Chainsaw

[tabbypurr]

I'm after a chainsaw. They span from £50 Titan to a lot more for Makit as. What should I look for? Are Titans good enough for occasional jobs? It won't get used a lot. 16" bar needed, or more.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Stihl. Or a Stihl. And Stihls are good, too.

[Roger Mills]

The electric chainsaws sold by Lidl and Aldi are perfectly good for occasional use by non-professionals.

[John Rumm]

What jobs do you need to do with it?

Always on the ground, or working from a ladder / while climbing?

[Capitol]

But beware that sometimes the Lidl chains are non standard in terms of nuber of links. Mine has x + 1/2 links which is a real pain when making up a new chain.

[T i m]

Daughter does a bit of chainsaw carving:

and at one Arb show where she was asked to put on some form carving demo they weren't allowed to run petrol powered saws. ;-(

They were allowed to run generators (go figure) so used a £29 electric saw I'd picked up on special from B&Q to do some basic stuff and whilst she said it worked, it wasn't like her little Stihl 171.

But to be fair, carving is a fairly specialised role.

IOO, there seems to be as much rivalry between the Husqvarna and Stihl owners as there is Ford and Vauxhall etc. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[tabbypurr]

Electric. Primarily for slicing stuff up on the ground. Inevitably it will end up being used in climbing too, but primarily ground work. I'm also look ing at making a frame/holder for it to slice up wood relatively accurately. Looking to make lots of small pieces that will end up on show hence not ri pping off edges would be of value, if such is possible with a chainsaw.

NT

[T i m]

For one of those wooden cross section fire surrounds / wall panels?

I think that may depend (as with any saw cut) if you can support the wood as you cut though, although with a sharp enough blade it may cut it fast enough not to tear the last bit.

Cheers, T i m

[Jonathan]

akitas. What should I look for? Are Titans good enough for occasional jobs? It won't get used a lot. 16" bar needed, or more.

Not in my experience Jonathan

[Jonathan]

l end up being used in climbing too, but primarily ground work. I'm also lo oking at making a frame/holder for it to slice up wood relatively accuratel y.

My safety training told us that was very dangerous with a chain saw.

Jonathan

[T i m]

OOI, how many Stihl saws do you have experience with (genuine / straight question)?

I ask because it seems that nearly all the tree surgeons and utility Co's use them and I'm assuming they wouldn't if they weren't up to it?

On that and like many such things I believe there are 'Domestic' and 'Professional' spec versions.

Daughter prefers Stihl stuff although she does have other brands where they turn out to be good / reliable. I'm not sure she would go for anything else. At one point she was often using a saw, hedge trimmer, blower or strimmer all day long and some of these tools had a pretty hard life (all Stihl).

The 'good thing' about going for something like Stihl is that they are well known and easy to get parts and support for (should it be required), especially over an unknown or more 'domestic' product.

Cheers, T i m

[Michael Chare]

Stihl used to be the leading brand in the USA before WW2.

It took them some time to recover the position after the war. So I learnt in a chainsaw museum in Prince Rupert, BC.

[Michael Chare]

Which, using saw whilst up a tree or using saw with a frame to hold wood?

[Jonathan]

r Makitas. What should I look for? Are Titans good enough for occasional jo bs? It won't get used a lot. 16" bar needed, or more.

I had one for a few years until the engine failed. The place I had bought i s six years previously had gone out of business so I went elsewhere who sol d me a saw which lasted over 15 years of fairly heavy winter usage until th e plastic failed body parts failed catastrophically. They then sold me an E fco.

They said the Stihl had died because I believed Stihl that their brand of t wo-stroke oil only needed to be used at 50:1 instead of 25:1.

So I won't buy another one.

Jonathan

[Jonathan]

will end up being used in climbing too, but primarily ground work. I'm also looking at making a frame/holder for it to slice up wood relatively accura tely.

Using a frame to hold wood. There is a tendancy for the saw to catch and sp in the log dangerously. Much safer to sut it on the ground, if worse for yo ur back.

jonathan

[Michael Chare]

not to mention damaging the chain by catching it on the ground. (Thank you)

[tabbypurr]

t will end up being used in climbing too, but primarily ground work. I'm al so looking at making a frame/holder for it to slice up wood relatively accu rately.

spin the log dangerously. Much safer to sut it on the ground, if worse for your back.

There's misunderstanding somewhere in all this. Nothing is going to spin tr ee trunks any day soon, no matter how much it tries. It's the saw that will be put in a frame to operate like a chop saw. The trunks will be on the gr ound at all time - or maybe a couple of inches off it. The resulting restra int of the saw must make it much safer I'd think.

I guess what I'm asking at this point is whether we'll run into trouble doi ng this with a £50 Titan. I expect it's what we'll get for now. It mig ht do a day or 2 of chopping once a month.

NT

[Clive George]

A cheap electric chainsaw owned by a friend died when it was used for too long - the plastic gears got a bit soft.

[T i m]

Ok. I'm guessing nothing lasts for ever, even the universe. Was the other saw a 'Husky' by any chance (as I understand that is one of the failure modes of the smaller saws).

Do you have a dealer for them locally?

I'm not sure about the Stihl brand oil thing but using it at 25:1 could easily be a reason it died.

But there is a possibility you killed it [1] ... or do you have a tanker full of 25:1 2/ you want to use up? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] I think that if you run an over-rich 2/ mix it ends up running lean, not a good thing, especially on a small 2/. ;-(

[Mark]

Don?t blame Stihl, Directive 2002/88/EC of the European Parliament, emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery

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