What Chainsaw do you run?

Poulan Pro 50CC 20" bar

 

Using the saw today to clear some downed trees from the driveway edges. What is everyone using to sharpen chains?

 

I use either my Dremel and a file or, more recently, the Stihl 2 in 1, listed below.

 

Round file

 

Pfred 2 in 1 (they make the Stihl ones too).

Works great. Consistent results, but you must watch tooth length as chain ages. Sometimes I find myself filing harder on one side than the other...more material taken off makes the teeth on one side of the bar a mm or two shorter. Result is not best when bore cutting. Chain has to be to spec and sharp to bore cut properly.

 

Man, deadheading stumps is torture on chains!

 

Harbor Freight has a electric chain sharpener something around $35 paid for it's self by the 3rd chain worth every penny, it is crude but works like a champ I cut a tremendous of wood and there is no way you can get a chain sharper with a file. Usually I touch up the chain after a day in the woods and you can just take a tiny amount of metal off. I don't usually talk up stuff like that but by God it works! It is pretty crude so you will need to match up the chain pitch and mark it don't trust the markings.

 

Stihl :
MS261cm w/ 20” bar and a carbide tooth chain.
MS462cm w/28” bar, one tooth smaller sprocket and carbide tooth chain.

 

The Stihl sharpener is better than I could have expected. I used to file by hand but that thing is nice. I didn't want to spend that much for my little saw and got a knockoff on Amazon, works just as good

A-KARCK Chainsaw Sharpener for 3/8" P Saw Chain, 2 in 1 Easy File Chain Saw Sharpener

$21 A-KARCK Chainsaw Sharpener for 3/8" P Saw Chain, 2 in 1 Easy File Chain Saw Sharpener

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H1PN1MG

 

I've heard about carbide chains. Even priced them years ago, that was scary. I thought they were primarily for firefighting...cutting through roofs to vent smoke.
How often, and how do you sharpen the teeth? Send away or by self?

 

last year when I chopped up about 3-4 cords of wood, I only needed to change the chain after dealing with some stumps that had been uprooted. Needs to be sharpened with a stone. A buddy has a stone wheel sharpener or I can take it a local shop that has a stone wheel sharpener.

 

Too many pages to read through so sorry. I have a 24" Husqvarna Racher 460. Does anyone have any insight whether or not it could safely run a 42" bar for an Alaskan Mill? I already have a baby 18" Poulan Pro, so I'd rather not have to get a third saw if I dont have to.

-J

 

From my research I would say no. A 395xp might even struggle with that.

 

Well, that's what I suspected. I bought the saw before I knew enough about Alaskan Mills and have already used said saw to fell said tree that I now intend to slab. Ill keep looking.

-J

 

I have the same saw.
No way at all, would I ever consider using it as a mill.
The 24” bar alone is already taxing it.

 

The rancher won’t pull a 42” not for long anyway…You will want 90cc or more. Or a professional 80cc model. Stihl 661 is 91 cc’s I believe.

 

Take your wood to a mill far better cut and far more accurate and a lot easier on your saw. Another issue is the chain, a cross cut chain does not rip worth a hoot your planks will look like waves on the ocean.

 

I bought a 395xp to mill with and haven’t milled with it yet. Found out my neighbor has a mill on wheels and he is willing to mill my wood for $40 an hour. Now the 395 only gets used for cutting rounds and dead heading stumps. I want to get a 20” or 24” bar for it

 

What are you cutting that's 2 feet +? When I'm in the woods I take the lightest smallest saw I can take to get the job done something that big will involve at least a tractor just to roll it. You will need a pretty good pole saw unless you don't have a problem with limbs clobbering you.

 

24" bar means you don't have to bend over, just have to be careful the tip stays out of the dirt. Us old guys trade off weight for convenience.