The usual firewood harvester will use a smaller saw more than a big saw. The bigger the saw, the more tiring it is to use. For firewood, where you're repeatedly bucking, you will seldom need more than an 18" bar. When doing the bigger pieces of a tree trunk, it's nice to have something bigger, but, at least here in my corner of the Midwest, a 40-50cc saw with an 18" bar will get through almost everything that will come up. If you do serious cutting, you really need more than 1 saw to cover different requirements. I know there are some manly men out there that use 80cc saws for basic yard limb cleanup and everything else, but for us mere mortals, the lighter the better for most applications.

Personally, I have a 362 which will run a 25" bar when I need it. That's really not a "big" saw as far as the spectrum goes, it's more of a middleweight option. I start using it when the wood gets over a foot or so in diameter. The rest of the time I'm using my handle little 201 rear handled saw, because it's nice and light and doesn't wear me out. Cut enough, and I wager you'll take to using the smallest, lightest saw that will get the job done.

Although I don't own one, I'm a big fan of the 250. It's big enough to cut most things that you'll face, and small enough to be used for a full day without beating you up.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I did pick up that MS310 for a second. It's noticeably heavier than the MS250. In fact, that's the reason it was there on consignment -- the owner said it was too heavy and bought a lighter model.

Having spent a batch of hours with J's MS250, I'm liking it. I don't need a chain saw often (thus my borrowing this one), but I could be tempted to pick up one of these.

Now imagine reaching up and cutting limbs above your head for a few hours. Limbing a tree that is down, or bucking it up in rounds, isn’t so bad as you can mostly set the bar on whatever you’re cutting and let the weight work for you. Working overhead for any length of time will convince that ShneaSIG is right - the lightest saw that will do the job is the best saw.

i have a bunch from a 170 to a 460. My favorite is the 036pro. Don't make it anymore. But it is big enough for the big stuff and not too big for everything else. And it is still one of the "real" saw's.

Virtually all of mine won't start until they burp with the choke on.

We had two major snow storms last year, 10" and over 20". Very unusual as we typically get maybe 2-3" in one storm. The wet snow broke oak, pine tree and juniper branches all over our 4+ acres. Huge branches, some over 12" in diameter.

It took me five weeks to cut everything down from the trees, then cut it down into five foot sections for a hired wood chipper to haul it away. Four piles as big as our Silverado. The little MS250 never skipped a beat, but it took me two months to recover.

Dangit! You're a heck of a crew of arm-twisters! Y'all are going to have me buying a saw before long.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

Now imagine reaching up and cutting limbs above your head for a few hours. Limbing a tree that is down, or bucking it up in rounds, isn’t so bad as you can mostly set the bar on whatever you’re cutting and let the weight work for you. Working overhead for any length of time will convince that ShneaSIG is right - the lightest saw that will do the job is the best saw.

Overhead is a real killer! Even just getting to things that are above waist-height will start to tucker you out more. The higher you have to reach, every ounce you have to lift really starts to matter.

When getting into the canopy of a down tree, I will use the pole saw on my Stihl "kombi" to do the overhead stuff and as much of the little stuff on the ground as I can - really cuts down on the bending over and overhead reaching.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Dangit! You're a heck of a crew of arm-twisters! Y'all are going to have me buying a saw before long.

We're a bunch of enablers, ain't we?