What is the all time best chainsaw

[FXJenkins]

So nobody else cuts black locust? That is hard stuff and dried is the worst.

I have quite a bit of it. Hardest stuff I have to deal with but it burns so well. I go easy with a new 33RS-84 knowing it’ll need to be touched up before I get through 40’.

 

[FXJenkins]

Back on the original topic, and this is strictly from a western timber cutting perspective, my all time favorite saw .

I owned a total of 23 of these from the early 045's all the way to its final incarnation. My all time favorite.

Thanks for the back on topic. But man, 23 Stihls of the same model. That’s a lot of experience. These diso’d in 88 right. Do you run any modern saws?

 

[Chainmale]

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

Is it a direct fit, thread size etc?

 

[two4spooky]

Stihl 044(early 90's) slant fin with 12mm piston bearing. Because I have an original. example. My final answer

 

[LuDookie]

We have coast live oak. Gnarly stuff. Live oak janka hardness is 2,680 compared to most other oaks at ~1,400.

I saw some live oaks in the San Diego area and I used the app on my phone and it said it was a Coastal live oak. Interesting. There are a few varieties. Other than having acorns, I’m not sure why they are even an oak.

 

[LuDookie]

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.

I like 044’s as well. If Stihl still produced them like Husqy does the 272xp, I’d spring for one. I’ve worked through a couple of them. What’s strange is, I’ve only seen a few saws have handle assemblies break and read about a few more, and strangely enough, they were 044’s. I never broke one but worked with a guy that was still using an 044 back in 17, and he had an aftermarket handle/fuel tank on it because he broke it.

 

[LuDookie]

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.

Ok. I think I get the swamp oak reference. What I call a swamp oak is a water oak. Water oak has a very white interior, and are notorious for maturing, hollowing, and falling. Correct me if I’m wrong, but a true pin oak is a variety of red oak with a more jagged leaf like a Shumard oak? Virginiana is definitely a variety of live oak and considering the many shapes we have here, I’m sure I’ve had to cut some of those too. 5 to 6 foot diameter trunks here are just run of the mill. I’ve cut a few that were 8 feet across and we’ve got one that’s in the record books, although she’s looking sad these days.

 

[LuDookie]

I have quite a bit of it. Hardest stuff I have to deal with but it burns so well. I go easy with a new 33RS-84 knowing it’ll need to be touched up before I get through 40’.

So nobody else cuts black locust? That is hard stuff and dried is the worst.

Having not cut black locust, can anyone bridge the gap with a comparison between that and Osage Orange? I cut a lot of that, and praise God they aren’t huge trees!!! I’d be looking for the algorithm to find the best, all time, saw.

 

[FXJenkins]

Having not cut black locust, can anyone bridge the gap with a comparison between that and Osage Orange? I cut a lot of that, and praise God they aren’t huge trees!!! I’d be looking for the algorithm to find the best, all time, saw.

Osage is very much like locust in both the live and dead state. Osage is slightly softer given its more sinuous characteristic (great for making bows by both native Indians and modern day trad bowers). We have a lot of old growth Osage in and along fence rows her in northern Va and if I had to compare them on a “Rockwell” scale, Osage would come in at an 87 with locust an 89, 100 being the hardest wood on the planet which I haven’t encountered with a saw. Locust simply grows to a larger dia. and is so dense and hydrophobic when dried, it last a very long time, thus its use for making stacked fences.

 

[Wyoming_Outback]

I like 044’s as well. If Stihl still produced them like Husqy does the 272xp, I’d spring for one. I’ve worked through a couple of them. What’s strange is, I’ve only seen a few saws have handle assemblies break and read about a few more, and strangely enough, they were 044’s. I never broke one but worked with a guy that was still using an 044 back in 17, and he had an aftermarket handle/fuel tank on it because he broke it.

Interesting. Never heard of that. Hopefully ours hold out. Gotta take the good with the bad, I suppose. I try to ‘kinda’ baby ours, so they last. Not that I’m easy on them, but if it’s hot out, I’ll do a tank through one, switch to a different saw, and back to the 044, or not run them in the winter at all, etc. my question about the 044’s is, what’s the ‘big deal’ with the 10mm red lever ones? Both of ours have the red levers, so does that mean they’re special?
Gotta get out with my 042 this weekend and see how the old school, heavy as my 661, 68cc saw does this weekend before nursing school revs back up.

 

[LuDookie]

Osage is very much like locust in both the live and dead state. Osage is slightly softer given its more sinuous characteristic (great for making bows by both native Indians and modern day trad bowers). We have a lot of old growth Osage in and along fence rows her in northern Va and if I had to compare them on a “Rockwell” scale, Osage would come in at an 87 with locust an 89, 100 being the hardest wood on the planet which I haven’t encountered with a saw. Locust simply grows to a larger dia. and is so dense and hydrophobic when dried, it last a very long time, thus its use for making stacked fences.

Sinuous is a very good word for it. I call them stringy or their fibers, scraggly. They grow up and down in a bow shape and are bad about pinching bars when you didn’t even see it coming. Not necessarily hard, but a b**** to cut or work sometimes. We use them for fence posts when it makes sense and there are some brace posts holding up some mature live oak limbs that are on the ground made from Osage (Bodark in Texas speak), that are older than me, and I’m getting up there.

