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I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

Decide how much you are willing to spend & then give him a store voucher.
Chain saws are a very personnal type of tool , not to mention very dangerous.
So it needs to be something he is comfortable using, can start easily and will do what you want it for.
Pro grade gear is expensive but I for one would never bother with anything else.
I still lend out my Stihl 070 ( 1986 ) and the Stihl 045 ( 1993 ) to customers when I get behind with the repairs.
They both cost over a full months salary when I bought them ( the 070 was 3 months salary ) and that is the sort of price you will need to pay for a quality saw.
Brand names mean nothing now day.
All the big brand names sell junk as well as top quality while some of the unknown names coming out of China are really good ( most are temporary diverted landfill ).

bertsmobile1 said:

Decide how much you are willing to spend & then give him a store voucher.
Chain saws are a very personnal type of tool , not to mention very dangerous.
So it needs to be something he is comfortable using, can start easily and will do what you want it for.
Pro grade gear is expensive but I for one would never bother with anything else.
I still lend out my Stihl 070 ( 1986 ) and the Stihl 045 ( 1993 ) to customers when I get behind with the repairs.
They both cost over a full months salary when I bought them ( the 070 was 3 months salary ) and that is the sort of price you will need to pay for a quality saw.
Brand names mean nothing now day.
All the big brand names sell junk as well as top quality while some of the unknown names coming out of China are really good ( most are temporary diverted landfill ).

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Thanks for you answer.
I just read the article and there they are just writing about STIHL.
This firm is compared to Husqvarna.
Is there anything you can say?

Solange said:

Thanks for you answer.
I just read the article and there they are just writing about STIHL.
This firm is compared to Husqvarna.
Is there anything you can not say?

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In this article mentoolbox.com/stihl-vs-husqvarna/

Solange said:

In this article "https://mentoolbox.com/stihl-vs-husqvarna/"

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Сan you just write a model of the best chainsaw or several options.
Thank you!:smile:

Solange said:

I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

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Get him a Stihl. They are the best. The “farm boss” is a really
good all around chainsaw.

I think most members of this site would agree, the 2 best chainsaws for dependability and longevity would be either a Stihl or Echo branded model, yes more expensive, but much better in the long run for a homeowner, avoid the cheapie brands and avoid throwing your money away. here's a few sites tha may help you decide what model saw you might like to consider.
I might further add a NON-ELECTRIC is probably a better choice.

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/homeowner-saws/

https://www.echo-usa.com/Products/Chain-Saws/Product-Selector-Guide

https://www.chainsawsdirect.com/cutters/husqvarna-homeowner-chainsaws.html

there are other brands and many models take your time & choose the saw best suited for your use. ..:thumbsup:

Solange said:

I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

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What does your husband need a chainsaw for? Clearing your back lot? Just cutting up occasional fallen limbs? Is he experienced with using one? Also is he young and strong or old and weak? What's your budget?

Solange said:

Сan you just write a model of the best chainsaw or several options.
Thank you!:smile:

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The whole point is there is no such thing as a best chainsaw.
There are quality chainsaws that are particularly suited for a particular purpose.
So we would need to know a whole lot of things to give you a valid opinion.

As an example, I just fixed a top handle, one handed arbourists limbing saw for a 66 year old customer , only to find he no longer had the strength to start the saw safely.
And down here this was a top shelf $ 2000 professional saw.
For him the "best" saw was a $ 600 Husqvarna with easy start and a 12" narrow kerf bar with sprocket tip and skip tooth anti kick back chain.

The German & Japanese made Sthils are excellent saws, the USA made ones reasonable, the Brazil made ones OK and the Italian or Chinese made ones best avoided.
It is not like picking the best can of beans, chain saws are a very complicated product.

I for one would put Shindawa above Stihl followed by Echo the Husqvarna at the professional level saws
When you get to homeowner grade then some Husqvarna's would rank second.

For long life you need a saw with 2 piston rings, it makes a very big difference to both the saw & the price .
Then there are things like heated handles if the was is likely to be used a lot in winter as frostbite when using a chainsaw has cost almost as many fingers as careless use.
Then there is the use, faster chain speeds of Husqvarna's suit soft woods like spruce fur & pine where as greater torque of the Stihls & Shindawas are more suitible for oaks & euculupts.
If hubby has short arms then a soft start is an important feature.
Then there is weight to consider.
If he is going to be cutting 20 chords of fire wood a season he will need a different type of saw to the one he would be using to fell the tress on your new block.

