In an effort to clear out the homestead, I have been working on removing trees. I don't currently have access to any serious machinery that could easily remove numerous trees so I'm having to clear land by hand with a chainsaw, axe and wedges. I'll figure out stump removal later.
Some of the lessons I've learned around chainsaws. Right now I'm using a gifted, new Stihl MS251 Wood Boss AKA 028. This is a 45cc saw with an 18 inch bar but has 16 inches of usable bar. I've found that I'm struggling with trees that are around the 14 inch and larger diameter as it bogs down. I could be having issues with mix or carb tuning. It could also be that I'm not good at sharpening chains and that I just suck at using a chainsaw.
Either way, I'm finding that this saw works really great on smaller trees and logs under the 12 inch size as bucking smaller logs for firewood is a breeze. It just runs so smooth. Technically, Stihl markets the saw for just that sort of work. That you can buck a larger tree as need but its better for bucking smaller trees and making firewood. Hence the Wood Boss name. Thankfully, most of the trees on the land are newer growth and are fairly small so this saw is a great choice. Honestly, when I'm at work, I just want to get out to the homestead and run the saw. It's my new love. My name is Ian and I'm addicted to power saws.
It's a pretty efficient setup. I figure there's around 2.5 cc's of engine displacement for every inch of stated bar which is around 18 inches. I need to measure what the usable length is. I've been toying with the idea of later on, I'd buy the 16 inch bar and chain for more regular use or tougher trees. I bring this up in that I can see where a bigger saw would be super useful but with what little experience I have at this point, I've created a generalized rule of thumb. I'm thinking keep your engine displacement around 3cc per inch of cutting bar until I really know how to run a saw. I doubt a professional would subscribe to this idea though given how many loggers run saws like the 592 XP with a 92cc engine and huge, 40+ inch bars all day.
If the saw is bogging down because of too much bar then it would lead credence to my notion that a saw with a larger engine would do really well. The biggest tree I've cut down so far had the bar nearly perfectly buried. There was just a tiny amount of chain coming out the other side. I really struggled to make the back cut and it bogged down substantially. Before this tree, I had been looking at the Husqvarna 460 Rancher or the Echo CS-590 Timberwolf as next purchases down the road. Both saws have a 20 inch bar and both are a 60cc displacement and have optional 24 inch bars. Stihl has the MS311 and MS362 which are in the same category with a 59cc engine and 20 inch bars. There is an option for a 25 inch bar which is an odd length. Those 20 inch bars would put the ratio around 3cc per bar inch which I get the feeling would be pretty great based on how things are going so far. The 24 inch bar options are nice but that kicks the ratio back down to 2.5cc/bar inch and only be better for bucking. There are some trees that I'm looking at that are bigger than that and it might be best to go even larger than the 60cc saw range. Mathing out the options, I get the feeling the sweet spot is around 3cc as I said before. If I do go with a 24 inch bar, then a 72cc displacement is where I'd need to be to keep the 3cc/bar inch ratio. Incidentally, I had been thinking about building a saw for fun and the 70cc option did come up but I had originally limited the build to around the 65cc mark due to weight concerns.
A new Husqvarna 572XP or Echo CS-7310P or a used Stihl MS440 or Husky 372XP would just about right for what I'm looking for. It means I could also run a longer bar if needed. The new Husqvarna and Echo saws have a 32 inch bar option for those larger displacements and that would be amazing even if there are only a handful of jobs that would need that size even if it did bring that ratio way down. The down side to the 70cc range is weight. I've found that my nerdly arms already struggle to run my 45cc saw at 14 lbs with bar and fluids for more than 3 hours. The power head of the bigger saws is already at 14.5 lbs and that doesn't include fluids, bar or chain. I could see getting close to 18 lbs for those saws with everything. It might make sense to back down to the 60cc saw range again.
Oddly enough, those saws in the 60cc range are marketed as farm and ranch saws. I can't imagine why these chainsaw companies gave names to their mid sized saws like Rancher or Farm Boss or why these manufacturers have marketing material that say things like "farm" and "ranch". Probably because they've come to conclude through years of experience that those sized saws are great for farms and ranchers. Maybe I should listen.
At this point, I still think hunting down a used 70cc category saw and setting it up with a 24 inch bar would do everything I could want and it would be a ton of fun to port one. I think I'll still do that but looking over it, a Husky or Echo 60cc saw with a 20 inch bar and the optional 24 inch would do so much. I really do like my little Stihl 028 Wood Boss and I'm grateful that I even have it in the first place. Sadly, I suffer from a case of "Can't leave things alone" and I've seen options like replacing the bar with a 20 inch bar and converting it over to narrow kerf, 1/4 pitch chain to reduce drag but I'll look at that later. I ordered a set of replacement felling dogs from Westcoast saws, so I'll do that to help with felling larger trees. The current dogs are piddly and small and they have no pivot. They're more like bumper spikes. The WCS 3 point dogs you can actually pivot on. I'm looking forward to that upgrade. Their also much longer and will reduce the useable bar length. While that's not great, it should help keep me out of bigger wood that the saw would otherwise struggle with.
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