Chainsaw...best GP bar length?

I’m no pro by any means, but 20” driven by a good 50cc motor seems to be a happy balanced size for me. Get around in the small stuff easily, and will chew through big stuff if you don’t bear down super hard. Not going to be as fast as a purpose built big wood saw, but plenty fast for a homeowner that just needs to cut up a big tree now and then.

Stihl 261cm. Angry lil beaver.
 
I have an 18” echo, maybe it’s a cs330, probably 20 years old. Runs good, but I don’t use it that often any more and have been thinking about the milwaukee electric.
 
I played with an 18" Kobolt 80v recently (ETA the same one you linked above) and it'll do nicely for what you want. Plus, no gas to mix and no "why won't this mf-er start?"
I made a full depth cut through a stump just to test it and it did great.

I have the tiniest Stihl they make and I like it lots but were I spending money tomorrow I'd go electric.
 
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I am pretty deep in DeWalt 20v tools and batteries here so any time I need a new tool that's where I look first. The battery commonality issue is a big selling point for me.
I bought a dewalt blower and string trimmer combo awhile back and am sold. I absolutely love that little blower. I have an awesome little echo climbing saw I’ve used for years but am seriously thinking about buying the little saw you have for the occasional use and taking the others saws up to the mountains. All I need a saw for really is cutting up limbs that fall and the small dewalt would be perfect.
 
I bought a dewalt blower and string trimmer combo awhile back and am sold. I absolutely love that little blower. I have an awesome little echo climbing saw I’ve used for years but am seriously thinking about buying the little saw you have for the occasional use and taking the others saws up to the mountains. All I need a saw for really is cutting up limbs that fall and the small dewalt would be perfect.

I've got the trimmer too and it kicks my gas trimmers butt.
 
Did someone say Chainsaw?

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Occasionally for fun one of my guys will put a 20” bar on our 461. I feel like one of the Stihl Timbersports competitors when I use it; that thing will go through a log in seconds.

Damn. Biggest I’ve run was a 36 on an old 660 Stihl. That a 60”?
 
General purpose........probably 18 with 45-50cc engine. Will do most anything your average person will need.

Look at the diameter of your trees you might need to cut and go from there.
 
Best saw I ever ran was a Stihl 026 with an 18" bar. Could have run a 20" bar, but the 18 was all I needed.
Cut a lot of big stuff after hurricane Fran.
Heated with firewood, farmed, etc.
CF
 
One thing with saws that have 50cc + engines...
They get real heavy, real fast. These aren't nimble little machines you just whip around. A 50cc saw is usually paired with a 20" bar, and would be a solid choice for that job you got there, but for most of the stuff homeowners (including me) do, the big saws are a pita.
Easy for me to say since I already have a 20", but my next chainsaw is definitely gonna be some kind of battery model. They're so much easier to use, and @rantingredneck is correct, with a good blade and fat battery, these things just keep cooking and will do much more than what they seem to be intended for.
Everybody I know that has one loves it.
 
Oh yeah, you-all got hit bad from that storm. The Duke energy trucks are all over, and I've been in that area for a week fixing busted meter bases. That wasn't just wind imo, you got some micro-burst's that took you guys to task.
 
One thing with saws that have 50cc + engines...
They get real heavy, real fast. These aren't nimble little machines you just whip around. A 50cc saw is usually paired with a 20" bar, and would be a solid choice for that job you got there, but for most of the stuff homeowners (including me) do, the big saws are a pita.
Easy for me to say since I already have a 20", but my next chainsaw is definitely gonna be some kind of battery model. They're so much easier to use, and @rantingredneck is correct, with a good blade and fat battery, these things just keep cooking and will do much more than what they seem to be intended for.
Everybody I know that has one loves it.

This is very true. I have everything from electric craftsman saws up to the 880 pictured above. No battery saws yet, but maybe some time in the future.

Personally a 362 or 461 is our go-to saw around the sawmill, but my miller has an 026 size that he uses almost daily to trim up logs.
 
I have a stihl 180 and a 271. The 180 gets the most use and the 271 is mostly used when I need to bring something down. The weight difference and having to stop more often for gas and oil makes the 271 much slower to use.
 
Oh yeah, you-all got hit bad from that storm. The Duke energy trucks are all over, and I've been in that area for a week fixing busted meter bases. That wasn't just wind imo, you got some micro-burst's that took you guys to task.

I went for a hike last weekend at Headwaters State Forest (Brevard/Cedar Mountain/SC state line) and came across a ridge line where I would swear a tornado ripped through. Tons of trees just snapped in half.

Not the best pic, but check out the 3-4 trunks just snapped off...

IMG_1042.jpeg
 
MS 261 20” bar, little pricier than the comparable farm boss but you’ll appreciate the weight savings and pro grade components . As close to perfection for a general purpose saw as you can get.

