Need opinion on what big saw to buy.

erik smith said:
If you are looking for a mid-size saw for in tree use the Husky 562 xp is tough to beat. Amazing power, chain speed and weight. With a 24" to 28" bar it is a wrecking machine.. If you are looking for an actual big saw, go with a Husky 395 xp. Simply one of the best saws ever!
Click to expand...

Erik, that was quite a review! Thanks for posting.

Tim
 
RIVIEZZO TREE EXPERTS said:
get a 461 and be done
Click to expand...
There is almost NOTHING you can't do with an 046/460/461! They're AWESOME saws, not too heavy or awkward, plenty of power and comfortable with everything from a 16" to 36". Not too hard on the wallet either, especially used. If I could only own 1 saw...
One company I worked for ran only 020Ts and 046s. Had 2 of each on every truck. We did everything with them! (Think we had two 066s at the shop to loan out if you had a big 'un, but that didn't happen very often.)
 
Last edited:
Wow, @Jeff, another really great review! For the Stihl side of the equation. Really nice to know the saws that are considered to be the real work horses, the most bang for the buck. Much appreciated.

Tim
 
Glad I could help. Obviously I am a Husky man. I personally use a 550xp with a 16' bar for my small climbing saw, a 562xp with a 28" bar for chunking down wood, and a 395xp with a 40" bar for my big saw needs. When I need a truly big saw I run a 3120 with a 60" bar. I live in the redwoods in Northern California and the 550, 562, and 395 are all i need for 95% of the trees I see.
 
There are several great brands of saw. Focus on the cylinder displacement of the ms 460, then go to the *closest* shop. Ask for references on their work and call them up. Ask them if they are responsive to needs, if they consistently grind chains well, etc. If you already know the shop a bit, look for employee turnover. I do not buy huskies because the dealer where my mini gets serviced has high turnover. This, combined with the fact that chainsaw service is a clear second fiddle makes me buy Stihl. I used to go across town for service and parts, but a new store opened up. I tracked down the owner, interviewed the employees, and concluded they were well-trained and competent. The employees don't want to leave because the owner is awesome. Now I have a shop just 5 minutes away that can take care of most of my baseline needs, especially if I request things ahead of time.

Lastly, there is a natural progression of saw buying based on the minimum and max size's that you need. I need saws at the ends of the spectrum, so I have an ms 192tc with pico chain, four cheap ms 250 types for ground duty and backup climbing, and an ms 440 with 28" bar. Pie in the sky, I'd start with this grouping, in this order, and work out from there:

MS 661
MS 150
MS 250

However, most of us can't just drop for these two expensive saws. I ended up with a 192tc, a bunch of 250s, and a 440 because of the low cost.

I think the MS 150 is the only unreplaceable saw here due to its narrow bar tip which is super cool for detail pruning, yet can take on the crown of a large tree if you're not craning. Need to watch out for the circle of death a bit more if you're using it, I imagine...

So, for me, the shop location and competence are clearly more important than the saw brand, and the displacement and bar length capability of the saw are the main factors in choosing the model. The ms 460 size is perhaps the best single saw, when equipped with a short and long bar.

Personally, I would exchange the 460 for a 660 if money were not an issue because the 660 runs a much longer bar for stump cuts (and cuts faster with more torque that allows bigger dogs), at only 2 lbs extra for climbing with. It is also useful for chainsaw milling whereas the 460 has a small powerhead for the bar length and is therefore not ideal for milling. But who am I to speak - my granberg 36" double-ended bar setup is arriving Tuesday, so I'll be milling with two 250s, watching my temp gauge closely, lol.
 
I have a 362c and a buddy has the 562. They are both awesome saws! 562 seems a little faster though. 562 tends to be a bit more finicky, I like the shutoff switch on the 562 better than the one on the 362. If you don't mind a used saw the 044 is hard to beat. I only bought the 362 for the electronic carb and because I don't like swapping out bars. I run a 20 on the 362 and 28/36 on the 044. If you like husky get the 562 and 395. If you like Stihl the 362 and 660. I think Stihl has better torque than husky.
Edit. Oops just realized I revived a dead horse sorry.
 
David Scigliano said:
I have a 362c and a buddy has the 562. They are both awesome saws! 562 seems a little faster though. 562 tends to be a bit more finicky, I like the shutoff switch on the 562 better than the one on the 362. If you don't mind a used saw the 044 is hard to beat. I only bought the 362 for the electronic carb and because I don't like swapping out bars. I run a 20 on the 362 and 28/36 on the 044. If you like husky get the 562 and 395. If you like Stihl the 362 and 660. I think Stihl has better torque than husky.
Edit. Oops just realized I revived a dead horse sorry.
Click to expand...
Is that Leeds, NY? If so Id assume you know Mike on here.
BTW welcome to the buzz.
 
David Scigliano said:
I have a 362c and a buddy has the 562. They are both awesome saws! 562 seems a little faster though. 562 tends to be a bit more finicky, I like the shutoff switch on the 562 better than the one on the 362. If you don't mind a used saw the 044 is hard to beat. I only bought the 362 for the electronic carb and because I don't like swapping out bars. I run a 20 on the 362 and 28/36 on the 044. If you like husky get the 562 and 395. If you like Stihl the 362 and 660. I think Stihl has better torque than husky.
Edit. Oops just realized I revived a dead horse sorry.
Click to expand...

