Advice on petrol chainsaw.

[MikeB1979]

Any advice please or recommendations. I'm considering a petrol chainsaw for relatively light use, chopping my own supply. Don't want to spend too much but any recommendations on a good, reasonably priced chainsaw for my purposes. Thanks. 

[pleasant]

Stihl MS181 or Husqvarna equivalent. You can go down to the more basic Stihl MS170/180/171 models, but I find a little more spent on a 181 is money well spent- for example there is full H and L carb adjustment on the 181 which is fixed on the lower models...something to help in the future should it need tweaking.  Punches above it's weight, well made, reliable, will put up with reasonable abuse and spares availability is good. Although I would advise against the 'comfort' version option which has the awful 'tooless' chain adjustment. Save your money and buy the base model 181.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by pleasant

[MikeB1979]

What about a battery option? Are they any good? I do have a corded one which works fine. I would like something portable though. 

[peatff]

7 hours ago, MikeB1979 said:

. I'm considering a petrol chainsaw for relatively light use, chopping my own supply.

You need an axe for chopping, saws are for cutting😁 Pleasant is not far out, small Husqvarna like the 120 for around £150 would get you going.

Edited January 5, 2023 by peatff

[lurch_917]

im not that experianced but it all depends on what you are cutting be it 6in or 16in soft or hardwood . you will find after a while using a short bar that you want more. also a small  40cc saws just dont pull a large bar in hard wood as well as say something over 50cc that extra 10cc makes a big difference .

[Will C]

A battery saw is a bigger initial outlay than petrol but if you will also want hedge cutter and  strimmer in due course then battery kit can be a cost viable option as you can buy bare tools once you have a couple of batteries and charger. 
 

as to brand any of the main stream ones will do what you need reliably, pick the best local dealer and be faithful to them for the best price/service 

[Steven1210]

I bought a husky 135mk2 as my first saw. Grand little thing. What I didn't factor in was PPE. I'm still a novice, but if you don't already have it, get some chainsaw pants, boots and a lid with visor and ear protection.

 

 

 

 

 

Oyer a year later I'm now in better PPE, boots, with a better saw,and also being trained by 2 very knowledgeable guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan Maynard]

7 hours ago, MikeB1979 said:

What about a battery option? Are they any good?

Stihl and Husqvarna are very expensive now after price jumps, but they are good.

 

If you happen to have two 5Ah Makita batteries the 36v Makita is a good saw for a lot less money, if you buy bare.

 

As @pleasant has pointed out before the cheap battery stuff is soon obsolete and difficult to fix so I would personally avoid things like Ego, Lidl special but again they have their fans.

 

[Echo]

I agree with the Stihl MS181 or 180 saw, with a 14 inch bar.

The 180 as mentioned has no adjusters on the carb, it will

be cheaper to buy, but when you need to add a new carb or

update to a carb with adjustable screws / jets, these carbs

are not cheap now, and you may or may not have a good experience

with the china carbs. I think if you buy Husqvarna, then go for the

40 or 500 cc models, they have a larger clutch drum than the smaller

ones, and will take a good bit more of a beating in wood, that would

be the 440 or 450 model Husqvarnas, but avoid a long bar unless

you need it more than you don't, 15 inch will cut a 28 inch log, that is

a lot of log for a small saw.

[MikeB1979]

3 hours ago, lurch_917 said:

im not that experianced but it all depends on what you are cutting be it 6in or 16in soft or hardwood . you will find after a while using a short bar that you want more. also a small  40cc saws just dont pull a large bar in hard wood as well as say something over 50cc that extra 10cc makes a big difference .

We always want something a little bigger. A trait of most men. Thanks for the advice. I guess I might aswell get something with more power and not necessarily need it than need it and not have it.