In the back of my mind, I know it's a bad idea.

wsuffa said:
Love my Stihl. 25 years and counting. Broke my chainsaw-on-a-stick electric about 6 months after I got it.
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Yeah, when I suggested electric wasn't referring to trimmers on a stick - there are real electric chain saws. I've had no long term success with pole saws either.
 
I put an ad on craigslist asking someone to haul away branches.
This guy showed up in a mini van. He was pretty desperate.
Just piled them up on top of the van and drove away like 5 miles an hour so they wouldn't fall off.
No rope or anything to tie it down.

Came back 30 minutes later for another load.

Strange as hell to see but he got it done.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I put an ad on craigslist asking someone to haul away branches.
This guy showed up in a mini van. He was pretty desperate.
Just piled them up on top of the van and drove away like 5 miles an hour so they wouldn't fall off.
No rope or anything to tie it down.

Came back 30 minutes later for another load.

Strange as hell to see but he got it done.
Click to expand...

Just be glad he didn't show up with an airplane....

I have my dads electric chainsaw that he bought at Montgomery Wards about 1972. Works great for working around the house.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I put an ad on craigslist asking someone to haul away branches.
This guy showed up in a mini van. He was pretty desperate.
Just piled them up on top of the van and drove away like 5 miles an hour so they wouldn't fall off.
No rope or anything to tie it down.

Came back 30 minutes later for another load.

Strange as hell to see but he got it done.
Click to expand...
did you take a ride around the block?......bet they're on the curb a few blocks over. :lol:
 
Watch the local news for stories of illegal dumping. And hope your name doesn't show up.

You did check that guy out, didn't you? You wouldn't want to read the paper and see a headline, "Local man hires escaped puppy molester to illegally dump brush".

--

Next time, advertise "Free mulch. Some assembly required."
 
I bet the guy did it for free to. Might as well be stranger than we think.
 
I prefer Echo chainsaws myself, but father has a Husq 460 w/20" bar that always starts up. Leaks bar oil everywhere though. I've used a few Stihls in the past which did their job as well, but were more finicky to start.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a Stihl 029 "Farm Boss" that I got from my dad. Not sure how old it is but I've cut a ton... probably tons of firewood with it. Just upgraded to a chisel chain.... I really like it and so far the kickback hazard you're supposed to be worried about with those hasn't been of issue. You just have to hold onto it and use common sense.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I put an ad on craigslist asking someone to haul away branches.
This guy showed up in a mini van. He was pretty desperate.
Just piled them up on top of the van and drove away like 5 miles an hour so they wouldn't fall off.
No rope or anything to tie it down.

Came back 30 minutes later for another load.

Strange as hell to see but he got it done.
Click to expand...
The city doesn't do that for you?
 
SoonerAviator said:
I prefer Echo chainsaws myself,
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Dad bought an Echo circa 1980, used it hard for 10 years then let it sit. Late 90's I needed a chainsaw and asked about it, and he said I could have it but he didn't know if it would run as he left the gas in it. I turned it upside down and dumped out the gas, poured in new, and it started 2nd pull and ran like a champ. I used it for another 16 years, then put it on Craigslist when I no longer needed it. A lawn care guy happily gave me the $50 I was asking for the thing.
 
how many bullets does that MAC10 use for a typical trimming? I know it's advertised to mow things down, but first I've heard to trim trees.

And what kind of Remmington is it? 1911, wheel gun, bolt action....?

brcase said:
+1 on electrics if you have power, they have way more torque and turn slower making them cut better and the chains don't dull near as fast, My Little Remington limb trimmer will cut as fast or Faster than my Mac 10. And any other gas chain saw I have used, I have burned one up, but it was probably 5 years old I was really abusing it. I promptly bought another. Would recommend a Mcculloch Electric if you going to be using it much.

Brian
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Matthew said:
Watch the local news for stories of illegal dumping. And hope your name doesn't show up.

You did check that guy out, didn't you? You wouldn't want to read the paper and see a headline, "Local man hires escaped puppy molester to illegally dump brush".

--

Next time, advertise "Free mulch. Some assembly required."
Click to expand...

"We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be
a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So
we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW
microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed
on toward the city dump.

Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.

