Firewooding 2020-2021 Season

[csaws]

You used a term I’ve never heard before today. Barberchaired.



We had a maple get decimated by locust 8-10 years ago and I gave it every chance possible to pull out of it. It mostly came down today. I ran out of daylight so about 15-20 feet of trunk still stands. It would’ve all been down but I was cutting the last branch/top out of the tree and it leaned back on the saw instead of breaking the other way. I had to move my truck and climb a ladder to get a strap on the branch to put enough tension on it to free my new 362 then reposition the truck to put enough tension on it to finally free it from the trunk of the tree and not destroy anything valuable. My truck got a bit of damage earlier in the day from a chunk falling from 10 feet or so and hitting the bedside. Luckily for me I use my truck as a tool not a show piece.

 

[indyjohn]

You used a term I’ve never heard before today. Barberchaired.

As you probably saw while searching the term, it kills professional loggers every year. I'm just a noob with a chainsaw, I was lucky I was standing to the side of the cut.

.....It would’ve all been down but I was cutting the last branch/top out of the tree and it leaned back on the saw instead of breaking the other way.

I've had that happen too. Perfect justification for a 2nd saw. And wedges. I do not use wedges nearly enough when taking trees. Most every time, I'm cutting the tree to fall in the direction it obviously wants to fall. Once in a while I try to coerce it in a direction that is not exactly with the lean. That's when I'm using wedges. But at the end of the day, they're going to fall where they want to go.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Them barberchairs are pretty sketchy, even plunge cutting them it can still happen Uber that much pressure. Did you try to dislodge the top after separating it from the trunk

 

[Jaybird1980]

I've had that happen too. Perfect justification for a 2nd saw. And wedges. I do not use wedges nearly enough when taking trees.

If you do use a 2nd saw to free it, remove the powerhead from the stuck bar first. I have seen far to many saws destroyed by dropping trees on them when they were stuck

 

[csaws]

As you probably saw while searching the term, it kills professional loggers every year. I'm just a noob with a chainsaw, I was lucky I was standing to the side of the cut.



I've had that happen too. Perfect justification for a 2nd saw. And wedges. I do not use wedges nearly enough when taking trees. Most every time, I'm cutting the tree to fall in the direction it obviously wants to fall. Once in a while I try to coerce it in a direction that is not exactly with the lean. That's when I'm using wedges. But at the end of the day, they're going to fall where they want to go.

Funny story, I own 4 wedges and 3 saws. I also tried to get this tree to fall in the opposite direction it actually wanted to go. It’s down now and my house, truck and I were mostly unscathed. The truck got some damage on the bed side from a 24” long chunk I dropped from about 10-12 feet and it went to the bedside instead of bed floor.

 

[indyjohn]

Them barberchairs are pretty sketchy, even plunge cutting them it can still happen Uber that much pressure. Did you try to dislodge the top after separating it from the trunk

Yes, and oh my God that sucker just wouldn't give up. The crown is only about 10 feet off the ground but hung up on another tree. Not quite as dangerous but still not what I want coming down on top of me while cutting this 3rd tree in the equation.

 

[indyjohn]

Funny story, I own 4 wedges and 3 saws. I also tried to get this tree to fall in the opposite direction it actually wanted to go. It’s down now and my house, truck and I were mostly unscathed. The truck got some damage on the bed side from a 24” long chunk I dropped from about 10-12 feet and it went to the bedside instead of bed floor.

That's my win today. I didn't get crushed by a 5,000 lb tree.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Yes, and oh my God that sucker just wouldn't give up. The crown is only about 10 feet off the ground but hung up on another tree. Not quite as dangerous but still not what I want coming down on top of me while cutting this 3rd tree in the equation.

I don't blame you, let mother nature take it down for you.

 

[indyjohn]

If you do use a 2nd saw to free it, remove the powerhead from the stuck bar first. I have seen far to many saws destroyed by dropping trees on them when they were stuck

Noted.

 

[csaws]

Noted.