 

[LuDookie]

Interesting. Never heard of that. Hopefully ours hold out. Gotta take the good with the bad, I suppose. I try to ‘kinda’ baby ours, so they last. Not that I’m easy on them, but if it’s hot out, I’ll do a tank through one, switch to a different saw, and back to the 044, or not run them in the winter at all, etc. my question about the 044’s is, what’s the ‘big deal’ with the 10mm red lever ones? Both of ours have the red levers, so does that mean they’re special?
Gotta get out with my 042 this weekend and see how the old school, heavy as my 661, 68cc saw does this weekend before nursing school revs back up.

I don’t have my 044 carcasses but I’m sure they were mid 90’s models. I was in Texas then as well, production live oak firewood. 044’s were the saw to have.

My saws get used to their capacity, but there are a lot of ways that I take care of my stuff that others consider babying it, but I’m just cognitive about how I pick them up, set them down, start them, run them, what I feed them, store them, and clean them. It’s amazing how much TLC people give their guns but let their thousand dollar chainsaw roll around in the bed of their truck.

 

[sean donato]

I like 044’s as well. If Stihl still produced them like Husqy does the 272xp, I’d spring for one. I’ve worked through a couple of them. What’s strange is, I’ve only seen a few saws have handle assemblies break and read about a few more, and strangely enough, they were 044’s. I never broke one but worked with a guy that was still using an 044 back in 17, and he had an aftermarket handle/fuel tank on it because he broke it.

When I worked on the township saws I had to keep a few spare tank handles around for their 044 (s) they were always breaking them, although I think it was just abuse, but it was only the 044 that had that issue. The 064 never had that issue and non of the smaller saws had that issue, and they used the smaller saw a lot more then the 044's and the 064.

Osage is very much like locust in both the live and dead state. Osage is slightly softer given its more sinuous characteristic (great for making bows by both native Indians and modern day trad bowers). We have a lot of old growth Osage in and along fence rows her in northern Va and if I had to compare them on a “Rockwell” scale, Osage would come in at an 87 with locust an 89, 100 being the hardest wood on the planet which I haven’t encountered with a saw. Locust simply grows to a larger dia. and is so dense and hydrophobic when dried, it last a very long time, thus its use for making stacked fences.

Thats a good comparison of the two. Heck we have old locust fence posts that have been around for nearly 70 years, possibly longer. My pop used to point out the fences he helped out in ad a kid. Hand split fence posts. Few of them stilk in use to this day.
Few years ago I got into a stand of bl that someone planted. All between 12-18" dbh. Made some decent money selling them off for post splits. That was all from some random guy that saw me loading the deck over with the pole to haul them off. We both walked away with a smile in that deal.

 

[chipper1]

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!

And then you used the big name saws and just kept wishing that 3400 would blow up so you could get one . They did last forever, but slow, heavy, terrible "anti-vibe".

 

[chipper1]

The new what's my favorite fence post wood thread.

 

[chipper1]

So nobody else cuts black locust? That is hard stuff and dried is the worst.

Did someone say Black Locust
Lots of it!
Dried yes, green(if the whole thing is green, if you cut it you know half can be alive and half dead) it's not that hard, just different. Doesn't matter whether it's green or dead standing, the chips are small, 1/8-3/16 is a nice sized chip.
I've found hard maple to be much more difficult to cut than BL.
Couple days ago.

 

[flatsfisher]

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 was gonna say, white oak is a b itch to split.

 

[LuDookie]

Did someone say Black Locust
Lots of it!
Dried yes, green(if the whole thing is green, if you cut it you know half can be alive and half dead) it's not that hard, just different. Doesn't matter whether it's green or dead standing, the chips are small, 1/8-3/16 is a nice sized chip.
I've found hard maple to be much more difficult to cut than BL.
Couple days ago.

Yeah buddy! I’d say so!

 

[LuDookie]

I was gonna say, white oak is a b itch to split.

I’m not sure if a water oak is a true white oak. Other than being big, it splits like ash. And unlike most oak, it’s burning characteristics and smell aren’t favorable with most. For a backyard fire though, it’s perfectly fine. I cut several hundred of them down in the last couple of years for the mill. They do make nice planks. We use them mostly for cattle pens and trailer decks. I’ve never burnt a “real” white oak, or split it.

 

[Chucksta]

A large part of answering a question, is interpreting it, and answering what you think is being asked. After 16 pages of answers, well, I've got a different take on "all time best saw"..
Arguably, I doubt if there's many members on this site who own less than six saws. Yeah.. It's an addiction, and this is the support group.. This and Jack Daniel's..
My all time favourite saw? For me, it's the one that got this addiction started.
An Echo 400"F".. and .. oh yes.. I shelled out the extra $20 bucks for the "F" model.. Tool less adjustment of bar tension?? Oh Heck yeah!! Mine !! .. MIne .. Mine!!..
Boss was whining about not being able to find anyone to deal with some trees that he wanted down on a few properties he owned.. The words that have rumbled through what I call a brain for a few decades, that have defined my life, reared their ugly heads..
" How much could that possibly cost"...
" What could possibly go wrong?"
"What's the worst that could happen?".

So, down to Home Depot, and a brand new Echo 400 F it was.. I figured that I could drop the trees, make a couple of bucks, and walk away with a free chain saw.

So it was that one saw that started the addiction.. A lowly Echo 400 F, a "meh", all around saw, on the best of days.. It could have been any saw.. Stihl, Husky, Echo.. it wouldn't have mattered. It was the first saw that was the best all time chain saw that I've ever had.. It was the one that got me started.

Best saw ever? The one that got me started down this road.