What did you do to/with your chainsaw today

How did I miss this thread?!? I only need small saws for around the house. My trusty old Craftsman gas saw died long ago and I then switched to electric saws. I have an old Craftsman 14" electric saw that I got for free only needed an off/on switch. I put a new 12" chain and bar on recently and it is perfect.

Right now I am restoring some old Homelite electric saws. I found my first XEL-10 at Englishtown swap meet for $5 many moons go. It has been dead nuts dependable for years. I recently had to replace a 4x4 fence post that was in concrete and the XEL-10 fit the hole perfectly. I used it to dig out the old wood and I figured the chain would get trashed but a new chain was due anyway. Not so easy! In fact, everything for theses saws is difficult to find. I managed to get a two-for on Fleabay, One chain for now, one for later. Motor still strong.

Somewhere along the line it must have gotten dropped because the side cover was all busted up. I found a parts saw XEL-8 on Fleabay and I scrounged the side cover off it. I opened it up and found a stripped main shaft and drive gear. Someone must have snagged a rock or rebar because both were missing teeth. I stripped it down for parts. I really like these saws with the steel gears and stuff. The new plastic gears just strip too fast. Then I went about searching for more parts. I found an XEL-10 intact but missing the bar. I put the 8" bar on to complete it. Now I needed a chain and NO ONE even lists it. A fantastic place called Frawley's Saw Shop supplied me with two of the oddball chains. Now it is a nice working XEL-8.

I scrounged an NOS armature/main shaft, new drive gear, chain tensioners, brushes, hand guards, chain scabbards, anti-kickback devices, lots of stuff. I could build a third saw but I still need a side cover. Pic is Fleabay,not mine, but same model.

Today I took the spare motor housing, installed the field coil/start button, the new armature, and some new brushes. I put the side of the gear case that mounts the armature main shaft in place and tested it. IT WORKS!!! Cool. I can build a third saw but still need a bar and side cover. The way prices and availability are, it is cheaper to buy a whole parts saw and cannibalize it.

Texas82GP said:

I need some advice guys. I'm not knowledgeable on this topic. My brother wants a chainsaw for Christmas. My family is looking to me for guidance.

This is our last Christmas in the "suburbs". We'll be moving to a partially wooded 1.5-acre lot. We'll be using the saw primarily for storm clean-up. We have some really big trees still on our lot and also on the adjacent lots around our perimeter. I don't think we want an entry level saw, but I also don't think we need a professional grade saw, built to be used every day. He and I have a strong preference for stuff made in the USA. We'd be open to something made overseas, depending on where. Definitely not something made in China. China bad.

I think where I need the most help is zeroing in on how long of a bar and chain we want. All suggestions and help is appreciated. Because of advertising that at least some of them are made in USA, I'm biased towards Stihl, but I'm open to your suggestions. Also, since it is a Christmas present, we'll be wanting suggestions for something new. Thanks guys!

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I used to run early to late 1980s Husqvarna. By the early 2000s I converted to stihl.

The most important question to ask yourself is how you picture him *using* the saw. Now, yes, safety is important and I've done things with tiny saws in necessity situations that called for something beefier. I cut down and up a Bradford pear that was 28" thick in the trunk using a MS170 which is strictly a limb/brush saw or small saplings/trees. It actually processed down to 2.5 cords of wood from the one tree.

I do not recommend people *do* things like that, but, ice storm + needing the driveway + my other saws being 100 miles away = doing dumb things.

Point is, if he's mostly going up ladder, or climbing trees, and cleaning up cracked or dead limbs, cleaning what falls, you don't want a heavy power head for that work, and, don't want a long bar.

If he's mostly going to do tree dropping to open up more land, and, you plan on burning limbs in 8 to 10 ft lengths on brush piles, that's a different story.

With the stihl, the biggest difference you get going to a professional series over a homeowners saw is in maintenance and repairs. The professional saws are set up to be simpler to work on with fast parts replacement. The homeowner line isn't meant to be easy to repair because they just don't care. So you take a bunch of stuff apart in the process that doesn't need doing to work on the pro lineup.

Your other concern is personal preference, the amount of computer/microchip control you want. They'll make the same grade of saw with extra electronic crap touting emissions friendly and fuel usage, but, really IMO you're asking for trouble. It makes some people feel better though if they buy it so, to each their own.

Texas82GP said:

I need some advice guys. I'm not knowledgeable on this topic. My brother wants a chainsaw for Christmas. My family is looking to me for guidance.

This is our last Christmas in the "suburbs". We'll be moving to a partially wooded 1.5-acre lot. We'll be using the saw primarily for storm clean-up. We have some really big trees still on our lot and also on the adjacent lots around our perimeter. I don't think we want an entry level saw, but I also don't think we need a professional grade saw, built to be used every day. He and I have a strong preference for stuff made in the USA. We'd be open to something made overseas, depending on where. Definitely not something made in China. China bad.

I think where I need the most help is zeroing in on how long of a bar and chain we want. All suggestions and help is appreciated. Because of advertising that at least some of them are made in USA, I'm biased towards Stihl, but I'm open to your suggestions. Also, since it is a Christmas present, we'll be wanting suggestions for something new. Thanks guys!

