Chainsaw recommendations

[17 squirrel]

Its not my fault you dont have an 80's vintage German made saw. Two to three pulls every time if its fresh gas and I remember to do all the steps perfectly. Anything other than perfect, mid season gas, etc and its 3 or 4.

Actually all of my Stihl equipment except one weedwacker was bought in the early eightys.. And just because your chain bar was built in Germany does not mean the saw was. Alot of Stihl products have been built here for awhile now.

Stihl Incorporated is the American branch of Stihl Group based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Construction of the facilities there began in 1974. Along with the manufacturing side of the company, there are also warehouses and administration buildings in the complex

 

[nighthawk80]

I have a Jonsered chainsaw. I have used Sthil, Echo, Craftsman, and Pouland. In the end, yes some are nicer than others, but the biggest problem is taking care of the item. Some of the companys just need a little more maintenance than others, but if you take care of them, most will last you a long, long time.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I must be doing something wrong, everyone keeps talking about stale gas. I guess I need to knock on wood or something because the gas I am using for all my small engines are from the cans will filled last year. I don't mix anything in the cans, just place them in the garage and use them in the rotation.

Some engines are more sensitive than others. I've got a Craftsman snow blower with a chinese knockoff of the Honda engine design. 4 month old gas will prevent it from starting. The second year I bought it I added "fresh" gas that I had purchased the previous fall for the lawnmower. No go. Even with the electric start. It wanted to, but just wouldnt run. Called for in home service and the guy said "old gas" and I thought he was full of it. Who had heard of such an animal? He drained the carb bowl, added a splash of fresh gas from his can and it roared to life with two pulls.

I also had to use some of the old 2 cycle gas I was talking about because I was out of my fresh and just HAD to get the work done. The trimmer would run, but barely started, I had to nurse the throttle to KEEP it running, and it would never run at full speed and was dragging. It can make a difference.

 

[caverjamie]

Some 2 cycle oil mix already has stabilizer added to it, but even then it's still better to use recreational fuel or some other non-ethanol fuel.

As for saws, either Stihl or Husqvarna. The models have changed since the last time I bought one, but the equivalent of a MS261 or a Husky 359 would be a good size. I like a 20" bar for all around general use. Also, I have to say I bought a Husky 327LS string trimmer and the thing has been great, no complaints.

 

[17 squirrel]

I have a Jonsered chainsaw. I have used Sthil, Echo, Craftsman, and Pouland. In the end, yes some are nicer than others, but the biggest problem is taking care of the item. Some of the companys just need a little more maintenance than others, but if you take care of them, most will last you a long, long time.

Jonsered builds nice power equipment.

 

[churchmouse]

Jonsered builds nice power equipment.

I was thinking that as well. Friend has 2 of them and they are serious power.

 

[lizerdking]

Another vote for echo!

Whatever you get, keep it around 50cc's and an 18-20" bar. Then get some ppe, chaps/glasses/gloves/ears (I use my same ears for shooting). Then get some polymer wedges, they help with felling and even bucking. * I can't stress how much easier life is with a wedge or three... 6$ each on amazon for some cheapies...

There's a great series on Youtube for chainsaw operation, maintenance, overal use, it's a good watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Aktms_4Pg



If you want to dive deep into the rabbit hole, start surfing the arborist forums
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/

...I can be a bit obsessive when I pick up a new hobby

 

[Fargo]

I use a husky 353 and have been more than happy. Pulling an 18 inch bar it does everything I've asked it to and I seek out oak/hickory. It is also light enough that it doesn't wear me out quickly as I'm not an everyday chainsaw user by any means.

 

[BoilerMakerME]

Prepare to buy, and we want pictures.
Lawn Mower with Battery-Powered Innovation - Learn More | STIHL USA Mobile

You got me all excited, then i see it's a push mower [you toyed with my emotions ]...it would take me a whole day to mow a couple acres with that push mower. Right now i use a 61" Zero Turn.

 

[Brandon]

You only said a lawn mower!
I delivered a Stihl Lawnmower

 

[DanSwanky]

I have a Stihl MS 261. I look forward to every time I get to use it.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I can honestly say i have never had a Stihl saw start cold with two pulls or a blower or a weedwacker start on the second pull. Never
all of mine start just like the manual states how to start.

on a cold saw,
Pull throttle and lock choke on and pull starter until the the saw farts and try's to start maybe 3 to 6 pulls
flip choke off and saw will start with the next pull.

a warm or hot saw, sure 1 or 2 pulls.

Me either... I love my Stihl equipment but for some reason it doesn't like to start easily after it's sat a while. The problem is that the gas seems to evaporate or leak back out of the carb and it takes a while to get it primed up. If I pull the air-cleaner, splash a little gas in the carb, and pull it over on full choke it will usually fire and get things going in just a few pulls.

As far as normal "in-season" use (saw has sat maybe a week or 2) I can usually get it started in 2-4 pulls. Same thing with my Dolkita (Dolmar in Makita clothing)...

I must be doing something wrong, everyone keeps talking about stale gas. I guess I need to knock on wood or something because the gas I am using for all my small engines are from the cans will filled last year. I don't mix anything in the cans, just place them in the garage and use them in the rotation.