As I recall the 261 has the highest hp to weight of any of the Stihl saws.
 
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Agreeing with some above posts..... I have 2 saws, the smallest stihl they had at the time, a 30cc with a 16 inch bar. I also have a 60 or 65cc with a 20 inch bar. I use the small saw whenever possible!! The heavy saw will wear you out, but when you need it, you need it.
 
Made a significant dent in the problem today. This 80v Kubota saw is the bomb. It came with a 2.0amH battery, I bought a spare 2.5amh.

The boys and I worked a couple hours on it this afternoon, I was still going strong on the 2.5amh battery I started with when we wrapped up.

I love this thing.

#1 for me long term is not having an engine to maintain as it will sit for months on end without being used.

But, the actual use is a clear winner. Cut from any angle without worrying about gas spilling. It’s strong enough to cut through 18” Pine trunk. It’s light enough to use all day, and it’s QUIET.

I’ve only used it for an afternoon, but so far I’m perfectly happy with the purchase.


Thanks to all for the advice!
 
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If you're just doing around the house work and woods/hunting use?

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Get yourself 2-3 5ah batteries and be happy.

My Husqvarna hasn't been out of it's case since I got this one.

This. Ive had a dewalt for years. Its baller.

Neighbor had some trees downed.. gave me the wood, mine cut through the 24" red oak no problem.
 
I'm glad this thread was started.

I've made the decision to remove the 42 17 year old Leyland Cypress trees from my yard. I intend to buy the saw @Tim did, and do it myself.

I fully expect it to take me the rest of this year to get them all down and disposed of.
 
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I'm glad this thread was started.

I've made the decision to remove the 42 17 year old Leyland Cypress trees from my yard. I intend to buy the saw @Tim did, and do it myself.

I fully expect it to take me the rest of this year to get them all down and disposed of.
Geez ... 42 ... downing is not your problem ... bucking and disposal of the greenery is. I’d almost think of renting a wood chipper and just bust thru them all. You’ll have some fresh smelling mulch.
 
Geez ... 42 ... downing is not your problem ... bucking and disposal of the greenery is. I’d almost think of renting a wood chipper and just bust thru them all. You’ll have some fresh smelling mulch.

My thoughts are to burn the limbs and split the logs for firewood, the campfire variety.
 
My thoughts are to burn the limbs and split the logs for firewood, the campfire variety.
I hired a company to take down 40 roughly 35-40' Leyland Cyprus's at our old church. They gave me a price around $3500 which was half the next lowest bid. They had 3-4 guys out there for several days. They used a chipper truck and dumped half of the mulch around the church for us to use. I've used the company several times for other things and the guy always remembers me and reminds me he lost money on that job but was ok with it because it was a church. It also happened to be in July and it was upper 90's all week.
 
I bought a spare 2.5amh.

The boys and I worked a couple hours on it this afternoon, I was still going strong on the 2.5amh battery I started with when we wrapped up.

Have you tried to recharge the battery?

I was about to order one with the saw and the reviews seem to lean towards the low end citing "defective battery detection" as the culprit.
 
Geez ... 42 ... downing is not your problem ... bucking and disposal of the greenery is. I’d almost think of renting a wood chipper and just bust thru them all. You’ll have some fresh smelling mulch.
Let em dry out a week or two and light it. It’ll be gone in 5 minutes
 


I have recharged each battery a couple times without issue.
 
My thoughts are to burn the limbs and split the logs for firewood, the campfire variety.
I am not completely sure but for a fire pit Leland’s wood would be okay but for a wood stove or fireplace I’d be careful of their resin and such ... kinda along the lines of pine.

Let em dry out a week or two and light it. It’ll be gone in 5 minutes
As to burning dry Leland branches ... they go up quick and branches only leave a small patch of ashes. Now 42 Lelands would be a pile or many piles for fire control will be a big smoke signal!
 
I am not completely sure but for a fire pit Leland’s wood would be okay but for a wood stove or fireplace I’d be careful of their resin and such ... kinda along the lines of pine.


As to burning dry Leland branches ... they go up quick and branches only leave a small patch of ashes. Now 42 Lelands would be a pile or many piles for fire control will be a big smoke signal!

Yeah, campfire only.

As far as the fire, we're going to work on one tree at a time. That was the reason for my "rest of this year" comment. Also, one of my next door neighbors is always looking for stuff to burn in his pit, so the branches will be spread out across two backyards.
 
Did someone say Chainsaw?

View attachment 207670

Occasionally for fun one of my guys will put a 20” bar on our 461. I feel like one of the Stihl Timbersports competitors when I use it; that thing will go through a log in seconds.

Good lord. I ran a little Stihl with a 16" bar for a couple hours on Saturday and I was beat. I can't imagine running that thing.

Oh, and I still need to pay you a visit in the very near future. Seems we have a couple things in common...
 
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