Something a little off the usual topic.

[Kurt]

A few years ago the gun club sold some of the walnut trees and when they came to harvest these large trees they just took the logs and left the tops on the ground. Some members came and just cut the small branches for firewood and the last time I walked through the timber there were still some large stuff with the crotches on the ground.
Well I cut some Ash trees in my yard that died a couple years ago from the worms and I saved the logs to take to the mill and have wood for some projects but my 252 Stihl trim chain saw with it's 18" bar is just not big enough with a milling attachment to cut boards and wood slabs from the walnut that might make good stock blanks so I started to look at the large Stihl saws but they were $1500 plus that had a 36-42" bar for this project.
Well I went on Amazon, as well as I don't like the idea getting stuff from them, but I saw a Chinese Clown of a Stihl that is a 105CC 6.5 HP with a 36" bar, I read the reviews and they were so-so like all, but chain saws if you use one enough you know the things that could give a person that never got one in his hands dislikes. They all need tuning and have their limits.
Well I ordered the NEO-TEC NS 8105 and got a $150 discount from their price of $539,99.
I ordered it on Thursday and a guy came Sunday late afternoon in the dark and dropped it at my front door.
Well This is a beast !! and it is well build, all cast metal jacket, no plastic and it looked just like a Stihl 880.
Well last night I thought lets see if it starts. Well the first pull the starter rope pulled out of my fingers even pushing the decompression button and Tugged on it several times trying to get it started. Well reading the reviews some said get a NKG plug and throw the one that comes with it away. Well a trip to town to get a plug and I thought I would just leave the plug out and pull the cord to prime the carb. No priming bulb on this beast.
A few pulls on the rope and I could smell gas coming through the spark plug opening. Put the plug in and put a board through the handle so I could hold the saw down with both feet and pushed the decompression plug and one pull started it. Man what a beast this thing is.
I think it will do what I got it for. I know with the .404 pitch chain it has the chips will fly.

Kurt

[Gussy]

I have a big old beast in the shed, 36" bar. The company that made it is extinct and no one makes a bar for it. I save it for the big jobs!

Mostly run a couple of 180 Stihls. Both have 16" bars. Burned one up a few years back when the brake hung up on it and I didn't notice it do to the type of cutting I was doing. Figure my old one is was due to die so I got a new one last month. Blew up the roller nose on the bar when a chip got under the chain. Switched to the new for the rest of the day.

That big saw you got will wear you out Fairly quickly!!! They do get heavy and they are more dangerous due to that high speed power if they hang up.

[Kurt]

We used a Mcculloch on the farm that had a long bar with a handle on the bar. It was a two man cast iron block I think but that thing would take big cotton wood and hedge down in a hurry.
I ran a Echo with a 42" bar for the big stuff that you had to watch for kick back. When I quit burning wood I sold it.
I worked with a guy that got his skull split open cutting a branch over head standing on a step ladder.

I don't know what this one weighs but I would guess close to 30lbs.

[JKR]

Kurt,
You’ll have fun with your big saw. There’s no such thing as “too much power” when you’re ripping logs.

One thing I found was to file the teeth nearly square instead of the usual 35 degree angle that you would use for cross cutting. Also if it’s powerful enough, take down the rakers a little more than usual.

As a builder, I built a few log houses. One in particular was square hewn with dovetail corners. My helper and I slabbed all the logs to replicate the square hewn look with a chain saw and a guide that ran on a 2x6 that was fastened to the top of the log. This thing had a ring on it to attach a rope so one guy could pull while the other guy ran the saw. Makes me tired just thinking about it!

As a young man, I worked as a cutter in a logging operation up here in Northern WI. I’ve used about every kind of saw made in the last 40 years. These days I like the little ones!?

Have fun and above all, be careful!

JKR

[Kurt]

I have a small 12" Sears I like for trimming Apple trees .t has a build sharpener that works well enough till I get it on the bench and file it.
The Echo VL 452 has a little more power with it's 20 bar than the Stihl 251 but I like the Stihl better. That saw starts with one pull when it's warm also tightening the chain is a no tool. A big plus. I used it for milling small logs with it's 18" bar it would only cut 10". It lost 8" using the milling jig because placement on the bar.

I might work with this new 8105 saw tomorrow running a few tanks of gas through cutting branches on the ground to break it in before cutting slabs and getting used to it. I did order extra ripping chains that are 10º instead of the chisel tooth one is a skip link.

I guess I better find my back brace I have a bunch of mature cherry trees in the fence line /no wire/ that are showing signs of age of about 2-3' in diameter with dead limbs.

[Kurt]

Well The sun was out so I took the saw and worked with it emptying a tank of fuel, a 25/1 rich oil mix. I didn't expect to much with this mix except I knew the smoke would blow
This saw is a keeper!! it's more than I expected from a Chinese product. This saw is 1/4 the cost of a Stihl of equal displacement. but it performs as well as my 8000 Echo I had with the same bar and chain.
When it gets broke in it will cut a lot of slabs from the logs I have
with my milling attachment.

When I first got it setup and pulled on the starting cord and pulled and pulled I thought what am I getting into with this thing, but putting in a good spark plug and priming the carb with the spark plug out was the right thing to do. Now the cold engine pops off with the third pull. I get a pop with full choke on the second pull and choke halve off it starts. Warm today it started on the first pull every time.
But at 30 pounds plus it weighs, my back hurts

Kurt

[beltfed]

Kurt,
DON"T over tax that body with that saw and other winter stuff.
We want to be shooting WITH you next spring
beltfed/arnie

[Kurt]

Nah Arnie, It will get my body back in shape with my 26 year old mind frame.

[Hiwall55]

You guys ,just talking about chain saws make my back hurt.

[Distant Thunder]

I cut a lot of firewood with my chainsaws and I make a few timbers too. At my age the trick to doing that heavy kind of work is to pace myself and know when to call it a day. I do well on that first one and not so well on the second.

It also best if you don't do anything stupid. Plan and clear you retreat before you start cutting down a tree. I have had trees do unbelieveable things when they fall and I have mostly been able to get out of the way when thing go awry. The few times I wasn't able to get clear I was lucky enough to position myself in such a way to minimize the impact and I walked away with no serious injuries. I know a few guys who were not so lucky and did not walk away.

I wear a back support when I'm running a chainsaw, I would not last 5 minutes without it.