Which saw: Stihl 362 or Stihl 461

I am buying a saw today to replace the two that got crushed by a falling tree, and got ran over by a bulldozer, but here is my choices based on practicality; a Stihl 362 or a Stihl 461. Here is my issue:

The 362 is fuel injected while the 461 is more old school with a standard carb. Right now Stihl is having a sale on the 461 which I assume is because in the coming year they are going to fuel inject that size saw. Rating wise, the 461 gets a better rating (4.9) then the 362 rating (4.7). This makes me question whether or not it would be best to pick up the smaller fuel injected saw now and wait for the bigger saw to be fuel injected, or just go with the 461 as it is now.

My fear is, the 362 is going to be too small for my needs. What I prefer to have is a big saw for my felling needs and a smaller saw for limbing and pulp wood sized trees. The 362 seems too small for a big saw, and too big for a small saw.

BTW: This is not just "me man, me need big saw" bravado. I am clearing a 30 acre spot for field and have a lot of big hemlock logs to cut this winter once the ground freezes. Here is a picture of the size trees I'll encounter and this is not an isolated tree, there are hundreds this size. Sorry about Katie being in the picture, its just I normally do not run through the woods taking pictures of boring ole trees. However its not very often you see Little Red Ridinghood in the forest and she does lend a sense of size to the trees I often cut.

 

Auto-tune (what the 362 has) and true fuel injection aren't the same thing. Maybe its just a choice of words on your part, but just wanted to make sure you know that. There's lots of reading here on auto-tune.

Sounds like you are going to be doing some logging...362 is a great firewood, but I wouldn't want to fell 100+ good sized trees with it when I could have had a 461.

Good news is you can't really make a "bad" choice here. Both are good saws.

If you do get the 362, just be warned that it will most likely be very unimpressive for the first 3-5 tanks of fuel, but wakes up pretty nicely after that.

 

461 and a 28" light weight bar

 

Are you for real?

I am far more likely to have a pic of a random big tree in the woods than a pic of my little red riding hood wife...maybe I should come get some lessons

Sorry can't help you with the saw questions.

 

Neither Dolmar 7910! Ha! Don't like Dolmar? Mike Lee is right go with the 461 and a 28" lightweight bar. I really like my 28" total Light and Tough bar. It's a great saw and the price on them is hard to beat right now!

 

If your bent on Stihl, 461 no question.

 

I think I'd go off of what sized bar you want to use. 20", I'd go with the 362. Larger than that and I'd go for the 461.

That is assuming you have smaller saws. If this is your only saw I'd probably want to use the 362 all day long rather than the 461.

No love for the 441? Doesn't it have better antivibe than the 461?

 

Honestly, I never go larger then an 18" bar on any of my saws. Its nice for felling, but a 18" bar can fell a 36" tree which is bigger than the tree my wife is leaned up next too. Its not about having more power since you are not dragging so much chain around, nor having to file more teeth during sharpening, or even the higher cost of buying the longer bar and chain combination; for me it is fatigue. When limbing, I just have to pick my bar up way too high to get a 20 inch bar over the top of the tree 25 times per tree when going from the underside branches to the topside again. Though 2 inches does not seem like much, it adds up.

If there are 25 whorls per tree and you must pick the saw up an extra two inches per whorl, that is 50". Now calculate 10 trees per hour that is (500") extra inches every hour. Now calculate that for an average day of logging at 8 hours. That means you are lifting your saw an extra 4000 inches per day (333 vertical feet of chainsaw lifting) just from having a 18" bar versus a 20" bar!! No wonder I am not as worn out! Then you getting the other benefits to boot. I don't expect to win any converts too my smaller bar theory, but it makes sense to me.

As for Little Red Ridinghood, yes we are for real. Katie and I like to get dressed up and do photo shoots for fun using a tripod and self-timer on the camera. We did a fun one a few years back at an old Train Station nearby with us dressed up like the 1940's. Its an odd hobby I know, but fun. (Our next one is going to be her dressed up as a mermaid at Sears Island)

 

No I was not aware of that. A buddy bought a new Husky and said his saw was fuel-injected and since Husky always follows whatever Stihl does, I assumed it was indeed fuel injected just under a different name (auto-tune). I'll have to learn more about it.

My Stihl 046 (circa 1994) was a relic, but hard to kill until a tree landed on it. It might have survived that, but a bulldozer was also pushing the tree. It's going to be a hard saw to replace since it had such a hard, long life but just would not die. I can't calculate the amount of cords it cut.

