Heated Handles?

[Ryan Browne]

Well, it's up to 2F in River Falls this morning. Put another tank through the 261 cutting some frozen white oak. It's definitely a little freer after 5 tanks than it was at the beginning. Normally my fingers would be too cold to stop and post this but well, you know, heated handles.

 

[GCJenks204]

Sigh... Mine is still somewhere in the hands of USPS. No one seems to know what happened to it after it cleared customs last Wednesday...

 

[Ryan Browne]

Sigh... Mine is still somewhere in the hands of USPS. No one seems to know what happened to it after it cleared customs last Wednesday...

Oh no!! That's terrible news. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it shows up ASAP!

 

[stihl livin]

Well, it's up to 2F in River Falls this morning. Put another tank through the 261 cutting some frozen white oak. It's definitely a little freer after 5 tanks than it was at the beginning. Normally my fingers would be too cold to stop and post this but well, you know, heated handles.

Good thing winter is close to over or you would have that 261 arctic worn out

 

[bryanr2]

Guilty as charged. I got to run saws most of the day at a neighbor's place. We were cutting up some BIG red oak. I ran the 660 most of the time and put a tank through the 7900, but I did have time to put two tanks through the new 261. It's a really nice light saw. Really easy starting, great AV. I checked the air filter after the first tank and there was virtually zero sawdust anywhere under the cover. Power was okay, I hear they take several tanks to reach their potential. Maybe a muffler mod too...

I will say, though, that the power band seems really wide. I had a 16" 3/8 pitch bar on it and buried in red oak it pulled nicely. Not 70cc nicely course, but it had nice torque. I won't be using it for that very often anyway, I just wanted to try it out and put it through some decent sized wood and get it nice and hot.

It'll be a saw that i reach for a lot.

think the consensus was 10+ tanks on the 261

 

[stihl livin]

I stopped at a friend ps house today where I have permission to cut on his 7-8 acres. He had a tree crew taking down leaners along the road. They took all the brush and left me all the logs. I stood out there for 20 minutes and was half froze it was around zero here. They didn't have no heated handles and I felt bad for them. But they sure had some very nice equipment. The chipper looked brand new and it hardly even grunted at the brush. The brand new f450 the chips were going into was very nice but the company built it wrong and the owner had to climb in the box and push the chips up higher. I talked to him a little about it and the company built it wrong so they are eating the cost of the correct one which should be down next week. Sorry no pictures because it was to cold without heated handles on my phone.

 

[bryanr2]

I stopped at a friend ps house today where I have permission to cut on his 7-8 acres. He had a tree crew taking down leaners along the road. They took all the brush and left me all the logs. I stood out there for 20 minutes and was half froze it was around zero here. They didn't have no heated handles and I felt bad for them. But they sure had some very nice equipment. The chipper looked brand new and it hardly even grunted at the brush. The brand new f450 the chips were going into was very nice but the company built it wrong and the owner had to climb in the box and push the chips up higher. I talked to him a little about it and the company built it wrong so they are eating the cost of the correct one which should be down next week. Sorry no pictures because it was to cold without heated handles on my phone.

sounds like you or they need my 2171W. pm me.

 

[GCJenks204]

Oh no!! That's terrible news. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it shows up ASAP!

I can't say "The Eagle Has Landed" but it is out for delivery!!!

 

[Ryan Browne]

Did your saw make it to Scott's Gary?

Here's a butternut that I dropped yesterday. I am really liking thinning with this saw. It's a touch heavier than the Dolmar 421, but I like using full sized 3/8 pitch chain for this job. It's not as smooth probably, but when I come up to a 16-18" tree I want to drop, I like the bigger chain and heavier duty bar. For cutting brush into small pieces to get things closer to the ground, though, the 3/8lp is a little less grabby.



And here's the third load of logs I pulled out of the area in working. All of this was dropped, limbed and bucked with the 261. Biggest sticks are the butternut above and his neighbor who was the same size. The rest of it is ash under 12" in diameter, but it'll be nice firewood next year. It's also good emergency wood in case I run out when I'm making syrup this spring.

It looks pretty dinky in there picture, but there's a decent amount of wood there.

This warm weather we're having is basically putting an end to cutting wood. I wish I had gotten more done, but that's always the way it goes. I wish it was still gonna be cold for another two weeks, but it looks like tapping weather is here. Time to scramble like mad until I'm ready to get cooking.

 

[RI Chevy]

Nice Ryan. Good to see that you are putting that 261 to use! Now when you get some down time, you gotta send it out for one of the builders to really wake it up. [emoji106]

 

[GCJenks204]

@Ryan Browne yes the saw made to its destination finally.

Love seeing you put yours to work

 

[Ryan Browne]

Well, I hit a major setback today. Actually it was funny because I snapped the axle of my log wagon trying to pull it to the sugarbush while the ground was still frozen this morning. I thought you guys would get a kick out of the picture of my overloaded wagon stranded in the field indefinitely.

Here it is loaded up and ready.



And here it is 500' away.



So, that was a bummer, but chit happens, you know?



So a couple friends showed up and wet started running sap lines. Got about an hour into it and I stopped at my neighbor's place (where my tank is) to say hi to her. Her driveway is pure ice as a result of some rain over slush at Christmas. There was probably a little layer of water because of the warm sunshine. And I fell. And broke my ankle...

Sorry, no pictures. It don't look good.

I'm pretty bummed. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find enough help for syrup season, but this is a really important time of year for me, and the next two weeks is go time. Anyway, on the bright side, I won't wear that new 261 out this winter.

Edited to add: they got me on a couple of pretty solid opioids, so I might be a little goofy for a while.

 

[RI Chevy]

Sh't. Sorry to hear about your injury. Get well soon. And weld a new solid axel in the trailer. Lol

 

[GCJenks204]

Ryan, really sorry to hea about your ankle. I sure hope you find enough help to get the sap in I sure am looking forward to picking up sone syrup this spring.

 

[old guy]

Bummer, Ryan!

 

[Darin]

This guy doesn't need heated handles. Just another shot of scotch.

 

[RI Chevy]

He might need a heated unit. Lol

 

[TJ the Chainsaw Mechanic]

The side cover design on the 261 is cool.

 

[Brush Ape]

I'd love to figure out a heated steering wheel cover and joystick knob for the tractor.

Chainsaw Jim can hook you up.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Chainsaw Jim can hook you up.

@Chainsaw Jim, is this true??