Help me decide

Went with the 20”. Have a 16 and 25 so filled that gap for me.

 

My first one had a 20". Buried it in red oak and it handled it. My second one i switched to a 16" as im the type of cutter who doesnt like to have more bar than needed even though it does save the back. Wears a 16" all the time now. Ill start with a 20" bar on the bigger saws and have run up to a 36" on my 500 in the rare case im cutting HUGE logs. Youre gonna love that saw.

 

Can you quiet down about the 550? We’re trying to keep some of the riff raff out

 

Gray cover was definitely a lapse in judgement. Someone should be fired for that move

 

Not much , only a couple cuts. Maybe just a little dusty.

 

Next time I drop stuff off for powder coating I will see what he might have to match their orange.
Heck anything close would be better.

 

I run 32:1 in all my saws and agree with a light hand when running 550 in bigger wood. It can be a problem made even worse if you take too much off your rakers!

 

lol.
I try to not be riff raff...
Today I'm running my 550 side by side with my newly ported 346xp, and the stinking ugly 550 is still pretty impressive.
Disassembling oaks...

 

Definitely an impressive saw stock! Have a bad storm? Looks like they laid down in a nice row for you. Looks like some great firewood and a good size for processing too.

 

Yes, we had two really nasty storms in early August, the one that hit this place we're cleaning up was especially bad....
There's thousands of trees down in our area..... lots of free wood!

I'm planning to mill a few of the better ones.


And since we're sposta be liking the ms261 in this thread..... I sawed down a big ol post oak & chopped it up with mine.

 

Say it isnt so!

 

WOW Those are some big rounds

 

I was comparing specs; power, weight, bar length.. this may be my next saw, the 261c with a 20".

Still just chugging with the 180c, and it holds its own at the ranch, and I don't do the quantity that yall do, but the 261c may fill the hole for the larger stuff.

Here's pictures I've shared here already.

 

Get a bigger saw just to have a spare and save some time with the big stuff.

 

What would you recommend? The 261cm is $720 on the Stihl site for dealers around me. That's already fairly expensive for me at least

 

261 isn’t a bad option. I actually got me a 362 last year as my first real saw.


I now have a MS180, MS362, and Holzforma G660 in the stable. Pretty much handles all my cutting needs.

 

A 362 0r even a 391 with 20 & 25" bars will handle most of your cutting needs. Even though pricey a 362 will hold its value and give you many years of reliable service.

 

Check your local pawn shops if you have any, or fbm and Craigslist. For reference, I got the early 261 non cm for $400. I can do 80% of my firewood processing with a 261. I used it exclusively yesterday cutting up logs that I split today. Imho it is the best saw Stihl made since the 044. Light years ahead of the 260Pro. I have never used a 362, so I won’t offer an opinion, but I do have a 400c and it’s great too if you want to spend 1000. I saw a 362 in a pawn shop for $600.

 

If you're cutting that wood with a 180 a 261 would feel like a monster in comparison. Lol

 

If it’s important to you the 261’s are made in Virginia.