New saw

[Mr. Whippy]

When life gives you lemons make lemonade, yes?

Last year the series of ice storms and windstorms brought down dozens of trees on the farm.  Mostly pines but a few more interesting trees like a huge wild cherry tree.

Rather than cut it up and toss it in the compost pile, I decided to make rough lumber out of it.  Turns out my Stihl 026 chainsaw isn't quite enough to rip the logs, so I had to upsize a bit:

Enter the Echo CS-800p:


It's a beast.  A HEAVY beast but man, that thing can cut!

[ducttapetech]

Nice! You know were gonna need to see some pics of it in action.

Nate

[gregozedobe]

It usually helps to have the RIGHT tool for speSmurfpillst tasks 

[enki_ck]

Nice! You know were gonna need to see some pics video of it in action.

Nate

Fixed.

That's that rig you've posted about some time ago, right? How's it working out so far?

[styx]

So what are you makin? Nice saw btw, very bushcrafty

[Gareth]

Oh yeah. I'm looking forward to seeing that in action.

[NKlamerus]

You need you a Stihl 880. We had one for a few months as a demo. Holy crap that thing would cut through a car if you had too.

Almost "too much" saw too handle!

[JAfromMn]

 

Now that's a saw.

[Weasel]

I've never used a 880 but I use a 660 A fair bit at work, and that is more saw than I need realy

[Mr. Whippy]

So this is a wild cherry crotch.   40 inches across at the widest.  These slabs will likely become coffee tables/end tables.


That's a 27 inch bar.  Ripping seems to take a lot more power than crosscuts.

[Mr. Whippy]

The Stihl 660 is a little bigger than my Echo 800 (91cc vs 80cc).  The Stihl 880 is a freakin' monster at 120cc!

[Weasel]

Your echo looks good ive had a little echo saw for years for garden work it's been worked hard and abused but works fine don't think it will ever die.

[Mr. Whippy]

I have a little Echo CS3000, which we've owned since 1994.  It is still a little workhorse.  My experience with Echo products has been outstanding.  That's why Iwent with a big Echo over a Stihl.

[Weasel]

I agree Stihl saws are good  and we have a fair few at work from the ms250 to the 660 but we do seem to have a lot of problems .but my little echo fires up first pull every time

[Mr. Whippy]

My Stihl 026 is a great saw.  A great 1992 saw.  In 2005ish, I bought a Stihl 180 because the little Echo was 10 years old and done a ton of work.  I was looking for a small chainsaw for similar use.  The Stihl was always hard to start, flooded easily and often required pulling the spark plug to clear out fuel.  The place where I bought it could not get the fuel feed to work better.  With less than 20 hours on the danged thing, it scored cylinders (probably from too much fuel all the time) and became a boat anchor.  I friend of mine with a landscaping business told me both of the 180's he bought did the same thing and he wasn't going back to the small Stihls

I also have a small Stihl gas hedge trimmer and it's always difficult to start cold. 

I'm not a fan of small cc Stihl products.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That looks like a monster of a saw Nate!  I've been thinking for years that I need a chainsaw but it wouldn't be anything that large- yet!

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[gregozedobe]

I bought a 40V (actually 36V) Ryobi electric chainsaw recently.  It doesn't have the power of my petrol (gas for our US friends) chainsaws, but is SO SO convenient.  Charge up the battery and you are ready to go. Put it down and it sits there quietly until you want to cut again. No moving around idling, very little noise, no smelly smoke.  No messing with pre-mixes.  No fiddling every autumn trying to get it going again after it has been sitting unused for 8 months.  Two 5.0Ahr batteries will do enough cutting (small trunks and limbs) to keep me amused for a day (by then my body had had enough).  I think I have a new favourite chainsaw (sorry Stihl 026).

I don't have lots of chainsawing to do any more, so I think my Stihl and Husqvarna might be getting sold.

[Mr. Whippy]

I bought a 40V (actually 36V) Ryobi electric chainsaw recently.  It doesn't have the power of my petrol (gas for our US friends) chainsaws, but is SO SO convenient.  Charge up the battery and you are ready to go. Put it down and it sits there quietly until you want to cut again. No moving around idling, very little noise, no smelly smoke.  No messing with pre-mixes.  No fiddling every autumn trying to get it going again after it has been sitting unused for 8 months.  Two 5.0Ahr batteries will do enough cutting (small trunks and limbs) to keep me amused for a day (by then my body had had enough).  I think I have a new favourite chainsaw (sorry Stihl 026).

I don't have lots of chainsawing to do any more, so I think my Stihl and Husqvarna might be getting sold.

For some reason, that strikes me as a very sad statement. 

[derekmac]

I have to say that I've been very happy with my 42cc 18" Homelite saw.  It might be a smaller saw, but it has performed flawlessly for me.  Even after sitting for a year, it started on the third pull.  It also doesn't bog down all that much either, even when cutting thicker hardwood.

I had looked at getting an Echo or Stihl, but I only needed it for a few trees, and this was only just over $100 as a refurb.  Now I throw it in the Jeep incase we come across any downed trees.

[Mr. Whippy]

I have to say that I've been very happy with my 42cc 18" Homelite saw.  It might be a smaller saw, but it has performed flawlessly for me.  Even after sitting for a year, it started on the third pull.  It also doesn't bog down all that much either, even when cutting thicker hardwood.

I had looked at getting an Echo or Stihl, but I only needed it for a few trees, and this was only just over $100 as a refurb.  Now I through it in the Jeep incase we come across any downed trees.

Your Homelite is only a little smaller than my 026.  For $100, that's a lot of chainsaw.

[gregozedobe]

I bought a 40V (actually 36V) Ryobi electric chainsaw recently.  It doesn't have the power of my petrol (gas for our US friends) chainsaws, but is SO SO convenient.  Charge up the battery and you are ready to go. Put it down and it sits there quietly until you want to cut again. No moving around idling, very little noise, no smelly smoke.  No messing with pre-mixes.  No fiddling every autumn trying to get it going again after it has been sitting unused for 8 months.  Two 5.0Ahr batteries will do enough cutting (small trunks and limbs) to keep me amused for a day (by then my body had had enough).  I think I have a new favourite chainsaw (sorry Stihl 026).

I don't have lots of chainsawing to do any more, so I think my Stihl and Husqvarna might be getting sold.

For some reason, that strikes me as a very sad statement. 

My 61 year old body doesn't mind one little bit, I can assure you 

[Mr. Whippy]

Fair enough. 

At 61 (about 9 years from now) I'm hoping to be just about retired and upping my chainsawing time.  (and tractor time, and animal husbandry time and cultivation time...)

[gregozedobe]

Fair enough. 

At 61 (about 9 years from now) I'm hoping to be just about retired and upping my chainsawing time.  (and tractor time, and animal husbandry time and cultivation time...)

May I recommend then that you look after your body, as (much like MTs) they tend to deterioate if neglected and/or abused .........