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Maggie’s The Woodchuck and Firewood Hoarders Thread

Getting much better at hand filing these days, but the standard stihl and Oregon files leave much to be desired in terms of finish. If knife sharpening has taught me anything a finer polish usually equals a sharper edge. Do you guys know of any round “files” that leave a better smoother finish than the standard chain files?
 
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I hand file.
I used to buy the 3 pack of stihl files, then they increased in price. I now Get the 12 pack Oregon files, work perfect. I can't imagine that there are too many company's in Switzerland making files, I'd assume the Oregon and still files are made in the same factory, only packaged differently.
They should work as well for you as for myself.
 
I won’t be doing any cutting soon, dislocated my knee yesterday trying to climb up some mulch. So in the meantime here’s some pics of my little side hustle. Selling slabs of whatever I can get people to deliver.
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A friend found some old growth pine down in south Georgia. Tight grains and knot free for 60 feet. I am trying to negotiate a couple of cants out of him. Amazing timber. The other shot is a sweetgum I felled and let rest for 8 months to try to get it to spalt. Looks lik it did OK . this was a chunk I lopped off the end of the log that I took to the mill. hopefully the rest of the tree looks like this. I know its unstable but it sure makes some good color.
 

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What I’ve cut this spring is under roof as of this afternoon. I’ll fire up the splitter some rainy day to add to the stash.
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Well, my State got shut down today. Guess I'll spray on some tick repellent and get to working on this fall / winters wood supply.
 
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Me and a buddy got a good jag of hemlock today. My buddy’s truck with side boards with fit a cord and a quarter.
Then I busted the handle in my maul. This should keep the shop warm for a while.
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I'll bet your neighbors love you running a saw in the suburbs...?
Actually most of them come by and tell me how pretty my slabs look. I try to only run the saw 15-20 min a time 2-3 hours a day when most people would be at work or on weekends when you expect a lot of yard work noise. My neighborhood has lots of old hardwoods and 70’s era silver maples so someone is always running a saw in daylight hours. My biggest problem is getting rid of sawdust/shavings.
 
Rainy day so I fired up the splitter. 12’x12’ overhead door open to let out the fumes. I run the splitter on 100LL so I don’t have to breath ethanol blended car gas. About 2 hours left tomorrow and I’ll be done with this batch. The pic is when I was just getting started.
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Need advice on a new chainsaw, my 026 gave up the ghost and with all the new models and emission regulations I’m not sure what to replace it with. We have a massive amount of dead ash all over my property and just had a helluva storm blow through Easter weekend, so it’s a real mess. Mostly looking for something to clean up trails and so on with, not really into dropping any as I will leave that to the pros. Any advice is greatly appreciated,
 
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anybody running a still 661?
I'm in need of another large saw. I loaned my big husky to a friend and it came back crunched. I havent had to buy a big one for 20 yrs.
wont be run a ton at all. But I have 100 acres of large trees around my house.
I may start slabbing some of the big ones that drop. I would probably need atleast the ability for a 36" bar for the big ones maybe a 42"
any thoughts?
 
I've got a 660. I've pulled a 48 or 52 bar in an Alaskan mill with it. Had to cut a 52" oak down to fit a Woodmizer mill.
 
Need advice on a new chainsaw, my 026 gave up the ghost and with all the new models and emission regulations I’m not sure what to replace it with. We have a massive amount of dead ash all over my property and just had a helluva storm blow through Easter weekend, so it’s a real mess. Mostly looking for something to clean up trails and so on with, not really into dropping any as I will leave that to the pros. Any advice is greatly appreciated,
We have 5 saws, and if I had to sell all of them save one, I’d keep the 261. Great balance of power and weight running a 16” bar. You can get a lot of work done with a saw in that class.
 
I've been working on getting my 30-year old Husqvarna 51 back up and running; the chainbreak handle broke a couple years back -- I have the replacement part, just hadn't put it on since I didn't need any more firewood. But with the coronavirus lockdown, my local Forest Service Office was issuing free personal use firewood permits (4 cords) thru end of April. I like "free stuff", even if I have to earn it.
Trouble was, once I went to replace the chainbreak handle I found out the leaf spring was broken too. Got the replacement part online from Husky and installed that the other day.
My pullstart cord was hanging limp so figured I might as well fix that too. Every heard the sound of a coil spring unwinding and knowing its going to be more work figuring out how to finish this simple project turned bad. Rudy at Take a Bath productions over on YouTube showed me the light.
Now to buy some saw gas and wait for the forest roads to dry out a little bit [5" snow Thursday evening]
 
Need advice on a new chainsaw, my 026 gave up the ghost
I bought an MS 261 for my brother about a month ago when his 25 year old Jonsered took a dump. He uses it for bucking up smaller Douglas fir. The saw came with a 20 inch bar and works ok on softwood, but he swaps it out for a 16" for ash, elm, etc. Great little saw and should last for years. If your 026 was enough saw, you will love the MS 261.
 
