Catbuster
Roadbuilder Extraordinaire
- Local time
- 10:20 AM
- User ID
- 15169
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2020
- Messages
- 193
- Reaction score
- 1,007
- Location
- Lou, KY
I’ve always run pro saws. I’m not “old,” so I started with a Stihl 041, Farm Boss, that my dad used. Dad and his dad also ran an 048, 038 Mag II and their first and only Husqvarna they owned was a 55 until I built my dad a 346, OE. We were… You know, farmer/landowner types. But whacking hedge apple patch firewooding wasn’t a lot of fun, and I was kinda, okay, very bookish at the time, so I never really got into it. Chainsaws were just a tool, no more, no less.
When I got my first “job” on another, much larger horse farm, I was older, and running 044s and the early 440s with 20” bars were lightning fast through what we were cutting. The 044 was a much nicer saw to run than anything my family had, too. A half wrap with a short bar makes for a very nimble setup. The wood also didn’t have nasty spikes poking you, didn’t smell bad, and I was getting paid. I liked running a chainsaw, and I knew it.
Not too much later, I got into the fire service. Working in the urban/wildland interface I got my red card, a pair of White’s boots, and a used Stihl 046 with a 3/4 wrap handle, a 32” bar and several loops of skip sequence chain. I learned to cut some big wood. It was a similar time I was introduced to the Husqvarna 372XP (OE) and the 395. At that point I was a convert. I dunno if there’s ever been a better all-around saw for general falling and bucking “normal” size trees than the original design 372XP. They were very smooth for their day, very quick to accelerate, light, and easy to live with. The 395s had just gobs of power and it never seemed to run out as your bars got longer. I was hooked. So at this point I own the most chainsaws I would ever own, 5. I was big into square ground chains, and lightweight bars had recently made their debut so I was trying them out. I was really big into the saw game, Brad Snelling was the king of another site and the threads there were super interesting… It was a good time to be hooked.
Since then I’ve not spent as much time in the woods and only own two saws, and have been that way for most of the last five years or so. I ran the 046 up until last year, and it found a better home. I sent my 461 down the line, as much as it pains me. I now have a Mastermind 441in west coast trim that runs a 32” bar, and a standard model 441 that I usually set up with a 25” bar. Dad likes to run the standard one, he never understood the long bar thing, and the only saw he ran regularly with a 3/4 wrap was a 460
rescue saw from where he and I were and currently are both volunteers on a ladder company, and he’ll tell you it feels “off” to him.
When I got my first “job” on another, much larger horse farm, I was older, and running 044s and the early 440s with 20” bars were lightning fast through what we were cutting. The 044 was a much nicer saw to run than anything my family had, too. A half wrap with a short bar makes for a very nimble setup. The wood also didn’t have nasty spikes poking you, didn’t smell bad, and I was getting paid. I liked running a chainsaw, and I knew it.
Not too much later, I got into the fire service. Working in the urban/wildland interface I got my red card, a pair of White’s boots, and a used Stihl 046 with a 3/4 wrap handle, a 32” bar and several loops of skip sequence chain. I learned to cut some big wood. It was a similar time I was introduced to the Husqvarna 372XP (OE) and the 395. At that point I was a convert. I dunno if there’s ever been a better all-around saw for general falling and bucking “normal” size trees than the original design 372XP. They were very smooth for their day, very quick to accelerate, light, and easy to live with. The 395s had just gobs of power and it never seemed to run out as your bars got longer. I was hooked. So at this point I own the most chainsaws I would ever own, 5. I was big into square ground chains, and lightweight bars had recently made their debut so I was trying them out. I was really big into the saw game, Brad Snelling was the king of another site and the threads there were super interesting… It was a good time to be hooked.
Since then I’ve not spent as much time in the woods and only own two saws, and have been that way for most of the last five years or so. I ran the 046 up until last year, and it found a better home. I sent my 461 down the line, as much as it pains me. I now have a Mastermind 441in west coast trim that runs a 32” bar, and a standard model 441 that I usually set up with a 25” bar. Dad likes to run the standard one, he never understood the long bar thing, and the only saw he ran regularly with a 3/4 wrap was a 460
rescue saw from where he and I were and currently are both volunteers on a ladder company, and he’ll tell you it feels “off” to him.
