Firewood saw

[jake wells]

if i need a ported saw to cut firewood i will just burn propane instead.

 

[johnny5ny]

562 for me too. 90% of the time with an 18" bar

 

[Whitespider]

if i need a ported saw to cut firewood i will just burn propane instead.

LOL
But it ain't about the firewood... it's about the saw for a lot of guys.
I went to one of those GTGs a bit over a year ago and got the bug... thought I "needed" something more.
Thankfully(?) I got over it before indoctrinating myself into yet another money-eating hobby (my addiction to firearms is enough).

I cut firewood with the only saw I own (other than a pole saw)... a flat reliable, 25-year-old, off-the-shelf 026. I've never had a problem, always starts, gets the job done, and at just under 10 pounds is real easy on the back (shrug)
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[calebng15]

if i need a ported saw to cut firewood i will just burn propane instead.

Yeah but when you can enjoy cutting wood... Nothing like smiling like a possum while your cutting! I'll agree with you not necessarily a need, but I am very glad for mine!

 

[czar800]

My 046 gets the most hours...

 

[jake wells]

LOL
But it ain't about the firewood... it's about the saw for a lot of guys.
I went to one of those GTGs a bit over a year ago and got the bug... thought I "needed" something more.
Thankfully(?) I got over it before indoctrinating myself into yet another money-eating hobby (my addiction to firearms is enough).

I cut firewood with the only saw I own (other than a pole saw)... a flat reliable, 25-year-old, off-the-shelf 026. I've never had a problem, always starts, gets the job done, and at just under 10 pounds is real easy on the back (shrug)
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about time you got here the other site is full of a$$holes.

 

[CTYank]

No way will a single saw do the whole job. One powerful (& big) enough for bucking the stem is just plain dangerous for limbing. If you only bring one saw, Murphy says you will pinch it. (Yes, I bring wedges.)
I most often lean to a 2-saw plan with 61 cc Dolly (20" or 24") for the big stuff and 40 cc RedMax (16" or 18") for the small stuff. Generally the RedMax does most of the cutting- tops of deciduous trees hold lots of wood. For trees with really big tops, a 25 cc Tanaka polesaw saves some bacon.

 

[CR888]

Many members have 5+ saws, some have multiples in every class. Sure most take more saws to the party than they have wood logs to cut, but this thread is about one saw, in an event that may never occur to many, only having one saw to do a task. Its a compromise saw that's not the best for really large or small wood but one that can do both acceptably. Firewood...what is the one saw that can do the most. For me that would be a 70cc fat bottomed 038/ms381 with 18"&24" b/c's.

 

[Whitespider]

No way will a single saw do the whole job. ... If you only bring one saw, Murphy says you will pinch it.

Hmmm.... I beg to differ.
I get the job done with one 50cc saw. The whole job, even the big stuff... even stuff well over 4 feet in diameter. I have two bars, one 16 inch and one 20 inch; on the (very) rare occasion I do pinch a bar, I just unbolt the power head and bolt on the other bar. It's a lot easier to carry a second bar into the cuttin' site than it is a second saw. I admit a bigger saw cuts big stuff faster... but it ain't that much faster, and they're heavier.



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[CTYank]

Hmmm.... I beg to differ.
I get the job done with one 50cc saw. The whole job, even the big stuff... even stuff well over 4 feet in diameter. I have two bars, one 16 inch and one 20 inch; on the (very) rare occasion I do pinch a bar, I just unbolt the power head and bolt on the other bar. It's a lot easier to carry a second bar into the cuttin' site than it is a second saw. I admit a bigger saw cuts big stuff faster... but it ain't that much faster, and they're heavier.

I, too, beg to differ. (No way IMO does one size saw do it all optimally.) IME a combo of 40 & 60 cc saw, with help a/r from a 25 cc polesaw, can easily be much faster than one larger saw. Lots safer too. Dunno your approach on the tops, but I cut up everything down to a couple inches diameter. For that, a 9 lb RedMax is way less fatiguing and more productive than a larger saw, cutting up whatever it can reach, up to ~14".
A powerful 61 cc saw that's happy with a 24" bar IME is not "heavy" for bucking the big stuff, and can really get it done, enjoyably.
I always keep wedges handy, and my cohorts too, but Mr. Murphy has some bad habits, showing no respect for our plans.

Sometimes I get sent into some preserves to clear blowdowns from trails, involving some long hikes. That's where light saws really shine.

 

[exSW]

View attachment 29923

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I've had stumps that look like that. That's when I knew I didn't bring enough saw.

 

[Whitespider]

(No way IMO does one size saw do it all optimally.)

But that ain't what you posted... is it??
I believe your post was this... "No way will a single saw do the whole job."
Your posts are 2 different things. One I differed with because the "whole job" can be done with one saw... the second one adds the qualifier word "optimally" (as well as IMO). I'm pretty sure I admitted a bigger saw cuts big stuff faster in my first post. Let me go back and check... yep, I sure did.

I've had stumps that look like that. That's when I knew I didn't bring enough saw.

