Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
Miss the 346, what an amazing balance of weight, power, and reliability. Love the 550 but would prefer a 346 if it was still out there
Your Favorite Rear Handle to Climb With
- Thread starter Basswood
- Start date
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
You sharpen with a wheel at night, or file between every tank, etc.?
chiselbit
Been here a while
I have a simington grinder and I’ll use it on new chains before I run them. Then file as needed.ill use the grinder on that chain again when I Swap it for a fresh chain. Can usually do a couple jobs between filings. There’s several tricks to keeping a chain sharp/avoid dulling. probably a new thread in itself but 2 quick ones are indexing and bark register. And back to the original post: I have a ported 353 with a 20” that I love. Also fond of the 550’s. Just wish they had dogs that were designed to actually work instead of being there just for looks
RyTheTreeGuy
Branched out member
- Location
- Canada
X2 on the 550 Dogs
CanadianStan
Branched out member
- Location
- Western Australia
The 562 dogs are ass as well. I got aftermarket dogs off eBay for mine and they're magnificent
chiselbit
Been here a while
I put some 562 dogs on a couple 555’s (which I also really like,) better than the ones the 555 came with. I wonder if the 562 has 2 different types of dogs? the ones on mine are pretty not bad.
Z'sTrees
Branched out member
- Location
- Hartsel CO
I've got a ported 550 which kicks ass with a 20", although the dogs do suck. Mostly I go to a 562 with the wrap and a 24" after a top handle, seems like a bit more capacity without a huge jump in weight. The xpw has some good dogs from the factory, imo.
Tree-Taylor
Branched out member
- Location
- Canada
Basswood
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Long island
Interesting about the ms180, I had a ms170 awhile ago. Both are more of a “homeowner” saw from my understanding but they are light and the 170 definitely cut well. Definitely have given them some thought for in tree use.
I’ve heard of companies banning top handles to avoid one handling, the 180 would probably be the first saw I’d look at if that was the case.
NeSurfcaster
New member
- Location
- South Jersey
I'm searching for a new in tree saw as well when the 2511t isn't enough. I've undecided between the 562 w/ 3/4 wrap or the echo 620pw. I think the 620pw is great but it's a little on the big/bulky side. Might as well use a 372 since the dimensions are similar to a 620pw. 462 is probably ideal but a little pricey and I don't have any stihl bars
Z'sTrees
Branched out member
- Location
- Hartsel CO
The 620 reminds me alot of the old 371/372.
Feels a bit torquier than the 562, but also a fuzz heavier. Great option for the $$$
I just picked up a 2511T and 620PW since I am becoming less impressed with Stihl and Husky, time will tell. They make a great combo, 620 is pretty big for in tree, definitely would throw a small/mid size saw in the mix for the in-between stuff.
Echo 2511t 8"
Milwaukee M18 Fuel lithium 16"
Stihl MS 661 20"
Stihl MS 880 25"
Took down this 32" laurel oak last weekend with the 2511t, then the ms 661, then bucked and stumped with the ms 880. The picture is from the 4th hour with a great, but moderately experienced ground worker. The tree was too easy and he was too inexperienced. I was resting a lot, listening to him deadheading the bmg and whatnot, lol. That's all 2511t 8" bar work. We knocked off ahead of an impending summer lightning storm. The fun part was first thing the next day, hinging that 9-10" diameter long branch over the garage and watching it touch down under the rigging point directly over the driveway where the mini tracks couldn't mess up the yard.
After the tree was skinnied up, we dropped the top just above the lowest left side branch, pulled two more sections over, and dropped the 30' spar. Put two dents in the patchy yard - a 1'x2' and a 3'x6-12", and filled with chips from pruning the adjacent elm. Altogether, looking at 8 cuts with the ms661 (4 on the right lead, 1 to rig down the driveway rigging point back to the spar, and 3 to pull the spar onto the pile) and an ms 880 felling cut to secure the tree to ground. Then four bucking cuts and one stump cut with the ms880. Used 1/2" Yale polydyne line, two rig n rings, and a ditch witch sk650.
Milwaukee M18 Fuel lithium 16"
Stihl MS 661 20"
Stihl MS 880 25"
Took down this 32" laurel oak last weekend with the 2511t, then the ms 661, then bucked and stumped with the ms 880. The picture is from the 4th hour with a great, but moderately experienced ground worker. The tree was too easy and he was too inexperienced. I was resting a lot, listening to him deadheading the bmg and whatnot, lol. That's all 2511t 8" bar work. We knocked off ahead of an impending summer lightning storm. The fun part was first thing the next day, hinging that 9-10" diameter long branch over the garage and watching it touch down under the rigging point directly over the driveway where the mini tracks couldn't mess up the yard.
After the tree was skinnied up, we dropped the top just above the lowest left side branch, pulled two more sections over, and dropped the 30' spar. Put two dents in the patchy yard - a 1'x2' and a 3'x6-12", and filled with chips from pruning the adjacent elm. Altogether, looking at 8 cuts with the ms661 (4 on the right lead, 1 to rig down the driveway rigging point back to the spar, and 3 to pull the spar onto the pile) and an ms 880 felling cut to secure the tree to ground. Then four bucking cuts and one stump cut with the ms880. Used 1/2" Yale polydyne line, two rig n rings, and a ditch witch sk650.
NeSurfcaster
New member
- Location
- South Jersey
I got the 562 w/ 3/4 wrap, I also put the larger dogs on. Here we mainly cut oak's/maples/sycamores/mulberry/some pines. I've noticed w/ the big dogs and a stock 20" exl/elx whatever the full comp one is. Will struggle to start the face cut, I blame it on the big dogs. Gotta make sure it's at full throttle before the dogs grab. I also still struggle some w/ hand filing, end up w/ a big hook from removing too much gullet sometimes. I have about 15 tanks on it so maybe it's not broken in completely yet. I got a pine tree job this weekend that will probably give the 562 no problem. Since there is room I will be sending some big tops down(12"+) that will put it to the test. But other then the bogging down on some hardwood face cuts it's been great. No real hot start issues, 2 pulls on fast idle is the norm when hot. I got a 24" and would definitely run full skip when the 20" isn't enough. Keep the rpm's up and the 562 rips just lacks a little bit of low end power at the moment. Muff mod might help. No regrets tho
My helper just got the 620pw and the weight wasn't too noticeable, but the size was noticeable. Unfortunately I didn't get to run it.
My helper just got the 620pw and the weight wasn't too noticeable, but the size was noticeable. Unfortunately I didn't get to run it.
Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
I bought it for a dozen-medium-size-tree crane removal job. I didn't want another MS661-type saw and I climb with it on crane removals, but I needed something bigger for the ground guy to handle the large volume of wood. I try to stay away from buying new medium-sized saws because I see lithium on the horizon. The MS 880 also opens up chainsaw milling. Since the job at hand required nothing over 25", I got it with the short bar. I may change it out for a larger bar, but chances are I'll buy a really long milling bar for it and use my 36" bar on the ms661 for stump cuts if I really need that. Does that make sense? Cuts like a mofo with the short bar...
