hello just wanted to know what size chainsaw i need for logs 36'' diameter some are a little bigger i am getting a free delivery from a tree service i have cut logs that big with my 18'' echo but i only had a few cuts to do i dont want to kill my self or destroy my saw i started off with an electric remington wich i destroyed but it did pretty good before it burst into flames then i graduated to the echo but iknow it wont handle the big stuff my stoves are the hampton 3100 wich is great but this year i put a vermont castings aspen in my tv room complete nightmare factory installed latch wrong so the gasket was crushed thy jammed it closed changed that rear fire brick missing i went to mason supply got anew one if you look at the seem on front of stove you can see the flames in side of the stove and when the wind blows the room fills with smoke also the gasket around the glass leeks the guy that built this stove must have been pissed off at something has any body else had a problem with vermont casting thank you
i need to buy a chainsaw
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Well, lots of questions there. You can search this site for threads on Vermont Castings to see discussion of some of your issues.
On the chainsaw for bucking those kinds of logs you need a bigger saw. If you have a Home Depot near you that rents equipment you could find a Makita 6401 that would handle the job. If this is something you will do once or twice a year and want to own I recommend visiting your local Stihl and Husqvarna dealers and talking to them about your needs. The $$ you're willing to spend also makes quite a difference. Generally, buy as much saw as you can afford. Try to get 10% off with the dealer, but that's probably top. Perhaps work the deal on an extra bar or chain. The dealer that treats you right and suits you is where you should buy, as you will eventually need service. Your Echo is fine for smaller stuff; now you need something in the 60-75 cc range.
MarkG
On the chainsaw for bucking those kinds of logs you need a bigger saw. If you have a Home Depot near you that rents equipment you could find a Makita 6401 that would handle the job. If this is something you will do once or twice a year and want to own I recommend visiting your local Stihl and Husqvarna dealers and talking to them about your needs. The $$ you're willing to spend also makes quite a difference. Generally, buy as much saw as you can afford. Try to get 10% off with the dealer, but that's probably top. Perhaps work the deal on an extra bar or chain. The dealer that treats you right and suits you is where you should buy, as you will eventually need service. Your Echo is fine for smaller stuff; now you need something in the 60-75 cc range.
MarkG
You may want to look at a Stihl MS361 w/ a 25'' bar. That can get through most big stuff and make short work of anything smaller than that as well. I'm trying to get some wood from the tree service sompanies, can you hook me up with the one you are using? I can take a lot of wood, I have an acre with truck acess.
Henz
New Member
My opinion is that you dont need anythign more than a 20" bar..Obviously, you will be able to buck up close to a 40" dia log with it. Also, the longer the bar, the slower the saw is gonna be. I have the Husky 357XP with a 20" bar. I love the saw. It is the first saw in the "Professional" lineup for husquavarna. However, if you are just the average homeowner and not really gonna fell any trees, then I would recommend the Husky 455 Rancher with a 20" bar. That is a great saw too for less money
thanks for your help that is agreat idea to rent the saw thats what i am going to do i am going to get the wood from off the top tree service my brother in law just got load dumped free the driver said its between 8 and 10 cords my neighbors are going to hate me. also check the penny saver every tree service does it if they are to far from there yard they would rather just dump it olson brothers of massapequa cuts all there logs in to 18'' lengths still dumps it free
Henz
New Member
I would check on the prices to rent first. If you are talking 8-10 cord, you are talking two days of bucking I would guess but maybe not. I bet you it will cost you close to $100/day to rent a decent saw. I also wouldnt even doubt that you have to actually buy your own chain at $20 minimum..So even if you do this for 4 years, you basically have what a new saw would be today. Jsut a thought
Don't run a 25" bar on a 361. If you have any hard wood go 20" on the 361, or step up to the next size saws (440, 441 or 460) if you feel that you need that much bar. I have a 361 right now with plenty of mods and it does fine for 99% of my cutting. The other saw I routinely use is a Husky 372 with a 24" bar. The extra lenght is nice when cutting limbs as you don't have to bend quite as far, but don't really know if you need that much saw.
Like I said, go 361 with 20 or if that's too much $$ maybe look into the 390 (homeowner) for just cutting some firewood.
Chad
Like I said, go 361 with 20 or if that's too much $$ maybe look into the 390 (homeowner) for just cutting some firewood.
Chad
My friend has the MS361 w/ the 25'' bar and we use that to get through the big stuff. Why wouldn't you want to use the 25'' bar the 361? The MS390 is a less expensive equivlant of the 361 for homeowner use.=, but if you plan on cutting these grapple loads a few times a year, the 361 may be the way to go in the long run.
For the smaller/regular sized stuff we use my MS270 w/ a 20'' bar. We are looking into getting the MS460 w/ the 32'' setup to take care of the 40'' + stuff.
For the smaller/regular sized stuff we use my MS270 w/ a 20'' bar. We are looking into getting the MS460 w/ the 32'' setup to take care of the 40'' + stuff.
Redox
Minister of Fire
bjkjoseph said:
That's better! It's hard to read when it is all one run on sentence, but then I can be pretty a#@! about that stuff...
BTW, welcome to the forum!
