Hi all:

I am still working on clean up from storm damage over the Summer. I have all but destroyed my two cheap chain saws in the process. Rather than repair the cheapies, I am thinking about buying something commercial grade as I have LOTS more work to do.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a chainsaw with at least a 24" bar.

Thanks

GarlyDog

Look at Stihl. They make chain saws for fire departments and rescue teams. Not familiar with the various models though.

Agreed. My uncle worked for a shop that repaired many, many chainsaws. He swears by Stihl because of their quality.

I'm curious, in what manner were your two chainsaws "destroyed"? I wonder if that's a typical weak point in cheaper chainsaws?

Stihl or Husqvarna. Both are made to work hard, and with basic maintenance they keep going for years and years. When you look at the price tag, spread that out over a decade, it helps with the sticker shock. Junk saws are actually more expensive over time.

BTW: I'm also curious about how the cheaper saws "gave up the ghost."

By the way, one of the little tidbits of knowledge that my uncle gave me about chainsaws was “use premium gasoline”. From his point of view, chainsaws filled with premium gasoline remain drastically cleaner and run much longer than the ones filled with normal gasoline. Apparently is has something to do with the gasoline-oil mixture of the two-stroke engines.

His advice has seemed to work well in my experience, as I’ve had a couple friends whose chainsaws were starting to sputter and spit, but ran like a dream after swapping out the gasoline for premium.

Echo the Stihl and Husqvarna- my grandfather had one of each (little Stihl, full sized Husqvarna), and despite being over 25 years old and run fine despite regular use by my dad and brother.

Thanks guys.

I will check out both Stihl and Husqvarna. This purchase is long overdue. I am ready to spend the money.

Also thanks for the tip on the premium gas.

I have a few more questions.

Does anyone have any thoughts about the chainsaw chaps or other specific safety equipment? The chaps seem like cheap insurance at $59.

Regarding the modes of failure on the saws...all of the above.

I am wasting too much time using and repairing the saws. They seem to just rattle apart.

I initially started out with three similar cheap lime green saws that the previous property owner left behind. Two are identical and one is slightly different.

From the three, I was able to make two working saws. The engine of the third saw, one of the twins, is seized up. I have canabilized many parts, including the housing, grip bar, chain bar, chains, adjustment screws, hand start recoil mechanism and chord to replace broken items I can remember.

On both working saw the bar adjustment screw rattled loose and disappeared.

On any given day one or the other won't start so I am swapping the remaining bar adjustment screw depending on which saw is in the mood to work.

Neither saw likes to come up to speed and has to be nursed.

The crankier saw leaks chain oil pretty bad.

Right now both saws are on my bench and I am out of cheap parts. I need a recoil chord for one saw and a chain bar and probably a chain to get other saw working.

Even when the saws are working, the blades dull very fast going through oak. It seems that I am spending more time sharpening than sawing.

The chains don't stand up to much sharpening either. I have used hand files and a Dremel to sharpen and destroy the blades. I am also considering a bench sharpener. Any thoughts?

Besides the saws' mechanical shortcomings,
The trees I am clearing are bigger than the twenty inch bar can handle, going all the way around. I need at least three more inches of bar to get through some trunks.

The one cool thing about this project is that I live in a rural area and I have a well tested burn spot on my property where I can safely and legally burn the debris as I go along. We are having some nice evening bon fires.

Thanks for all of your advice.

Would also recommend the Stihl, if you decide to go the Echo or the Husky check with your local shop for parts availability. Echo and Husky are now sold at big box stores and little shops usually don't like working on big box cast offs. I know that my favorite shop stopped stocking and servicing echo products when home depot started selling echo's.

Also pick up a spare chain, if the bar on your new saw can be flipped when you go though a jug of fuel swap chains and flip the bar. Clean, sharpen, and oil the chain before storing it. When you wear out the chains it is time to replace the bar and the drive sprocket. You should be able to get years out of the chains unless you have a tree cutting business.

I also recommend the premium gas and the premium mix oil with the fuel stabilizer added in to it. Sharpen my own chains with a file, if you are swapping chains take the dull one to your favorite lawn company and have them sharpened. You will like the better quality chains, years ago i cut the head off of a 16 penny nail that was grown about 6" into a pine tree (if i had cut half an inch higher i would have missed it), it did dull the chain. Took the chain in and had it sharpened, didn't want to file that much, and i am still using that chain.