We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw our's down"

You can get anything you want....
 
I also have a Stihl "Farm Boss". Good chain saw. May be getting another soon for our TN property.

Just be careful! I've had two close calls:

Once I felt the toes on my right foot vibrating - I had let the nose of the bar down enough to drag across the toe of my right boot. Good footwear is important.

And once I similarly snagged my jeans on my right thigh. Cut the fabric but stopped short of skin. Whew!

That's only two incidents in about 12 years, but I hope they emphasize the importance of good protective gear - and don't forget eye and ear protection.
 
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I just hope you bought the safety option.
6da1794feced648798e4110521d651ef.jpg
 
Ted DuPuis said:
When you get a gas saw in 20 years, get a good brand. Stihl, Husqvarna, or Jonsered are all good. Poulan is crap.
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All of my new saws are Stihl and they are good saws. But surprisingly, the old Poulans were great saws. I have two from the mid-80s that are still two of my favorite saws. I also have a Jonsereds from about the same time frame and the power to weight is amazing. Those old saws out cut my much bigger Stihls but don't have any of the safety features. I think the Jonsereds may have finally died last year, I haven't gotten it back out this year to see what's wrong with it. It's hard to let go of the old saws.

There's a Stihl dealer up the road and they resell their trade-ins. I always thought the trade-ins were a better deal than the new saws.
 
Cooter said:
All of my new saws are Stihl and they are good saws. But surprisingly, the old Poulans were great saws. I have two from the mid-80s that are still two of my favorite saws. I also have a Jonsereds from about the same time frame and the power to weight is amazing. Those old saws out cut my much bigger Stihls but don't have any of the safety features. I think the Jonsereds may have finally died last year, I haven't gotten it back out this year to see what's wrong with it. It's hard to let go of the old saws.

There's a Stihl dealer up the road and they resell their trade-ins. I always thought the trade-ins were a better deal than the new saws.
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Interesting on the older saws. My wife bought her Poulan probably around 10 years ago. It was heavy, vibrated a ton, and didn't cut very well. It did fine for really small stuff, but it's actually far harder to use than the Jonsered, and also heavier, despite being a smaller saw. I have no idea about what they made in the 80s.

The Jonsered we got was a deal. The modern incarnation of Jonsered (at least ~3-4 years ago when we bought this one) is just a rebadged, previous generation Husqvarna that is sold at Tractor Supply (they still sell them). So, a good quality saw. I got this one for the price of a Poulan Pro 20" chainsaw because the stop switch had partially broken off. Still perfectly usable. Very happy with it.

The older stuff definitely was good, too. A friend of mine bought a Husqvarna Rancher (think it was a 450) when he moved up to off-grid life 20 years ago. Saw still works great. Of course he's been through a few chains, but you'd expect that.
 
I bought my Homelight before my son was born. He turned 35 this month. The key to chainsaw longevity is keeping it clean and the key to that is a good compressor to blow the crap out from all the nooks and cranny's. Also, flip the bar and keep the chain sharp. I have five chains and regularly send them out to a professional for sharpening.
 
cgrab said:
I bought my Homelight before my son was born. He turned 35 this month. The key to chainsaw longevity is keeping it clean and the key to that is a good compressor to blow the crap out from all the nooks and cranny's. Also, flip the bar and keep the chain sharp. I have five chains and regularly send them out to a professional for sharpening.
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True to all of that. I remove my chain and blow out the track after each use as well or use a little piece of wire to run through there and to clean out the oil passages. I started sharpening all my chains myself because the grinder wheel that the local places use takes off too much metal. They also dull more quickly when sharpened with a grinder.

