What is the all time best chainsaw

[timberslayer]

I don't believe the sold that many.

I've only seen a few down South where I'm at. Most either run Stihl 4mix or the 2620 Echo

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Put an Echo speed feed on it, it'll change your world. I put the higher capacity head on my 130 and I can fit 5 arm lengths of 2.4mm line in it easily

Yeah stihl has one just like that. Much quicker than having to wind it manually and re-assemble the parts which enviably uncoil right at the very end!

 

[Mad Professor]

Sugar maple from the UP of MI is hard as well.

Since EAB decimated the ash here, the sugar maple is one of the dominant hardwoods on my stands. Have lots of experience cutting and splitting that. Good firewood too.

American Elm was tough stuff too, but just a memory from when I was young.

 

[bwalker]

Since EAB decimated the ash here, the sugar maple is one of the dominant hardwoods on my stands. Have lots of experience cutting and splitting that. Good firewood too.

American Elm was tough stuff too, but just a memory from when I was young.

Elm cuts tough because of its nasty grain but it isn't all that dense.
I cut alot of it off fence rows growing up that was killed by Dutch elm disease.

 

[LuDookie]

it's difficult to compare species in areas you haven't worked in. There are many ways to compare wood, however nothing as universal as "how hard it cuts" which is subjective at best, and down right absurd at worst. Fourtantly I live in an area with a rather diverse selection of hard and soft woods. White oak is just normal cutting wood. Plenty of "harder" and a lot easier to cut. Again all subjective, and growing conditions. Moisture content etc all play a huge role in density and hardness.

I put the Southern Live Oak in its own category as far as wood hardness and density. I also end up cutting a lot of it that is dried and nearly petrified for firewood. But I don’t think hardness has everything to do with how hard something is to cut. While live oak is dense and hard, it clears very well and I never have plugging problems with it the way I do with many pecans, or even a soft cottonwood. But the anatomy of a mature live oak combined with its weight and hardness presents challenges you don’t encounter with most of your other, typically straight-growing hardwoods.

 

[LuDookie]

Never cut pecan, but I have cut walnut. It's pretty soft. Softer than either red or white oak.

The only white oak I cut a lot of is water oak. It’s got its own set of characteristics, and I hate them. They are comparable to walnut for hardness. I cut a lot of Shumard type oaks and sometimes, Maple. It’s all comparable to pecans, but with favorable anatomies, for cutting or harvesting purposes.

 

[Brian_NC]

Man, you guys know it all don’t you? Promise you, there isn’t an oak up north that’ll touch a live oak for density. Never been in a red or white oak that was harder than pecan or walnut. Didn’t learn that on the internet either.

Don’t remember the names, but one was in the older side of Kalispell, which was one of the few Stihl/Echo joints where I bought my loops, and 2 Husqvarna shops, one near Columbia falls and the other at the main junction in Columbia Falls. I’d have to pull up maps to get the names. I received great service at all of them.

Pecan is hard, right there with hickory. White and red oaks in this area (central NC) cut much easier. Can't speak for walnut, if I have cut a walnut it has been so long ago my crs doesn't allow me to recall it.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Pecan is hard, right there with hickory. White and red oaks in this area (central NC) cut much easier. Can't speak for walnut, if I have cut a walnut it has been so long ago my crs doesn't allow me to recall it.

I have cut a few walnut blow downs and given the logs away. Maybe 16 inches. Have one down now on the side of a creek where it fell in sitting at about a 45 . But, it is still living hung up in a sweet gum. Not any harder than pecan or hickory, but smells bad. I cut a bunch of pecans around and old home place, but hell that was 50 years ago.
My father was a carpenter and cabinet builder and said you could not distinguish pecan and hickory lumber. So, I think once you get through the bark they are the same.

 

[epo]

Wow, Redmax - what an incredible company. Very interesting history, seems they changed names to Zenoah in the 70’s m and I have seen some of those machines here! Old

I hope you didn't get the impression that Redmax changed its name to Zenoah. Redmax brand was created in 1987 as the Komatsu Zenoah brand for the American market (Komatsu Zenoah America Inc).

As a curiosity, Zenoah in the 70s used a different spelling too: Xenoah.




