--February 14, 2024-- My first "real" chainsaw. Here she was new almost a decade ago. It was love at first sight. Hundreds of hours later, my love has only deepened. I own a bunch of saws, and I've cut with a bunch of others that I don't own. But there's just something about the Makita / Dolmar 61cc saw. The throttle response is fast... It has more power than it should for its size... It almost always starts on the second pull... It cuts forever on a full tank... I've dropped it, dropped trees on it, and I've been guilty of running some no-so-fresh gas through it from time to time... It has the best air filter I have ever seen on a chainsaw... And it will even pull and oil a 24" chain through oak -- with a little patience. All I've done to maintain the saw is clean the air filter, change the fuel filter, change the spark plug, and adjust the carb. No expensive or time consuming maintenance or repairs after hundreds of hours of cutting with it. I care for it but don't baby it. And it just plain works every time I want to use it. On this February 14, it is only appropriate that I express my love. I own its big brother (79cc). And its little brother (30cc). And a few other brothers... But the the Makita / Dolmar 61cc has a special place in my heart.
I've had a rocky relationship with mine. Tuning was off a bit out of the box, I tried to correct. Then tried some more. Then some more. Then threw a carb at it. More tuning. I finally think I have it dialed or within an eigth turn of it. They do run very well. Little porky for a 60cc but not offensively. I run 3/8x20 on it but have an 18" in 325 setup also. I know these saws are highly regarded....that's why I got one. It just happens that my luck gave me one of the ones with an attitude.
That's too bad. I don't know much about the saw generally, just mine. It was tuned good right out of the box, and only required minor adjustments after 100+ hours of cutting. I had to up the idle a bit, and I bought a carb screwdriver set to mess around with the other two screws, although I think I ended up leaving them pretty much where they were in the first place. It's not light, but not a back breaker. A similarly powered Stihl might be two pounds lighter, but it also costs twice as much. I originally ran 3/8x20 or 3/8x18, and I even got a 24" bar with a skip chain which worked ok until I got a bigger saw. I've come to prefer the .325 setup with as small of a bar as I can get away with. That means either the 18" stock bar or a 16" lightweight bar. It needs sharpened more often, but it cuts faster than 3/8, and worth the trade off IMO.
A good friend of mine ended up buying the 50 mostly wooded acres behind his house a couple of years ago. He needed a real saw and asked me to provide opinions of what saw to buy. I recommend the Makita 6100. He's been very pleased with it. I've run it a few times and it's a great saw. He runs 20" 3/8" chain.
The .325 setup lets me interchange bars/chains with some of my 50cc saws. I tried to run 3/8 on a 50cc once and have never looked back from .325 again. I am using the 20" small mount that I got for testing 3/8 on the 50cc, on the 6100 now. (current system is 50cc>16" & 18", 60cc> 20", 70cc 20" & 24", 80cc 24" & 28"). One thing that stands out on the 6100 for me is the build quality. The saws are well engineered and well manufactured. I'm not trying to talk them down at all, just noting that I have had some fueling issues with mine in particular which is frustrating after seeing so many happy users.
I bought one just as soon as they came out. They are a very good saw with great build quality like RCBS says. I used mine for a few weeks clearing hedge to rebuild a fence line, then sold it to a friend. The magic just wasn't there.
The 7900 was the talk of the town on forums about 15-16 years ago. A real light saber. Power of a Husky 385 with the weight of a 372. It does not feel as well built as my Stihl 460 Magnum, but I think Huskies and Dolmars start easier than Stihl and are less complicated. At the time I got it, it was also $200+ cheaper than a comparable Stihl 460 or Husky 385. My 5100S is a decent saw, but the 7900 was the star of the Dolmar lineup imo.
I gave only $749 for a spanky new 7900PRZ1 last year (deal/sale). 80cc power, 70cc weight, 60cc cost.
I love the dolkita 6421 I bought from HD after they were done using it as a rental. It's an excellent saw, it compares very well against my buddy's 460 magnum. I can't wait to eventually make it into a 79 cc saw.
There is. I just saw that the big bore 85 cc doesn't do much besides drink more fuel than the 79 cc one.
The 79cc Makita is already a bit thirsty. The 61cc cuts forever on a tank, whereas running the 79cc with a 32" bar (my normal setup) runs out of gas before I do. I usually run a skip chain on it mostly because it's faster to touch up the chain. Unless I'm cutting soft wood, I don't see much of a speed penalty with the skip chain.
