CHeap chainsaw?

[WayneB]

Not that I own one, but thought this might be a good saw jus to have around considering the price?

Homelite Factory-Reconditioned 42cc 18" Gas Chain Saw

 

[20 20]

Just be very carefull these saw's are known to start one day then not the next. They are not the old homelites that were work horses. These are built for quantity not quility, you may get lucky or you more then likely will be wasting $80.00. What are you needing the saw for? If it were me I'd go find a stihl dealer and maybe go for 1 of their smaller home owner units??????????

 

[dave1949]

I have always assumed these reconditioned saws are customer returns, meaning the original purchaser had some problems. So, if the factory didn't build it right and test it the first time, I wonder
Dave

 

[mbohuntr]

A used Stihl or Husky will outrun a brand-new generic saw anytime. I would rather spend $120 on a well used Stihl, than buy a new $80 cheap saw. My brand new reconditioned McColluck got wrapped around a tree, and thrown across the yard after three weeks of frustration. I still have my .025 stihl after many hard seasons, and I'm sorry to say I haven't been very nice to it... Starts quick, runs hard, never gets tired, and has never let me down. Cheap saws are like BIC lighters, when they run out of fuel, throw them away.

 

[MoKelly]

I have a Homelite 16" saw I purchased from Home Depot 3 years ago. It cost around $100. I wanted it for small work mostly clearing tree branches that fall onto my path through the woods.

All my buddies said I was nuts and the saw wouldn't last 1 year.

Well, its lasted into its 4th year and is doing fine. I just make sure to clean it up every once in a while and don't let old gas sit too long.

I also have a bigger Echo saw and, I will admit, the Echo is much better built and sturdy.

But, for the smaller projects, I must say the Home DEpot Homelite special has exceeded my expectations.

MoKelly

 

[EddieWalker]

I made the mistake of buying cheap chain saws when I bought my land. I grew up with a Dad who had three cheap chainsaws and always thought that it was silly to spend big money on a saw. His saws were McCoulaugh's that I figured were good enough to get the job done, so that's the direction that I went. I bought a Husquavarna first. It was junk and didn't last very long. Then I tried Poulon Pro. Another piece of junk that didn't last very long. Then I went with the WildThing, which was the worse piece of junk that I ever came across. After wasting my money on those saws, I sort of realized that it would have been cheaper to buy a Stihl and have something that will start every time and cut what I want cut. My previous feelings on chainsaws was that the chain did all the work and as long as I had a good chain, or two, it didn't really matter what brand the saw was. I learned that if it doesn't start, or it wont keep running, it's not going to get anything done when you want it to. I spend days and days going back and forth with those cheap saws, and more hours then I care to remember messing around with trying to get them to start. Just the frustration that I put into them isn't worth the savings in dollars.

I've since gone back and asked my Dad about those McCoulagh chainsaws that he had and why he had three of them. It turns out that people he knew gave them to him, so he did all he could to have one out of three that would work. If you can get three piece of junk saws, then maybe you can keep one running. I had forgotten that part of it, but after being reminded of it, I remember bringing all three saws out to cut up a tree, and all the issues we had to keep one of them going long enough to get the job done.

Save your money until you can buy a Stihl or Echo. Those are the only two brands that I'd consider. While I've never owned or run an Echo chainsaw, I have an Echo weedeater and it's a very nice weedeater. I think that they do a good job on their motors and build quality tools. My dealer sells both, and he told me that Echo builds a better weedeater, but Stihl has a better chainsaw. But both are very good and nobody ever complains about buying either one.

Eddie

 

[rtimgray]

I think it just depends on your usage. I've had three Homelite saws in 15 years and feel like I have gotten my use out of them. Two I bought new for under $100 each (one at wal-mart and one online) and the other I bought used for $60.

After we had the ice storm (here in Kentucky) this past winter, I started using them very heavily around the farm and decided that it would be a good time to upgrade saws. I bought a 16" Echo for about $230 and I will say that it starts/runs/cuts better than the Homelites did. Of course, I paid almost as much for one saw as I did for three of the others, and I've yet to see if it will last as long over the years to come.

I think if you are just occasionally cutting small trees, limbs, shurbs, etc., there's nothing wrong with Homelite/Poulan/McCullough. I bought a $40 Homelite weedeater this summer at a refurbs store and used it all summer without a problem. If it doesn't start again, it's pretty much paid for itself in my mind.

Good luck and take care.

 

[WayneB]

Man did I open my mouth and insert my foot into it.....I don't own one of these saws, have two Huskies and an older Echo, all run great and I have had little or no trouble with the Huskies.

As for the CPO site I get emails from these guys all the time after I purchased a factory reconditioned PC framing nailer.

When I called Porter Cable about sending my framing nailer to them for repair they suggested I just go ahead and buy a reconditioned one for less money, turned out they were running a special with free shipping. I was very pleased with the nailer and it has been working fine for about three years now.

 

[SPIKER]

Im in line with some here:

I've used good expensive saws (top 3 brands I've used them all) and I've used a lot of the lower price brands. what I can say is that if you are wanting to get into cutting wood for fuel (wood burner or outside furnace or cutting wood to sell out of a woodlot) then I would get a expensive saw. If you are home owner, get a poulan/homelite saw. while spending 100~150 for one is not a great expense it is going to last to do what most homeowners need. and usually more. what happens most of the time is people abuse them and dont know HOW to run a saw or sharpen it correctly. they burn up a chain and expect it to keep cutting when the chain is dull. this is biggest problem and 2nd biggest problem is people seem to want to run the saw wide open and free rev them constantly. when not cutting wood. even when cutting most people try and run the saw wide open which is harder on them than needs to be or start to force the blade/chain into the log/wood when it is not cutting as fast as they want.

saws (any saw) should be run fast enough in RPM to keep the saw from Bogging down while cutting as long as chips are flying out and cutting well that is all the RPM that is needed. running it wide open does not make them cut faster 99% of the time. It wears the chain blades sprockets, & over heats them all for not. Keeping a file handy for quick chain touch ups is also very helpful. if you do get a dull blade change it out for a sharp one and or stop & fix the blade dont try & push the saw through to compensate for the dull blade...
(forgot to say)
that I like to buy the re-cond gas powered items from all dealers or brands for one reason. the re-cond gas powered items have pretty much all NEW parts on them, are actually test run and setup using proper bench testing methods by people who are paid to set up the equipment for proper operation, ie carb adjustments ect. something that very few low end NEW items receive as this means that the engine has to have oil, gas and work preformed on it. a NEW lawnmower never has GAS or OIL in it on 90% of them made, they are all set with generic setpoints at the factory and put into a box and they figure 85~90+% will be bought and run by a consumer and they will be perfectly happy with its performance. A reconditioned unit has been brought back often receives the best tuning and or even a rebuilt engine with larger bore & closer fitting tolerances after the re-man process.


mark

 

[Chuck52]

One of the handiest tools I ever had was a real cheap electric chainsaw I picked up at WalMart or Kmart or some similar place years ago. Sure, I had to be near an outlet, but it turned out over the years that a lot of what I needed to cut was near the house or shed. I think it was a Remington, and I probably paid less than $50 for it all those years ago. It finally died on me this year when the gear stripped. I guess it was a 16" bar, but I sure cut stuff lots bigger than that....took a while sometimes, but starting the saw sure was easy! I have a Husky 350 for most work, but if that Remington was still going I'd have used it to trim up some of the limbs from the old Bradford pear I dropped right beside the shed. It was light weight, and actually cut pretty good when the idiot using it remembered to sharpen the chain.

Chuck