economy chainsaw

[Robert_in_NY]

with a little bit of care the cheap saws will easily do what Chris wants and last a long time.

 

[3RRL]

Chris,
Home Depot or Lowe's usually has good buys on economy saws. Many years ago I bought a Poulan and one of my kids still has it. But like Turbys said, it's probably a toss up. Now I have a Stihl MS310 and a Solo 633 for limbing.

 

[kevinj]

my 010 stihl will out last those disposables 3:1 or more.

so instead of buying a disposable from wally world twice, buy a decent saw once.

I like the Stihl 180 (018) for light duty work. It has a 14" bar and handles well.

 

[Keith_B]

Chris, the last few Homelites we had here on the farm had short life spans, and don't have the power that similar sized saws have.

Poulans aren't a bad saw, especially for occassional use. For a few bucks more you can upgrade to the Poulan Pro. Lowe's has a 35 cc Poulan Pro for $139.84. Sometimes Walmart carries the Pros also. 35cc/16" Gas Chain Saw

The Craftsman saws used to be made by Poulan, I think they still are. They have a 36cc saw on sale for $129.99, it is normally $159.99. Sears item #07136069000 Mfr. model #36069 it goes off sale tomorrow. This is a pretty good buy on a 36 cc saw.

The handy thing about the Sears saws are that they are easy to get parts for if they are needed. When you shop at Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe's, etc., you are usually stuck chasing your own parts.

 

[SPYDERLK]

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

A 1000W inverter on your tractor will run that Remington fine. The Vector is a good one. It lived on the hood of the Kubota for 4yrs before it died. My wife wore out one of those saws with it and got a decent start on another one. No battery or alternator problems.
Larry

 

[rdln]

My 14" (saw) has cut everything I needed it to for the last 10 years.

I wont recommend any specific brand to you.

 

[kossetx]

I've used a craftman(poulan) for 12 years and never even changed the spark plug. It still idles well on it's own. I do have to sharpen the chain so I guess there are some flaws.

They may not all be that good, but I'll buy another.

I wish some folks here would learn to respond to the question and not their own little worlds. To each their own I guess.

 

[thingy]

Either sportsmans guide or northern tool [I think maybe sportsmans guide],sometimes have reconditioned chain saws,pretty cheap,,I think the poulan I now have,[bought 9-10 years ago], was one of them,,still runs great,,those poulan pros are supposed to be pretty good ones,,but for not much more you can buy a husky,I'd say poulan gives the most bang for the buck,,,smaller bar instead of longer one if you have the choice if its about the same cc,,,,,thingy

 

[mikim]

economy saws is what I've always run - with no problems. I currently have a 16" poulan pro and it's good (my second one in 20 years)..... but I bought a 14" top handle echo for my wife....and it's a great little saw for limbing. I can (with caution) reach up one handed with it to reach small limbs just overhead. I also have a 12" remington elect on a pole - We have in the past put the generator on the carryall, wife drove the tractor, and I walked behind with the pole saw limbing the devil out of stuff.

 

[EddieWalker]

I use a Poulon Pro, but don't know anything about the other brands you mentioned. Before I bought the Pro, I had a Husquavarna that I was very disapointed in. When it failed and the guys at the shop told me it was the engine and it would be cheaper to buy another, I walked away from that brand.

Since I don't cut firewood or use a chainsaw all the time, I went for a cheapy brand. My first choice was the Poulon Wild Thing from Walmart. It was total junk and I returned it the next day.

I did some research and figured Echo would be a very good choice. I went to Lowes to look at one, but they didn't carry it. I got my stores mixed up, but while at Lowes, I was told about the Poulon Pro's and decided to buy one.

It's been two years and I've abused it pretty bad. I'm on my second clutch and feel that's the week link on the saw, but the engine is very strong.

I think I paid $189 for it and consider it a good deal.

It has the 20 inch bar and that's a little on the big side, so lately I've been looking on ebay, craigslist and american classifieds for a small saw just for limbs. There have been some very interesting deals for Echo saws on ebay that have me very tempted.

Eddie