Which Chainsaw ?

[EddieWalker]

My gas saws hardly ever get pulled out anymore, and we heat only with wood... cutting and splitting a few cords a year. I may get some laughs, but I use and love my 18" SunJoe corded electric chainsaw. It has an Oregon bar and chain, cuts as well as my gas saws, is lightweight, no starting... just pick it up and it's ready to work, and the chain stops instantly, as soon as you release the trigger. They are cheap, and no worries about gas. I've cut lots of huge branches from the top of my boom forklift, and this is so much easier to use and much safer. The cord really doesn't get in the way at all, and you can buy a good 12awg long extension cord for the price of a few tanks of gas... and no batteries to worry about or charge, and it's much cheaper than the battery saws. I can usually get power where I need it around the farm, but have had to pull the gas saws out a few times, and then so much appreciate going back to the electric, particularly after trying to get the gas saws to fire up and wasting so much time working on them. Mine is an 18", but they seem to only have the 16" now in the corded saws. https://shopjoe.com/products/sun-joe-16-inch-14-amp-electric-chain-saw?_pos=10&_sid=559af5100&_ss=r

I didn't know they made chainsaws. My wife bought a SunJoe leaf blower for $25 a few years ago. I thought she had waster her money, but it's awesome!!! We have three now, they were so cheap that it was easier to just keep each one where we use it.

When I build my bucking table, I might think about getting a corded chainsaw. I can see the advantages if I'm close to the house and I'm just cutting logs into rounds.

 

[BlueKnife]

A medium sized tree is one that is not larger at the base then twice the length of the bar.

Richard

Wow. Guess it all depends what a person is used to. I run a 32" bar on my Stihl 460. Medium sized is over 5 ft. diameter then?

Obviously everyone has their own opinion as to what "medium size tree" IS which may depend on what they are doing with it.

Right. That's why I asked the OP for his definition. If he's felling 20-26" DBH trees regularly (which is roughly what comes to mind when I think "medium") a battery powered saw is going to struggle, a lot. If medium, to him, means 8-12" though, it might be just fine, as long as he's not running it all day and running out of batteries.

 

[BlueKnife]

I must live a charmed life, my saws as a rule have been easy to start. If they aren’t I fix them. I just used my Stihl MS261 and MS250 a couple of weeks ago. They hadn’t been started in about 8 months. They didn’t start easy after sitting that long but maybe 7 or 8 pulls. Unless they sit that long again they’d start in 2 or 3 pulls now.

Same. I don't run my saws anywhere near as much as I did when I was doing tree work full time, but they still start up and run just fine, even after sitting for half a year. I attribute that to them having never seen ethanol fuel.

 

[Hodado]

My vote is for the Stihl entry level gas saw,always runs great lately I don’t even use the old wood boss unless it’s a big log, think it’s the 170 bought it used from the local shop for $75 can’t beat it.Light easy to handle

 

[Fxfymn413]

I cut and split 4 or more cords per year (I'm 75)and I cannot fathom using my EGO battery powered saw to do it. IMO it is just too light to be effective at bucking up anything bigger than 5 or 6 inches. I have found that my MS390 is less tiring than my MS271 when bucking large logs since I can utilize the saw's weight to help carry through them. I just brought 2 30" logs to the wood yard for example.

I love the EGO to trim stuff and cut up the occasional storm fallen pine. I also have the EGO pole saw which is great .

The respondent who goes through a saw every couple of years is proof that any of the new saws are running so lean they just don't last unless you are **** about keeping a sharp blade on them. Cut with a dull blade and you can feel them getting hotter and hotter.

 

[Pecosbill7]

I bought a Husqvarna battery powered 18” chainsaw at Lowes a couple of years ago and have enjoyed it immensely. I have two gas powered Husqvarna’s and I haven’t even bothered to crank them up since I bought this electric. No hearing protection needed and it always starts at the push of a button. I have a ranch down here in the Texas Hill Country so I bought two of the big battery packs for it. One will last me until lunchtime then the other will run until I give out in the afternoon. And if I was a glutton for punishment I could put the first battery on the charger when I start with the second battery and get in a few more hours of chainsaw fun.

