Chain Saw Recomendation.

[Dl5treez]

Sounds good. Hope it serves you well.

 

[Ncostello]

My grandpa bought a Stihl 028AV Super back in the mid 80's. Its a super powerful and reliable saw. But today's Stihl stuff is cheap. Their saws are still decent... but trimmers etc are JUNK. Echo has some new saws this year and if they are anything like their trimmers and blowers... I'd buy one. They've gone heavy duty. Their fire dept roof venting saws are ultra duty and reliable. Can't beat an Echo motor.

 

[thashane]

I'm not a professional logger, but I am a forestry student and the president of the schools logging team. Our team has a couple of chainsaws, from husky's, poulans, and stihls. The majority of our saws are professional series stihls, mostly because stihl sponsors collegiate logging sports, and we acquire most of our saws from competitions.

We have stihls ranging from a 021 that we use to practice some events, to an 072 that is just humongous and used mostly for show than anything else. We generally take around 4-8 saws with us on given work weekends, depending on the number of people in attendance.

After using pro series saws I cannot stand to use the non pro series. The anti fatigue spring mounts on the non-pro saws move around too much on me, and I feel it is a weak point, waiting for failure. I think the pro saws are simpler, and will last much longer than the intro, light use saws.

The anti-kickback chain can be useful if you have no idea what kickback is, but I've never ran a full tank of fuel through a saw with anti kickback so I couldn't tell you for sure. I've used smaller t-handle saws while climbing that had anti-kickback chain, but I can't compare that to a full size saw.

I would not let my friends buy anything but a husky or stihl. The husky's are nice for those extra upper rpm, but stihl sponsors my sport and I find is easier to tear down. If I had my choice I would purchase a husky 372xp (which is now the 575 after emissions bs) then a stihl 440 or 460 pro with nothing shorter than a 28" bar as I dont like bending over very far.

Our team recently won a stihl ms280cs (? not sure on exact model, but has no bar nuts, and some weird tension adjuster, also the throttle safety is a chainbrake as well), we're probably going to sell it, or try to trade it for teh regular 280pro, as the 280cs (?) is just weird and foreign to us. We think there may have been a mixup.

Hope this helps.

Another note, most wildland firefighting crews I have seen, run stihl pro series saws, generally 440's or 460's.



Some bark beetle info that I have researched and been taught, I am sorry I am not a professional forest pathologist, but I can try to offer some quick insight into the Dendroctonus , the beetles will easily kill trees with low vigor. They prefer larger diameter trees as well. So if your forest is very dense, with a lot of old trees of large diameter it's only a matter of time before an epidemic outbreak occurs.

If the trees have higher vigor they will be able to "pitch out" the beetles when they attempt to bore in. Once the beetles bore in, they will lay their eggs, and it's the larvae that kill the tree, as they feast in the sapwood and will slowly girdle the tree right beneath the bark. But once the beetles reach epidemic numbers, it can be difficult for even the healthiest of trees to repel the 1000's of attempted attacks.

 

[Champane Flight]

Good info

Thanks for the info SL, we have had a heck of a beetle infestation here in Colorado. I have watched the cycle on my property, I lost around 27 old growth trees, they seemed to hit about the same time as this area went into drought. The next year was a wet one and some of the infected trees came out OK, outsapping the buggers. I also hit all my old growth I could reach with sevin liquid, then followed up with granular around the bases. Moving all my dead wood to one spot, then spraying it also. I only lost one of the previous infected after that. I do know that some areas had no chance, we got lucky with weather, and moved on them quick.



What is the difference in price between the proffesional grade and non pro?

 

[Dl5treez]

What is the difference in price between the proffesional grade and non pro?

I wouldn't recommend the Homeowner series, and actually don't care much for the Mid-Range series either (just preference) but here is a breakdown of the price structure of the Mid-Range and Professional series saws at the local saw shop in my area:



Mid-Range Series Price List



Professional Series Price List



There is a large difference in price, but also in power output and quality of design. It truly is a get-what-you-pay-for situation.

 

[BarryG]

Wow prices have gone up on them quite a bit since I bought mine though it has been awhile. When I was looking at saws the Stihl rep just happen to be in the store when I was looking. I asked him questions about the difference between the pro series and the others. As has been mentioned the suspension for lack of a better term and quality of parts but most important was the engine itself. Different rings, pistons etc that lead to longer life and more power output at least according to the rep for what thats worth. When I bought mine the price difference was approx 100-125 now it looks to be closer to 200. All I know is I have been extremely happy with my 360 pro. It probably has at least 500+ hours on it now and has never let me down or given me one bit of trouble.

 

[thashane]

Good luck and have fun with your new saw Alpha, dont forget to pickup a good pair of chainsaw chaps too($50-$80 could save your life,) baileys has some good prices. Here is a link for some full wrap chaps, some of my kids like them, but I dont, but then again I wear 10" high leather boots, so that might be the case. Bailey's - Work Safe Full-Wrap Chainsaw Safety Chaps I also use Bugz for eye protection, they're goggles with mesh lenses, some of the little stuff gets in, like dust size particles, but they're great for not fogging and you can't scratch them! Bailey's - Bugz-Eye Mesh Goggles