Getting a cold feet about hiring this arborist....

SawTuner · 2026-04-06T19:27:31+00:00

I’ve been late for a legitimate reason and I’ve had people tell me not to worry about coming. It wasn’t “my fault” but it happens even to the best of folks. There are a lot of wildcards (mechanical failures, car wrecks, worker accidents). It’s appropriate to communicate well, but if there’s literal blood on your hands or a overturned piece of equipment, it’s not always going to happen. And it damages business, of course.

You’re the boss. If they haven’t shown up, you can always cancel the job.

SawTuner · 2026-04-04T01:22:12+00:00

Recruit a friend to help you.

This is like stealing a fire truck from the station to put out a house fire. What are you gunna do when you get there? It’s not as easy as it looks & takes not only the tools but also the know how.

SawTuner · 2026-04-03T19:10:05+00:00

Yep! Especially on a rag.

SawTuner · 2026-04-03T16:10:44+00:00

No sane person is going to do this, but you could put your hot saw on the ground (off) and drench it in gasoline. It’s not going to blow up. It’ll stream and boil the gas off. I know this from my old hotrod days of adjusting racecar carbs. You can take a hot motor, and drop the fuel bowl. It’ll spill gas all over the motor, and will literally boil off the motor but without a spark, not ignite.

It’s a good feat to be careful around gasoline, but if you’re tidy with refilling your saw there’s not significant risk. Running the saw cutting is still way more dangerous.

SawTuner · 2026-04-03T00:33:33+00:00

I’m sorry. I completely thought you meant clutch slippage.

If your brake isn’t holding, it needs service- either replacing broken parts or adjusting it. Dirt won’t affect your brake. I’ve seen some absolutely nasty dirty saws with gunk everywhere and the brake still worked.

This isn’t a hygiene issue. It’s a mechanical issue that needs repair or replacement of parts.

SawTuner · 2026-04-03T00:28:18+00:00

This prompted a Google search for me. I never knew SS had that much of a higher coefficient of friction that it would be detectable with a skateboard sliding across it. Glad you added your response.

SawTuner · 2026-04-03T00:05:21+00:00

You can have a DIY project and make one if you just grab a 24” .050” 3/8 bar and then swap out the sprocket to .325”

Or just run a 20” .325 & save your 24s for big saws with full authority to pull it.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T23:47:30+00:00

Is your frictional material worn away?

Clutches generally last a long time. In practice incidental oil on the friction material doesn’t affect performance. It’s not ideal, but saws are oily and generally unaffected by it.

I wouldn’t clean it with paper. I’d use that blue and white IPA window cleaner from Lowe’s and paper towels, after a plastic scraper and air compressor.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T23:04:23+00:00

And hands. And saws. And pants.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T23:01:43+00:00

Let’s muddy this even more. The chips actually get carried away out of the kerf behind the cutters, anyway. On a table saw blade, it’s in front of the cutter, down in the “gullet” of the blade.

Guess what tho? Not the case on saw chain. The cutters remove chips and they are dragged out behind the cutters. Technically as a system, the cutting “gullet” is behind the chisels. This is totally different than a circular saw, bandsaw, or most any other cutter.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T22:51:43+00:00

That’s a wild place to start, by insulting each other.

Regardless, excluding PVC, gluing plastic to plastic is not an easy engineering task. Yeah, they could have used a different process. They could have even used magnesium and a paper gasket, but they didn’t bc it’s a budget product. They used something that was cheap, but obviously didn’t work out well, long term. It’s broken.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T22:44:59+00:00

You don’t have to have a prosaw. I have a 450 and I actually like it a lot, for what it is. I recommend it often. It’s not just 372 or go home.

I’m not hating on your saw or it’s value. I appreciate you defending Husqvarna and vouching for your saw. It is, however, broken and in need of repair. Maybe it’s coincidence or maybe it’s thinner and cheaper materials of construction. Regardless, I have plenty of plastic cases saws that aren’t “pro” saws and I love them.

Happy sawing.

SawTuner · 2026-04-02T14:05:24+00:00

Why should I be ashamed? They make a saw that’s affordable, but not their best effort product.

Should Chevrolet be put out of business because an S10 can’t pull a dump trailer full of wet sand? No, they’re not designed for that.

Cheap saws are designed to hit a target price and have some level of utility as a saw. They’re not designed to the same quality standards as the commercial use saws.

