16"-18" Chainsaw recommendations

I just picked up a builders pack, I haven't tried it yet but it's good to know that they work well with the 170.

What builders pack did you get? The Dakine?

this thread reads like a pissing contest.

the guy lives in Merritt and will probably use the saw a handful of times a month, at the most, to clear blow down, by the sounds of it. i'm sure a small and light 16-18" saw would be just dandy for him.

i know people who build on the north shore with 18" poulan saws year after year. if you're an arborist of building a freaking log cabin, then sure get the best. clearing blow down once in a while? you don't need top of the line, but it is nice if you have the dollars to burn. even so, no point in carrying around a bigger saw than you actually require.

an 18" saw is a good size for building on the north shore, so i highly doubt a bigger saw is required in Merritt, of all places.

I can tell you've never ridden iron mtn in Merritt before.

Deep dark forest

Big trees

Went up one year to find this beauty across the road, took an hour to clear out safely, she was nearly 2' in diameter

Loam

Another thing nobody is considering is the interior heat during the summer, Merritt gets really hot and a poolan will most certainly not work for him. I used to have to carry in 2 poolan's and let one cool down in some shade for an hour after making only a few cuts due to the plastic crank case warping.

I ran a husky rancher 55 for a good 5 years, it's lacking compression right now but it still starts after 12-15 pulls! It is a farm saw, basically a beefier homemaker. Cost me about $500, if I had spent another 200$, i'd have a saw that still had balls of compression and a saw that would start 3rd pull.

That 192T is pretty nice, but again it's a homemaker(ish) saw. We just got our hands on a 201T, THAT is a nice saw, but it was also $700.

Anything farm/pro level saw in the 40cc-60cc range with an 18"-20" bar should work wonders.

People will spend thousands to make their bikes color coordinated but they won't get a few friends together to pony up a couple of bills each to enhance their riding experience….

Like I always say, there is nothing free about freeriding.

I have both an older Husqvarna 345 (my first saw, that has seen A LOT of trailwork) and a brand new Husqvarna 365 that I convinced the 'ol goat to buy me for xmas last year. Both saws are great for what they were designed for, however, as I said in my previous post, my MS170 sees waaay more action due to its light, compact design. I can rip rides with it on my back for blowdown removal in the spring, hop on the dualsport to go trailbuild, all in the confines of my builders pack. It does almost everything I need it to. (I build trail 50+ days/year). My main building buddy has a MS230 and I can tell you that when we're hiking back to the top of iron from mid mtn (1000+ vertical feet) he is waaay more gassed at the top than I am (we aren't spoiled with road access to our trails). I use the 365 for big jobs such as the pics Andrew posted above. Ultimately, for what Kossind is going to be using it for, the MS170 is where its at. And its priced well. The 345 was relatively expensive(back in the day) and my 365 was damn pricey (thanks babe!), but as Andrew said, you gotta pay to play. (Plus, every guy needs a BIG, fuckoff saw, right?)

Chris

Cutting tension wood scares the crap out of me. Are there online resources for proper use of saws in these type of situations?

Every situation is different so it's really hard to give advice on this one. You can make a series of cuts say every 4 feet, maybe a 1/4 of the dia. to relieve the tension before making your final cut.

If your ever confused as to which side is tension/compression, make a bore cut in the middle of the log, leaving the top and bottom intact, this will often help in deciding which side is under tension/compression.

We have an obscene amount of widowmakers and dead trees leaning against other dead trees here due to fires. Sometimes i'll drop a standing tree into a cluster of hangups and take them all out at once…sometimes this leads to more problems than it's worth.

Bore cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoameGbMVt8
Tip: as the tip sinks into the wood on a bore cut twist the saw slightly left or right this will reduce the kickback and make for way less vibration.

Cutting a leaner…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUQ1p2QPdxU

Yep, I run this in my saws.

Ya, the guy at the shop here recommended that stuff. Did you notice any difference? Apparently it stores a lot better than pump gas. And I just don't go through as much fuel as I used to.

What builders pack did you get? The Dakine?

Ya the Dakine. I tried a couple times to get a shop in town to order me one but they couldn't get any for some reason. I ended up ordering one from Universal Cycles. They didn't quite match Price Point but came down to $150.

When I was building a bit and doing lots of maintenance, blowdown removal up on BBY mountain I liked my little Husky 40cc saw, weighs about 10 lbs. The factory bar was flimsy and i bent it so the Surfwood guys set me up with a Stihl 16" bar, way tougher bar, think it was about 80 bucks for the bar and new chain installed. Nice light saw, still sees lots of firewood duty camping, always starts within 6 pulls even after sitting for months. Here's the little hybrid with its Stihl bar just installed:

Ya, the guy at the shop here recommended that stuff. Did you notice any difference? Apparently it stores a lot better than pump gas. And I just don't go through as much fuel as I used to.

It does store well. The biggest difference I noticed was how it burns with way less smoke and smell. I've been running it for a couple years now and I see no reason to switch back to regular mixed fuel.

http://www.kingofsnow.com/images/cs-346.gif

here,s a decent little saw as well very light and compact mine seen some good use around the yard and next door helping the neighbors and such

and thanx for the heads up on the fuel i,ll have to grab some from R.Muths i,m good friends with their youngest son

you tube it. proper technique makes a big difference.

you def need a vice and a chain guide unless you are the james brown of chain sharpening…

thanks, I took my time with it and it cut almost like new. Until I tagged a rock.

Another thing nobody is considering is the interior heat during the summer, Merritt gets really hot and a poolan will most certainly not work for him.

That's true. I brought the poulan to kamloops last summer and it had even less balls than usual. I just gave up on it. On the coast it seems to work fine though.

All this talk of chainsaws makes me want to get out there tomorrow and fire the lil gas axe up

when you say gas ax….i think of this.lol.

why do they sell saws to homeowners?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0zUAOrzu7E