Chainsaw recommendation

[Tom L.]

Looking for some chainsaw recommendations.

I had an old (25 year?) Sears, and an old Poulan. Both were 14" gas, someone wanted to buy one, so I gave them their choice. They took the Poulan. I broke the cardinal rule of never loan out tools, loaned my Sears out, and it came back froze up and had the chain run into dirt. I'm not about to fix the Sears (if I could), since it's so old. So much for ever loaning anything out again, it's certainly a great way to break up a so-called friendship. The person refused to kick in anything to help me get it going, or help buy a different one. With friends like these, you know the rest.

The saw will be only for home use. I have a couple/few trees I need to take down, thinking of a 14 or 16".

Looking through the Sears site, I see some cheap chainsaws. Naturally, my instincts tell me to stay away from "cheap". Being on a tight budget, I'm not looking to pay $400. Can I get a decent saw in the $150? Ok, quit laughing.

Anyone got any recommendations for a budget saw?

Thanks

[Curtis Brown]

At least your friend didn't do what I saw in this movie --

A woman was holding a gun to another woman's head and a man goes to save the victim so he goes to his car and opens the trunk and takes out a chainsaw. He sneaks up on the woman with the gat and saws off her elbow and you see the arm fall to the ground with the gat still in her hand. Then she tries to fight the guy with a chainsaw with half her arm and then realizes that she is in deep shit. So she starts running and that's when the man saws off her knee and half her leg falls to the ground and then she starts screaming while he starts sawing her in half. Before he cut her head in half she screamed, "I take it all back, Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame."

[Frank]

I have an el cheapo Poulan. Works fine now but oil pump broke after about 6 hours use. Was fixed under warranty. Not sure I'd buy another chainsaw advertised "for occasional use."

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Stihl has a sping sale on now in my area.

[Steve Barker]

If you're not going to buy a stihl, then this is probably the next best bet.

steve

[Mike Paulsen]

(snip)

You can most likely rent a decent saw for $50/day.

If you prefer to own one and "around the house" means within extension cord distance, consider an electric saw.

[Stormin Mormon]

It's been a long time ago, but I did get a Stihl on trade. It had some kind of trouble with the off switch, but the choke kills it, at super low idle.

If you can get a good saw at sping sale prices, that's the way to go.

[Stormin Mormon]

My two saws. One's a home owner Stihl, the off switch is undependable. The other is a rebuilt Homelite. When I have chainsaw jobs, I use the Homelite whenever possible. Mine is PS-33. Runs dependably, and cuts wood.

As to the guy who brought back the broken saw. I'd seek out all his friends, and go tell them about the broken saw.

Google shopping search turned up a wide variety of saws.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Electric? What can you do with it? pruning? If you like to get frustrated.

[Larry The Snake Guy]

I don't own one, but I borrowed one from my parents once and was surprised how well it worked. Unfortunately, I don't remember the brand.

It was not in the same league as a good gas saw, but would be fine for taking down a few medium sized branches (even 6-8 inches?) now and then. If I were taking down a whole tree or maintaining a dozen large trees, I'd want a gas saw.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I had a $129 saw. I tossed it in the woods one day and bought a Stihl. Maybe you can find my cheapo in the woods and get it to run more that 10 seconds.

[Joe]

Rental stores around here favor Echo. The ones I've seen all seem to be good performers, and the rental stock has a fair number of obviously early models. Any saw making it through multiple seasons of rental use must have pretty decent creds.

Joe

[Robert Neville]

Given that you aren't one of Monty Pyton's luberjacks, you don't need a commercial lumberjack's saw, do you? Even if you plan to cut a cord or two a season, a saw that only lasts a couple of season's isn't going to be a bad deal financially.

A few years ago, I bought a decent McCulloch from Amazon. Great price, came with a nice case. The only problem was that it was a limited edition model and not easy to find the right replacement bar/chain. Possible - but not at the local big box.

This one looks a little more common though:

[benick]

[RMD]

Hi,

I have both petrol and electric chainsaws.

I mostly use my electric chainsaw. It is quiet to use and cuts as well as the fuel saws. Always starts straight away for very occasional use too. :)

My brother bought an el-cheapo electric chain saw. It cut down three largish trees and at the end wasn't even blunt and looked as good as new. The tree cuttings filled 2 front yards and a back yard, so it was a biggish job.

Ross

[SteveB]

There are no "budget" saws. You get what you pay for. A good chain saw will last you XX years. When you divide that by the cost, you get the real mathematical answer.

I bought a Husqvarna 245 for $237 on the Internet. From some people called Norfolk something in California. Damn good saw.

When it comes to chain saws, there are only two names. Stihl and Husqvarna. Pick one. Service it like you're supposed to. Learn how to keep the blades sharp, and if you're lazy, just get several, and Ace will do them for $4 each.

Main thing is to get the tool, learn how to use it, learn how to NOT use it, treat it like anything else that will take your arm off, and a Stihl/Husky will last you longer than five of any regular brands.

MHO, YMMV, but I use mine a lot for property maintenance, and for woodcutting minimum 5 cords a year.

Buy quality and cry only once. And quality can be had for the same price as the Borg stores.

Steve

PS: Depending on your use, you might want to just go ahead and get an 18" bar. I have the 16", and wish now that I'd gotten the bigger.

[SteveB]

Horseshit. Or just plain shit. Buy a real saw, a Stihl or Husky. No problems finding parts for them. So common, some are sold at the local 7-11 stores. You'll always be able to get a Stihl/Husky fixed. Always.

Limited edition? Were they so bad they only produced a limited run?

Steve

[pheeh.zero]

If I remember right...Sears were mostly Poulans. I would buy Jonsered, Huskvarna, or Stihl (in that order)

[ransley]

My local Lawn machine shop that repairs and sells Sthil and all major commercial brands says Echos motors are the best. Echos warranty and motor hours rating is the best I believe. Sthil used to be better but Echo redesigned their motor.

[Kurt]

If I read the OP right, his Sears was 25 years old. Do you really think a Stihl will last 125 years?

I work for a State agency. We quit considering Stihl for our purchases. The mechanics in each shop, have more important tasks each day, than to fill it working on Stihls.