good parts support. DIFFERENT world, different game. It pains me at times to see the blending of worlds as folks from one have a different definition of 'win" than the other even if they are saying the same words.
BUT having said that, a lot of "production" work had been done with some of these old saws. And in the "spectrum" of saws, a lot of the old pro level saws perform very well, especially relative to even some of the new "land owner" grade saws like a 365 or 555. ( ms391 ). That old L77 with the right sprocket and chain grind will stick with any 365 X-Torq and have more speed than any ms391 or 455/460 Rancher... Safety is the biggest gain in my opinion, but also the 800 lbs gorilla in the room. An L77, 272, Stihl 038, 044, early Husqvarna 372 can cut wood fast set up right. I would argue a 044 and 372 built and tweaked right will stick with any stock modern saw, even the 572 and 462. And....I think I will leak out a video here and there to hammer that point home at some point.understand that isn't arguing an old saw "built to the hilt" is a good option for a pro logger who also needs a reliable saws with a warranty and good parts support. DIFFERENT world, different game. It pains me at times to see the blending of worlds as folks from one have a different definition of 'win" than the other even if they are saying the same words.
I have to agree with speed because of the job you do. I just like the old saws and it's not a job. I usually take 3 or more saws when I go to cut.
NICE STABLE OF SAWS!
stihl86
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Give me a 201TCM, a 500i, 661CM, a 2 in 1 file guide and keep those old, puddle making, vibrating, smelly, smoking, oil flinging, boat anchor clunkers away. Or at least far down wind.
I'll have 3 cords done, be on the couch, snoozing before you get one started.
I'll have 3 cords done, be on the couch, snoozing before you get one started.
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