Help me choose a chainsaw

Aleks

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Threads
0
Messages
16
From my own experience, I'd suggest that you have a look at Stihl and Husqvarna. These two brands make decent products, in particular chainsaws. You may also find this article helpful. Personally I have used other brands in the past but hard to go past Stihl for quality
 

SidecarFlip

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2018
Threads
4
Messages
282
Ever since the noise and emissions police castrated Stihl chainsaws they went downhill and fast. They have become gutless, plastic chainsaws. Too bad really. When you ave to gut the muffler on a new saw to get any power, time to look at another brand.
 

jekjr

Lawn Addict
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Threads
271
Messages
1,968
I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

Buy him a 58 volt Echo rechargeable with the 4 OH Battery and do not look back. I bought one for $300 at an Echo Dealer or you can probably order one from Amazon for that or cheaper. It will do all that a home owner needs and there is no fuel problems to deal with. It is the best thing going today for a home owner that is not going to use one all day every day. You will not regret it in the long run.
 

Darryl G

Lawn Addict
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Threads
27
Messages
1,685
Buy him a 58 volt Echo rechargeable with the 4 OH Battery and do not look back. I bought one for $300 at an Echo Dealer or you can probably order one from Amazon for that or cheaper. It will do all that a home owner needs and there is no fuel problems to deal with. It is the best thing going today for a home owner that is not going to use one all day every day. You will not regret it in the long run.
I looked at that saw last week. The dealer had a 16 inch bar on it which kind of surprised me. It also surprised me how heavy it was. It felt every bit as heavy as a gas-fired saw to me. I looked at the Husqvarna 120i yesterday. The dealer told me that the battery for the pro units are $400! I'm interested in battery powered equipment to supplement my gas-fired stuff, not replace it.
 

Aleks

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Threads
0
Messages
16
From my own experience, I'd suggest that you have a look at Stihl and Husqvarna. These two brands make decent products, in particular chainsaws. You may also find this article helpful. Personally I have used other brands in the past but hard to go past Stihl for quality
 

jekjr

Lawn Addict
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Threads
271
Messages
1,968
I looked at that saw last week. The dealer had a 16 inch bar on it which kind of surprised me. It also surprised me how heavy it was. It felt every bit as heavy as a gas-fired saw to me. I looked at the Husqvarna 120i yesterday. The dealer told me that the battery for the pro units are $400! I'm interested in battery powered equipment to supplement my gas-fired stuff, not replace it.

The run time on the 58 volt units is incredible. I have cut 5 and 6 yards a day on one 4 OH battery. It will take .105 line. They have the speed feed heads that are awesome as well.
 

jekjr

Lawn Addict
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Threads
271
Messages
1,968
I looked at that saw last week. The dealer had a 16 inch bar on it which kind of surprised me. It also surprised me how heavy it was. It felt every bit as heavy as a gas-fired saw to me. I looked at the Husqvarna 120i yesterday. The dealer told me that the battery for the pro units are $400! I'm interested in battery powered equipment to supplement my gas-fired stuff, not replace it.

The chainsaw runs an incredible length of time.
 

TacticalGardner

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
1
Are you buying it as a homeowner or need it for professional use such as a woodworker? Because commercial units can be a bit expensive but also rigid and can cut through anything. The post i read https://homestuffpro.com/best-chainsaw/ has really sorted out some of the good chainsaw. You can check it out though.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
Are you buying it as a homeowner or need it for professional use such as a woodworker? Because commercial units can be a bit expensive but also rigid and can cut through anything. The post i read https://homestuffpro.com/best-chainsaw/ has really sorted out some of the good chainsaw. You can check it out though.

That looks like the best review that money can buy.
I would suggest it was a comparison of the spec sheets and not a product review , particularly as 2 of the units tested were the same unit from the same factory in different cases.
Then there was the XtremepowerUS.
Compare their ranking with a genuine saw review web site like sawedfish, where they are upfont about who they are and how the reviews are done https://sawedfish.com/xtremepowerus-22-inch-45cc-gas-chainsaw-review/.
In fact if you look at sawedfish top list the XtremeUS does not make their top 50.
And their review of it is far from flattering

Going back to the homestuffpro listing, all the saws are linked to Amazon so one might think they are just a front for Amazon pretending to be a genuine consumer advice group.
Having read their entire list, the first thing I noticed was that the grammer and diction changed from review to review and a couple were definately bad translations from Chinese to English.
They also were dwnright wrong.
The Tanaka review says Tanaka is new to chainsaws, well if you call around 30 years, new that is a funny definition. Tanaka has been making a lot of the better quality chain saws , just not branded Tanaka, down here their own brand was TAS.
Once again proving the reviewer had less than zero knowledge of the chain saw market.
You might also notice their review bypassed warranty, Tanaka offers a 5 year warranty, try to find a better one than that.

Thus the Homestuff Pro product review could at best be called BS and worst deliberate deception to make people buy from Amazon.

A chain saw is a very dangerous item and sits at number 2 , behind push mowers as the most dangerous product around the home ( done by the number of ER visits as a percentage of annual sales ).
No one should ever consider buying a saw unless they have held it in their hands and started it at least and by preference actually cut a few pieces of wood with it.
The saw I can start with 2 fingers, my wife can not start and after I start it for her she can use it for about 15 minutes before her wrists are done .
A smaller saw I thought would be better for her was equally impossible as it had a massive gyro effect and virtually bucked itself out of her hands whenever she throttled on.
Eventually she settled on a Ryobi, a saw that got dreadful reviews but was comfortable for her to use.
IT was grosely underpowered so I fitted a shorter 12" bar and it has never missed a beat.

And review site that compares , and then ranks apples against oranges against bannanas is again considered suspect.
Comparing battery powered saws to mains powered saws to petrol powered saws is not a valid comparison as the 3 power types have totally different charasterics.
Ease of starting means all electric saws will be at the top.
Longest run time would put the mains powered saw at the top.

If you are going to use a web site to choose a saw, find one that actually TESTS the saws, that means starting them & cutting wood with them, changing the chain etc.
And of these put your faith in the ones who tell you how they actually tested the saws.
You will find a totally different ranking.

Finally it is always good to check sites like product review
A saw with a review like this is obviously a winner https://www.productreview.com.au/p/stihl-ms-381.html
One like this shows there is no quality control and getting a good one is a lottery https://www.productreview.com.au/p/baumr-ag-62cc-professional.html
And one with ratings like this is best avoided https://www.productreview.com.au/p/baumr-ag-sx82-1.html
 

deminin

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 19, 2014
Threads
23
Messages
262
The run time on the 58 volt units is incredible. I have cut 5 and 6 yards a day on one 4 OH battery. It will take .105 line. They have the speed feed heads that are awesome as well.

.105 line, and speed feed heads on a Chainsaw?????
 
Top