Chainsaw help

[Grantbo]

This is Grantbo

I just got a bunch of logs over my back fence. I don't have time to research the subject but I need a chainsaw. What should I get?

I want pretty good quality without spending a lot of money. I need something that is reliable and that I can get tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tarateddy]

Get a Stihl. A MS170 will run about $160

 

[bluefire]

I'll second the Stihl. It's a good, sturdy, reliable chainsaw. Do NOT get a Homelite (yeah, ask me how I know...)

 

[ohiowoodsman]

for just general use I'd get a Poulan or Homelite 14"-16" bar.

 

[north runner]

Stihl Picco Micro or a Milwaukee electric.

 

[K9]

Poulan saws are the best value as far as cost,parts cost and life of saws.20" Poulan 295 is A good saw runs about 200$.14" Poulan runs about 110$.I quit using Stihl saws 5 years ago when I had to pay 49.95 for A muffler for A stihl 041.

 

[hd5574]

From the wife of a small engine mechanic

Get a Stihl or a Husqvarna

(the new Poulan and Homelite saws are not like the old ones)

hd5574

 

[Windy Ridge]

Don't get a Remington electric. My Poulan is nearly impossible to start. My old electric Poulan did a good job until I wore it out. The Husqvarna 350 is a very nice chainsaw, easy to start and with very little vibration.

Windy Ridge

 

[K9]

From the wife of a small engine mechanic

Get a Stihl or a Husqvarna

(the new Poulan and Homelite saws are not like the old ones)

hd5574

From A person with A tree company for over 20 years.

Have used Stihl and Poulan side by side until they died.Granted that Stihl will last A little longer but as far as saw cost and price of replacement parts Stihl is over priced.

 

[mistaken1]

Bought a Husky. Have not used it much but very happy so far.

 

[Warren Bone]

Bought a Stihl chainsaw about 25 years ago...it still works and I've only had to put a muffler on it; no other repairs. Great piece of equipment.

I also have a Stihl brushcutter (weedeater type thing). Great also. No problems ever.

warren.

 

[buff]

i have a husqvarna 16"..perfect for around the house use and easy to start. only paid $139 for it...

 

[Todd]

I have a 32" Huskvarna, 2-24" Echos and a 16" Poluan gas saws and a couple of electric ones whose names excape me because I never use them. Any name brand saw should be OK.

My only point would be that you buy a slightly larger saw then you think you need even if it costs more. There is nothing worse then an undersized saw - both power and bar length.

Todd

 

[SSTemplar]

I have a Poulan electric. 16" 70$. use it till it wears out o yea just plug it in and pull the triger.

 

[FireDance]

I vote the "girly" electric saw also. I don't understand why guys poo-poo electric tools. Most of my stuff is well over 10 years old and fires up, does the job. No strain. My neighbor is totally jealous of my chainsaw. He laughed at me until I cut up a fallen tree and hauled it off without his "man help" - no, literally laughed at me! He didn't laugh after I put his head in that garbage bag! My neighbor is a good guy, but he has a problem with my girl ways sometimes. He doesn't understand self-sufficient women. Personally, I covet his riding lawn mower. On the other hand I hire young guys to cut my yard so it's kind of a toss up I suppose... I sip tea and watch. He sloshes tea everywhere and cusses while he vibrates.

Go electric. You can always take it back... HOWEVER, if you do go electric be sure to get a GOOD, heavy duty extension cord when you buy it. I forget why, but trust me on that.

 

[lanningro]

Stihl

I bought a Stihl 009L in 1989 for a couple of hundred bucks, a ton of money then.

I have cut, literally at least a 100 of cords of wood with it. I have replaced the bar untold number of times gone through I don't know how many chains.

I burn a couple of cords a year and it is still the only saw I have.

 

[Troke]

Before you do anything, you get yourself a pair of 'chainsaw chaps' and eye protection, and maybe ear protection too.

Before you do anything. Lowes, or Home Depot has the stuff.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

Pawn shops

They have chainsaws all the time. Just have to keep your eyes open for a good deal. And keep a copy of the receipt to prove you bought it incase it was stolen.

On a side note my father loves to buy craftsmen tools from the place that are rusted out then goto sears and get a free replacement. word of warning sears only accepts 10 tools at a time for replacement. He freaked the manager out when he brought 150 tools to be replaced.

 

[gillmanNSF]

This thread is just in time, Home Depot just raised my credit limit! A chainsaw is on my list of things to get. I got another long-handled camp axe yesterday. I kept an eye out for the chainsaws, but must have passed right by them. Looks like a Stihl is a good brand, albeit expensive. The hill I live on has many eucalyptus trees and some cypress and I was told one came down on my apartment building about 30 years back. They're dangerously tall and make me nervous whenever the wind blows hard or when it rains a lot.