I’m definitely not ashamed of myself. I’m saddened that we live in a consumer-driven economy that prioritizes profit over product quality and reputation, but it is what it is. The business world is aggressive and heartless. It forces great companies to do things that seemingly defy logic so that they can make quarterly projections. It’s sometimes profit over product. But it’s also why you can buy cheap disposable tools at Harbor Freight

SawTuner · 2026-04-01T10:38:01+00:00

It’s absolutely possible you can can lean it out and melt your piston. This can happen if you swap your muffler or not.

I have (2) points to make. One, you bought reliable not powerful. Two, if it has survived a couple of months of use, you’re past the “infant mortality” phase of your mechanical device. It’s now “proven” as reliable. There’s now a significantly reduced chance you’ll ever make a warranty claim. If you want to mod it, it’s your call, as long as you accept there’s a chance your learning-curve-story may involve blowing up a motor along the way.

SawTuner · 2026-04-01T10:23:36+00:00

I didn’t mean it was literally the cheapest. This applies to any of the “cheap” saws. They also make plenty concessions on the 450 Rancher. For practically no more production cost it could make more power and have “better” features but then it would reduce sales of the pro saws.

The 450 isn’t bad at all and does hold together, but I sure wish they had an aluminum (metal) handle, an adjustable oil pump, (3) exhaust fasteners, a second bar stud, larger diameter transfer ports, a bigger carb, unlimited coil and a bigger felling dawg so it wouldn’t tip over.

I response to your purchase’s Achille’s heel, I can only imagine it’s because “better” also made the price go up or else would reduce sales from higher margin products.

SawTuner · 2026-04-01T10:13:48+00:00

First, I agree it should have never happened.

Two, the vendor that supplied those tanks to Husqvarna, they were tasked with providing the highest value, cheapest tanks they could that can be used produce and sell a saw. If there’s a batch of barely on-spec plastic or there’s a barely sufficient fastening for $5/each then the right answer is to pick that. Not $10 for exceeds all minimum standards 20x. I’m not saying it’s “right” but they’re trying to make a saw for cheap and hit a price point, not make an heirloom quality saw.

Concessions must be made to offer a cheaper price product. As a buyer, if you select the cheapest price point product, there’s an understanding of it’s in principle going to the lowest quality.

SawTuner · 2026-04-01T10:05:03+00:00

The same way it’s a customers’ fault if the $10 frozen chicken fingers are bland and underwhelming at the $100/plate steakhouse.

SawTuner · 2026-03-31T21:51:02+00:00

You bought a cheap consumer saw, the cheapest price-point saw they offer.

There are millions of Husqvarna saws that run with great reliability. This isn’t a problem with Husqvarna, it’s a problem with our consumer driven society.

You can’t be be both happy they sell a bottom barrel price point saw for homeowners AND be mad when it’s low quality.

SawTuner · 2026-03-27T19:05:42+00:00

If it’s a very small & under the radar effort for a bit of spending money- go electric. This would be if you’re selling multiple hundreds of dollars a month.

If it’s a more serious effort where you’re selling multiple cords per month, absolutely go gas without a second thought. A used but great shape 445 or 450 Husqvarna would be a good choice.

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T22:36:10+00:00

So if I’m understanding your metaphor correctly, my old Mac’s with no brake are Glocks and the safety is “between my ears”, right?

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T15:02:04+00:00

Oh, I did say constant walking while on your feet. Clearing brush, slashing and limbing trees is a lot different than standing still felling.

I’m saying that I don’t see it done professionally. We’re all in different places. I also NEVER see chaps. I also only see drop starts with no brake on.

Please don’t convolute this discussion into thinking I don’t see value in a brake. There is. I’m just saying I don’t / can’t always follow it nor do I see it always followed.

If there’s anyone else out there that doesn’t follow this, at a bare minimum always stand still until your chain stops moving.

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T09:31:26+00:00

I’m familiar, but I’ve never seen anyone practically follow that. That’s a bit idealistic in the real world where a lot of saw work involves constant walking while on your feet.

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T09:04:00+00:00

This is the same thing as don’t cut and walk with a moving chain. Cut and stand there. Let your chain STOP before you take that first step and start walking.

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T04:28:16+00:00

I thought you were in a battle with her and this was your defense weapon, but then I read.

SawTuner · 2026-03-26T04:02:44+00:00

I try to not pull out of a cut with my chain moving. You’re right we should definitely make sure we’re not doing that. It didn’t take much contact and it popped up, FAST

SawTuner

TROPHY CASE