What's Your Favorite Climbing and Felling Saw

Remember, Stig guts everything from the front, just about. He doesn't need the same amount of bar most of us like.
 
Ahh...the rare death dealing hazard tree that one cannot gut or bore safely, perhaps.

He'll probably pop in and tell us soon.
 
The 088 is reserved for ALAP or really big, dense wood. Anyone that can run one all day shall be called “sir” in my book. My best ground man says he will give me a hundred bucks for every cut I make on spurs with it. I’ve yet to even try. If I ever do, THERE WILL BE A PICTURE, because I’ll never do it again.
 
I ran our USFS 084 with 60 inch bar as infrequently as possible :). When you needed it, you really needed it badly. Awesome saw.

It was actually a dream to run with the 42 inch bar...balanced fairly nicely, and only weighed about 40% of my body weight :D. I could sling it around OK on the ground...aloft?...not so much, I expect. Never had to try, thank all the gods.

I was young and strong...once upon a time :/::lol:.
 
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Yeah...I'll bring out the 880 for the big stuff...
 

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The 088 is reserved for ALAP or really big, dense wood. Anyone that can run one all day shall be called ?sir? in my book. My best ground man says he will give me a hundred bucks for every cut I make on spurs with it. I?ve yet to even try. If I ever do, THERE WILL BE A PICTURE, because I?ll never do it again.

Only 3 of the picks were on spikes but it was enough. The biggest pain was trying to wang a flipline and lifeline around the stem. It kept tangling with the bar and chain.

Picture is from about 5 years ago.
 

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Just to set things right.
I was joking, about the 880 being for the big stuff.

Reason is, we are felling beech from 1890 these days.
Bout 4-5 feet across the botttom and 40 meters tall.
We knock them over with the 661.

To us, they are not "big stuff", just our every day trees.

So when the whole thing about big stuff came up, I thought:

Big stuff is when we need to bring the 880 out.

I've climbed with it once ( Actually it was my old 084)
Had to drop one leader of an absolutely massive elm.
 
I now own a Stihl MS660 as well as my old Husky 395XP. I normally keep them on separate trucks but I had them both on a removal job today and I can definitively say that the 395 can cut circles around the Stihl. Absolutely blows it away on power. Both saws are running 32" bars and the chains are off the same roll.
 
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Hey Brian can you elaborate a bit more on the chain roll? I've been thinking of doing that, but haven' really looked into what I would need and how it works, best place to buy etc.
 
I only run Stihl chain and on my big saws I prefer skip chain. Nobody around here sells skip chain by the loop. My local dealer gets it by the roll for me when I need it, takes a couple days. I use 33RSF for the big saws and 63pm for my top handles. List price is outrageous but my dealer gives me a reasonable price. I bought the spinner and breaker about 10 years ago for about $150 from one of the online arbor supply houses, Bailey's or Madsen's I think.

If you want to use Oregon chain you have tons of options for buying it online.
 
I cannot imagine any full time sawyer, arb or otherwise, not buying saw chain by the reel and spinning up your own chains.

I almost always visited the Zigzag Hotshot crew warehouse once or twice a year and spent a few relaxing hours talking saws, cutting and felling, fire work and hazard tree stories while making up a batch of chains for all my saws, except for the 200's. Those they didn't keep reels for, damn them :D.
 
I don't use many loops anymore, but when I do it's Stihl chain. Fork Oregon chain, I don't care what Willard says. Soft, no -cuttin' junk.
 
Oregon ripping chain has been good for me, cut through 3 nails, a tickle to the chain, finished a 30 inch 8ft sugar maple, and did 4 walnut logs 8ft long by 16-19 inch wide, and some smaller sugar maple 5ft long. Still got some life in it.
 
All the pics I posted milling has been the same loop.

:/:

Edit: But you guys have to answer me this, is one cut 15-20 minutes with a 066 redlight 8ft long 30 inch sugar maple that has been down for 1.5 years a good cut time???
 
I run Oregon. Most guys here do. Smoother and cuts faster. Gotta keep it outta the dirt though.

Ran stihl chain for years. It stays sharper longer than Oregon, and you can saw some dirtier stuff and it will still cut ok, but its not as sharp as oregon initially, nor as smooth.

I buy it buy the roll, and actually have several rolls. Comp and full skip for long and short bars. I do have a roll of skip stihl that I like for my long bars, as in 42 and up. It cuts a wider kerf than oregon which is good on long bars. I run 3/8 even on the 60" bar, when it gets too short (teeth) I cut the chains up and run on short bars.

Just my .02

Use a roll or a roll and a half a year. So 100 to 150' of chain.
 
You've no idea how much better I feel, reading that.
As long as I've been a member here, "the cut 10 trees a week with a not too sharp chain" arbos have been bad mouthing Oregon chains.
Nice to have another guy, who cuts lots of trees, say he runs Oregon.
 
You've only got to run one loop of reach to know you are always sharpening Oregon, and it just evaporates.
 
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