economy chainsaw

Soundguy · Feb 14, 2007

i need to pick up an economy chain saw. right now I've been using an electric remington convertable pole saw ( pole say / detachable chainsaw.. 14" bar ) to do trimming on the edge of my property. i use a pto generator and tractor and a 100" extenion cord.

A small saw works fine for what i am cutting.... but I would like to be able to walk out, gas a saw and go, vs getting the tractor out, and then getting the pto gen out of the garage.. etc. plus.. with florida's antisipated bad tornado and huricane season.. the pto gen may not always be available for trips to the back of the property.

I've pared it down to 3 saws:

Poulan wood shark? 14" bar, 109$ at lowes ( can remember cc)

Poulan preditor 16" bar 34cc 127$, walmart

Homelight ranger, 16" bar 33cc 129$, home depot.

Any comments or opinions? I'm not doing any logging.. A 14" electric cuts everything i need just fine.. i just want to get 'off the leash'.

I've used poulan and homelight saws about 10'ys ago.. have had electric since then.

Looks like if it is 16".. money is even up on the poulan or homelight.. or just a tad cheaper to go poulan and 14"

thanks

soundguy

scott_vt · Feb 14, 2007

Afternoon Chris,
I have owned Homelite, Stihl and a el cheapo Eager Beaver. The homelite was a great saw, I used for many years. I had the Homelite Super XL.

If I was looking for a economy I would consider the Poulan. My neighbor has one and feels its a very good saw for the money. I would think that saw with a 14" bar would do everything you will need on your hedgerows.

BTW My Stihl is the 025 model but its not economy. Way back when I paid $279 I believe.

Robert_in_NY · Feb 14, 2007

The Super XL's are good saws. We still have a couple of them. As for the new Homelite saws I am not impressed. A friend bought us one a couple years back as it was reduced down and it just feels cheap. I don't know if they are any better now but it is a toss up with the Poulan so buy the cheapest one there is and you will be ahead.

jimmy1 · Feb 14, 2007

I use a Poulan Pro 16" bar 34 cc engine around a 3 acre property and it has been and excellent saw. I don't know how it compares to the preditor though. One thing that I was told to watch for was the distance between the teeth on the chain, apparently there are some that have too much space between and do not cut as well. I think these are mostly off name brands though.

Jim

tillerkiller · Feb 14, 2007

Just make sure that whatever you get has a chain brake. I bought one a few years ago and got it home and out of the box before I figured out that it did not have a chain brake.

By the way, I really like a 16" bar for balance, a 14" feels way too short and an 18" feels too long....

Turbys_1700 · Feb 14, 2007

It's a toss up. All of those saws are probably made in Mexico and I would expect the quality to be even. Personally I would buy the 16" Poulan.

jbrumberg · Feb 14, 2007

tillerkiller said:
Just make sure that whatever you get has a chain brake. I bought one a few years ago and got it home and out of the box before I figured out that it did not have a chain brake.

By the way, I really like a 16" bar for balance, a 14" feels way too short and an 18" feels too long....

I agree with tillerkiller as to the "balance". I would look for a low kickback chain. I believe you get what you pay for- I have had my old Stihl 011AV for 23 years. I have rebuilt and/or replaced the oil pump several times and the recoil mechanism once, but it still runs well. Jay

Egon · Feb 14, 2007

I'm quite happy with my Husky 365.

Displacement rather than bar length gives a better idea of the type of saw.

waynokakid · Feb 14, 2007

I just bought my second Poulan, a Poulan Pro with 18" bar. That one was manufactured in Northwest Arkansas. The other one I bought 25 years ago and still runs great. It was orginally a 16", but since I got the Pro. I put a 14" on it. Use it mostly for firewood and trimming. Both of them have been good saws.