New saw for Domestic Firewood

[Steven P]

On 07/09/2019 at 20:30, djbobbins said:

Got my Aldi saw delivered today. Oregon bar and chain, file, mixing bottle and tools included. More metal on it than I was expecting (oil tank and dogs metal for example, dogs also removable (so could be replaced I guess). Fuel and oil in, bar on, primed the carb with the fuel pump - it fired on the second pull and started on the half choke next pull after that. Brake works, it ran up to full revs smoothly - unfortunately I’ve got no big stuff to cut at home but will test it on some ash crowns over the next few weeks - they are the tops of stems at about 14” diameter so will give it a reasonable run out. Up to now, looks alright though.

I was looking at them just now, they also have a chain sharpener for £20, and was going to ask on here what people thought consdering the price of the machine

[djbobbins]

40:1

[Billhook]

On 30/08/2019 at 13:22, DocMustard said:

I have a Stihl MS181 which is a great saw for firewood processing, 16" bar big enough for the majority of cuts and it is very reliable, spares are also available readily which you might struggle to get on a low-price brand. I recommend you avoid buying any of the cheap Chinese models, I had one for less than a year and it was pretty poor - particularly the chain brake and engine  starting.

Totally agree with this and Dan Maynard.  For domestic use a sixteen in bar on a small Stihl is fine.  They are so light and handy for limbing and obviously can cut up to 30 inches on occasion but unless you are tackling big trees all the time the majority of domestic timber will not be much more than eight inch.

I bought three Stihl 170s about ten years ago for £124 each on a special offer.  One with a sixteen inch bar and the other two twelve inch.  All going like new still

Easy to start , less to sharpen on the 12 inch, light and easy to manoeuvre from a Teleporter man cage, especially reaching out, and very economical on fuel.

At the end of the day I do not feel that my arm has nearly been wrenched off as with the bigger saws

[djbobbins]

40:1

I’m curious - other than the obvious saving on 2-stroke oil (and presumably less blue smoke) are there other benefits of the lower oil percentage? Implied better quality of engine??

[sandspider]

That's my thinking, yes - though possibly out of date now. 25:1 means a cheap, poorly made smokey 2 stroke. 40:1 or more means a better engine! And also means I don't need to mix up different ratios of fuel...

[neiln]

10 hours ago, Billhook said:

Totally agree with this and Dan Maynard.  For domestic use a sixteen in bar on a small Stihl is fine.  They are so light and handy for limbing and obviously can cut up to 30 inches on occasion but unless you are tackling big trees all the time the majority of domestic timber will not be much more than eight inch.

I bought three Stihl 170s about ten years ago for £124 each on a special offer.  One with a sixteen inch bar and the other two twelve inch.  All going like new still

Easy to start , less to sharpen on the 12 inch, light and easy to manoeuvre from a Teleporter man cage, especially reaching out, and very economical on fuel.

At the end of the day I do not feel that my arm has nearly been wrenched off as with the bigger saws

While I like my ms180 for these reasons I also came to hate it for dealing with large hardwood as it slow, and noodling any unsplittable bits is too painful. So I bought a second hand 365 from Bill on here.  I'd hate to only have the 365, but I'd hate to only have the 180 too....more.  I only do firewood for personal use but I do more than many I guess....I feed 2 5kw stoves to heat my house and keep the CH off all winter, plus I provide all wood (and kindling) for my mum.  Last year we burnt 10.5 to 11m3 and I've been buring for 3 years and processing more than i burn in order to get 2+ years ahead and allow the wood 2 summers to dry, so I've been processing 13-15m3.  The ms180 probably does 2/3rds of the cutting.

[Dan Maynard]

Ah there's another truth - always better to have more saws. The saw that can do everything really well doesn't exist....

[Steven P]

2 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

Ah there's another truth - always better to have more saws. The saw that can do everything really well doesn't exist....

I must remember to say hat next time I get out my wish list of 2 stroke toys

[trigger_andy]

On 29/08/2019 at 09:01, Paul in the woods said:

This is not a recommendation, as I've not used one, but the Makita EA4300 has cropped up before with an offer that seems almost too good to be true - £245 . Might be worth asking how people with them are getting on?

 

Makita EA4300F45C 43cc Petrol Chainsaw (45cm) + FREE Spare Chain | Fastfix

WWW.FASTFIX.CO.UK

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The Makita EA4300F45C is a powerful 43cc industrial petrol chainsaw packed full of features and is supplied with a 45cm...

 

Just ordered one as my trusty little 036 is at the point of needing about this in repairs.  

[djbobbins]

I must remember to say hat next time I get out my wish list of 2 stroke toys

I only really do a bit of local logging for my own purposes and the recent purchase brings my fleet of saws up to a total of three (plus an old Titan electric one for salvage / spares). That’s not excessive in my opinion so any of you professionals must be allowed a lot more saws for your quota!!