Click to expand...

Stihl MS261 or MS362 would probably serve him well. Any variation of either of those two saws. Either should be more than enough saw and they will last a lifetime.

Bar length depends. How big of trees are you cutting and is it hardwood or no?

ck80 said:

I used to run early to late 1980s Husqvarna. By the early 2000s I converted to stihl.

The most important question to ask yourself is how you picture him *using* the saw. Now, yes, safety is important and I've done things with tiny saws in necessity situations that called for something beefier. I cut down and up a Bradford pear that was 28" thick in the trunk using a MS170 which is strictly a limb/brush saw or small saplings/trees. It actually processed down to 2.5 cords of wood from the one tree.

I do not recommend people *do* things like that, but, ice storm + needing the driveway + my other saws being 100 miles away = doing dumb things.

Point is, if he's mostly going up ladder, or climbing trees, and cleaning up cracked or dead limbs, cleaning what falls, you don't want a heavy power head for that work, and, don't want a long bar.

If he's mostly going to do tree dropping to open up more land, and, you plan on burning limbs in 8 to 10 ft lengths on brush piles, that's a different story.

With the stihl, the biggest difference you get going to a professional series over a homeowners saw is in maintenance and repairs. The professional saws are set up to be simpler to work on with fast parts replacement. The homeowner line isn't meant to be easy to repair because they just don't care. So you take a bunch of stuff apart in the process that doesn't need doing to work on the pro lineup.

Your other concern is personal preference, the amount of computer/microchip control you want. They'll make the same grade of saw with extra electronic crap touting emissions friendly and fuel usage, but, really IMO you're asking for trouble. It makes some people feel better though if they buy it so, to each their own.

Click to expand...

joesregalproject said:

Stihl MS261 or MS362 would probably serve him well. Any variation of either of those two saws. Either should be more than enough saw and they will last a lifetime.

Bar length depends. How big of trees are you cutting and is it hardwood or no?

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Thanks for the feedback. I'd say the biggest trees are 24" trunk. Mostly pines, oaks and sweet gums. No ladder work. If it's too ugly, we're likely to hire it out. If a big limb comes down, we want a saw to deal with it. If a big tree comes down, it'd be nice to at least have some capability to deal with it. No electronics wanted. Could care less about emissions. Also at 49(me) and 54(him). We are green horns with chain saws but do have common sense.

Texas82GP said:

Thanks for the feedback. I'd say the biggest trees are 24" trunk. Mostly pines, oaks and sweet gums. No ladder work. If it's too ugly, we're likely to hire it out. If a big limb comes down, we want a saw to deal with it. If a big tree comes down, it'd be nice to at least have some capability to deal with it. No electronics wanted. Could care less about emissions. Also at 49(me) and 54(him). We are green horns with chain saws but do have common sense.

Click to expand...

Knowing when to hire it out is always a good thing. I don't have any problem doing big trees, but I'm pretty selective about which ones I do. Also, ladders and chainsaws never mix.

As long as you aren't planning on dropping any of those 24" trees yourself, a 261 (any variation of it, comes down to availability and personal preference) with a 20" bar will serve him well. It'd be enough to make a couple cuts out of one of those 24" trees to clear a driveway, but it's not really meant for dropping and bucking a tree that large. Could it? Probably. Should it? Not really. But it's perfectly suited for cutting up a tree up to 15-16" diameter and it won't lack for power, and it won't be a burden to carry around for smaller jobs.

A 362 with a 24" bar would be more suited to dropping and fully cutting up those 24" trees, but it's gonna be heavy and way overkill for just about every other situation- limbing, small cleanup, pruning, etc. Nice saw to have, but unless you are doing a lot of firewood, it's not a great one-saw plan.

Case in point, I made the mistake of bringing an MS361 (the 362's predecessor) as my smallest saw to a job where we dropped 6 or 7 big pines. It worked great to buck the trunks. But I had to cut all of the 2-3" diameter branches off first with a 60cc saw... my arms and back were killing me by the end of the day.

The MS261 is a true, pro-level saw (you don't want anything less). Avoid Stihl oil. It burns really dirty and will carbon up the cylinder fast. Echo RedArmor or Amsoil Saber at 40:1. Use ethanol-free gas.

My MS362 beats me up pretty badly as a limber compared to the wee Poulan Wild Thing but man oh man does it make short work of the whole thing! I've got my eye on a Husky 543 as a limber right now. I've been interning with the Forest Service and finally got an MS261 in my hands and as expected it was a bit porky for a limber. The Husky 545 I found felt better. But I'd love to get my MS362 ported and hang a 25" bar off of it now that it's properly broken in.

When Superstorm Sandy dumped a few big limbs on our daughter's fence, all I had to work with was a small Remington pole saw. I removed the pole and used just the small electric saw that was maybe an 8"er. It worked just fine and holding it all day was not a chore like a big gas saw would have been. I agree with knowing when to call in the experts. We just had some trees cut down and the guy up in the branches was using a very small saw, maybe 12" tops. It was just right for the branches, and it was light enough for him to hang it off his harness while climbing up. For the trunks they used big long saws and made short work of them.