Most importantly remember the rule. Don't let anybody borrow the girlfriend, the Stihl, or the Kubota. And not necessarily in that order.

OK. The deed is done. I decided to go with the Husqvarna 24in. Bar, 3.9 HP, Model# 359. I got an extra blade too.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200325000_200325000

Ouch at $509, but I will never finish this work without a better and larger saw.

Great pointers on the maintenance and usage too.

Thanks

OK, here's the deal.
When you buy tools at Home Depot and Lowes, you're often buying a re-engineered version of the tool, designed specifically to lower the cost.

For example, a Milwaukee Sawzall has a very different gearbox with plastic inside when you buy the Home Depot model.

Husquavarna has entered into the homeowner market with a similar strategy of reengineered products to hit lower prices.

The same is true for the Echo Brand chainsaws (which are made by Kioritz in Japan). If you want a saw that lasts, you buy from a company that sells top-end landscaping equipment to pros. It might be the same brand, but it's the engineering that matters.

Stihl is a solid performer, and until recently, it was the sole brand we used in the Fire Company. You won't find Stihl using lower-end versions of the product just to get to a price that puts them on the shelf at the Depot.

However, one of our members has a family business that has been selling landscaping power equipment for 75 years (yes, 75 years) and we recently got some Shindawa chainsaws from them, and they are far and away the best saws I've ever used. They are the only chainsaw on two of our trucks (we roll with a Stihl and a Shindawa on the largest engine)

So, Echo - from a landscape power tools place,
Stihl from anywhere and Shindawa would be my advice. I own a 16" Echo chainsaw, I really have no trouble with it at all, and it gets some hard use. The Shindawa is used in just terrible conditions and is superior in every way to all the others.

Excellent point, Martin. You need to be more discriminating with brands that appear in big box stores and make sure the particular models you're looking at are up to your standards, not just the overall brand reputation.

Martin's post got me thinking.

The saw I purchased arrived in the mail this morning. I didn't open it and called to request an RMA to send it back.

On the way home from UPS, I stopped by our local landscape equipment shop and purchased a Stihl MS 361.

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS361.html

They showed me how to use all the fancy features and got me set up with accessories. I decided to buy an additional 18" bar/chain, since most often I won't need the full 24" bar.

Thank you for all of your help.

I think I can get back to work now....

Good choice, I have worn out more than one "cheapo" chainsaw (Craftsman for one) with relative light use. But I have used quite a few Stihls with never a burp. I would suggest that one purchase the most powerful model that they can afford, more power (and a sharp chain, sharpen them OFTEN) means less strain on the saw...

Once you get a good saw make sure you upgrade to a good chain-blade for it too. Oregon Chains are favorites in the logging community out here.

Can't go wrong with a Stihl.

Good points too about the "consumer" vs. "commercial" models. My father has a "Husky" that's been worked hard for roughly 12 years (firewood for three families) and has been indestructible. I know he bought it at a full-service, commercial Husqvarna dealer and not a big box place. Now he's passed it on to me, and kept his other saw (a Stihl) for himself, simply because it has fewer hours on it.

Ditto on the sharp chain: the minutes spent doing regular touch-ups save hours of cutting time.

Jeez...that saw has more features than my truck.

Good choice with Stihl. We've got four of their Cutquik saws and a few of their chain saws. They get used pretty often and I don't think we've ever had a problem with them. (By the way, those Cutquik saws are awesome. We use them on everything; wood, steel, concrete, brick, aluminum, you name it.)

We use the Sthil 440 Magnum with both 25" and 28" bars for wildland and project work. With very minor care they will run all day. The 440 is a bigger saw and may be more then you need, but if you have a lot of cutting it is a great saw!

More features than my truck too. It's kind of an intimidating piece of equipment.

The saw even has an electric handle heater! That will be nice as it is getting cold in Illinois....38 degrees right now.

I read the operations manual last night, which is well written. It sure is nice to get a decent manual with something you buy. It even gives instructions for dropping trees using the saw.

I finally got around to using the new saw. I'm not sure if I should be happy or upset. First, the saw ran great...almost all the way through the first tank of gas...less than an hour. Then the chain seized up. The bar is not pinched. Engine still runs, bar still turns at the tip, chain gear is stuck.