So start with his age , height & physical condition.
Next what is he going to be doing with the saw
Then what sort of budget you have.
His level of mechanical skills & the proximity of different dealers.

Armed with all of this information then there are plenty of people here with the skills & experience to submit several saws he is likely to be happy with.
My landlord can not use the Stihl that my wife can use blindfolded
My wife can start the monster 070 easily but has difficulty with the 045 which weighs about 1/3 of the 070.
And we went with the Stihls over the Shindawas & Echos bescause they used the same mix as the lawnmower & weedeater.
When you do decide, fit the smallest recommended bar for the saw.
A big motor pulling a short chain on a small bar will make shorter work of any job than a small engine dragging a long chain around a big bar.

And then also get 3 extra chains because when the chains are worn out so will be the sprocket.

For around-the-yard light use by a homeowner these are actually nice little saws. I'm seriously considering getting one to keep in my truck toolbox. I would probably step up to the pro model personally. A lot of the tree pros in my area are buying the top handle professional version (T535Li XP). Good as a climbing/bucket saw and to have at the chipper to break down stuff before feeding it. Yes, it's battery powered.

https://www.husqvarna.com/ca-en/products/chainsaws/120i/967098102/

There are a lot of good chainsaws. Husqvarna, Stihl, Dolmar, Jonsered and Echo make good saws.

Avoid problems by using only non-ethanol gas. Also don't buy a bigger saw than you need and learn how to sharpen the chain.

https://www.jonsered.com/us/products/chainsaws/
http://www.dolmarpowerproducts.com/
https://www.stihlusa.com/
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/
https://www.echo-usa.com/products/chain-saws

Solange said:

I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

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There is NO "one size fits all" when it comes to a chainsaw. The most important info you can supply is....what does he plan to do with it, etc. If he wants to do a lot of heavy cutting, that is far different from just needing something to occasionally cut up a bunch of dead/fallen branches. If he wants to do some serious cutting, the more expensive major brands/models....Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsered, Echo, etc., are a Must. If it is just for light duty use, a cheap Poulan from Walmart would probably suffice.

I have the Echo CS 450P. Bought it nearly 5 years ago, and it has been the most reliable chainsaw I have owned, and I have had several over the years. I used it for all the cleaning up the periphery of this 12+ acre place, felled and cut up numerous trees, and a couple of storm cleanups. It usually starts in one or two pulls, even after sitting for a month. This saw requires oil mix with the "FD" designation.

I have a good friend that works for the state maintaining rest parks. Came out to help me cut up a big tree that had fallen. He had an Echo saw, unknown model etc. That was a superb machine in all respects. Just sounded perfect and cut like crazy, was a well used somewhat beat up machine at that. That'd be my choice if buying. And buy him a couple extra chains for whatever you get. A dull chain equals misery and a worn chain really wears the drive gear fast.

Darryl G said:

What does your husband need a chainsaw for? Clearing your back lot? Just cutting up occasional fallen limbs? Is he experienced with using one? Also is he young and strong or old and weak? What's your budget?

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My husband is young and wants very much to be a woodcutter, who I am to disturb him.

deminin said:

There is NO "one size fits all" when it comes to a chainsaw. The most important info you can supply is....what does he plan to do with it, etc. If he wants to do a lot of heavy cutting, that is far different from just needing something to occasionally cut up a bunch of dead/fallen branches. If he wants to do some serious cutting, the more expensive major brands/models....Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsered, Echo, etc., are a Must. If it is just for light duty use, a cheap Poulan from Walmart would probably suffice.

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I'll pry until the branches are cut off, but I'm not sure. Maybe tomorrow he'll be tempted to do wood cutting. I need something universal.

tom3 said:

I have a good friend that works for the state maintaining rest parks. Came out to help me cut up a big tree that had fallen. He had an Echo saw, unknown model etc. That was a superb machine in all respects. Just sounded perfect and cut like crazy, was a well used somewhat beat up machine at that. That'd be my choice if buying. And buy him a couple extra chains for whatever you get. A dull chain equals misery and a worn chain really wears the drive gear fast.