David, great first post, and welcome to the TreeBuzz forum! I think you are going to like it here!

Don't ever worry about reviving old threads, in my humble opinion. It only adds value to this forum. Sometimes when there's not much going on with new posts on the forum, I'll use the forum's search function to try to find older threads on some particular area of interest. There is truly a treasure of old threads just sitting there waiting to be rediscovered. Some were started and ended before I ever became a member here, so I end up finding interesting threads I never would have seen, otherwise. Adding a new post to such a thread breathes new life into it, and allows current members of the forum to become aware of it, and comment on it also.

So thanks for reviving another great, older thread.

Tim
 
Thanks for the kind words guys. I've been on several boards that were pretty critical when some Newby revived an old thread, doesn't make you feel very welcome. I'm located in Leeds North Dakota. Wish I knew more people from on the arborist/logger boards. There are not many of them around here. I would really like to learn all the tips and tricks that every one has for tree cutting and general life in and out of the work environment. Practical knowledge seems to be dying. It seems like a lot of my generation and younger are sadly becoming more and more useless.
 
I remember as a kid, before the age of electronics, I found watching big trucks, dumps, dozers, excevators, cranes was almost memorizing. That's the difference between then and now. You don't have to think .... it's practically done for you. Like people who can't leave a 30 mile radius without turning on a GPS device.
 
David Scigliano said:
Thanks for the kind words guys. I've been on several boards that were pretty critical when some Newby revived an old thread, doesn't make you feel very welcome. I'm located in Leeds North Dakota. Wish I knew more people from on the arborist/logger boards. There are not many of them around here. I would really like to learn all the tips and tricks that every one has for tree cutting and general life in and out of the work environment. Practical knowledge seems to be dying. It seems like a lot of my generation and younger are sadly becoming more and more useless.
Click to expand...

Hey, David. I know it might seem tough to learn this stuff on your own. The place you live might be really remote with regard to being close enough to any forum members to easily get together.

I learned what I know entirely from the internet, plus hands on trial and error. The big word of advice everyone always gives is "Low and Slow". This means you should practice with any new piece of gear or system close to the ground, and never be in a hurry when doing so. It only takes a few seconds to kill yourself.

My own personal word of advice is to have redundant systems in place to allow yourself to come down safely, in case one aspect of your climbing system fails to behave in the way you'd expect it to. I like climbing with two ropes and two systems, partly for this reason. It also gives you more options when you're in the tree. It would also be good to have someone around who can check on you once in awhile, & for both of you to have working phones available.

If you haven't already found the climbingarborist.com website yet, you really need to go there and study the heck out of it. (Here's an attempt at posting a link.) [ http://www.climbingarborist.com/ ] Not his presence on youtube, but his own website. There he has a comprehensive set of videos, organized by subject matter. On youtube it is more scrambled.

Read here, ask questions, and always take your time and be as safe as you can be when in the tree. Part of that is knocking off early enough in the day so that the threat of darkness falling doesn't force you to hurry to get down. Allow plenty of time to get down and packed up.

Also, maybe you could look in the phone book for arborists, and see if anyone is looking for help. That's all I've got, for now.

Tim
 
Last edited:
The best all around saw is a 044 with a angle fin cylinder ks first choice mahle second choice.either of my 044 12 mm crank shaft or 10 mm crankshaft will eat up a 372 husky or a 460 or a 461.the port timing on older saws is so much better.it will even eat up a 440 if you take a angle fin cyliner and put on a 440 even.you will see the gain.ive been around loggers and saw builders my whole life the 044 stihl is the best 70 cc saw ever made.lightest saw power to weight ratio i run no 20 to 24 bar on my 2 saws.i never leave without a 044 in my truck.and a 064 is another great saw 3 lbs lighter then a 066 660 and will run along side it all day long those 2 model saws make the most power to weight ratio of any saws ever made
 
Hey Tim. I learned almost everything I know about climbing and rigging from a local ISA certified friend of mine that I met while Grinding stumps in town, he stopped and introduced himself and asked me if I'd be interested in working with him some, I said sure, and that was the beginning of a great friendship and getting me hooked on climbing. I introduced another friend of mine from Tennessee to it as well and he quit his job and took a pay cut to start climbing. Now he is also teaching me what he is learning. We are both going to be in Kentucky climbing next week. Going to be a lot of fun! He has his younger brother wanting to climb now to. One of these days I would love to go to jambo! I have seen quite a few climbing arborist videos and thought they were great! Didn't realize there was a website I could go to for them. Will be checking it out for sure! Here is a picture of a tree that Joel and I took down for a lady in Pembina ND, was in the alley 8 ft from her garage and there were high voltage power lines running under the upper canopy, it took us a while with just the two of us. That's a friend of mines 3 year oldwho wanted to be in the pic with me :-). We had half the town watching as we felled the stub. It was about a 50 ft tall stick when I cut it. Biggest tree I've ever felled. Ground level was 128". Where I'm standing it was 64"
 

Attachments

  • logo.webp
    logo.webp
    17.2 KB · Views: 44
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom