288
What is the all time best chainsaw
- Thread starter donmakesallthefuelbegone
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
Echo cs550p. 
drop
dropI'm not sure they are old enough to qualify for the "Of All Time" category, but I really like my 036 for dealing with everyday firewood work. I've never owned a 70cc saw, but it seems like the 046 - 462 has always been a solid performer as well.
In time, I think the MS261 and the MS400 (assuming it ends up being a work horse) will be kings of their respective displacement classes. Only time will tell.
In time, I think the MS261 and the MS400 (assuming it ends up being a work horse) will be kings of their respective displacement classes. Only time will tell.
I just cut up some live white oak and didn't think it much harder than maple or beech. Very straight grain and easy to split, though even with some knots in it.
When I was out in Arizona a friend of mine tried to figure out how to get maple logs culled from fields in the midwest out there for firewood. We figured it would sell like crazy but could never get the logistics nailed down.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
You’re not confusing live white oak with live oak are you? Because Live Oak is not white. It’s not a very straight grained wood, and you will not split it with anything other than hydraulics, and strong ones.
I guess I did. I thought that was what you were referring to which puzzled me. By Live Oak you mean oak like Swamp Oak used to build the USS Constitution or Old Ironsides? That stuff is famously tough
Not sure what "up north" you're referring to, but up here we don't generally heat with any pine species. (Well i do during ahoukder season.) out west and up in Canada is a different story. as well as the different species they have actually burn/ heat very well, even if nit as good as hard woods they certainly arnt as bad as a white pine. We heated the ranch out in Montana nearly exclusively on lodgepole pine. Was a very good burn wood. Filled the boiler every 10 odd hours unless it was real cold then every 6-8 hours.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
No. I’m referring to the species Live Oak(Quercus Fusiformis). It’s an evergreen actually. Swamp oak, is what a lot of southerners call pin oak by mistake. Neither are anywhere close to being as dense as live oak. Swamp oak can actually be split with a maul about as easy as Ponderosa.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
Everything is “up north” for me. I live on the Gulf coast, south of Galveston. I’m referring to Colorado and Montana. I collected, cut, split, stacked, and burned tons of any pine I could get my hands on, mostly Ponderosa and lodgepole, but also everything in between including poplar. I never minded any of it. I have fond memories of the smell and ambience of a stove burning in my mountain home nearly 10 months a year. I always had north of 10 cords in the wood lot, a couple on the porch and a cord or more right in my living room. I had to give up a lot during Covid and ended up moving back home.
altatim
ArboristSite Operative
Lodgepole pine, white pine, some douglas fir, larch, and white poplar are all that we burn in north central Alberta. There just isn't anything else around. A good try larch or lodgepole are probably my two favorites but seasoned white poplar is also good. Everything cuts easy though, I keep long bars on almost everything just because its peanuts to cut.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
There were a lot of larch in Montana. Western Larch. Everyone there calls them a tamarack. I cut a bunch but never burned any. Is it any good? I recall hearing something about its sap content.
altatim
ArboristSite Operative
It smells very fragrant and burns good and hot. Anything coniferous is sappy but manageable with a good hot fireplace. I avoid anything killed by bugs or porcupines because those trees are so full of resin they hardly burn and when they do its like pouring diesel into your wood stove.
We have coast live oak. Gnarly stuff. Live oak janka hardness is 2,680 compared to most other oaks at ~1,400.
288: not too big or small, tough and simple, cheap and plentiful.
Wyoming_Outback
ArboristSite Lurker
My favorite saw I’ve ever owned and run: the 044. My dad’s is older than me and keeps up with my 044, which has a bark box on it and less hours. I honestly prefer our 044’s over our 462. My 500 will outperform them, sure, but there is something I love about them. Pulls good enough for most of the wood we have here (mainly like 30” and under), and for the biggest stuff here, I can run the 661.
No. I think we are not understanding each other. I know what a pin oak is as I have 2 in my yard. Swamp oak is a slang term for several Quercus species. I am referring to Quercus virginiana.
So nobody else cuts black locust? That is hard stuff and dried is the worst.
I do, fairly frequently when clearing out and thinning fence rows. Dry it's terribly hard, and the bugs dragging dirt up into the bark doesn't help a chain out at all. One od my favorite burn woods but not my favorite to cut.
Long Bar 60
ArboristSite Operative
Back on the original topic, and this is strictly from a western timber cutting perspective, my all time favorite saw was the 045/056 Stihls. The 056 Magnum II would pull a 50" bar if needed but I ran a 36" bar most of the time. It was the highest revving "muscle" saw in it's time so it was smoother cutting and the absolute best at limbing. In addition to that it had THE BEST siting of any saw I've ever owned and I've had a lot. These saws had plenty of lines that were either parallel to or 90 degrees to the bar. Even the handlebars were good to site with. Don't forget to "locktite" everything and be sure to run a green weenie. A lot of guys I cut with ended up buying one of these after trying out one of mine. I owned a total of 23 of these from the early 045's all the way to it's final incarnation. My all time favorite.
