Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I am looking for a chainsaw to do very small work around my house (mainly 3 or 4" branches that fall, occasional firewood size logs when a bigger branch comes down).  I saw a Sears 35066 16" chainsaw and a 16 " Homelite chainsaw.  Each are about $125, each has about a 33cc - 36 cc engine.  I was wondering if anyone has experience with either of these, with strong convictions either way about them.  It will probably be used about one hour per year total.

Another possibilility is to go Echo or other "bigger brand but used".  I read the other post about chainsaws and found that information very helpful.  If I can find a used saw at a comparable price I will evaluate that route.  Agent Orange sells their used saws from time to time, although they are about $250, and if I was going to buy that I could get a new smaller Echo. 

Thank you, in advance, for any information you can give me.

Best regards,

Walt 

I'M proposing you to buy an electric one Black and Decker is a good little cutter for 3 or 4 inches It works pretty well and cheap to buy. I got one of these for many years and just add oil that's it.

Walbroman

Hi Walt:

I too needed a chainsaw for occasional use...I wound up buying the Poulan 2150 (refurbished) from Northern Tool for $99.  It has a 16" bar and works well for my needs.  I believe that the craftsman saw is made by same manufacturer as the Poulan (Electrolux if I recall).  The only gripe that I have with the saw is if the bar oil is left in it during storage, it tends to leak out and make a mess.

bbwb

bbwb wrote:

Most chain saws will "leak" oil.  Some of the time it is the oil that is in the bar and on the chain.  It won't look like it comes from there, but that's what we have found.  Some times it's the gasket around the cap and then sometimes it just a plain leaky tank.

Sherri

The Homelight is a piece of crap IMHO.  Bought one a few years ago for some light duty work, took forever to start, then it would continue to run the chain when I put it down.  They had a recall on it.  I brought it in, about 8 weeks later they called to have me come get it, I told them to just keep it.  Spend a few bucks more and get an Echo or Stihl, or Husq (I prefer Echo).  Any of those will last you years to come.  Why buy things 2 or 3 times.

I know these things get looked down upon, but I like mine. Mine is an 017 with the older engine. Mine is about 5 years old. It has the skinny chain, but it seems the better saws have a faster chain speed. Maybe it's me.
Mine has been dependable and cuts good. I think they are around $160.

Stihl

Homelite is not a brand that is customer friendly. They are VERY hard to start, run rough, and tend to have several problems with each model, which wears one or more peices out beyond repair. Another reason you should stay away from Homelite is because the company is in financial trouble. About 2 years ago John Deere bought the company, but only to obtain the patents for the trimmers. They shortly after dumped Homelite, so when Bill said that the repair place had the saw for 8 weeks, it's not B.S.. The top 3 brands are Stihl, Echo, and Husqvarna, in no particular order. Stihl is a good brand and tends to take care of their customers, unless you were to do something like run straight gas in it or run the saw with/out the air filter. I have not really dealt with Echo, or Husqvarna, but i heard they are good brands also. Below is a link to a Stihl chainsaw that i would recommend. Also are links to Echo and Husqvarna saws. Hopefully this has helped you in your purchasing decision.

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS170.html

http://www.echo-usa.com/prods_item.asp?Model=CS-305&Category=CHAINSAW

http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/

Walt, I would go one of the smaller Echo's or Stihl's. How many times have we all experienced paying a little more and being glad we did? I don't think this need is any different, you'll be using it for many seasons and finding other uses too, I imagine.

Had a 16 inch Homelite at the old house once. PIA to start. But once you got it going, it did the job. Looking back, I would have gone with an electric one given the chores it had to do.... 3-4 inch branches or so.

Main reason I would have gone electric is that I would not have to deal with mixing gas and oil (lazyness) Plus the jobs were small and simple.

At this point I have no need for one and the previous one went to my father-in-law who would use it for small jobs here and there. Still a PIA to start though.

I would like to thank everyone who gave me input concerning my questions.  It appears that with chainsaws either go heavy duty, electric, refurbished name brand, or not at all. 

Again, many thanks for your time and efforts to my inquiry.  It is, and will be, greatly helpful.

Best regards,

Walt

"I would like to thank everyone who gave me input concerning my questions.  It appears that with chainsaws either go heavy duty, electric, refurbished name brand, or not at all. "

Clear as mud huh? LOL

Marshall,

Yes, but do not cut mud with your chainsaw...I learned that from the other post. (it really angers the saws owner!)

Walt

Very true, I do remember the post. Sad, sad, sad.

Back to you're saw, how much do think you'll end up using it? How many years are you going to expect to get out of what you buy or, maybe better, how many do you realistically want to get? Do you want to screw with an extension cord?

To me, extension cords are a pain the a$$, I hate em! They're time consuming, can be a henderence in a machines use and can be potentially dangerous. I keep mixed fuel anyway for my blowers, trimmers, etc. It's so much easier to me pull a cord once or twice and go get it on without somthing trailing me, getting caught on obsticles, having to wind it up, being limited to how far i can go until I need a another cord, etc. Yuk!

That said, I have electric hedge trimmers instead of gas. LOL

I do hate them though but I use them so little I can deal with it.

Marshall, I'm shocked, and disappointed!!!!!   Go and buy the hedger attachment for your Echo split boom at once!!!    I'll vouche for it.  It's a nice piece!!

Bill,

I guess you told him!

Marshall,

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post, (bad Walt!), is that the times when I do get some firewood it is because one of my neighbors oak trees comes down and a branch or two takes out my power line.  The wood on my lawn or driveway becomes mine, the township clears the street, and my neighbor lets the other stuff rot in the woods.  Otherwise, electric could serve my purpose well as I need to cut up branches that fall off my trees (Hybrid Poplar and Pine mainly).

