Chainsaw Recommendation

isu22andy wrote:

I think we need to know is the OPs cutting firewood cutting beer can logs in the backyard for a fire pit or truck loads of wood for a stove or wood burning fireplace . That’ll be the deal breaker or maker on electric vs gas .

General use would be yes for the beer can sized logs/branches around the house, but the trail cleanup is a little more of a kicker. We have tons of old popple (12″+) on our farm and “trail cleanup” usually means dealing with a few of those every time we head to the trails. We don’t heat with wood though.

The newer electric chainsaws can easily handle 12″ logs with their 18″ bars… its just a matter of how many 12″ cuts they can make on a battery charge… there’s no good formula to predict that number of cuts as there’s lots of factors that can change it…

Electric chainsaws will be more than adequate in popple. After the heavy wet snow of the 22/23 winter, I cleaned up miles of bent over trees on fence lines and road with a Milwaukee pole saw. A 6 ahr battery makes hundreds of cuts in smaller popple. And as I mentioned before they are a lot more pleasant to use.

I also bought a small inverter to plug into the UTV cigarette lighter. Then I can run my charger and charge batteries in the UTV while I’m cutting. $30 on Amazon. With three batteries I can cut continuously and never run out of power.

We have the Milwaukee electric pole saw and the only thing it’s had issues with is dead Ash. That stuff is incredibly hard. Anything else I’ve tried has been fine. I don’t see a reason I’d ever buy a gas pole saw again. As for the standard chain saw, it’s still definitely depends on the situation as many have noted.

buckybadger wrote:

Just because it’s relatively quiet doesn’t mean it is a shorts and sandals task.

That’s why I wear crocs!

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I also bought a small inverter to plug into the UTV cigarette lighter. Then I can run my charger and charge batteries in the UTV while I’m cutting. $30 on Amazon. With three batteries I can cut continuously and never run out of power.

This is the way. As long as I have a means to charge my 3 batteries (which I do in my truck, or as Grouse does on a UTV), I will never run out of power. And even without charging capacity, the 2.5, 6 and 7.5 AH batteries will get thru at least a half a day.

I will sell you my stihl farm boss, have about 5 extra chains. Its one of those that will run forever! has been a great tool for me. Bought it to clear downed trees from a tornado in 1999. Used it after another storm in 2010 and of course various limbs down every other year. Never a hiccup.

Well I ended up getting an MS250 on sale for $350. Couldn’t pass up the deal. Was able to fondle one of the Dewalt 18″ saws and the main thing I noticed was it is LONG when you compare it to a gas saw with the same bar length.

So far so good with the 250. Felled and bucked two decent sized pines on the edge of the yard that needed to come down.

Waldo you’ll love that saw. Hard to beat for the HP/weight/price

waldo9190 wrote:

Well I ended up getting an MS250 on sale for $350. Couldn’t pass up the deal. Was able to fondle one of the Dewalt 18″ saws and the main thing I noticed was it is LONG when you compare it to a gas saw with the same bar length.

So far so good with the 250. Felled and bucked two decent sized pines on the edge of the yard that needed to come down.

Good saw and good price, the modern version of one of my all time favorite Stihl 0-saws, the 025.

One issue to look out for. New stihl saws have had chronic issues with bar oil leaks. The vast majority of these leaks are caused by Stihl’s defective design for their flip cap bar oil cap, which fixed a problem that didn’t exist and did it badly besides. This was so common that I have the part number of an aftermarket cap written down so I can tell guys that call with bar oil leaks to get a new cap and call me if that doesn’t work. They almost never call back.

Stihl very recently issued a redesigned cap that (so far) does not have the leaking issue. Hopefully your saw included these new caps, but if you out saw leaks bar oil then the oil cap is your #1 suspect. Get a new cap under warranty and make sure it’s the new version.

wormdunker wrote:

I will sell you my stihl farm boss, have about 5 extra chains. Its one of those that will run forever! has been a great tool for me. Bought it to clear downed trees from a tornado in 1999. Used it after another storm in 2010 and of course various limbs down every other year. Never a hiccup.

That farm boss is a great chain saw. And that era is going to far more desirable then the new ones.

Great comparison to the weekend warrior backyard trimming guy compared to someone cutting loads of firewood. That comparison is spot on.
Only electric I have used (and I was way skeptical) is the Milwaukee Pole Saw and I am now a believer. That thing cuts great and is easy to use. Might get a bit top heavy when all extensions are on but it works so well on big branches! We cleared about an acre of locust 2-4″ diameter and it delivered and I would say easier to cut that size stuff as I didnt have to bend down as far with a gas saw. If you have the big Milwaukee Battery, it will last longer than you think.

Just cut shooting lanes and some firewood at the hunting land, and the 2.5 ah battery on my Toro was still going strong. Pretty sure my arms couldn’t take a full day with the other batteries too.