I was cutting through very thick punky wood so it may just be gummed up somehow, but it seems like a more serious mechanical problem with the bearing around the chain gear.

Any way, I suppose I am happy to have somewhere to take it to get it fixed, hopefully under warranty. But this is incredibly disappointing and inconvenient after spending approx $600 on the Stihl.

You obviously have talents that you didn't now about,,,,just like me!!!

Garly, it sounds like the brake is engaged. If the saw will run but not rev up and the drive sprocket will not turn the kickback safety brake has engaged. Doesn't take much to make it lock up either, first time it happened to me i thought i broke my saw. And it took more than a couple of minutes for me to realize what had happened. To engage and disengage the brake push the knuckle guard foward away from the handle and then pull it back toward the handle until it clicks. If all else fails read the owners manual. HTH

Hi GarlyDog,

I missed your post a couple of weeks ago about chainsaws.

I agree with the others who reccomended Husqvarna or Stihl chainsaws, both are first rate products.

I killed a few cheaper saws when I was younger (Pioneer x2, Craftsman, Skil, Homelite) and finally settled on Husqvarna because I found a good deal on a used one. I have used that 266 saw steady for 15 years and the only thing I have repaired was the choke lever that I broke the tip off (my fault). At work we standardized on Husqvarna's and they are much better than the Pioneer's they replaced.

There seems to be two different grades of Husqvarna chainsaws, the homeowner and professional versions. In chainsaws I think you get the quality that you pay for.

I bought a second Husky 266 at a yard sale last year for 10 dollars and figured I would just use it for parts. The saw had been in storage for years, but started up and ran well with no problem. The oiler did not function so for $12.00 I had it repaired (nylon gear changed) and after a full testing I resold it, the saw was just too good to keep sitting around for parts.

In reply to your question about protective chainsaw chaps/pants; I have been around the forest industry for 25 years and have seen many serious chainsaw accidents, I have also witnessed many injuries prevented by this protective gear.

I personally have worn ballistic chainsaw pants and gloves since the early 80's and do not cut without them (or without a partner), but I had never personally put them to the test, until Labour Day last fall. My partners and I were cutting out a survey line on a very hot day. By the afternoon I was getting tired and only had a few thin balsam fir trees left to remove. I had just cut through a small tree and carelessly took a step forward while the saw chain was still running at near full rev's. I drove the bottom of the spinning blade into my left thigh, and the ballistic nylon fibers exploded which bound up the chain; I had cut through 2 of the 4 protective layers of my safety pants. Without that protection I would have cut my thigh to the femur with huge blood loss; the location is at least an hour from the nearest hospital, I do not know if I would have survived the trip.

The cost of the safety gear is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy, at this time of year it would make a great Christmas gift from a loved one.

My 0.02 cents,

Mike

Ray:

Duh! You were right. Maybe I should read that manual again. LOL.

Thanks for pointing out the "pilot error".

I have another hour of daylight to get back to work. I am happy again.

Thanks!


Mike:

I bought the chaps before I got the new saw. I have to look into the gloves. I agree. Inexpensive insurance.

I also got a helmet with built in mesh face hood and headphones. Still use my Nebo glasses under it all.

Gary

Glad that it was not anything major. I also read the owners manual cover to cover, but when the brake engaged itself i had no idea that the saw did something that it was supposed to do. But i was relieved that my saw was not broken (i'm sure you know that feeling) and that the safety system works very well. Stay safe and take care of your Stihl and you will be using it for many years to come.

Yes. Relieved and faith restored.

I really appreciate your help.

BTW, thanks to everyone who responded to this thread.
The Stihl saw works great.

I am finally making progress on my storm damage clean up project.

Hi Garlydog,

"I have to look into the gloves. I agree. Inexpensive insurance."

I have never had a chain break apart or fly off the bar with enough force to cut into my ballistic nylon left glove, but I still wear it every time.

Once about 25 years ago I was teaching a group of 20 forestry college students how to do a quick touch-up sharpen job on a chainsaw in the bush. I had taken my gloves off for this short talk and sure enough the file slipped on the first saw tooth and cut about half way around my index finger; lots of blood, very embarrassing. I now always wear gloves when sharpening my saw, I tend to remember the lessons that involve hospital staff.

Mike