I was sold on the new 10.8V lithium ion cordless Dremel tool and the 170 something piece accessory kit. I was drooling, but fortunately they were out of that model. That will be my next tool purchase in addition to a chainsaw. Makita makes a cordless chainsaw, what do you all think about cordless models?

Thanks for the thread!

 

[Hamilton Felix]

These days, you want a Stihl or a Husqvarna for a "serious" saw.

Perhaps 30 years ago, Homelite and McCulloch decided there was more money in making a whole bunch of "consumer grade" saws, than in selling a few professional grade saws to Loggers. Their quality declined. In a few years, Stihl and Husqvarna owned the professional market.

The last small Homelite that was made to do a day's work was the EZ series of the late 60's and mid 70's. The XL series lasted a long time, and was good for its day. But they became dated.

I still have two old Homelite EZ saws, an old XL that I picked up used, and a small Poulan that I seem to have inherited from Mom. While I have used the Poulan up a tree, simply because it's small and light, I view it as the saw I lend to someone I don't really like all that much. The old Homelites will work, but when compared to a modern saw with anti-vibration mounting, they show their age

My "serious" saw is a Husqvarna 385XP. You don't need anything this big. In fact, don't even approach this class of saw until you have some real experience. But it's a nice saw. I lucked into a "Demo" saw, got an $800 saw with about 20 hours on it, for $400, so I jumped at it. I had a bunch of wood down, and had been thinking of a Husky 365 or maybe 372. But I'm happy with what I got.

What Homelite and McCulloch (just about a forgotten name, these days) forgot was: The guy in the 'burbs will want to buy the brands the "real Loggers" use. Stihl and Husky started making small saws. Stihl has a really nice line of small saws. The lesser names are being pushed out of the consumer saw market, too.

For just a job or two, probably any saw you can get for a good price will do. If you're going to want a reliable saw around for a while, look for a good small Stihl, or maybe a Husqvarna "Rancher."

By the way, the Kevlar safety chaps work. And the hardhat with screen face shield and ear muffs is very nice. Be safe.

 

[ofuzzy1]

Chaps, head, ear and eye protection are musts!

Get a spare bar, two chains, a spare fuel filter and a chain sharpner [electric] -- also get a spare 'pulley/gear/cog' thingy

I have both a gas and an electric -- neither worked when that bitch of a Hurricane Wilma came through. I bought the chainsaw as a refurb and never used it [read: stupid! test your preps] My electric didn't work becuase my genny failed - a field wire broke when I needed it most! Fixed AFTER things got back to normal, I found the brokend field wire, and borrowed a saw from my neighbor. I helped him clear his trees and he helped me do mine -- win/win.

Fire Dance is sooo correct about having HD power cords, they won't melt on you!

And for peats sake don't break off the ground connector on your stuff

 

[nharrold]

I've worn-out three Stihls 026s, and finally switched to a Husky 359 on the recommendation of a local logger/arborist. The Husky is a bit more difficult to start, but has a lot less vibration and a bit more power (similar specs to the Stihls mentioned), so I now prefer it. I also have a couple of consumer saws (Poulan, Homelite, etc.) that I use for limbing and other duties where there is greater hazard of whacking the chain into dirt or rocks, thus ruining an expensive chain. Oddly enough, the Homelite is the easiest of all to start; but it's not very durable; had a lot of the plastic parts fail; but it's small and light and does have its uses, so I still use it from time to time.

As mentioned by Troke and others, don't buy a chainsaw unless you buy the chaps to go with it; and then use the damn things every time you fire that saw up. They've saved my legs a number of times, as recently as several days ago when the chain got hung up in some manzanita slash and whacked back down on my thigh. Would have cut my leg to/through the bone had I not been wearing the chaps. Really gets your attention...!

 

[Gonecrabbin]

I picked up a very clean "as new" 14 inch Echo at a local pawn shop for the unbelievably low price of 65 FRNs. I took one look and grabbed it before the guy behind me could ..what a steal. Check your pawn shops-I've noticed alot of 10-20% off sales here. According to the owner of one of them, there's alot of inventory recently-good luck and remember, Safety First! By the way, Stihl does make a very good machine.

 

[Old Futz]

Another vote for Stihl after 25 or so years of experience, although Huskies also are excellent. Check on the shops where you will be going for service and supplies to see what might be recommended and available -- Stihl by far the most popular among timber beasts in our mountain towns. My old 032 still is a top backup, the 026 Pro the staple with over a hundred cords through it and only minor maintenance required. Have several chains to keep best cutting conditions so you don't have to stop for sharpening time (and skip the Miller Time until done), DO wear all the safety gear (less fatigue too with the helmet reducing the noise), and I wear insulated gloves to lessen the vibration on the hands/prevent "white finger" nerve damage. Trade off your cutting with splitting/stacking time, and do watch the tiredness level. When you get tired you tend to push it and make mistakes/not notice something you would have caught when fresh. Don't forget to keep the chain tension adjusted as well after you've been running a while.