If you do use a 2nd saw to free it, remove the powerhead from the stuck bar first. I have seen far to many saws destroyed by dropping trees on them when they were stuck

Jaybird that is a hugely beneficial tip bud. I would’ve never thought of that. I used my fire department ropes training and tied it off while I freed it. Next time I’ll just disassemble the bar from it

 

[Jaybird1980]

Jaybird that is a hugely beneficial tip bud. I would’ve never thought of that. I used my fire department ropes training and tied it off while I freed it. Next time I’ll just disassemble the bar from it

Yes sir, I had a buddy that got his brand new Husk 372 pinched, proceeded and dropped the tree right on it. He was not happy about that.

 

[tmschuller]

Not many people haven’t had a saw stuck.. or a tree hang on them. Great advice and we a learn by our experience whether good or bad. Present company included I have a widow maker that been haunting me for the last year. I thought would have fallen by now. 2 big ash trees and under a lot of pressure.. finally going to hook a come along on it this week and pulling it down. I’m usually by myself and trying to be safe. Good pictures and content! Be safe

 

[edporch]

yes! I also have a ms460 and prefer to run it.. it took a little to get used to running and let the saw do the work. You can and will cut more wood faster and more efficient. It likes fuel but I always get more wood cut with it.

On the subject of the MS 460, when I got mine it would run hotter than I liked, and also stretched the chain on the longer bars from not getting enough oil.
I researched this and found that the MS460 is sold in different variations depending on what part of the USA or the world you are.

So using ALL Stihl OEM parts that I ordered from my local dealer I did a couple of part upgrades, and it's an even better cooler running saw.

Here's what I did.
I replaced the stock muffler with the Stihl dual port muffler (part# 1128 140 0616).
I also removed the limiter caps, re-tuned the carb according to a Stihl Manual I found from before the environmental laws made them lean it out, and the saw is noticeably more powerful and runs noticeably COOLER.

I also replaced the stock bar oil pump with the (part# 1128 640 3250) H.O. Oil pump assembly, because when I used the 28" bar, I felt like I wasn't getting enough oil and I was always stretching chains.

These are two simple things you can do yourself, and made a NOTICEABLE improvement in my MS460.
I'm very happy with this saw now.

 

[indyjohn]

Not many people haven’t had a saw stuck.. or a tree hang on them. Great advice and we a learn by our experience whether good or bad. Present company included I have a widow maker that been haunting me for the last year. I thought would have fallen by now. 2 big ash trees and under a lot of pressure.. finally going to hook a come along on it this week and pulling it down. I’m usually by myself and trying to be safe. Good pictures and content! Be safe

I think you need someone to come along and take pics for the insurance investigator. Seriously - slow and sure. That's what the OG and I tell each other when we are felling trees.

 

[indyjohn]

On the subject of the MS 460, when I got mine it would run hotter than I liked, and also stretched the chain on the longer bars from not getting enough oil.
I researched this and found that the MS460 is sold in different variations depending on what part of the USA or the world you are.

So using ALL Stihl OEM parts that I ordered from my local dealer I did a couple of part upgrades, and it's an even better cooler running saw.

Here's what I did.
I replaced the stock muffler with the Stihl dual port muffler (part# 1128 140 0616).
I also removed the limiter caps, re-tuned the carb according to a Stihl Manual I found from before the environmental laws made them lean it out, and the saw is noticeably more powerful and runs noticeably COOLER.

I also replaced the stock bar oil pump with the (part# 1128 640 3250) H.O. Oil pump assembly, because when I used the 28" bar, I felt like I wasn't getting enough oil and I was always stretching chains.

These are two simple things you can do yourself, and made a NOTICEABLE improvement in my MS460.
I'm very happy with this saw now.

Ed, was that common for just the 460? Do you know is Stihl addressed those problems with the current MS462 model? Where's Hoosierdood when you need him????

