I'm planning on a 562. Have you considered heated handles? A bit more money but in your neck of the woods if you plan on doing much winter cutting I feel they are worth it. Friend has a 550xp, incredible little power house saw!
Sorry I didn't read this whole thread before posting the above.So how are you liking that 550? I'm still saving for a 562 but I'm getting closer!
Loving the 550 but keep finding myself with Craigslist scores that a bigger saw would be nice. Just not enough to warrant buying one when I can split or noodle when I have to. A hydraulic splitter is way higher on the list before another saw. I haven't had a desire for heated handles when wearing gloves.
I love heated handles.. alway got to take gloves off .. to fill oil gas whatever.. hands get cold flip da switch..
Little late to the party.... but Hello! Kinda fun watching someone blossom into full blown wood junkie right before your very screen. I've run into many a huge rounds/logs via CL adds. After noodling, I've saved said noodles for fire starter. And a trailer would be a huge addition to the mix, especially when you're driving an hour to the loot.
Bloom? Come on man... ignite stick with the fire metaphors haha. Thanks, I've seen "adventures" threads before that were fun to journal things in one spot. My dad had an old camp trailer my grandpa built that we restored in high school but the registration lapsed and CT is stupid about how to register trailers and I haven't needed it bad enough to deal with hours at the DMV.
Great choice on saw too. I'm sure you're diggin' it. I had handle time on a ported 562 and a ported 550. They are the smoothest cutting saws I've ever run.
Welll I'm an idiot. Collected about a gallon of sap yesterday and was too excited to wait and started boiling down. It took awhile and steamed up the kitchen. Well my wife got home and we were catching up about the day watching a little tv and I went to check on it and I completely overboiled it and had burnt sugar and burnt sugar stink throughout the whole house! Ahh so much for staying up an extra hour and wasting the bounty I had collected in one day. Worst of all no DIY syrup for pancakes this morning.
The trials and tribulations of your adventures is quite entertaining. I am enjoying reading about the new house and property and now the experiment in maple syrup. I hope your future collecting and boiling down goes better.
About the worst thing you can do is boil sap in your kitchen. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup, which means that even if you only make a pint of syrup, you are putting 5 gallons of moisture into the air in your house. Get a large flat stainless steel pan (old hotel/steam table pans work well for the amateur), boil off your sap outdoors on a barbecue grill or camp stove.
Please please please find a way to get one before you hurt your back. You will last many more happy years when you process your wood with a splitter. Too many folks wait until their back starts really hurting before they move on to using a splitter. By then, the back problems are chronic.
No need to do much lifting of large heavy rounds if you buy a splitter that tilts verticle. Mine does. Love that thing. So does my wife/splitting partner....
Ahh my fault, not what I meant. I meant lifting large rounds a few times (vs noodling) compared to swinging a maul over time.
Wow. I just meant he is older and not pursuing the CSS sports! Not sure why I posted it like that! Ooops. Carry on gents.
