best saw for cutting cordwood

[carpenter1]

what is the best chain saw for cutting hardwood cordwood, but to 400mm.

 

thanks

[david wood]

346 or 357, get either in xpg model if you do any in winter ( or maybe i am soft). most likely the 346 is winner as lighter.

 

Havent used one but our forester loves his for smaller stuff. i use 357 for half my firewood up to about bar and half on 15 inch bar and then any more i switch to 372.

[Stubby]

what is the best chain saw for cutting hardwood cordwood, but to 400mm.

 

thanks

 

A Sharp one ! Seriously though 400mm is about 15-16inches I think, so either of the above would do . you might want a bit more grunt on occasion but the trade off is the extra weight but if you are set up cross cutting off the ground in some sort of horse/jig or clamp then the extra weight is taken mostly by the log . son you could add 365 or 372 to that list .

[difflock]

From a purely amateur perspective I festered over this same decision way back in 1997.

With a very good Stihl dealer locally it came down to a choice between the 026 or the 036, I would have plumped for an 034 Woodboss (being the ideal comprimise with an even better power to weight ratio) but not avaiablle on the UK market.

Despite hankering for the bigger 036, I bought the 026, and have never regretted it, it might be fractionally slower/ underpowered on the bigger stuff but since most of my stuff is small it is so much lighter and handier.

I have felled some reasonably large trees with it too, as in approx 2 * bar length diameter, i.e about 30/32 inches.

Like Penis's it is what one can do with what one has been given, rather than size per. se. or indeed per the old USA adage "beware the man with only one gun"

[JimM]

Husky 576XP with 18" bar.

 

Been doing exactly that last week, and back into it again tomorrow.

 

It's got loads of grunt for tackling that size of hardwood, and spare puff to do the larger pieces in the stack.

 

You'll be lucky to find a 357 now or the 346XP, both superseded.

 

The 576 isn't a saw you'd drag around the wood all day for felling or snedding up though, unless you're built like a brick shithouse.

[shooterjim]

I'd recommend the ms241cm. Really impressed with mine. Light, nippy, powerful and amazing on fuel consumption!

[michaelknapp]

I'd recommend the ms241cm. Really impressed with mine. Light, nippy, powerful and amazing on fuel consumption!

 

i like my stihl 361 great all round saw

[carpenter1]

372xp?

[Chris Sheppard]

372xp?

 

Yes, much better for ringing up than a 346 or 357.