Sunday, December 13, 2009

Boys And Their Toys, I Mean Tools


I felled a large dead poplar on Thanksgiving weekend, leaving it bucked up into roughly eight six-foot lengths. I own a beautiful mid-size Husqvarna 353 with a 20" bar putting out just over 3hp, which doesn't have a huge issue with cutting 18" diameter logs, but does have to run longer to do it.

I found three saws for sale as a package right around the corner from my sister in Ottawa, worked out a deal, whereby they would buy one for me for work received in kind, I would buy the other one, and sell off the third. I was interested in the two Husqvarna's, a 335xpr arborist saw, and a 385xp professional saw putting out close to 7hp.

A few weeks later, after cutting down two dozen or more dead Elms and a few scrubby Manitoba Maples at their property, I was able to get the 385xp to the cottage to finish bucking up the poplar logs. It was amazing to rev up the big saw and lower it onto each log, watching is easily cut down like a hot knife through butter, depositing an ever growing pile of little wood chips at the base of each cut. My original 353 would take about 20 seconds to make a cut through these logs, the 385xp did each cut in six or seven seconds.




THE SAWS (Clockwise from top): Husqvarna 335xpr Arborist saw, Stihl 041 chainsaw (now owned by Mark, Pam and Jeff's contractor), Husqvarna 385xp professional forestry saw, Husqvarna 353 chainsaw (which has a place close to my heart - down a bit, and to the right, actually!)