 

I don't think Husqy make a fuel injected saw either. Mtronic is Stihl, AutoTune is Husqvarna. Same think (a solenoid adjusts the fuel mix continuously on an otherwise traditional carb).

 

I'm a small bar convert, my 550xp wears a 13" bar and my Dolmar 7900 has a 20" most of the time. After making the switch I don't think I'll ever go back.

Cool pictures. Are those Louis Vuitton's? I only know because my wife points them out when she see's someone wearing them. She's probably giving me hints....

 

Oh gosh no, they are Good Will!

Good Will is a chain of second hand stores where people drop off their old clothing and people like us buy it (a clothing thrift shop). No matter what it is, it is usually $3 per item. You would be surprised what you can find at Good Will though. Around here they are everywhere and even the rich summer people from Camden go there to scoop up deals. I got some nice books there, not to mention finding the tiniest skirt for Katie. I know how they got that. Some teeny-bopper probably bought it from Wet Seal or Forever 21 and one look and her dad gave it away to Good Will, but no one is seeing the pictures of Katie wearing that!

The shoes were some heels she got at Pay Less Shoes for $12 and then to give them the 1940's look, we glued velcro to black leather strips we cut, then onto the shoes themselves to give the strap over the top of her foot. The "button"...the bright silver spot you see on her left shoe, is actually a roofing nail, piercing just the leather, then cut off and epoxied to the leather. That is just an example of what we do to get the right "look". It is half the fun of doing the photo shoot. It is the same way with her Little Red Ridinghood outfit, since neither one of us can sew, so you will note how we cut slits in her red cloak and affixed the hood to the cloak via ribbon. We have a friend that has an old 1930's truck, and someday we want to do a Bonnie and Clyde photo shoot! I think that would be neat to do.

 

Ahh, I just saw the red soles and I know they've been know to sue other companies that try to copy that.

 

That's cool, and good for you, whatever keeps the lady happy. Is that the station they use for the train that goes to the Common Ground Fair?

My wife likes to knit, I've tried I just can't get into it.

 

Yes and no.

It is the same railroad, the Belfast Moosehead Lake Railroad, but a different station (Brooks) but not one they transport people from and to the fair. I think they use the Thorndike and Unity platforms only (but I could be wrong).

Common Ground Fair is a sad thing and good thing I guess. I am only 5 miles from there so I used to farm that land back before it was sold. I remember in 1990 or so going across that field discing it up for oats and falling asleep where the amphitheater is and waking up just before I hit the trees. Back then we farmed 24/7 during harvest and planting because of the size of the equipment, but this occurred about 2 AM when I was pretty sleepy. Nice field too. Unity is nothing but sand so knowing we would not hit a rock, we would plow in high gear and was one of very few fieelds where we could get the sod to do a complete somersault coming off the moldboard; that is the sod would land grass side up. That is when you know you are moving! Sad to see it developed into a Fair Grounds, but time marches on I guess.

 

I did not know that. Katie has her fair of shoes, and some of her heels are not low budget, but none over $100 a pair. She has the numbers though, something like 84 different pairs. She LOVES shoes!

 

After reading your posts on here I suggest you get better at keeping track of your saws while working before you buy any new ones. Lol

You also don't want to be climbing with either saw. So in that case get the 362 and a top handle saw for climbing.

 

I'll second the 461 with a 28" light bar. I'm a huge Stihl guy, but in the case of Mtronic, Stihl actually followed what Husky did. To be honest, a 7910, a 372, a 461, or a 2171 Jonny are all damm good saws. I am brand biased, but only slightly. You can't go wrong with any of those, anyone that tells you different is blowing smoke. I have all 4 and have ran all 4, I like the 362 okay as well, although the 361 is my favorite in that size saw. I can honestly say for a guy that is going to clear a lot of acreage, I think you could give one of each to 4 guys and when the sawdust clears, there won't be one that just blows away another one. Maybe cant racing or something there is a winner, but I doubt a guy clearing acreage and felling timber cares much about a tenth of a second here and there.

 

For cutting and felling, I love the 461, if they got a deal grab it! you seem to be a stihl guy that 461 will not disappoint especially since old was was 046.

As to pics of your wife.. I say what a great hobby! they look like magazine pictures so and have fun my good man!

 

So where's the pics of the 461 already!