I bought one myself and did more damage than good until I started using a file. I've learned to be extremely careful with my chain and it rarely needs sharpened as long as I stay in clean wood. About every 4-5 use, I take a file a lightly touch it up. It takes about 5-10 minutes and it will allow you to get a lot more use out of it. I also keep several chains on hand while cutting so that if it starts to dull, I swap it out immediately.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Dad bought an Echo circa 1980, used it hard for 10 years then let it sit. Late 90's I needed a chainsaw and asked about it, and he said I could have it but he didn't know if it would run as he left the gas in it. I turned it upside down and dumped out the gas, poured in new, and it started 2nd pull and ran like a champ. I used it for another 16 years, then put it on Craigslist when I no longer needed it. A lawn care guy happily gave me the $50 I was asking for the thing.
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Yeah, I've had pretty good luck with all of my Echo equipment (chainsaw, line trimmer, backpack blower). We used to run Stihl equipment in a landscaping crew I ran back in college and the chainsaws were good once you got them running, the line trimmers/blowers/hedge trimmers always seemed to be problematic despite always being serviced by the local Stihl dealer. I dunno, kinda soured me on them. Another good chainsaw brand from long ago was McCulloch, but I don't think it'd be much fun to run today compared to what's available.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I put an ad on craigslist asking someone to haul away branches.
This guy showed up in a mini van. He was pretty desperate.
Just piled them up on top of the van and drove away like 5 miles an hour so they wouldn't fall off.
No rope or anything to tie it down.

Came back 30 minutes later for another load.

Strange as hell to see but he got it done.
Click to expand...
If you drive around the corner you will see a big pile of your tree branches in someone else yard :)
 
I had a small Sears Craftsman back in the late 70s, did a great job. Weyerhaeuser had acreage that they bought in Columbus MS full of oaks and was clearing it out to grow pines for the paper mill. All you needed was a free permit and cut to your hearts content. Me and another guy (DG Simtech) must have cut 6 cords one day.

I have something in the garage I bought a few years ago, forget the make but bought it at Lowes.
 
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Whatever you do, use protection.


Eye protection that is.
 
About 20 years ago a friend of mine bought a house out in the boonies. The barn was full of collectables, AKA junk. We were cleaning out the junk, and at the bottom of the pile was an old Poulan. He took it, cleaned it up, sharpened the chain, put a plug in it and tried to start it. No go. A couple months later I put some "Tru-Fuel" in it, and it started on the second pull. He still uses it.
 
Cooter said:
But surprisingly, the old Poulans were great saws.
Click to expand...

Poulon stuff these days is junk. With a capital J. I had a Poulan saw back in the 80's (when they supplied Sears) and it was OK, but not sturdy. I bought a Stihl a few years later and use it to this day. I bought a Poulan blower a couple of years ago and it was pretty turdy. No s. Pile of junk.

Stihl has been great.
 
wsuffa said:
Poulon stuff these days is junk. With a capital J. I had a Poulan saw back in the 80's (when they supplied Sears) and it was OK, but not sturdy. I bought a Stihl a few years later and use it to this day. I bought a Poulan blower a couple of years ago and it was pretty turdy. No s. Pile of junk.

Stihl has been great.
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We have a Poulan "Pro" leaf blower that came with our Ohio house. Junk. Don't know why we have it still, should sell it and get it out of the shed.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I'm at the hardware store buying my first chainsaw. that is all.
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Welcome to the Man Hood.
If you bought a six pack of beer to go with it, welcome to the Redneck Man Hood.
If you bought a bottle of Jack Black to go with it, let us know what the nurses look like.
 
I agree Poulans are cheap nowadays. They cheapened their product to mass market I'm assuming. If you have to go cheap I recommend a used saw, preferably Stihl.

Not just chainsaws either. I've learned that's it's worth the extra money up front to buy a quality product. I've gone all Stihl on all my equipment and gave up on trying to keep cheap stuff running.
 
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Matthew said:
If you weren't wearing flannel and a sweet, sweet beard, then you were just a poser.
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i'll be unpopular by being serious for a moment, but please, please use a pair of these while operating a saw. even if it's "only a quick cut".

PS, in levity, you can also wear them daily as a stylish accent to your wardrobe of kahki's and polos.

s-l1000.jpg
 
When I bought my trimmer, the owner of the store told me that Stihl has a professional line (still excellent stuff) and a consumer line (not so hot) but all Echo's use the same engines (ball bearing, etc.) both pro and consumer. He sold both but he recommends the Echo in the consumer grade stuff. All I can say is that after multiple years the Echo stuff starts 2nd pull every time and runs like a champ.

I'll also echo the Husqvarna comments. I used a pro grade Husqvarna chain saw one day. If I ever need one for serious work. that's the one I'll buy. No comparison with any other chainsaw I've ever used.

John
 
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