anyone else like to mess with chainsaws?? or hot rod them? or just cut wood?

[oldsman71]

my new squirrely thing is collecting and hotrodding chainsaws. I used them for years and for something so loud and dangerous I seem to find my "happy place"
out sawing wood..nothing like one buried in turning 12000 rpm so does anyone else get this or am I loosing it

[Barry Donovan]

I have not messeed with chainsaws in forever.

I remember a jonser ed 450?
the 80s.

smaller to do big work the better..if you are really a worker, you know what I am saying.

its all automated today, unless playing around the yard.
12k rpm would sound interesting for the 13 seconds it lasted.

[Deaf Bob]

015, 028, 032, 3-045's, 056 (bigger carb and exhaust FAST), and 084 Stihls..
Old mac that has 10 hp and is a bear to start but it sings soooo sweet!
Another Mac 77..
Have a Sachs/Dolmar with a short bar and 7 hp..
Got a Harbor Freight sharpener that need a fiiiine touch to make chains sharp. But for competion use I would touch up with a file..
In the 80's the 056 with 045 housing got me the fast saw in class 5 years in a row in the Deaf World Timberfest in OR
had guys from all over.. One guy even tried to walk on a plane with his saw.. He had to have it shipped then he flew..
I don't carve.. But do make tops and beams.. Made all the bench tops for the Porsche swp meet..

Yeah.. A fast cuttin saw s fun... Gotta get it started to cut...

[milner351]

I'm not sure I'm qualified to "mess with" them - but i have had a few - and we heat with a pacific energy summit wood stove insert.

My newest is a jonsered 072 - pure brilliance - only had one issue with it since new - failure in the chain oiling system- fixed free without question at the dealer.

I had an old dolmar for a while, and I still have an older light duty craftsman - nice for climbing.

[BangShift McT]

Never did like working with chainsaws. Kept about six double-bladed axes sharpened and ready for "anger management therapy" though, seemed there was one family member who always needed something cut up.

[Scott Liggett]

I've seen some shows about the hopped up competition use chain saws. Most look like normal ones with big long mufflers and exhaust which, as I understand it, really boosts the power. I have also seen crazy two man chain saws made from aluminum V8's that can cut through a 3 foot diameter log in a couple seconds.

The one consistent thing about this country is if there something with an engine in it, guys are going to try outdo each other and start modifying them for more power.

Someone who is not a car guy wanted to know when the first car race was. I said it was the first town that got more than one car in town. They were racing five minutes later.

[Thumpin455]

I heat with wood, so yeah I know my way around a saw. Been thinking of playing with one on homebrew, just havent needed to lately because I have been getting face cords rather than full cords. Maybe this summer if I stay healthy I will get one out and play with it.

[Orange65]

After 12 years in the logging business, I stay away from them as far as I can get. But back when I was running one daily, I preferred a Husqvarna over all the rest. Lighter and higher powered, but with too small a gas tank.

Stihl's ran good but a couple of the designs had bushings in them that were too easy to rip out if you got the saw hung. The largest Stihl we owned was an 056 that my cousin cut his leg with from knee cap to hip bone (down to the bone). Nothing several hours of surgery can't fix. Large saws are a bear to carry all day.

As for Sachs Dolmar, we had one of them- exceptionally smooth saw but did run very well. I think it died of rust... we just did not run it.

[Beagle]

It took me forever to get the Sachs tuned, then my boss took it away from me. He hated it before that, as did everyone else. Bastard. I finally got it to run right and it was a sweet little pruning saw. I can't remember the model number, was a 35-40cc saw.

I bought a Farm Boss Stihl a couple of years ago and lost it the same weekend, I don't think God wants me to own one. It was a very smooth saw for up to about a 20" bar. Mine was an 18 and buried in anything no bog even leaning on the spikes... just giant curls of wood. It had a full chisel pro chain (no safety anti-kickback junk, cutter every other tooth)

I was crushed. I dug my old 610 McCulloch out, 24" bar, put a new carburetor on it and it fired right up. Nasty oily loud cutting s.o.b. that also has pro chains and will rip multi loop curls out of oak.