Same here: I don't seem to have any issues with fuel going "stale" or "bad". It's not unusual for me to use the same can of gas I mixed up the previous year on the trimmer/blower use in the current year. Typically I burn a lot more fuel in my saws so on years I'm cutting a lot of wood or taking down trees for folks I use more gas and don't have to worry about the age of my gas reaching anywhere near the 1 year old mark.

Regarding saws: Husky, Stihl, Dolmar/Makita, Jonsered are all top quality saw makers. Almost every one of them makes a lower quality line though. Cheaper lines may not have the longevity of their pro-line. That doesn't make it a bad saw, as typically the price reflects that difference and the cheaper line may or may not match your style of use.

Some things to understand/watch for:

Clamshell engines: a lot of pro-saw purists dog the clamshell design as inferior, harder to rebuild etc. IMHO it's all horse-hockey. The clamshell design is harder to modify internally if you want to hop up your saw a little (porting, adjusting squish, different piston/cylinder size, etc), but they are just as easy to fix/repair as others.

Homeowner saw: Generally, from my experience the "guts" of these saws are mostly on par with pro-saws. Some differences you may see are plastic parts in place of metal, cheaper carb and air filtration, less effective anti-vibration, less effective oilers for the chain, non-adjustable carbs, etc. As long as you recognize these differences and account for them the homeowner saws can be made to run just as well as a pro-saw.
...Oilers: unless you are running an unusual bar/chain combo you don't necessarily need an adjustable oiler that would come on a pro-saw
...Carb: unless you are very demanding and know how to tune your saw properly you don't need an adjustable carb
...Anti-vibe: unless you're running the saw a LOT or have hand/joint issue you probably won't notice the difference in anti-vibe

Ethanol free gas vs. E10: I know this is hotly contested so I'll try to keep this to facts only. Ethanol is a solvent, it helps dissolve "gunk" deposits in your engine leading to cleaner fuel systems, fewer long-term fuel delivery issues etc. The catch is that ethanol can alter non-compatible plastics/rubbers which means it's possible (mostly on older saws) to have major fuel issues if you use ethanol fuels. Even if your fuel system is compatible you can still have issues if you run ethanol fuels in an older engine that has years of varnish build-up in the fuel system because the ethanol can break those deposits free and send them into the carb where they plug the jets etc. This can be very frustrating. Ethanol fuels don't generally form deposits, ethanol free fuels do. Plan/use the fuels accordingly. Then the water/moisture issues. Ethanol has a high tolerance for water; if you get water in your gas the ethanol will absorb it and run it through with the fuel which reduces water related issues in fuel. Ethanol free gas has NO tolerance for water in the fuel; you get a little water in it you will have problems.
Ethanol Pros: Keeps fuel system clean, tolerates water infiltration in the fuel system
Ethanol Negs: Breaks loose the deposits in your fuel system which can plug things up, may dissolve or swell certain plastics/rubbers in the fuel system
E-free pros: Higher BTU content
E-free negs: leaves more fuel system deposits

Cheap ways to acquire saws:
Craigslist + patience can yield a good deal on a saw. My first saw was a Stihl MS170 from craigslist for $75 in like-new condition (even came with 6 chains)
Garage sales etc
Home Depot tool rental: Home depot rotates their Makita rental saws when they hit 2 years old no matter how much they've been used. You can score a real-deal pro quality 64 cc saw for $2-300 (how I got my 2nd, larger saw).

Ways to improve saws:
Some homeowner saws can be modified to give you the nicer features of pro-saws. For example, the MS170 is an exact carb match to the 026, you can add a fully adjustable 026 carb to an MS170, open up the muffler a little bit and you have really nice saw in the small, lightweight package of the MS170. IMHO this one is my go-to saw for anything the 14" bar will cut because it's so lightweight and I don't fatigue much.

Ways to improve pro-saws: large piston & cylinder for more power, porting the cylinder for more power, adjusting the squish for higher compression, opening up the muffler, etc. I haven't done much to my Makita saw except get a longer bar and open up the muffler. The 64, 73, & 79 cc Dolmar/Makita saws all use the same bottom end so a $200 investment into your $200-300 ex HD rental saw will yield one heck of a power-house pro saw for a VERY affordable price-tag. For me the 64 cc works well enough so I haven't shelled out the money to bump up the power on my saw...

 

[Win52C]

Stihl MS250, not the new cutting edge model but great power to weight ratio...and will outlast 95% of the people who use them with routine maintenance. IMHO

 

[ghuns]

The 64, 73, & 79 cc Dolmar/Makita saws all use the same bottom end so a $200 investment into your $200-300 ex HD rental saw will yield one heck of a power-house pro saw for a VERY affordable price-tag. For me the 64 cc works well enough so I haven't shelled out the money to bump up the power on my saw...

When a buddy was working on my Husky 359, a large oak tree fell along one of our fence rows. He wasn't done with my saw, so he let me borrow his Makita that had the 79cc kit. That thing was not for the timid.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I have an old model Stihl MS 290. It's the best saw I've ever had, plenty of power, and runs great. But, it's heavy and it will wear you out after a long day hossing it around.