 

[true temper]

My friends and I do a lot of tree work. I had an old Husky top handle saw that I loved but can’t get parts for it anymore
So I have been buying these little saws and absolutely love them. I can’t say enough good about them. Light weight easy to start runs great out of the box and cheap. So far I have bought 5 of them gave on to two of my friends, I run 2 while working if one runs out of gas or gets dull I grab another one and keep going.
I still have a new one in the box so if and when one breaks I can still run.
Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[sd455dan]

Still using the modded 350 Huskies and Promac 70cc,



Sons are helping clean up the big blow down that took down the horse fence, so I bought some china saws for them,

Great pricing I paid $160 for the used but repairable Husky open port 350 and it is a plastic clamshell case.
These 62 cc china saws at least have metal crankcases.

Ordered the Huyesun when the cylinder bolts rattled loose on the open port 350 again.

Huyesun 62 cc from walmart mail order $137
Vevor 62 cc $110
Vevor looks like a Stihl the Huyesun looks like a Husky copy

Vevor top handle 25 cc for limbing $78
Have not tried the 25cc yet. Tuned the Huyesun which has the most hours seems to scream and runs well.

Still need to assemble the Farmertec kit type MS 660 clone.

 

[KenBike]

Currently use a MS261C with a 20" bar and a MS441C with 24" bar.
Have a small battery saw for a few cuts in the golf cart.
The speed of the gas saws really make a difference when taking down a tree even a 24" tree.
If you have a lot of cutting to do get a saw with a fast chain speed!

 

[Hay Dude]

Buy something from a reputable brand with a local dealer who can service it when you do something stupid. Avoid any big box store offers. I've found the most economical is a Stihl MS251. I am on my third one and keep the worn-out ones for spares. I [ab]use them hard, so they last about two years. The price of a MS251 (meant for homeowners) is about a third the price of the bigger MS261 (smallest pro saw). I have had a series of the latter as well and no longer use the current one that much. When it goes down, I'll replace it with a 251 - I like to have two saws on hand. I have no experience with the easy start. The 251 always starts on the 4rth pull, the 261 takes more effort despite its compression release. My only complaint about the 251 is that after significant wear on the sprocket the chain will flip off it easily. That is helped by replacing the sprocket, but I like to replace with a more expensive 261 sprocket which doesn't allow the chain to move across the gearing. Of course I get the 261 sprockets off my old dead 261s, but they are readily available at any Stihl dealership. Hope this helps.

BTW every time I have bought a new saw at the dealer the sales rep will take it outside and start it up before it leaves the shop. Usually since the new saw has been sitting on the rack for a while, the rep will pull and pull for several minutes before it finally turns over. It surprises me how often I have to explain to them how a choke works. The choke delivers a burst of gas to the combustion chamber to facilitate ignition. That gas has to vaporize before it will ignite. Each pull with the choke turned on delivers more gas. Continuously pulling sets up flooding. The proper thing to do is turn the choke off if the engine turns over on the second or third pull. If it doesn't turn over by then, leave the choke on and patiently count to 20 (30 on cold days), then try again. Often as not it will turn over then. If it doesn't give it more time to vaporize.

I’ve no criticism for your 251 purchases, but I have been running a 261C for years are really like it. I find it’s easy to pull start and runs very well. Can do more than I thought, even with a 20” bar.
I highly recommend this saw to anyone looking for a mid-size. However, it is a “buy once, cry once”. Not cheap, and not getting any cheaper.
I have a 500i for anything it can’t handle.

 

[jay3534]

As to what I call medium would be in the 15" range.

 

[BlueKnife]

As to what I call medium would be in the 15" range.

Thanks for clarifying. If you're cutting 15" trees on the regular, especially if you're cutting them up for firewood, an electric saw is going to struggle quite a bit. An Echo CS501P would be about perfect. CS-501P ECHO X Series Chainsaw | ECHO

 

[xyz123]

Echo 501 has a decomp so guys should be able to start it with bad shoulders.

I never tested that out with my dad to see.

But 501 will slay that size mentioned above.
I like a 16" on 50cc but still using up 18" that came with some of them.

5 stem with 45x46" base. Stump was done with 77cc and 71cc clones though.

 

[bigtiller]

Thanks for the replies.
I have been using a worn out Poulan 16" for years / I can't pull it hard enough and long enough to start it.
Frankly had not thought about battery powered. Since it won't be used a lot battery may the way for me to go.
Ideas on battery power?

For small jobs, or when you don't want to clean a chainsaw after every use, a good pruning blade like this Bosch RP95 in any reciprocating saw will do a lot of work, fast.

 

[rumwrks]

Echo 501 has a decomp so guys should be able to start it with bad shoulders.

I never tested that out with my dad to see.

I'd agree this is a nice size saw for up to 18" or so... Above that I like to get out something a bit beefier.

