Homestead mailing list

[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

Robert Walton wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> Heading to my property in Virginia in a couple of weeks to do some 
> work. I need to buy a chainsaw. There are some trees that were 
> bulldozed before I bought the property and I want to clean up and turn 
> them into firewood. Nothing is really big.
>
> Anything I should take into consideration?
>
> Thanks
>
> Rob
>
>
> -tvoivozhd---depends what you want, maximum power in a chainsaw 
> package, or maximum docility.  I have owned dozens of chainsaws across 
> the years, from the original Disston with a Mercury powerhead to my 
> present Stihl.  In the Lombard , et.al era, I sold all of the engines 
> (except West Bend engines) to chainsaw builders that did not yet make 
> their own engines---20,000 per year was the breaking point, after 
> that, they could make their own engines at our price of $21.50 each.   
> In those days, ALL chainsaws had a reduction gearbox to increase 
> torque to the chain---lower-speed chain, but the chain and bar would 
> last forever.  Direct-drive drivegear runs chain faster, chain and bar 
> wear out quickly---a whole lot more quickly if they don't get proper 
> lubrication!!


My Stihl 026 Pro, like its bigger Husqvarna predecessor is a sonofabitch 
to start---if you don't want a heart attack, you have to spray 
engine-starter liquid into the carburetor cleaner---or for more economy, 
spray propane gas from a Bernz soldering torch. Had to do the same with 
the Husqvarna, think it was a "50", a cranky SOB even when 
running---hated to set it down and have to crank it up again when it 
died.  Incidentally a Poulan is a Husky in disguise---it was the first 
to come out with a centrifuge to spin sawdust away from the cylinder 
cooling flanges, to keep the engine running cooler. Husqvarna owns 
Poulan (another of my many-years-ago engine customers)  AND NEVER,FORGET 
to push down the compression-release before cranking the swine---the 
best thing that can happen to you is a sprained wrist and fingers 
stretched four inches, worst is losing them entirely.

The ideal chainsaw---don't know where you would find it now, would have 
both an automatic and thumb-pump oiler.  Thumb-pumps have 
disappeared---the last one I looked at the chainsaw brand had been lousy 
quality for years (forgot the brand), so it was a bad buy to begin with.

Automatic lubrication chainsaw pumps can be set (usually with a 
screwdriver) to greater or smaller oil-flow.  A damned nuisance, since 
it is common to encounter both green and dry trees and logs.  To cut dry 
wood, the lube-flow must be much greater than lube-flow cutting green 
wood, to avoid burning out chain and bar---you can burn out both in just 
a few minutes of dry-wood cutting if the pump is set for green wood.  A 
thumb-pump lets you throw an occasional shot of lube into the chain and 
bar when the automatic oiler is set for green wood and you have to saw 
some dry wood.

Stihl got cute (can't remember if Husky or others did, a lot of incest 
in the chainsaw industry), by having a single thumb-operated start-run 
carburetor-control.  Ba-a-a-d idea---lot of detents that jam..  A 
conventional choke  works better and is bomb-proof, you won't have to be 
continuing to wrestle with the dealer about tearing down the chainsaw 
and making it run for a week or two---warranties DO run out, you know.

For EASY STARTING (even if the chainsaw sits for six months with stale 
fuel in the tank and carburetor), nothing beats an Echo  (that's why 
tool rentals love Echos}.  It's a lower compression-ratio than Stihl et. 
al, so it doesn't need or use a
thumb-operated compression-release valve in the cylinder head.  An Echo 
compensates for loss of power that lower compression-ratio gives, by 
using a narrow-kerf chain.  Side-effects were,(probably still are), with 
lower-mass, lower radiating-surface, a narrow-kerf chain heats up faster 
than the common wide-kerf chain if it doesn't get enough lube.

At my age (and for all small men, women, docility is the way to go---my 
Echo lasted six years, with very heavy usage, and only went out the door 
when the spark coil failed---I really didn't like the $50 dollar price 
for a replacement coil, and figured six years was long enough for a 
chainsaw anyway.

Another thing---I had long, serious discussions with the Echo roving, 
factory service-rep, about insufficient oil tank capacity indetectible 
when I bought the saw and experinenced chain and bar burnout the first 
time I used it---the oil ran out before the the fuel in the fuel tank, 
or I would have caught and refilled the oil tank when I refilled the 
fuel tank.  I continued the conversation with the Japanese president of 
the Virginia Echo factory, he apologized and sent me a new bar and 
chain, but they then had no proper-sized oil-tank, so I elected to keep 
the saw and watch, and add-to the oil-tank level when I still had a half 
a tank of fuel.  Echo probably changed to a bigger oil tank, but I don't 
know that---if not, refill the oil tank each time the fuel tank runs 
down to half-full.  And remember  Echo does not have an oil thumb-pump 
to my knowledge, any more than other brands of chinsaws..