I remember those days well. We used to have lots of red oak, cherry, apple, beech, and sugar maple where I grew up. Still have all my sugaring equipment from when I lived in the berkshires. Who knows, maybe I'll get a place with some Sugarbush up there 5 or 10 years from now as a vacation place, do a Lil homemade sugaring in the springtimes...
I learned to cut with an old early pioneer saw. Didn't have a handguard left let alone safety stuff like working chain brakes. wouldn't idle for too long so you just kept goosing the gas every so often while the chain spun a bit unless you wanted to keep restarting it.
By the early 90s I moved up to a husqvarna 154. Had that thing for a couple decades, gave it up when I moved south. Bought a newer rancher series, wasn't as happy with it as the old saw.
Did a lot of looking and readin before deciding to give the Stihls a try instead. Might get something bigger from them based on how the 179 did...
I haven't tried or used their bigger saws yet. I can say the smaller stuff is so easy the wife can start it... and she isn't good at that sort of thing at all. If you believe the advertising it's supposed to be much easier than before.
I used to burn ash up north. some guys said it didn't burn so long, but we ran an old late 70s non-cat defiant for a woodstove. You fill that up with any hardwood and it's keeping you toasty for a while, doesn't matter too much what you choose.
If you really want to punish your chains, find some oak that's been dead for 10-15 years and cut that. Back when my folks built a house they logged their own land to clear, stacked a big ol pile of 18"-up red oak trunks, then just forgot about em and left em there. I went to move em over a decade later and only the outer inch or so softened... inside that hard as a rock. Tore through chains fast, and, it hasn't mineralized as you'd expect. Burned hot, started up quick.
