10-05-2019, 08:58 PM
FWIW, a little chainsaw story.
I used to do a lot of chainsaw work, sometimes 8 hours a day. But those days have faded like a ship sailing into the mist and now it’s only once or twice a year, mostly just trimming branches. So I picked a light weight little Stihl MS180C-BE. https://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-.../ms180cbe/
It seemed kind of puny and had no bumper teeth for levering through logs, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. I wouldn’t want to buck logs all day or cut down fairly large trees with it, but for most tasks it works very well for being the light weight little thing it is. It came with a strange skinny little bar and some really skinny non-aggressive thing called a “safety chain”. Oddly that skinny little bar and chain worked like thin blade knife and just melted through logs.
I got a little lazy one day and was running a loose chain. The puny little chain popped off the skinny little bar and wadded itself into a tight little ball against the body of the saw. I’ve thrown chains before and it’s not been a problem, but not this time. That wimpy little chain wadded itself so tightly I could barely get it straightened, and when I did it was bent to uselessness. Enough of this I thought and spent $50 and put a “normal” sized bar and chain on it. It’s been a little trooper ever since.
I no longer cut oak or ironwood all day, keep the blade out of dirt and rocks and don’t clear old fence rows. Chains stay sharp for a long time so I’ve become very lazy. My local lawn mower store sharpens chains for $5.00 generally while I wait. I just keep a spare sharp chain on-hand and when one gets dull use the excuse to browse the latest let’s mow the lawn equipment. I’d almost pay $5.00 just to ogle the latest Scag Z mowers and Stihl equipment.
I used to do a lot of chainsaw work, sometimes 8 hours a day. But those days have faded like a ship sailing into the mist and now it’s only once or twice a year, mostly just trimming branches. So I picked a light weight little Stihl MS180C-BE. https://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-.../ms180cbe/
It seemed kind of puny and had no bumper teeth for levering through logs, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. I wouldn’t want to buck logs all day or cut down fairly large trees with it, but for most tasks it works very well for being the light weight little thing it is. It came with a strange skinny little bar and some really skinny non-aggressive thing called a “safety chain”. Oddly that skinny little bar and chain worked like thin blade knife and just melted through logs.
I got a little lazy one day and was running a loose chain. The puny little chain popped off the skinny little bar and wadded itself into a tight little ball against the body of the saw. I’ve thrown chains before and it’s not been a problem, but not this time. That wimpy little chain wadded itself so tightly I could barely get it straightened, and when I did it was bent to uselessness. Enough of this I thought and spent $50 and put a “normal” sized bar and chain on it. It’s been a little trooper ever since.
I no longer cut oak or ironwood all day, keep the blade out of dirt and rocks and don’t clear old fence rows. Chains stay sharp for a long time so I’ve become very lazy. My local lawn mower store sharpens chains for $5.00 generally while I wait. I just keep a spare sharp chain on-hand and when one gets dull use the excuse to browse the latest let’s mow the lawn equipment. I’d almost pay $5.00 just to ogle the latest Scag Z mowers and Stihl equipment.