But you got the job done?? Or was there "no way" to get it done??
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[exSW]

But that ain't what you posted... is it??
I believe your post was this... "No way will a single saw do the whole job."
Your posts are 2 different things. One I differed with because the "whole job" can be done with one saw... the second one adds the qualifier word "optimally" (as well as IMO). I'm pretty sure I admitted a bigger saw cuts big stuff faster in my first post. Let me go back and check... yep, I sure did.


But you got the job done?? Or was there "no way" to get it done??
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You ever get the feeling that some concepts escape you?




Here's a parable for you. First rule of blasting stumps. Use enough dynamite the first time!

 

[junkman]

I use one saw also @Whitespider ,so far the 440 hybrid has not found a job it won't do for me .

 

[Whitespider]

You ever get the feeling that some concepts escape you?

Naw... it didn't escape me.

My point was when there's a job to be done a guy uses what he's got. If there's a hole to be dug and all ya' got is a shovel, ya' use the shovel. Ya' don't say "no way will a shovel shovel dig that hole." Ya' don't claim the job can't be done because ya' don't have a backhoe. Of course, ya' could go purchase a backhoe, but that's not very cost effective for just one hole... and by the time ya' got the backhoe home, ya' likely could have gotten the job done with the shovel.

The point of digging a hole has nothing to do with what the pile of dirt you make next to it... and the point of making firewood has nothing to do with the stump ya' leave behind. I ain't puttin' anyone down because they chose to have 2, or 10, or even 50 saws for making firewood. If that's what a guy wants, than that's what a guy should have. Heck, I've got more firearms than could be piled in a pickup box; I don't own guns intended for killing elephants because we have marauding elephants in Iowa... I own them because I want to. However, it is possible to kill an elephant with a .22 rimfire if ya' really need to get the job done.

Want vs. need... a fella may want more than one saw for making firewood, but he don't need more than one saw to make firewood.
Truthfully, he don't even need a power saw... I've made plenty of firewood with an ax and a bow saw.
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[Whitespider]

My son had a fairly large limb come down in his yard during a storm about a month ago.
He borrowed my saw and pickup to cut it up and haul the wood out to me.
Afterwards, as he sat the saw on my bench, he said...
"I need to get me a chainsaw in case this happens again... what do ya' think about those green ones the fleet store has for $130??"
I walked over to the wall and grabbed one of the bow saws hanging there, handed it to him, and said...
"The fleet store also sells these for a lot less than that, but I'll give you this one. Now you have everything you need in case a branch falls in your yard again. But if you want a chainsaw, the only thing limiting your choice is your wallet and your willingness to part with what's in it."
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[exSW]

Naw... it didn't escape me.

My point was when there's a job to be done a guy uses what he's got. If there's a hole to be dug and all ya' got is a shovel, ya' use the shovel. Ya' don't say "no way will a shovel shovel dig that hole." Ya' don't claim the job can't be done because ya' don't have a backhoe. Of course, ya' could go purchase a backhoe, but that's not very cost effective for just one hole... and by the time ya' got the backhoe home, ya' likely could have gotten the job done with the shovel.

The point of digging a hole has nothing to do with what the pile of dirt you make next to it... and the point of making firewood has nothing to do with the stump ya' leave behind. I ain't puttin' anyone down because they chose to have 2, or 10, or even 50 saws for making firewood. If that's what a guy wants, than that's what a guy should have. Heck, I've got more firearms than could be piled in a pickup box; I don't own guns intended for killing elephants because we have marauding elephants in Iowa... I own them because I want to. However, it is possible to kill an elephant with a .22 rimfire if ya' really need to get the job done.

Want vs. need... a fella may want more than one saw for making firewood, but he don't need more than one saw to make firewood.
Truthfully, he don't even need a power saw... I've made plenty of firewood with an ax and a bow saw.
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I'm no stranger to things the hard way because it's the only way that day. But I've buried a few old hardheads that do it that way every day.Taking out 30" plus oaks on a regular basis with a 50cc saw flies in the face of the law of averages. Karamojo Bell killed a pile of elephants with a 7x57. That was one man of incredible skill who lived through his bad days. There's several graveyards in Africa full of guys who didn't.

 

[Brewz]

I guess it depends on the timber you cut.
For me, Its a saw that will run a bar from 20" to 42" but is not too heavy.
I have been using an 066 for a while now, and fire up the 026 for anything under 10" or so, but I have settles on my ultimate firewood saw for Aussie hardwood.

Stihl 064

 

[Whitespider]

Taking out 30" plus oaks on a regular basis with a 50cc saw flies in the face of the law of averages.

How do you define "regular basis"?? Once a year?? Once a month?? Once a week??
It's been 4 years since I took out a 30" plus oak... but I did 2 of them that year, and 3 of them two years before that, and none for ten years before that.
So, that's 5 in the last fifteen years... an average of one every three years... is that a "regular basis"??
Heck, it could be years before I do another one.

I never said anything about a "regular basis"... I simply said I can get the job done with one 50cc saw. If I was digging holes on a "regular basis" I'd buy a backhoe... if I was "taking out 30" plus oaks on a regular basis" I'd buy a bigger saw (and maybe a grapple for the backhoe).
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[exSW]

How do you define "regular basis"?? Once a year?? Once a month?? Once a week??
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More than once. Which is all the education anyone should need.