Brando CalPankian
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Pine City, MN
If there's a thread (modern, like last couple years) on this please let me know.
We're located in the upper Midwest as well.
Shopping for saws and getting out budget planned for the year. Those of you who know me have heard of my spine issues which can limit my productivity a fair bit.
Yesterday was one of those days. Had to remove some large trees and used my 3120 with a 36" bar more than I should have. In pretty bad shape today.
So I'm making plans as we're expanding to get good saws to make our lives easier.
I'm not a saw nerd despite having ran them professionally and daily for coming up on two decades. I've never been interested in saws outside of "they do the job".
I'm trying to get more power to weight ratio so I can continue to handle bigger jobs myself AND to make my crew happier as we grow.
The 3120 is a beast and will run a 6' bar if needed, but it weighs as much as a toddler and I can't hardly use it for more than a few minutes. The first saw I'm needing is something that'll run a 32"+ bar quickly without breaking 25lbs.
Also, I'd gotten my old 193t stolen a few weeks ago (16" bar, loved it). I picked up a 194 (14" bar), and it is a dog. Slow, hates the cold. Could need tinkering. But I'm debating sending it to a performance shop as we're getting into a higher productivity level as a crew and I don't want saws to be our pinch point. Not interested in electric, too cold for that and I just don't like them much. Tried, not happy.
From here, I've got a 261 that I am really happy with. It pulls wood well and is light enough I can run it a majority of the day without wanting to cry. We also have an echo 490 that is decent for smaller wood and limbing as a ground saw.
I'd like my saws to increase in bar length and specificity, starting with the 194 running a 16" bar, moving up to a 20", then 28, 36, etc. no fucking about with changing bars out and easier to keep track of/more profitable for my workers and me.
That said, I know fuck all about saws other than maintenance. I don't have a local performance saw shop, but am interested in ratting out saws to getting better p2w ratios if they still can have a decent life span.
So, here we are. Long winded post for a simple problem that would take me a shit load of research to figure out. Tap into folks who are better than me to shore up deficiencies. Lol.
Thanks for any advice!!!
We're located in the upper Midwest as well.
Shopping for saws and getting out budget planned for the year. Those of you who know me have heard of my spine issues which can limit my productivity a fair bit.
Yesterday was one of those days. Had to remove some large trees and used my 3120 with a 36" bar more than I should have. In pretty bad shape today.
So I'm making plans as we're expanding to get good saws to make our lives easier.
I'm not a saw nerd despite having ran them professionally and daily for coming up on two decades. I've never been interested in saws outside of "they do the job".
I'm trying to get more power to weight ratio so I can continue to handle bigger jobs myself AND to make my crew happier as we grow.
The 3120 is a beast and will run a 6' bar if needed, but it weighs as much as a toddler and I can't hardly use it for more than a few minutes. The first saw I'm needing is something that'll run a 32"+ bar quickly without breaking 25lbs.
Also, I'd gotten my old 193t stolen a few weeks ago (16" bar, loved it). I picked up a 194 (14" bar), and it is a dog. Slow, hates the cold. Could need tinkering. But I'm debating sending it to a performance shop as we're getting into a higher productivity level as a crew and I don't want saws to be our pinch point. Not interested in electric, too cold for that and I just don't like them much. Tried, not happy.
From here, I've got a 261 that I am really happy with. It pulls wood well and is light enough I can run it a majority of the day without wanting to cry. We also have an echo 490 that is decent for smaller wood and limbing as a ground saw.
I'd like my saws to increase in bar length and specificity, starting with the 194 running a 16" bar, moving up to a 20", then 28, 36, etc. no fucking about with changing bars out and easier to keep track of/more profitable for my workers and me.
That said, I know fuck all about saws other than maintenance. I don't have a local performance saw shop, but am interested in ratting out saws to getting better p2w ratios if they still can have a decent life span.
So, here we are. Long winded post for a simple problem that would take me a shit load of research to figure out. Tap into folks who are better than me to shore up deficiencies. Lol.
Thanks for any advice!!!











