Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chainsaw thread

My cousin has 7 quarter sections that I bowhunt on. His son runs cows on 5 of them and is enrolled in a program to cut down all the western red cedar. He has a skid steer but the wife and I are going to help with the fence lines, plum thickets, cutbanks, etc. There are thousands of them from 16 inches tall to 16 inch trunks.

Pretty easy cutting and not in a race for time, (2 year program) just want to stay in good graces. Don't think I need a pro saw, used his 271 Farm Boss when I helped out the neighbor last year and think I could get by with less. When this is done it wont get used much till we get a place of our own so looking at homeowner level saws like the 211 or 250 to keep the price down. I know those are all Stihl, just what I'm familiar with. Not ever going to need it to cut firewood all day or even drop trees bigger than 16 inch diameter.

I work out of town 4 days a week and can't reply here till Friday but can read the threads. Open to all thoughts and suggestions, brands and advice. Certainly can't be worse than just googling reviews.

Thanks in advance

Stihl makes some good small saws. I have an 017 I think. I have a handful of saws. The 017 runs a 16 inch bar. They run specials on that saw. It’s a nice companion to a bigger saw also. Good luck!

Buy a saw that has dealer support.

Wish I had a definite answer.

While a pro saw may not be required for any one session of cutting, when you add them all up - will the home owner saw make it to the end?

Generally I'd want the saw that let's me pull a longer bar. Less stooping over to limb and buck. So for me - a bigger saw than maybe "technically" necessary.

Better to go bigger and tougher. You will appreciate it down the road when it still works well. Extra power doesn't hurt either

I have husky, stihl, and echo. If I need another it will probably be an echo. Forgot have looked at 620P and like it

45-55cc power head w/ 20" 3/8".050" chain.

have a full comp round ground chisel chain for felling & a chipper chain for limbing.

I have 80ac and fight cedars always. Trying to clear large amounts of cedars by hand is crazy, especially if you work out of town.
First you have to cut your way in because limbs grow all the way to the ground. Once you do this you have to deal with sap resulting in a dull chain. If you are cutting flush, to the ground, the chain won’t last long before your get into dirt.

If you have a skid steer, rent a tree saw or clipper and a grapple.

lol. Uh , no. Crawling on your knees dragging that big ass saw around. Good luck.

372xp
I’ve had the jonsored 2172 equivalent for a lot of years and it’s been perfect for my use.
Have 3 husqvarna cut off saws and since switching from Stihl I’d never go back.

Echo. No contest.

Why would you say 7 quarter sections of land, instead of 'nearly two sections of land'? Did you not learn fractions well or..?

Echo. Grab a 490 or a Timberwolfe. Decent saws and can't argue about the price

My only complaint with my Stihls is hard to start. I have a little 14 inch Echo pro saw that starts easy.

The Echo Timberwolf with the 24” bar would be tough to beat

I have 20 acres of cedar and ash. The emerald ash borers are taking care of the ash but them damn cedars pop up where the ash die off. It's only me and I have back issues so bending over and running a chain saw is about one hour only and I'm done. I need to rent one of those skid steers with a cutter just to stay up with the darn things then burn the pasture every 4 years to keep them down.

kwg

A lot of good choices. But don't go too small as you will wear yourself out fighting through the trunks

Get two 170 Stihl’s and several chains. Doesn’t sound like you are cutting anything big
If you are go to 261

2 half sections and 3 quarters all separated by a mile or so each, we call them by nicknames of who homesteaded there so I think of them as 7 quarter sections.

Weims , I have cut enough of them to know what you say is truth, we went through a bunch of chains. Looking for the happy median between weight and enough power. Also want a saw when it's over with too.

If you have a good dealer Stihl dealer look at a 261c. Light powerful and fast. Are a little different to run as after you first start in the morning you need to let it idle for 20-30 seconds to set the carb. After that runs as normal saw. I have two of them and we clear many miles of trail every year and then cut fire wood.