Time for a saw upgrade, looking for recommendations

I'm mostly Stihl but I sold my MS260 long ago after I bought my 346XP. The 346 is a lightsaber in comparison.

 

Yeah but an 026/260 isn’t really in the same power class as a 261 either, 346 is a good saw and much better than the 550 in my opinion.

 

I have a 260 and 261. The 261 is a massive leap in performance.
Ergonomics is a big deal for me. I have used different saw makes over the years and Stihl fits me better. One thing I notice is how a gloved hand transfers in and out of the handle. There’s a manufacturer that give as much thought to this movement.

 

What I've collected so far. Looking to put some Solo spikes on a 7900. Honorary?

 

Heck I’m still looking for the outboard spikes for my 680 Solo.

 

What type of gloves do you wear? Me the generic latex coated. I have the same only thicker for cold weather

 

What my employer provides. A friend gave me some winter gloves that have been surprisingly durable, comfortable and warm. I’ll attach a picture later since they’re in my personal truck. The leather gloves in the pic wear out quickly doing firewood, but the price is right and it’s what I’m used to wearing for running saws.

 

Friend of mine gifted me a pair of deer leather work gloves. Tried them a few times. I sweat too much and like trying to take a straight jacket off my hands. I guess I'm used to having needed dexterity with the ones I use and old habits die hard.

 

Sure I get it. I’ve tried the kind you use and couldn’t stand wearing them. I’m accustomed to using leather gloves like I am using Stihls.

 

My work still sells these regularly somehow.

 

The correct answer for cutting 33+ cords a year is the biggest pro saw you can afford. Think over 70cc and closest to 90+cc’s when your wore out cutting then use the 290. Each day you will notice your using the big saw more to the point you don’t pick the small saw up.

I’m running a ported 500i and was just talking to my porter about his recommendation for I want the big saw. Looks like 661 in the works. I’ve cut about 90 cords since October 1st.

Unless you physically can not use a big saw the answer is the biggest pro saw.

 

This is kinda why I was thinking the ms 400 still light but has way more power than a 261. Long as it’s smaller diameter wood like he’s say a 400 would cut as fast as a bigger saw in it unless your trying to bury a 24” bar in the pile.

 

There more to this than what any of us have suggested. Did I read he’s cutting 9”-10” average logs.

If you want to save your back —-Stand up to buck!

I run a 32” bar. I do cut larger than 9” logs 95+% of the time. I have several logs a day the back when I used a 24” bar I had to cut from both sides of the log to cut the round.

I have no 400 experience. My backup small saw is a 462 with 28”.

 

Long bar cutting on ground yes but in a pile it’s a pain in my opinion. Cutting at all different hights anywhere from 12” off ground to right in front of you. 65-70 cc saw with a 20-25” bar works well in a pile. Pretty rare a pile is lined up well enough on end to bury a 36” and get a pile off wood the right length also my experience is they roll or sit funny in pile often enough you get pinched trying to cut a full bar on a saw in the pile. I’ve quit trying to do this with my 066 and 36. Not to mention a the weight of a 90cc saw and 36 is tiring on a pile. 24” on a 13 lb saw works for me in the pile still can stand up to cut lower logs on the stringers.

 

When cutting volume one round 9”-10” diameter at a time is painstakingly slow. If I had plenty of logs that size I would be bucking with a 60” bar. It’s all about the production.

Nord do you have equipment to move the logs? What’s your setup? Equipment list?

 

Your logs must be straight as heck, can’t imagine trying to get them end matched and flat enough in a pile to not pinch a 60” bar. I had issues with a 36” one log burried in the pile that’s under compression and pretty soon you have a picnched bar 3-4 10” logs into the pile. Just what I’ve fought with trying long bars in 20 chord piles of 8-14” logs

 

Big saw little wood

 

My part of Alaska is boreal forest and my trees are white spruce, they are telephone pole straight. The pile will occasionally shift and pinch. The tractor and standby saw makes quick work of that. Occasionally a warped/twisted bar is the trophy.

 

Our birch, ash and maple mix is usually cooked as all heck and I wouldn’t doubt the times i thought I was going to make piles of wood each pass usually slowed me down. So definitely will depend on the op’s exact conditions and wood size straightness.

 

That should be lumber not firewood haha