Anyone here used carbide chain?

Sold an old pole barn on my property to a little prick. Part of the deal was he clean up the mess. He salvaged all the 1x and dumped the rest on the ground. Figure I'll cut the posts and solid 2x into firewood. Catch is it is filled with nails.

I've got a signed contract that states the mess will be cleaned up. I'm going to take a whack at small claims court but I'm pretty sure I've got an 8-1/2x11 piece of toilet paper.

I really don't have time for this shit.
 
Anyone here used carbide chain?

Sold an old pole barn on my property to a little prick. Part of the deal was he clean up the mess. He salvaged all the 1x and dumped the rest on the ground. Figure I'll cut the posts and solid 2x into firewood. Catch is it is filled with nails.

I've got a signed contract that states the mess will be cleaned up. I'm going to take a whack at small claims court but I'm pretty sure I've got an 8-1/2x11 piece of toilet paper.

I really don't have time for this shit.
Small claims court is a fng joke!
 
Anyone here used carbide chain?

Sold an old pole barn on my property to a little prick. Part of the deal was he clean up the mess. He salvaged all the 1x and dumped the rest on the ground. Figure I'll cut the posts and solid 2x into firewood. Catch is it is filled with nails.

I've got a signed contract that states the mess will be cleaned up. I'm going to take a whack at small claims court but I'm pretty sure I've got an 8-1/2x11 piece of toilet paper.

I really don't have time for this shit.
Burn it
 
Location not condusive to burning. Likely to get a forest fire even as wet as it is.
 
anybody running a still 661?
I'm in need of another large saw. I loaned my big husky to a friend and it came back crunched. I havent had to buy a big one for 20 yrs.
wont be run a ton at all. But I have 100 acres of large trees around my house.
I may start slabbing some of the big ones that drop. I would probably need atleast the ability for a 36" bar for the big ones maybe a 42"
any thoughts?
I’ve been running a Couple different huztl/farmertech/holzforma 660 for about 2 years now. These are 100% to spec copies of out of date stihl pro saws (066, ms660,661)You can run oem parts in any combination if you want. Most of the farmertech (ft) parts are fine but some small things like chain tensioner you want oem.
The big plus of these copies is that you can get a running 92 cc saw for about $225 shipped. The catch is you put it together bolt for bolt. It’s easy and there’s tons of YouTube videos. If that isn’t your cup of tea they also sell fully assembled (but ugly dark blue) versions of these saws that are exactly the same as the kits and oem, just assembled. Those run around 325$ shipped.
I bought a big bore 56 mm piston kit for mine and I’ve milled quite a bit with it. I ran a 36” bar for a while then got into a 42 for bigger logs. It pulls a 42” chain fine. What I’ve found is that the chain sharpness, tooth profile, tooth sequence, and filing consistency are much more important than bar length/horsepower. You wouldn’t try and filet 200 bluegill with a rusty machete. Sharp precise chain is essential. I can provide some good places to start if you want.
ft is also going to be soon putting out their version of the stihl 880 and that would make a much better milling power plant but it’s still in the works. They also sell all the parts for a stihl 090 which is like 137cc or something crazy. It’s designed for torque which is what you want to mill, I just haven’t pulled the trigger on one yet.
the shipping from China seems sketchy I know but they actually are very reliable and pretty great withCS
 
I purchased a new Stihl MS 462 C to replace my old 460 magnum. While I was at it, I bought a Supper Jolly chain grinder. I have to say, the Super Jolly is a decent grinder for the money.
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I purchased a new Stihl MS 462 C to replace my old 460 magnum. While I was at it, I bought a Supper Jolly chain grinder. I have to say, the Super Jolly is a decent grinder for the money. View attachment 7312164
I really like my 460. It is a work horse but I know the newer ones with the electronic carb or whaterver it is start better. Did you wear out your 460 and the 462 was all that was available for purchase? Or are the newer saws that much better than the old 460's and worth getting a new one?
 
I gave my MS 460 to my brother as the "big saw" in his two saw plan. The old MS 460 Magnum seems to cut just as well as the new MS 462, but it is a tad heavier.
 
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The only “electronic” saw I own (of 5) is the 261. Love it. The only hard starter of the bunch is my 441. It can be a bit cantankerous.
 
my 261 has the m tronic also, i never had any problems till recently. my favorite saw
it developed a high idle, and the saw doesnt have an adjustment for idle. the shop gave me my saw back in a box and said it
would cost too much to fix. assholes, its a $1.75 main seal. its sucking a little air which is leaning it out, hence the high idle.
i sprayed a short blast of starting fluid into the clutch end and the idle picked up. bad seal.

and since we are talking about a blown seal, have you heard the one about the Eskimo w snow on his mustache??? lol.