BigWerm wrote:

Pretty sure my arms couldn’t take a full day with the other batteries too.

Well, that’s my deal as well. Pretty much any saw can cut longer than I can. I can do about 2 tanks of fuel or 2 batteries, take your pick.

As I said in the thread on electric power equipment, this stuff is now so good that the homeowner type user, IMO, sees a lot of benefits with few to no downsides.

I just ordered the Dewalt 8inch Pole Saw Trimmer. Hope to cut some branches of a large pine that broke this summer.

BigWerm wrote:

Just cut shooting lanes and some firewood at the hunting land, and the 2.5 ah battery on my Toro was still going strong. Pretty sure my arms couldn’t take a full day with the other batteries too.

You wouldn’t make a good concrete cutter. Trees are easy concrete sucks. I find it kind of fun chopping trees due to the ease of work.

John Rasmussen wrote:

I just ordered the Dewalt 8inch Pole Saw Trimmer. Hope to cut some branches of a large pine that broke this summer.

that interests me… let us know how you like it..

Mike Schulz wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Rasmussen wrote:</div>
I just ordered the Dewalt 8inch Pole Saw Trimmer. Hope to cut some branches of a large pine that broke this summer.

that interests me… let us know how you like it..

Will do Mike.

Bearcat89 wrote:

You wouldn’t make a good concrete cutter. Trees are easy concrete sucks. I find it kind of fun chopping trees due to the ease of work.

Meh, I drilled and broke stone in college in a quarry, concrete is light work I’ve seen Chucky’s videos you guys just set em up and then eat snacks and watch youtube all day ;-P jkjk

Meh, I drilled and broke stone in college in a quarry, concrete is light work I’ve seen Chucky’s videos you guys just set em up and then eat snacks and watch youtube all day ;-P jkjk
[/quote]

His time lapse vids sure make it look easy, but Charlie just does the small time jobs lol. He used to play with the big dogs and then just left us on our own. Used to sit on lunch breaks listening to him play harmonica and guitar.
You’d never guess his roots come from death metal.

Bearcat89 wrote:

You’d never guess his roots come from death metal.

I don’t know, it’s definitely in the realm of possibility after BSing with him long enough.

If you are looking for a first purchase saw to do light to medium work there is no reason to get a big saw. The MS170 Stihl is a great saw for the price!!! I have 3 of them for carving and beat the snot out of them. It can handle anything up to 12 inch diameter with no issue and keeps you at a 200.00 budget.

I have an electric saw as well and not impressed. It works great for what I need out of it but not a saw to depend on in a hard environment.

I would only consider Stihl or Echo. Echo is said to be a better saw but I am so used to Stihl’s and have so many that I cannot justify changing brands.

Riddle me this, I just bought this chainsaw at Runnings on Friday. Sales guy went back to warehouse put some gas and bar oil in it and said it started just fine. He explained the steps to me and I’ve tried 5 times with not such a thing as a near start! AND YES the safety bar thing is not engaged, blade moves

Any ideas? Or I’m going back to Runnings Monday

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glenn57 wrote:

He explained the steps to me and I’ve tried 5 times with not such a thing as a near start! doah AND YES the safety bar thing is not engaged, blade moves

You can start it with brake engaged, think they tell you to for safety but don’t think it’s required. What were the steps they told you?

Should be something like 1) pull 3 times on full choke 2) move lever up one click and pull until it starts 3) as soon as it starts tap the trigger and lever will flip to run position.

If it doesn’t start after maybe 5 pulls in step two give it one more pull at full choke then go back to the part throttle and try to start it. Might have flooded it if pulled too many times at full choke, could put it in run and rip it I don’t know… a bunch of times to see if that clears it.

Glenn mine has started very reliably so far. One or two pulls on full choke until it pops. Move to half choke and another one or two pulls until it fires up.

waldo9190 wrote:

Glenn mine has started very reliably so far. One or two pulls on full choke until it pops. Move to half choke and another one or two pulls until it fires up.

9k, the instructions manual i read says the blade lock needs to be engaged? Or am I reading it wrong. Cause I’ve tried about everything. It don’t even sound like it wants to pop off. I’m getting really po’ed.

waldo9190 wrote:

Glenn mine has started very reliably so far. One or two pulls on full choke until it pops. Move to half choke and another one or two pulls until it fires up.

This is the exact starting process.
Full choke till it pops, move to half choke. Fire it and let it idle or feather the trigger, then move to run and she’s ready to eat.
Mine starts with or without bade saftey lock. But put it in lock just because, not sure on that model but you may have to squeeze trigger to put it in full choke.
So on yours Glen start it with that choke switch all the way down, then one click up then up once more after idle.

Also make sure to prime it till you see fuel in the bubble

Unless these stihls have a different pop sound it don’t do it.

I’ll give it a whirl tomorrow

Watch this Glen

Thanks BC. ONLY difference i see my saw doesn’t have a primer?