Cordless saw: Stihl MSA 300 vs. 200?

[scbk]

Looks good

 

Here's my cargo bike off to do a few wee jobs with the battery strimmer!

 

 

[Al Gordita]

2 minutes ago, scbk said:

Looks good

 

Here's my cargo bike off to do a few wee jobs with the battery strimmer!

 

 

Nice! I really wanted a front-loader but couldn't find any decent second-hand ones, new ones were too expensive so I settled for the bike my neighbours were selling and adapted it to my needs.

[Peter 1955]

Well, Stihl have moved the goalposts with their BOGOF on batteries and selected tools. With the thought at the back of my mind that we're going to be pushed/led/cajoled/coerced away from petrol, this tipped the scales for me. A cost of nearly £1500 becomes much nearer £1000. ( Around £1100 actually ) 

My apprentice has retired, at 90 years old, I thought he'd have had a year or two more left, but apparently not.  😉 It became apparent to me that when working solo in my yard, the cable was becoming a real nuisance, which it hadn't been when I had to move about much less. 

After a missed delivery date, I picked up a 300 yesterday, with two batteries and a charger. Once I've had a go with it this afternoon, I'll report my findings, and if I hate the thing, a large portion of humble pie will be eaten. My son's has used one at his place, and he quite liked it ( with the standard complaint about the safety switch ). 

[peds]

I've just decided: I'm not getting an Echo2511, as I've been tempted to do for a while, I'm getting the lightweight Stihl battery tophandle instead, the MSA161t. I already have the batteries and charger, so it'd be daft not to use them.

Then... I'm swapping the bar on my much-loved MSA200 rear handle from the pokey little thing it comes with (same as on the 161) for something bigger, probably the same bar as the 220. I know a few people on here have done it... so I'm going to trawl through the same old threads I've read a dozen times before and get more of an idea of what bits to order (unless it crops up naturally in conversation here, which would be great).

I'd like to do this because the 200 is great for dismantling, but I think I'd get more time on it before switching to a petrol saw with a beefier chain. It'd also make it a more capable chipper saw. Obviously this costs battery power, but with a 500 in it and a pair of 300 in backup, it really isn't a big deal.

If necessary, I'd like the people with more time up trees than me to tell me why my plan is foolish. 

Thanks.

[Stere]

Hmm i thought the trend was for  peope  doing the opposite going for  narrow kerf to make them faster cutting?

[peds]

Just my observations, so I'm happy to be corrected here. I'd say that's absolutely true for the likes of .325, going from 1.5mm to 1.3mm.

The problem with the ¼" 1.1mm chain is it loses width quickly, too quickly, with every stroke of the file. With a brand new chain or just one or two sharpens in, you can bury the bar (12" on my msa200) in thick wood and it tears through it no problem. I've sectioned down and felled 18" timber with it.

Once you are a few sharpens in though, it bogs down easier and easier, until it starts to cut out even on 6" to 8" timber. Not a problem on pruning jobs, but it means swapping to the 550 (in my case) a good bit sooner on a dismantle, which is annoying. 

 

While still not a big fat chain, I don't believe this problem is as pronounced on the ⅜ 1.1mm chain that the bigger electric/battery saws use. You get longer in the sweet spot and much more lifespan from the chain before they get bogged down... but, having never used one, I'm happy to be schooled on this front!

 

So the plan is to have the MSA161t for pruning and lighter stuff, so unlikely to be burying the bar in anything thicker than 6", and able to sharpen the chain to extinction. And keep the 200 for dismantles (and a chipper saw afterwards...), with a longer-lived chain that doesn't mind being buried for more of its life.

 

I happen to have a ¼ and a ⅜ 1.1mm here for comparison. Yuge difference. 

 

[AHPP]

I think normal 220 chain is 3/8 pico 1.3mm.

[AHPP]

I'm with you on thickness for this sort of size saw and use. I think there's a tipping point where the advantages of removing less wood are outweighed by the worse chip evacuation (like friction of water against the wall of small ID pipe).

 

Bigger kerf is nicer for gobs too. Either just using two or three kerfs to make a little square gob, having to do a longer cut diagonal to the grain on bigger gobs or having to do a lot of both to turn a gob to sawdust when you're right over something fragile that the gob piece could break and you can't easily catch it and throw it.

Edited 1 hour ago by AHPP