Echo

Even better Stihl, Dolmar is the Volkswagen of the saw world.

Makita make very good chainsaws, I should have bought a battery one instead of buying two EA4300 saws, keeping an eye on what Makita and the competition are doing in this regard. What is you do not like about the Makita Dolmar brand. I like them because they are easy to work on if you have to, no complicated MT or AT to require a trip to the dealers, its not the trip, its the trip, the wait, and the cost of diagnostics, the time lost if you dont have another saw tyou o step in with, most people who use saws fora living can sort most if not all problems on simple saws like the Makitas / Dolmars and be back at work in short time. Also comapre some of the torqur figures and fuel consumption between the Makita Dolmar brand and the same sized saw with AT or MT, especially the big new ones, unless their own documentation is misleading, some of the older saws are better on fuel, and the most poluting saw of all, the new MS500i, it would be interesting to know why you dislike the Makita Dolmar variants. Wouldnt it be fun if Makita Dolmar made their own fuel injected saw.

To @petespeed , you are going from a very small saw to a power house if you settle on the Makita or Dolamr 7900 saws, be very carefull, them things will send you backways in a hurry if you get kicked out of the cut.

If you mean a Dolmar, they are the same saw as a Makita.

I would take the Husky 572, seems very well built, there is a saw builder on another site that has 2000 hours on his, he modified it though, but that only put more power through the same components, and it never gave trouble. If your cutting a dozen trees a year, or have a sore back or arms or such injuries, the Stihl MS500i is a little lighter, but as some pointed out, its not around long enough to tell how it will fare with a bit of milage. Theres other cheaper but tested saws out there too, like the Makita / Dolmars, a fair bit cheaper, plenty reliable, and plenty of parts if you ever need them.

Thanks @ spuddog0507 , if I find one I appreciate the info on the bar lengths, 25 wuold be max for my needs, I think hotsaws101 on a youtube video ran one he ported to very good effect, much longer bar in his case, then thats what porting does.

Its beginning to look that way, but there are other options, so not a big deal.

An 881, probably easier to get, yet another place I looked has gone out of 461 's.

With Stihl Ultra at 50:1 that would probably work fine, I think maybe people are going 40:1 and even richer oil mixes, that would change the outcome quickly unless you were taking time to warm up and then run hard, for what its worth Mr Ironhorse doesnt like the Ultra or the Husky XP, he uses what he calls motorcycle oil at 40:1, Randy Evans uses the Yamalube 2T at 40:1, hotsaws101 uses MaximaK2 at 50:1, but that guy can tune a saw, he used to hang out with people who built race bikes, so he had a good head start.

I think this guy shows a piston after running Stihl Ultra

@Paddy1000111,I have heard of no issues, some say it does not burn so clean I used Husqvarna XP fully synthetic, anything I opened up was as clean as I like things, I have not used the Stihl oil, am currently using Mobil1 2T, not sure about it yet, no problems, but in the same saw there seems to be less oil deposits on the piston sides, no heating or indication of any issues, just makes me curious, I think its a more full bodied oil with higher flash point, probably be better in a larger saw, I was very surprised by the Echo X Blend semi oil, real nice deposits and very clean insides.

I used to be very anti cloths, they do restrict movement, especially when wet, but after a few pebble dashings from tools that exploded, I figured a few small fires onboard were easier to deal with, so now I begrudgingly wear them. Your in a beautiful part of the world, I got me a fishing reel from there, never made it to visit though.

Thanks Steve, am considering one before they dissapear, had been ogeling another Makita, but they are not as cheap as they were after currency conversion and shipping, I have seen the MS461 for under 1000.00 here.

Just wondering what your experiences of the 461 are, there are still a few new ones to be had, I like the non mt saws. Do they balance well with the 25 inch factory bar they come with, how do they oil that bar, how much bigger could they pull and oil. I note the airfilter is the HD1, is this a problem over the HD2, will a HD2 swap in there, or does the mount need to be changed. Thanks in advance

Ah, just life Samantha48 , I had to laugh the first time I heard it, a whole bunch of guys feeling sorry for themselves, one said to the other he was at the bottom of the barell, the guy he was talking to said, he was so far down he had to reach up to even touch the bottom, that cheereed the first guy up to no end, nothing else for it, how could hit back at that. Anyway, good to see on here, I hope you get a good fit in the trousers department, wouldnt do for them to fall off first time you bent over, dont ask how I know, I can still see my class mates laughing their heads off as the teacher stiched my shorts in an attempt to keep them on me, needless to say, I dont play football anymore.

You lucky so and so, I gota reach up to scratch the bottom, and no, not that kind.

Are the rings free in the groove, you also have vertical scoring in the cylinder. What kind of oil do you use, is it Stihl Ultra. I would clean up that piston, and put new rings and base gasket on there now you have it opened.

Make sure you get a 550 mk2, it is a completely different saw than the old 550 that had the problems, they can easily be specified with a 15 inch bar and a 64 link chain, the .325 bar and chain that comes on the saw is Narrow Kerf, so no need to change anything, it will cut faster than standard .325, Stihl now make an RS .325 Pro Narrow Kerf Full Chissel chain that will run on this bar, it has no bumper links other than the ones that act as depth gauges, so is should be really fast cutting. Think its the same file for the Husky chain that comes on the 550 and the Stihl chain I mention, that helps too.

That seems logical, as there’s no way to rule out the possibility of an accident happening at high speed, so that high speed must be taken into account when designing the PPE, better safe than sorry.

The 501 would be the lightest and most suitable for the work you mention and the bar size you want to use. I had Two of them, one was accidentally fitted with a 15 inch bar, that would suit you fine, it’s much less meaty than the 16, quite a difference, I changed it over for the 16 for my work. If you want to save money, the next size down echo would do your job no problem. Theres also the Stihl MS261, lighter than the Husqvarna 550xp mk2.

Phone up and ask them to come price a job, set up a video to capture their number plate and faces. Take pictures to neighbour for identification, then get police involved, set them up twice so you get more faces and number plates to work with.

Welcome to the Forum, hope this helps, https://arbtalk.co.uk/blogs/entry/68-guide-to-classifications-of-chainsaw-protective-wear/

Given the speeds listed here, I would think it’s the unloaded / max speed the classifications refers to, https://arbtalk.co.uk/blogs/entry/68-guide-to-classifications-of-chainsaw-protective-wear/

Just read the whole post. People mention anti vibe numbers, yes, the CS501Sx is a little noticeable, I would have expected better, but in comparison to other saws, it’s no big deal unless you get bothered easily with vibrations, it’s not like marrying the wrong sister. Rumour has it those Makita EA5000p saws are very smooth to run, I have the EA4300 and it’s a great small saw, I even found the Makita EA 7900 to be very smooth regarding vibrations. The EA5000p will probably be the best saw for your pound too. It takes Husqvarna small mount bars, and regular chains, I forget now about the CS501SX in this regard, but some Echo saws don’t take regular chain lengths, and you need to get links removed or a chain made up. Its easy to get parts for Makita / Dolmars too, they use regular carbs so no costly diagnosis or parts needed.