 

[indyjohn]

Picking the front wheels of the Gator off the ground. (I really need to up my video game).
[video=youtube_share;9e9LVvHWU_I]https://youtu.be/9e9LVvHWU_I[/video]

[video=youtube_share;MFnju3WssgM]https://youtu.be/MFnju3WssgM[/video]

 

[edporch]

Ed, was that common for just the 460? Do you know is Stihl addressed those problems with the current MS462 model? Where's Hoosierdood when you need him????

indyjohn,
I'm sorry, but I don't know about the MS462 with regard to this.
Where I first got the idea to make some changes with my MS460 was from
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/

There's some REALLY knowledgeable people over there and I bet they could answer your MS462 questions.

 

[Farmerjon]

On the subject of the MS 460, when I got mine it would run hotter than I liked, and also stretched the chain on the longer bars from not getting enough oil.
I researched this and found that the MS460 is sold in different variations depending on what part of the USA or the world you are.

So using ALL Stihl OEM parts that I ordered from my local dealer I did a couple of part upgrades, and it's an even better cooler running saw.

Here's what I did.
I replaced the stock muffler with the Stihl dual port muffler (part# 1128 140 0616).
I also removed the limiter caps, re-tuned the carb according to a Stihl Manual I found from before the environmental laws made them lean it out, and the saw is noticeably more powerful and runs noticeably COOLER.

I also replaced the stock bar oil pump with the (part# 1128 640 3250) H.O. Oil pump assembly, because when I used the 28" bar, I felt like I wasn't getting enough oil and I was always stretching chains.

These are two simple things you can do yourself, and made a NOTICEABLE improvement in my MS460.
I'm very happy with this saw now.

I also participate on another forum: https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/
With a search or ask in a thread, there are a lot of modifications they do to stihl saws to get peak performance. I call it hot rodding them. Great community.

I can't believe the people having problems getting rid of wood. I have a Central Boiler for our house and hot water. Only heat source we have. I have logs and wood laying around the farm and constantly cut wood it seems. Great thread folks. Glad to see others cutting set ups.

 

[tmschuller]

indyjohn,
I'm sorry, but I don't know about the MS462 with regard to this.
Where I first got the idea to make some changes with my MS460 was from
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/

There's some REALLY knowledgeable people over there and I bet they could answer your MS462 questions.

great site been on there for awhile. Great information and help. Love this thread especially the 460 information! Not sure if I will mod this year on some of this.. my 460 had an adjustable oiler, thought they all did. It’s set to run thru a tank of oil per fuel fill up. Might be heavy but on the bigger bars and especially on oak I think it’s cheap insurance.
Has anyone ran into different white ash? I have some that I cut into that was about like cutting a rock.. really hard.. it’s bark was even a little different than the other ash. Most cuts just fine and plenty of it.. it looked like ash so I assume it was.
Looking forward to getting out Friday to pull out wood/cut wood. Actually have 3 days off. Going to be a great day.

 

[edporch]

great site been on there for awhile. Great information and help. Love this thread especially the 460 information! Not sure if I will mod this year on some of this.. my 460 had an adjustable oiler, thought they all did. It’s set to run thru a tank of oil per fuel fill up. Might be heavy but on the bigger bars and especially on oak I think it’s cheap insurance.
Has anyone ran into different white ash? I have some that I cut into that was about like cutting a rock.. really hard.. it’s bark was even a little different than the other ash. Most cuts just fine and plenty of it.. it looked like ash so I assume it was.
Looking forward to getting out Friday to pull out wood/cut wood. Actually have 3 days off. Going to be a great day.

My MS 460 has an adjustable oiler too.
It just didn't give enough oil on larger bars even when turned all the way up.
And when I read that MS460's sold in the Pacific Northwest where they cut down larger trees, came STOCK with the high output oiler (part# 1128 640 3250), I found the part number and put one in my saw.

As to the muffler, I found from people overseas who had the MS 460, that their saws came stock with the Stihl dual port muffler (part# 1128 140 0616).
In the USA we had the more restrictive muffler to meet USA noise standards, at the cost of running hotter with less power.

I don't consider what I did to be hot rodding it, just using stock parts that are normally sold on this saw in other places.