Which Chainsaw for Forestry

[spuddog0507]

17 minutes ago, Spruce Pirate said:

Depends what sort of forestry you're doing. 

 

Big, oversize stuff I take two saws into the wood, big saw (24" bar at least) for felling, wee saw (18" bar) for snedding.  If it's only felling stuff for a harvester I'd have one saw, 20" or 24" bar depending on tree size, generally go with the bigger bar as it's surprising how many trees are bigger than 20" on a clearfell and the time it saves working from one side of the tree to the other, I know other folk that like the smaller bar though as the reckon the chain speed is faster.  Wee stuff I'd have an 18" bar for felling and snedding. Rarely do much full on snedding these days as it's mostly working to a harvester or fell to waste, if I was snedding I might think about a 15".  Back in the thinnings days it always used to be 13" bars and wee saws.

 

Currently running mostly Husky 560 and 576 or Dolmar 7910 for these bars, can use a 28" on the Dolly without too much bother or use the 395.  Stihls are mostly a waste of time for softwood felling IMO as they don't rev fast enough, tried the Dolmar 6100 and wasn't overly impressed with it for a production saw - more suited to firewood.  Husky 390 is a good popular saw for softwood clearfell.  I like the look of both the 572 and Stihl 462 but might wait a while before trying to make sure any issues with either are ironed out.  Both, so far, seem to have popular feedback.

 

Hardwood is a different game altogether, not my forte.

 

Video below was done with 560 on an 18" bar, perfect for that sort of size of stuff.

 

Bigger stuff, bigger saw.

 

been felling edgers last week for harvester and some of the brash on the outside of tree was all most a tree its self could of run a cs31 course just on the brash been using a 461 on 25" bar and still having to do heart cut a sweep round on one or two of them and if heart cut had,nt been done i dont think they would of gone over, its nice to see some one using the same practice as my self with cutting the brash back and leaving yourself a clear working area along the tree, nice vid  but again crap music saw reving its nuts of would be better .sorry.

[Spruce Pirate]

1 minute ago, spuddog0507 said:

been felling edgers last week for harvester and some of the brash on the outside of tree was all most a tree its self could of run a cs31 course just on the brash been using a 461 on 25" bar and still having to do heart cut a sweep round on one or two of them and if heart cut had,nt been done i dont think they would of gone over, its nice to see some one using the same practice as my self with cutting the brash back and leaving yourself a clear working area along the tree, nice vid  but again crap music saw reving its nuts of would be better .sorry.

Each to their own, I listen to a saw practically every day, I like a bit of music every now and then.

 

Got to love the outsiders with the big limbs!  2 - 3 fills per tree and you know you're working for your money!  I've seen us two man it with one going along with a wee saw knocking the branches off the another following with a bigger saw trimming the paps back flush with the stem.

[Joe Newton]

15 hours ago, Big J said:

Depends entirely on what kind of forestry you're doing. 70cc is too large for most (softwood) snedding so I'd be inclined to say go 50-60cc depending on the size of the trees. If you wanted one saw to cover more or less everything, a Husqvarna 560xp on an 18 inch bar would do it. But then the Dolmar PS6100 is also very good. 

 

I certainly wouldn't go over 18" bar length for much. Longer than necessary guide bars slow you down more than an oversized powerhead.

There's 200 grams between the 560 and the 462.

 

That's a years supply for a lot of arbs I know!

[spuddog0507]

8 minutes ago, Spruce Pirate said:

Each to their own, I listen to a saw practically every day, I like a bit of music every now and then.

 

Got to love the outsiders with the big limbs!  2 - 3 fills per tree and you know you're working for your money!  I've seen us two man it with one going along with a wee saw knocking the branches off the another following with a bigger saw trimming the paps back flush with the stem.

Yes 2 or 3 fills per tree nearly a job for some one else that fueling up, did 9 trees yesterday and 2 of em where monsters but had the wind behind to help and hardly had to swing that hammer only on one,lad on machine said we would be knocking on the door towards 30 tonne ,

[TIMON]

There's 200 grams between the 560 and the 462.
 
That's a years supply for a lot of arbs I know!

Lightweights [emoji51]

[outinthewood]

Not really a one saw answer, I've used the full range of Stihl and Husqvarna and as the years have gone by I've found the Husqvarna's suit me better. Hard to beat the 550 for small stuff and brashing, 562 for medium and I'm finding the 572 very good for the stuff 1470 or 951 leaves behind. This is the stock saw list ported is another conversation ! 

Been doing a job this last couple of weeks and going from Douglas Fir to Scots to Larch and Beech  all with 28" on the 572 and been no trouble a good saw with same weight as 372 XP XT. 

Haven't seen a 565 yet be interesting to see how it sells as the replacement for the 365.

[Stere]

 

 

Good comparson of saws was in an old thread:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14RPvZYVYjm_s9H1_SAVcbphAaCALEAmNLM0O_hsU0xI/pub?output=html

 

 

[wyk]

2 hours ago, Stere said:

 

 

Good comparson of saws was in an old thread:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14RPvZYVYjm_s9H1_SAVcbphAaCALEAmNLM0O_hsU0xI/pub?output=html

 

 

The OE figures are one of the reasons I started this data base nearly 8 years ago:

 

http://www.pbase.com/wyk/unofficial_chainsaw_weight_gallery

 

You'll notice the actual power head weights rarely agree with what the factory says they are.

[Jamie Jones]

17 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Why will stihl only recommend a 20" bar? When the 440 would pull 25" and the 461 30".
It's probably an emissions thing?

Stihl's website shows 18"-25" length bars...  See: https://www.stihl.co.uk/STIHL-Products/Chainsaws-and-Telescopic-Pole-Pruners/Petrol-chainsaws-for-forestry-work/279876-130/MS-462-C-M-Forestry-Chainsaw.aspx

[The Technician]

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