looking for a smaller bar

[Kev Stephenson]

Two ways of looking at it really. My first set of hedge trimmers were B&Q specials, they only cost about £75 and mean't I could work. They only lasted 3 months but had done well in excess of £1k in work so went and bought a brand new set of stihl trimmers which are still going strong.

 

When I started I decided i didn't want to buy loads of new kit on finance and then pay it off with interest. Buying a cheap but usable machine knowing it won't last too long but will make money worked for me.

 

Work the saw as it is, don't spend money on new bars, spare chains etc and as soon as possible replace it with a decent pro saw when you have earned the money.

 

It worked for me.

[detritus21]

My first saw was a smaller version of that one not bad I suppose a little slow. Mine died of a terminal fault half way through a conifer. the chainbrake stuck on and there is no adjustment on it at all. Game over for that one. Ok its not got the nice orange or blue colour. Personally if I think you are comfortable using it with the right size bar then cut away

[Alasdair]

cheers for the help guys and i was expecting a hard time about the saw.

 

treediver how come you found that and i didnt

[treediver]

I checked the spec of your saw in the pdf manual and cause ive got oregons product catalogue which list the specs of virtually every saw on the market for bar and chains i found it there.

Unless your buying a pro saw theres not much difference between modern consumer saws 'pro brand' or similar. If you need the saw for your livelyhood i.e your self employed yes its not the greatest choice but if your just starting out and restrict its use from being slaughtered everyday I dont see a problem.

[Highland Forestry]

Alasdair -

Why not just buy your pro saw (make sure it's a Stihl)

Any keep the ryobi as a back up saw incase your main saw breaks down or you need a slightly larger bar for the odd crosscut or fell.

If you are a professional person in this game, you should really have a back up saw, amoungst other kit, which means you can start and finish a job competently.

What do you do if you have gobbed out a tree, got half way into the back cut and your saw breaks down and there's no spare..

 

Failing that, if money is tight, you could find a smaller Makita saw - they are basically a Dolmer. A good friend of mine was telling me the other day that Makita bought out Dolmer and so the Makita saws are half decent.

[volvo]

As far as i know makita saw's are still sold as dolmar in europe.

It was just the UK that they dropped the dolmar name.

[Alasdair]

i aint got any spare money just now im going 2 have to spend a bit to keep my licence clean (need a couple of new tryes) and keep myself on the road (my exhaust needs looked at) and i have no job plus at the point in time i bought it i was a student

[Charlieh]

i would have though 20" bar on a 44cc saw was way to much, i wouldnt put a 20" on my 55cc, so i think by dropping a bar size you will probably preserve the life of the saw, by not working the saw so hard.

 

Also i assume you bought the saw in a sale and didnt pay that for it? otherwise you could have had a basic husky for the same money (my dealer was offering a mate one of the new style saws for £150 a fortnight ago) but that is by the by and you have the saw now, i would suggest dropping it to the smallest bar you can get for it, i run a 13" bar on my 40cc husky and its the one that gets used the most, and remember you can still cut 2ft with a 13" bar just not as fast, but if it prevents killing the saw!

[Alasdair]

The smallest bar i can run on my saw is a 16", yes the saw was in a sale and at the time it was best i was going to get its made me a bit of money but due to being out of work at the time i had to use the money to live on. so ill be off down to the dealers on monday and ordering a new bar and chain for it.

[josharb87]

if the bar and chain combo is too big for the power of the saw, is there any chance your dealer could make up a skip chain for you? save buying new bar aswell if it could be done