I have also found mine pretty easy to start. Granted I don't have bad shoulders and am on the younger side of old so YMMV... but it's an easy pull compared to most saws I've used. I usually don't bother hitting the decomp (actually not sure I've ever hit the decomp on that one.. I do on the 90cc clone saw tho hah). If it's already warm it fires right up almost always with one pull. Cold it gets the 2-3 pulls with the choke and one without to fire and we're good to go. Admittedly I only have maybe 15-20hrs on it so it's just getting broken in, but so far real happy.

My main complaint with the 501 (and really most Echo's in general) is that the filter->carb fitment is not great. On the 501P you should get an o-ring that fits into the filter and use that to seal it better. I also smeared a bit of heavy grease in there (not a bad idea regardless).

Like I noted before I said I can't really speak to the electrics much but I saw someone mention the plug in oregon, I do have an oregon CS1500 (gimmicky self sharpening chain and all lol) which I got for cutting bowl blanks for the lathe at the shop and it works quite well for smaller ones (up to IDK 12-16" or so..) it's really lightweight tho (structurally speaking) so long term heavier use IDK. I also have a dewalt 20" but can't really recommend it, it's not so much that it's overly heavy for what it is (it is that) but the balance is also terrible. It has tons of torque though..

 

[xyz123]

I'd agree this is a nice size saw for up to 18" or so... Above that I like to get out something a bit beefier.

I have also found mine pretty easy to start. Granted I don't have bad shoulders and am on the younger side of old so YMMV... but it's an easy pull compared to most saws I've used. I usually don't bother hitting the decomp (actually not sure I've ever hit the decomp on that one.. I do on the 90cc clone saw tho hah). If it's already warm it fires right up almost always with one pull. Cold it gets the 2-3 pulls with the choke and one without to fire and we're good to go. Admittedly I only have maybe 15-20hrs on it so it's just getting broken in, but so far real happy.

My main complaint with the 501 (and really most Echo's in general) is that the filter->carb fitment is not great. On the 501P you should get an o-ring that fits into the filter and use that to seal it better. I also smeared a bit of heavy grease in there (not a bad idea regardless).

Like I noted before I said I can't really speak to the electrics much but I saw someone mention the plug in oregon, I do have an oregon CS1500 (gimmicky self sharpening chain and all lol) which I got for cutting bowl blanks for the lathe at the shop and it works quite well for smaller ones (up to IDK 12-16" or so..) it's really lightweight tho (structurally speaking) so long term heavier use IDK. I also have a dewalt 20" but can't really recommend it, it's not so much that it's overly heavy for what it is (it is that) but the balance is also terrible. It has tons of torque though..

You didnt see my fix for that without going aftermarket set up? Posted in my junk chainsaws thread. Years ago.

I havent had fines get by in years. Just a o-ring in filter and use grease at base mount.

Also the free muffler mod. Take that dang restriction pipe out of muffler under deflector. Open front of deflector.
Then take out cross in intake. Smooth areas to flow. The one on 490 shown too was before I smooth it out.
All this stuff shows gains on dyno by guy in my group.

 

[rumwrks]

You didnt see my fix for that without going aftermarket set up? Posted in my junk chainsaws thread. Years ago.

I havent had fines get by in years. Just a o-ring in filter and use grease at base mount.

Looking back I'm pretty sure that's where I got the O-ring and grease setup from (I believe you used a Husky 272 ring? - actually I probably got it from one of your posts on the arborsite - the junk chainsaw thread is long but same same). I did a similar kit on my 620P - probably also on your recommend

Haven't done the muffler mod yet.. I should get on that..Even though I'm pretty happy with the saw as is it certainly wouldn't hurt it any to let it run a bit more open.

 

[xyz123]

Looking back I'm pretty sure that's where I got the O-ring and grease setup from (I believe you used a Husky 272 ring? - actually I probably got it from one of your posts on the arborsite - the junk chainsaw thread is long but same same). I did a similar kit on my 620P - probably also on your recommend

Haven't done the muffler mod yet.. I should get on that..Even though I'm pretty happy with the saw as is it certainly wouldn't hurt it any to let it run a bit more open.

Yep used a 272 then. But found one that fits hair better now in SAE.

I thought I posted all of that info there too. As I even made one and showed diameters etc.

That little muffler mod lets them out cut a NE 346 muffler modded too.

Dont feel as strong etc or as rev as the 346 sounds. But it made the cuts faster with same chains.

Plus side. Echo much lighter. Husky smoother due to coil spring AV.