Chainsaw Advice - Newbie

[John1974]

Good day all,

 

I know absolutely nothing about chainsaws and am after some advice, please.

 

My wife and I have recently moved to the county and have inherited a wood burner.  It's a standard sized one so hasn't got a massive door on the front.

 

There is loads of woodland around and ideally would like to pick up fallen trees / branches and cut them up for firewood.  The door is only so big so I'm not talking about chopping up massive trees, but capable of 12 inches in diameter at most.

 

I'm not bothered about the price so if there's something better at a higher price, then that's OK.

 

Many thanks!!

Cheers,

John

[Steve Bullman]

A Stihl 181 will do what you want to do. But if price isn't much of an issue then i'd make a jump to a stihl 261. Its a professional range saw with a lot of power.

 

[pleasant]

As you are an occasional user, then I suspect rather than price, ease of operation, weight and a brand that has good support is more important to you. Therefore (like above) I would also recommend the Stihl MS181 with a 14" bar. Easy to use, good back up, and unlike a pro saw, will be a lot lighter for you to operate on an occasional basis.

[ChrisNewport]

Firstly before buying a saw is the wood you intend to cut yours? as you could be wasting your money if it isnt. Many of the woodland owners round here would rather let fallen branches rot away than let someone untrained with a chainsaw on their land. Id go for a  Stihl MS231

[AHPP]

Battery. All the building tool brands (Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee etc) do saws so that makes sense if you already have batteries. Otherwise look at the main chainsaw brands' offerings, pick a battery system and go from there. 1/4" picco chains are very cheap and found on the Stihl AK and AP battery saws.

[Gordon S]

11 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Battery. All the building tool brands (Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee etc) do saws so that makes sense if you already have batteries. Otherwise look at the main chainsaw brands' offerings, pick a battery system and go from there. 1/4" picco chains are very cheap and found on the Stihl AK and AP battery saws.

You beat me to it,

I was going to suggest one of the Stihl Battery saws on the AP battery system, MSA220 maybe but can go bigger or smaller depending how much wood you are looking to harvest and how big the budget is. .

Saves having to worry about mixing fuels and draining to store when not in use for a long time.  

It is a big initial outlay but against current heating costs should repay quickly. Also allows other tools (hedge trimmer, brush cutter) etc to be added later using same batteries if you want.

Of course you are only going to be cutting wood with land owners permission but a battery saw will create a lot less attention too!

 

 

 

[AHPP]

A Stihl MSA120 fits beautifully in the bag a £10 camping chair comes in.

[Trailoftears]

If price is not too much of an issue,I would look at the smallest stihl pro saw-the ms241 c-m.semi-computerised tuning,so no sobbing over carb adjustments etc.A lot less money would buy something like the stihl ms231/251-but not the same quality as the ms241 c-m.Your choice should be also be influenced by the dealers in your locality.If there's a husky dealer close to you,go that way.May well pay you to go and have a chat with whichever brand dealer is nearby and explain your wants etc.Some of the battery saws would suit-makita do a good 36 volt 16"saw.Bear in mind the costs of setting up yourself re: battery saws is v.heavy-bare tool+double rapid charger+say,4 batteries.For what you will spend on all the battery infrastructure,you will find you can buy a decent petrol saw.

[AHPP]

He needs two batteries, not four and any other cost difference will be soaked up by one avoided trip to a saw shop to fix/learn about an engine.  

[Trailoftears]

Not via the makita 36v route he doesn't.