Chris
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
I would look at purchasing either a Dolmar 6400 / 7300 / 7900 series saw or the Makita 6400 - The Makita is built by Dolmar for them and is the same saw with a blue paint job, and those three Dolmar's are all built on the same chassis, with the only difference between them being the cylinder and piston. I have a 7900, recently purchased, and it goes through trees like they weren't there - stock bar is 20", I purchased a 28" for use on the occasional big round, and the factory says it will pull up to a 32". Judging by the way it cuts with a 20" I can believe it. I've burried the bar in a red oak, and it doesn't even slow down. When I was bucking up a swamp maple the other day, it seemed like I had to work at pushing the saw through the wood fast enough, as it would cut faster than it seemed to naturally feed under gravity.
The saw is definitely a pro-grade, built well and easy to work on, and for it's size range is very light in the 7900 version - Dolmar claims to have the industry's best power to weight ratio with that saw. (6+ horsepower at about 11.5 lbs powerhead weight)
Finding a Dolmar dealer can be a challenge, but there are some good ones, check over on Arborsite... Dolmar has recently gotten a sever case of the stupids, and stopped dealers from doing "distance sales" so you can't get them on-line any more, but parts can be had that way. I do know there is at least one good dealer in NY, and Bailey's is apparently selling the Makita 6400 for an excellent price - the 6400 is a bit heavy for a 65cc class saw, but it isn't bad, and if you find it isn't big enough, you can simply replace the jug and piston to turn it into a 7900... Some of the Dolmar dealers have really horrible prices, but the good ones will sell you a saw for significantly less than what you would pay for a pro-grade Stihl or Husky in the same size range.
Gooserider
The saw is definitely a pro-grade, built well and easy to work on, and for it's size range is very light in the 7900 version - Dolmar claims to have the industry's best power to weight ratio with that saw. (6+ horsepower at about 11.5 lbs powerhead weight)
Finding a Dolmar dealer can be a challenge, but there are some good ones, check over on Arborsite... Dolmar has recently gotten a sever case of the stupids, and stopped dealers from doing "distance sales" so you can't get them on-line any more, but parts can be had that way. I do know there is at least one good dealer in NY, and Bailey's is apparently selling the Makita 6400 for an excellent price - the 6400 is a bit heavy for a 65cc class saw, but it isn't bad, and if you find it isn't big enough, you can simply replace the jug and piston to turn it into a 7900... Some of the Dolmar dealers have really horrible prices, but the good ones will sell you a saw for significantly less than what you would pay for a pro-grade Stihl or Husky in the same size range.
Gooserider
Henz
New Member
Personally, I would stick with either Stihl or Husquavarna, more dealers, more accessable parts etc.
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
As an update - my neighbor had some wood delivered that he decided he didn't want, so he offered it to me... There were several large logs in the 36"+ category, some sort of maple, I think sugar, but TOUGH stuff - wouldn't split for beans... I broke out the 28" bar for my Dolmar, and went after them - NO PROBLEM... It cut just about as fast with the 28" B&C;as I was cutting with the 20" that I normally use, although it did seem to go through gas a heck of a lot faster - possibly just because I was making such long WFO throttle cuts. I wish I'd gone for the 32" bar that the Dolmar factory said it would pull, as the 28" isn't that much longer than the 20. However it was adequate for the job.
The biggest log was stacked on a couple of smaller ones, with a big pile on the back side of it. I did one cut the full bar length down the exposed side from top to bottom, then climbed up on top of the pile (VERY carefully), and did a plunge cut into the existing slot to finish off the remaining bit. It would have been a lot harder if the log had been on the ground as this was NOT the sort of log one cut part way through and rolled over, at least not without a big tractor...
Was a good deal though, I'd say at least a couple cords worth, with it and what I had already cut from the yard, I think I'm close to being at the point where I started last years season. If I can get a grapple load in, that will put me about the two years supply out that I want to be.
I will say that I don't see the parts / dealer problem as that big of one - Dolmar has a reputation of being among the more reliable saws out there, and there are more than enough dealers to be able to order any parts you need on-line... The saw is also supposed to be incredibly easy to work on - the few parts I've touched have been, and allegedly you can tear the saw all the way down with the Torx wrench, the screwdriver, and the scrench that they give you with the saw... All the manuals are available on-line, etc...
I haven't done much price shopping for Stihl or Husky, but from what I've seen online, the 7900 Dolmar appears to give you an 80cc, pro-grade saw that fits in the 60-70cc weight class, and costs about what S&H;charge for a 60cc model... Can't complain about either of those features.
Gooserider
The biggest log was stacked on a couple of smaller ones, with a big pile on the back side of it. I did one cut the full bar length down the exposed side from top to bottom, then climbed up on top of the pile (VERY carefully), and did a plunge cut into the existing slot to finish off the remaining bit. It would have been a lot harder if the log had been on the ground as this was NOT the sort of log one cut part way through and rolled over, at least not without a big tractor...
Was a good deal though, I'd say at least a couple cords worth, with it and what I had already cut from the yard, I think I'm close to being at the point where I started last years season. If I can get a grapple load in, that will put me about the two years supply out that I want to be.
I will say that I don't see the parts / dealer problem as that big of one - Dolmar has a reputation of being among the more reliable saws out there, and there are more than enough dealers to be able to order any parts you need on-line... The saw is also supposed to be incredibly easy to work on - the few parts I've touched have been, and allegedly you can tear the saw all the way down with the Torx wrench, the screwdriver, and the scrench that they give you with the saw... All the manuals are available on-line, etc...
I haven't done much price shopping for Stihl or Husky, but from what I've seen online, the 7900 Dolmar appears to give you an 80cc, pro-grade saw that fits in the 60-70cc weight class, and costs about what S&H;charge for a 60cc model... Can't complain about either of those features.
Gooserider
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