 

[ruger1800]

Have 6 saws 5 stihl 1 husky don't waste you money on the bargain mart junk, prefer stihl as others have stated 029 would be a good all arounder.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

A: Firewood Hoarders Club dot com. Nice folks, tons of info.

B: FIND a source for non alcohol fuel. I use CO-OP.

C: After every use, I empty out my gas tank and run my saw dry. Stops fuel related problems in their trax. Any mix older than a month or so goes into the Scag or the S-10. It's not THAT expensive, and certainly not worth the headaches.

 

[CountryBoy19]

When a buddy was working on my Husky 359, a large oak tree fell along one of our fence rows. He wasn't done with my saw, so he let me borrow his Makita that had the 79cc kit. That thing was not for the timid.

They have a reputation for being pretty aggressive on large timber... IMHO they (the Makita rental saw + 79 cc piston/cylinder if you choose to upgrade) are one of the best kept secrets in the chainsaw world. Just about anybody that has purchased one has not regretted it and I can say for sure that I don't regret it either. Part of me wishes I could find one that somebody straight-gassed and the rental center is throwing out (some folks on other forums have seen this happen) so I could still be in it for ~$200 in parts but just go straight to the 79 cc... One note: if you do have the 79cc it's highly recommend you step up to the heavy-duty air-cleaner; it cleans better and flows more air for the larger engine.

For me, I have a 25" bar on my 6401 and the only time I ever have power problems is when I'm working with 18"+ of the bar buried in hardwood (Oak, Hickory, etc). A couple weeks ago I took down some willow trees (very soft wood) for a guy in town and I had the bar completely buried and still couldn't bog the saw (chips were flying 10+ feet too). That's primarily the reason I haven't sprung for the bigger piston/cylinder. I don't have many issues with the 64 CC unless I just happen to find myself in some pretty big hardwood (not a frequent occurrence for me).

 

[Zoub]

There is a lot of good info in this thread. in the past Stihl has "borrowed" my brothers facility to do some fuel testing on their engines. We are talking Dynos, fuel farm etc.... In addition he has spent 6 figures in the past on projects designed just to test fuel performance in their engines as well. They are active on a national and international level, deal with the EPA year round. I think some of their white papers are out on the web.

I am just stating this to make the points hit home. You don't have spend 200-300k to learn it or have 25 years of engine development experience and dyno time. You get it here free.

Don't buy less then 89 octane. Their are exponentially more impurities in 87. You don't need higher octane, but never less than 89.

No ethanol. The internal damage is being done in any engine but more so in small engines. It is the devil, especially in hard use engines like marine, AT'V's, chainsaws.


That is why Stihl offers the premixed gas, it works and it is a money maker, but it is the same stuff you mix yourself. Where I live almost every station has 91 ethanol free. It is typically 50 cents more per gallon over 87. We run it in everything. Keep seafoam products on hand, do simple maintenace.

I see logging trucks every day. Here you see Stihl, Husky, jonesred.

If OP is taking care of remote property go Stihl. Buy from nearest dealer so you get good support. Easier to carry fewer powerheads and more add on tools when you buy their other products.

I have used Makitas before, they do fine as well, just not popular here.

For those who are "lucky" with fuel storage and don't know why. Storing fuel in dark areas means less temp swings which means less condensation inside leaky, half full tanks and cans. If you put it up, run it dry and fog it, or fill full and treat it. I do both, depends on the item.

 

[SMiller]

There is a lot of good info in this thread. in the past Stihl has "borrowed" my brothers facility to do some fuel testing on their engines. We are talking Dynos, fuel farm etc.... In addition he has spent 6 figures in the past on projects designed just to test fuel performance in their engines as well. They are active on a national and international level, deal with the EPA year round. I think some of their white papers are out on the web.

I am just stating this to make the points hit home. You don't have spend 200-300k to learn it or have 25 years of engine development experience and dyno time. You get it here free.

Don't buy less then 89 octane. Their are exponentially more impurities in 87. You don't need higher octane, but never less than 89.

No ethanol. The internal damage is being done in any engine but more so in small engines. It is the devil, especially in hard use engines like marine, AT'V's, chainsaws.


That is why Stihl offers the premixed gas, it works and it is a money maker, but it is the same stuff you mix yourself. Where I live almost every station has 91 ethanol free. It is typically 50 cents more per gallon over 87. We run it in everything. Keep seafoam products on hand, do simple maintenace.

I see logging trucks every day. Here you see Stihl, Husky, jonesred.

If OP is taking care of remote property go Stihl. Buy from nearest dealer so you get good support. Easier to carry fewer powerheads and more add on tools when you buy their other products.

I have used Makitas before, they do fine as well, just not popular here.

For those who are "lucky" with fuel storage and don't know why. Storing fuel in dark areas means less temp swings which means less condensation inside leaky, half full tanks and cans. If you put it up, run it dry and fog it, or fill full and treat it. I do both, depends on the item.

Agreed!!!

I use 91+ ethonal free with Stihl HP Ultra 2-Cycle Engine Oil, NEVER a issue!