 

[GILTRIC]

Husqvarna .055 rancher 18 inch.

great all around ground saw.


Stihl .020 for topping out/climbing.

 

[hd5574]

From A person with A tree company for over 20 years.

Have used Stihl and Poulan side by side until they died.Granted that Stihl will last A little longer but as far as saw cost and price of replacement parts Stihl is over priced.

I agree that Poulan did make a good saw(years ago) but they have changed the new Poulans and they are not what they used to be. They were bought out by Electrolux who also owns Husqvarna. They are now the cheaper brand (box store brand). We personally own Husqvarna saws (several) a Stihl and old no longer made Poulan (the scalded dog saw) and even an old Monkey Wards (made by Mac when Mac still made good saws). We have been heating with wood for over 25 years so our saws see a lot of use.

Stihl and Husqvarna are the best saws being made today along with Jonsered who also still makes a good saw but they are more difficult to get and replacement parts are harder to find. My personal choice would be Husqvarna. They have more improvements to their saws and I believe that their replacement parts are a tad cheaper than Stihl . As I said my DH is a full time working small engine mechanic at a dealership (with over 30 years experience repairing small engines) and we also have a small engine repair business here at the house. Here we at the house see a lot more Stihl repairs than Husqvarna. There are a lot of loggers here in the area so there are a lot of both types of saws.

If you can find a Husqvarna at one of the box hardware stores, if it has the same model number as a dealership saw it will be the same saw and not a cheaper version. As far as I know Husqvarna does not sell a cheaper model saw like some stuff at Wally's World.

hd5574

 

[Big]

I was in the lawn & garden retail business for many years, in fact, owned my own store for about six years. We were a Cub Cadet / Husky / Echo dealer but worked on them all. IMHO, stay away from the cheaper brands, there's a reason why they're cheaper. Echo and Stihl make a very good saw but there's just nothing like the Husky. Couple of year ago they made a model #350, it's like a residential version of the 55, and it would be hard to beat for working around the house.

 

[Grantbo]

This is Grantbo
Thanks for all the advice.
I the end, I decided to rent one for a weekend for $35.
A Stihl MS-210.

 

[TJA]

I've got a Stihl MS210c that I'm very happy with even though I haven't had a chance to use it much yet. I had starting it at first, had the safety bar in the wrong position. My dad just gave me his McCULLOCH MAC 140, from the late 70's (1977?) with a broken pull start. I'm definitely going to be picking up a set of chaps, already have multiple safety glasses and ear protection.

Renting is probably the best short term solution.

A couple of funny chainsaw bits.

Most of my life I've had the impression that my dads chainsaw was a real monster based on my childhood memories of seeing him use it. Having it sit here in it's case next to my Stihl in it's own case and the McCULLOCH, looks positively tiny. When I bought the Stihl last summer I thought it was a medium sized saw, especially seeing some of the other Stihls on display. Things can certainly change as you get older.

My mom now living in Florida recently bought her own chainsaw. She works in a Publix down there and one of her regular customers is this little old (80+ years) lady who was telling my mom about her chainsaw. My mom was so impressed with this little old lady and her chainsaw that she figured she could handle one and that it'd be a good thing to have after hurricanes. Unfortunately she bought an electric so I doubt it'll be as helpful as she is imagining without any power.

 

[twincougars]

I use a [FONT=Verdana,Arial]Stihl. Just had to replace the blade recently; the wheel at the tip was getting wood chunks wedged into it and stalling the chain. But, I recommend it. Also, get at least one wedge (can help you out when you get your saw jammed into a tree) and a peevee (a tool for rolling over logs and holding them off the ground while you sew them). If you at all can, cut with a buddy. Accidents happen, and can be life-threatening. Frequently check the chain tension. You do NOT want the saw to throw a chain. Nasty!
[/FONT]

 

[Hotshot]

Here's my vote for a stihl. Best saw I've ever owned.

 

[Grantbo]

This is Grantbo
I'd thought I'd update my rental.
Got a Stilh 210 and it wouldn't start. 1.5 hours later I went to another rental of some brand I never heard of. After 1 cord the brake mechanism broke and it froze onto the brake position.

It's been a tough day.

 

[TJA]

Grantbo, check with the rental place about starting the Stilh, the first time I tried starting mine it drove me bananas, I had missed something in the manual about the safety bar.

Much easier last time I fired it up.