I have some vintage junk I haven't messed with. 3-10? Sound right? Can't remember. Anyway, I have some antique junk I need to see if will start someday... one of them is big enough for a .404 chain.

Scott, the two stroke pipes you see are tuned expansion chambers , there's no muffler to them most of the time.

[moparmaniac07]

I bought a Poulan pro used a few years ago. I was able to cut with it when I got it running by using the fast idle, but it would die when I hit the gas. Took it apart, cleaned the carb, etc. Ran great after that, for a minute or two. Then it'd have to sit awhile before I could start it again, when it would run great for a minute or two, then die again. Took it apart a third time, made gaskets for it because I didn't want to spend $40 on a gasket kit for a saw that's only $140 new, couldn't get it started again after that. She cut great, but ran like shit. Free to anyone that wants it. Now I gotta get a Stihl like my dad's, 20 inch bar, haven't had it bog down when I used it yet. I guess I need to get some trees to cut down first, but that's coming soon.

I've also got a friend that has a few McCullouchs, 2 older ones. One of them has a 44" bar, I think 65cc. It's old, metal, and heavy, but it sure is fun to use. I wouldn't want to have to use it for anything more than fun though, it would be a pain dragging it through the woods.

[67pete300]

Bought my first saw right after Christmas. Stihl MS250. Sweet machine for cutting firewood around the yard.

[Phil318]

I was in the sawmill business for twenty years and we used Stihls in the woods or Husqvarna. Had a couple of John Deeres at the mill. They got the crap beat out of them and kept on going. Gotta love the smell of fresh cut lumber.

[Caveman Tony]

My old man's been heating his house with firewood since 1981-ish... and every log came from his backyard, cut down, pulled out with a 60-year-old tractor, and cut into lengths, and split. The fun part was/is the logging with the tractor. The cutting into lengths... blows donkey balls. Need to figure out a better way.

I don't even mind the splitting, its a helluva workout.

He ran the same barbell of a McCulloch since 1978, until we got him a new Stihl for Christmas last year. Something like a 12-lb difference. H. stinkin' S. No kiddin'.

How do you guys do the 'cut into lengths' bit?

We've been throwing tree trunks over an angle-iron cradle and doing curls with the McCulloch. Repetitive, boring, mildly dangerous, yet slow too.

But it sure beats freezin' youah ahhss off in January.

[oldsman71]

015, 028, 032, 3-045's, 056 (bigger carb and exhaust FAST), and 084 Stihls..
Old mac that has 10 hp and is a bear to start but it sings soooo sweet!
Another Mac 77..
Have a Sachs/Dolmar with a short bar and 7 hp..
Got a Harbor Freight sharpener that need a fiiiine touch to make chains sharp. But for competion use I would touch up with a file..
In the 80's the 056 with 045 housing got me the fast saw in class 5 years in a row in the Deaf World Timberfest in OR
had guys from all over.. One guy even tried to walk on a plane with his saw.. He had to have it shipped then he flew..
I don't carve.. But do make tops and beams.. Made all the bench tops for the Porsche swp meet..

Yeah.. A fast cuttin saw s fun... Gotta get it started to cut...

oh you are the man!!!!! i just got ahot rodded puull-on 260, a couple of echo 370s with muffler mods and tunes with out the limiter caps, 2 xl12's, a old XL 104, and a dolmar 108
never seen any chainsaw races. its cool how a little tweeking can make them run!!! you ever go on the aborist site?

[oldsman71]

man!! you guys know yer saws!!! funny how hotrods and chainsaws kinda go together!! good to know im not alone.
i have learned alot, and also how to be safe. my dad still has the homelite that wrecked his brothers leg. he never walked right again.
you got to respect these little monsters!