In their words:

The name ZENOAH is created by combining the prefix “ZE” meaning “to challenge the future” with “NOAH” from the biblical story of Noah’ s Ark. The logo features a red circle and white arrow with the circle representing a global world and the red color representing our product color and innovation while the white triangular arrow represents the sail of the ZeNoah ship “MOVING FORWARD” to symbolically show the Company heading into the future.

 

[LuDookie]

Pecan is hard, right there with hickory. White and red oaks in this area (central NC) cut much easier. Can't speak for walnut, if I have cut a walnut it has been so long ago my crs doesn't allow me to recall it.

80% of what I cut is pecan, and I believe you about its hardness, as much as I can tell from handling it and occasionally splitting it. I guess I’ve never run up against anything harder, until I get to live oak, which is exponentially harder and heavier, and takes way more effort to work.

 

[LuDookie]

I have cut a few walnut blow downs and given the logs away. Maybe 16 inches. Have one down now on the side of a creek where it fell in sitting at about a 45 . But, it is still living hung up in a sweet gum. Not any harder than pecan or hickory, but smells bad. I cut a bunch of pecans around and old home place, but hell that was 50 years ago.
My father was a carpenter and cabinet builder and said you could not distinguish pecan and hickory lumber. So, I think once you get through the bark they are the same.

That’s interesting…what your father said. I guess that makes sense. They definitely are pretty indistinguishable past the bark.

What was this thread about? . Sorry for the derailment.

 

[sean donato]

That’s interesting…what your father said. I guess that makes sense. They definitely are pretty indistinguishable past the bark.

What was this thread about? . Sorry for the derailment.

The "best" chainsaw....

 

[LuDookie]

The "best" chainsaw....

Yeah, I know, but I’m talking about wood, while others are talking about brand history and everything in between. Good luck getting a thread to go anywhere asking about the best chainsaw. Good thread though, I always enjoy the arguing, and I can always learn a lot about people, and saws.

 

[sean donato]

Yeah, I know, but I’m talking about wood, while others are talking about brand history and everything in between. Good luck getting a thread to go anywhere asking about the best chainsaw. Good thread though, I always enjoy the arguing, and I can always learn a lot about people, and saws.

Yeah, I usually enjoy the banter as well.

 

[Ed Penney]

Just about all threads do get off track.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Yeah. The best chainsaw ever made is whichever one I'm selling.

 

[Ed Penney]

Like a used car salesman LOL.

 

[Brian_NC]

I have cut a few walnut blow downs and given the logs away. Maybe 16 inches. Have one down now on the side of a creek where it fell in sitting at about a 45 . But, it is still living hung up in a sweet gum. Not any harder than pecan or hickory, but smells bad. I cut a bunch of pecans around and old home place, but hell that was 50 years ago.
My father was a carpenter and cabinet builder and said you could not distinguish pecan and hickory lumber. So, I think once you get through the bark they are the same.

Your father was spot on. When milled I sure can't tell a difference between pecan and hickory.

You are right on the bark, especially a shagbark hickory. That stuff is awful. Our farm is loaded with hickory, I usually cut one or 2 a year if we don't have blow downs to run my pig cooker at the holidays. I keep a couple of good loops of roundtop chain around just for that.

Pecan is some good smoking wood to, I actually like it better than hickory

 

[LuDookie]

Your father was spot on. When milled I sure can't tell a difference between pecan and hickory.

You are right on the bark, especially a shagbark hickory. That stuff is awful. Our farm is loaded with hickory, I usually cut one or 2 a year if we don't have blow downs to run my pig cooker at the holidays. I keep a couple of good loops of roundtop chain around just for that.

Pecan is some good smoking wood to, I actually like it better than hickory

I like pecan for smoking and burning as well. A lot of people down here turn their nose up at it because they've been spoiled on live oak. People up north who burn wood for heat would kill for a lousy swamp oak, when all they have are conifer and aspen. Imagine what pecan would be worth. People in the south think pine is toxic to burn, no kidding. I actually liked the smell and handle-ability of pine.

 

[olgreenmachine3400]

This is easy! It would be the Poulan Countervibe 3400. They were inexpencive and tough as nails. Easy to work on and cut right beside all the big names!