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I'm trying to find a chainsaw on reviews. But about Echo didn`t find anything. Can you tell me where I can read about it or send me a link to the article. Like this example https://mentoolbox.com/stihl-vs-husqvarna/.
I will wait for any of your answers.
Thank you.

i have a husqvarna 445 (~45cc engine 18" bar) that i bought to clear a piece of property to build my house and it worked out great...i'm not using it every day but i cut down a lot of trees with it and i still used it here and there in the yard and at friends houses a few times every year

One other thing. My son was looking for a saw, cutting firewood and keeping his woods cleaned up. He said that many of the saws he looked at had an awkward angled handle, not a typical right angle setup and it didn't feel right to him at all. He wound up with a Jonsered saw. After using it for a while he was not at all satisfied with it. Not sure why but heard a lot of complaints from him on this saw. Also, look at a local dealer first if service is an issue for him. Usually big box stores are buy it and it's all yours.

Just because it says 'Stihl' on the chain cover don't make it good. I do a lot of woodcutting and trimming and bought a Stihl Arbborists top handle saw for elevated work and it was a POS.. a very expensive POS as well. A friend told me to get a Tanaka top handle arborist saw and I did, 100 bucks on Amazon. Great little powerhouse, one pull, one hand starts cold or hot. I figured for a hundred bucks if it also was a POS, I could landfill it. That was 2 years, 4 loops and 2 roller nose bars ago. Original plug. Will need a drive sprocket this time but for 1 hundred bucks (delivered), I'm happy.

BTW, Tanaka is Makita.

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

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.

Solange said:

I want to give my husband a chainsaw. But I do not understand this at all :frown:. Help with the choice. Thank you :thumbsup:

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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.

jekjr said:

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.

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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.

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

Darryl G said:

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.

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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.

Darryl G said:

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.

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The chainsaw runs an incredible length of time.

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.

TacticalGardner said:

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.

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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

jekjr said:

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.

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

deminin said:

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

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Must be that titanium line I've been hearing about...:wink:

Solange, you would do best buying a gift certificate at a reputable full service saw shop and let him talk to them. They know what works in your area and can help make the best choices. They will also set up the saw and should show him how to start and safely operate it, used improperly it is a dangerous tool. You may have to try several stores to find one you are comfortable with.
I sold and serviced saws for a number of years and frequently met customers in your position. If buying one as a gift, I left it in the box and strongly encouraged them to have the recipient bring it in for pre delivery service, sometimes it was not not what the person needed or wanted.

Stihl and Husqvarna are better but expensive. I have used Husqvarna 455 at work. It's great!
There are many options available in the market which are manufactured by different companies. You can visit this site for more info:
https://pickbestchainsaw.com/best-chainsaw-brands/

a saw was probably purchased already, but as a homeowner with clean up and cutting occasional trees, I got a Dewalt cordless with a 6ah battery. it's perfect. I can cut a full 6.5 truck bed of oak on a single charge. No gas to mix or keep, no fumes, I can talk while I cut. It's quiet when I'm not. I had an older stihl and it seemed I spend 20 minutes getting it running the couple times a year I'd use it. No I just drop the battery in and go. If I was cutting wood all day it would probably be a different story, but if I run out of juice, I plop it on a charger and go do something else. But like I said, by myself, 1 load of wood is plenty. it only ever gets burned for campfires so it lasts a while

From my experience, I'd suggest you Stihl and Husqvarna. they are good brand but expensive.
you can check other markets like https://gardenley.com this site help you find a chainsaw.

EricC said:

a saw was probably purchased already, but as a homeowner with clean up and cutting occasional trees, I got a Dewalt cordless with a 6ah battery. it's perfect. I can cut a full 6.5 truck bed of oak on a single charge. No gas to mix or keep, no fumes, I can talk while I cut. It's quiet when I'm not. I had an older stihl and it seemed I spend 20 minutes getting it running the couple times a year I'd use it. No I just drop the battery in and go. If I was cutting wood all day it would probably be a different story, but if I run out of juice, I plop it on a charger and go do something else. But like I said, by myself, 1 load of wood is plenty. it only ever gets burned for campfires so it lasts a while

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Completely agree with you. 1 load of wood is indeed plenty.