light enough to carry two

[metallic]

These 550s are light enough I can carry two when I'm hiking out to do trail work.

 

[czar800]

What Nice saws you have!!

 

[fearofpavement]

Why?

 

[Woods Works]

Nice pair! I see one has a sticker. Are they both ported? If not, how do they compare?

Nice sugar maple too. Cleaning up the sugar bush trails?

 

[leadfarmer]

Why?

They are huskys, might need a spare [emoji23]

 

[Frank bierce]

They are huskys, might need a spare [emoji23]

Should have brought 3!!

 

[metallic]

I was clearing a bunch of blown-down eastern white pine off a hiking trail. Many of them are dead due to some kind of vines that appear to strangle the tree. Kind of like kuszu down south but I don't think this is kudzu. Anyway, I found two saws are good to have because the forces on these blow downs are really weird: you might see a tree at a 45 degree angle and think you can under cut it and it'll drop, but then you under cut it and the tension from the vines just lifts the tree UP and boom, your bar is pinched. Doesn't happen a lot, but enough to warrant a second to cut the stuck one out. Plus, it's usually a mile or two back to my car if I had to go fetch the second saw.

The MMported 550XP is my friends saw and mine is stock. I was test driving his ported saw to see how the two compare. The MM saw is running 3/8ths chain and mine has .325. I'm guessing that cutting dead pine isn't much of a challenge for either saw because there wasn't a heck of a lot of difference between the two. I spied a big norway maple leaning over the trail down a bit from where I was clearing the pines. I ran out of time (and running low on fuel) so I couldn't get to it, but I'm guessing that the maple will be more of a challenge and may reveal more about the two saws.

 

[metallic]

Just checked USFS website. The vines may be either Climbing Bittersweet (a native vine) or a new, invasive variety called Oriental Bittersweet. Whatever it is, it's wiping out acres of trees at a time in some sections of the town's forests.

 

[angelo c]

Just checked USFS website. The vines may be either Climbing Bittersweet (a native vine) or a new, invasive variety called Oriental Bittersweet. Whatever it is, it's wiping out acres of trees at a time in some sections of the town's forests.

freekin Orientals are ruining EVERYTHING !!!!!

 

[metallic]

One thing I can tell you guys is there is a big difference starting these two saws: the MM550XP is noticeably more difficult to pull start than the stock saw. Just for fun, I was turning each engine over with a really gentle pull and I could hear how the MM saw popped way more compared to stock. The other observation was that the stock saw seemed to need the choke to start even if it only sat for 10 minutes. The MM saw could sit for 30 minutes and I could just hit the compression release and fire it up; no fast idle necessary.

If I get the time to knock down that Norway maple (which, by the way, is considered an invasive species!), I'll try to grab some video of the event and do some timed cuts of stock vs. ported. I'll swap the chains too, so they're both running the same gear.

It would be cool to see if the ported saw maintains the same advantage whether its running 3/8ths or .325.

 

[Deererainman]

Check out the Kelty Cache hauler frame pack. I love mine.

 

[Deererainman]

I do some work on a trail crew. I've hauled chainsaws, drills, toolboxes, coolers etc... The cache hauler has so many ways to secure the load, it's very easy to be loaded way too heavy. I once carried 95 lbs of tools 6 miles each way with mine. Won't do that again.

 

[Nitehawk55]

We have a lot of wild grape vines up this way choking out trees .

 

[metallic]

We have a lot of wild grape vines up this way choking out trees .

Even when I'm just out for a hike, I'll carry some hand snips with me (and maybe my Silky handsaw) so I can sever the vines on the trailside trees. I might even hate vines more than mosquitos (but still not as much as hornets.)