As a rule, I don't care for extension cords.  Although my need for a saw is about 1 or 2 hours per year, mostly to cut up branches for disposal.  Although I could end up with anything, The "$450 Husq" would be like using a two stage snowblower to clean off your porch.  I am looking for something in comparison to your B&D drill, but for limb trimming. 

(Marshall, Snow is white stuff that falls from the sky.  In OK you get hail storms.  picture snow as something like a hail ball that you smashed, then make it 2 feet deep all over the place)

Walt  

I have a craftsman 18" bar 42cc saw(can't recall model # now, it was just short of 200 bucks--and its not the one that comes with an extra chain)  that works great.  It can be finicky to start if i don't follow the starting instructions PRECISELY.  I bought mine for trimming-medium duty occaisional use.  It's got an inertial chain brake, anti vibe springs all over, thier "ez adjust" bar, and the low profile "skinny" chain.  Nice and light for handling up a tree, and it idles nice once warmed.  It too like every other saw i've used, will tend to weep bar oil for a bit after being used.  I just set a rag under it in its case.  A neighbor of mine has one of the smaller craftsmans, and he actually got me thinking about them, He does more cutting than i do and says the little bugger never lets him down, and his is 3 or 4 years old now.  I do subscribe to the buy more than you need theory, but there comes a point where you can very quickly find yourself buying a ferrari to go to the grocery store.  Sounds like your needs are similar to mine, you might want to consider a higher end poulan or craftsman.

Shoot, 1-2hrs a year, get the cheaper one.

 Walt,

I have a 14 year old Poulan 2 1/2 HP  electric, 14 in bar that I love, why?

No gas, starts every time, no carb problems, nothing running till you pull the trigger!

I paid $59.00 for it and wanted a saw for the same reasons you do.

Lowes  has a electric Remington, 3 1/2 Hp, 14 in bar for $90.00.

I think it would do all that you might need.

                                                         Fred 

Bill_D wrote: Bill, I have considered it. What about the weight? Also, do you find that the length makes it difficult to trim "artistically", if you will? Kind of like using a butcher knife to peel an apple instead of a small pearing knife?

For 1 to 2 hours a year of cutting downed tree limbs, I'd get a decent quality electric one. As mentioned above, no fuel sitting in it for months at a time, no carb problems, instant on with no pulling a starter, and at the rate of 1-2 hours per year, it'll last decades.

That is true Marshall in that it can be heavy.  I think w/out the cord, albeit a little more heavy, the true artiste~ w/in you may be even further released.

I have found using the shoulder harness from my Echo pruner, on the hedger helps eaze alot of the strain on the biceps and forearms that I used to get from prolonged hedging.   

It will be a while before I can use one but as Fred stated I have a Remington electric that really comes in handy on  cutting and trimming small stuff  (2-5 inches).  Does not have the power if you get on larger stuff----hope this finds all of you doing well---I,m recovering every day---your friend Will

Will,

You sincerely just made my day; not by what you said, but by being here and saying....  THANKS!

To Everyone else,

I really do appreciate your help and opinions.  I will hopefully have some time this weekend to go back and evaluate the variety of saws.  The only electric I ever used was very small, and the bar kept loosening.  From the sound of some of the posts electrics may be better than my previous experiences.

Again Many Thanks

Walt

Stihl makes a nice electric saw, much better than what you will find at Harbor Frieght, etc.

 BJ,

Agree on the Stihl.

If it were me I'd buy the 180 c model  !!!

                  Fred 

I got to defend my homelite timberman  Iput this saw through lots work my area was hit by atornado.  lots if trees down  even loaned it , that could of went bad.  Any way I cut harrd wood  as large as 3 foot diameter.    The clutch got so hot the brake seized it up.  removed brake kept sawing.  I have never had it to hard start ,pump 7 times on primer buld choke 2 pulls.   It did plug up bar with chips and locked it up , gee clean out bar oncehesein while.  I do suggest to buy  a narrow kerf chain to ease cutting .  original anti kick so it doesn'"t  jump up a jab your head.   any of  these saws will cut with right combination.   I also purchase a stihl 210 c  goo saw ,  my son used it to cut .  However I got an Old 240 Homelite and drag raced in same log and cut faster.   I also tried echo ran fine still had problens with chains dulling quick,  


all in all I  still use antique 240 it sharpens easy 5/16 file .   does start hard its old ,  alittle starter fluid  carb punp weak , gee 26 years old can I complain?     Another thing need back on saws is manual chain oll pumpers need it when deep in log ,  chips suck all oil away.   Any way theirs a viideo called homelite vs. 44 magnum.  to watch.   As soon as the whether breaks I going to make a husky owrner  a believer will put the saw in same log,  loser buying lunch.



Hillbilly,  Hope to hear somethin from ya'll

Hi Walt.

Here's a vote for the Homelite.. I've had one for 8 years now and it's my most impressive cheap tool that i own. It still starts easily and just keeps on going. Only item ever replaced are chains. No other repairs. i think it was $100 back then. I bought it at the time just to cut up a tree that fell down. I  have since bought a wood insert for the fireplace and cut a cord and a half to two cords with it every year. I like it because it is light snd doesn't tire you out as a heavy saw  may. The negative on this saw is that  it has minimal vibration dampening and that gets anoying if you plan to use it more than a couple tankfuls at a time. Fow most home use it's great. Highly recommend it. For extensive use buy the orange one because they vibrate less (their higher end  models). One thing you should check is does it have a chain brake for safety. When i bought mine the 14 and 16" model had the same powerhead, but only the 16" one had the brake. Do not know if that's the same now. I think you should have a chain brake on a saw.

I also saw some suggestions on the electric. If you are within cords distance all the time that's also a good sugestion for ocasional home use. My sister has one and it works well.

Ron