Best entry level chainsaw under £200?

[Stere]

I always found the the  blades liable to twist then jam but never really used them much or tinkered with then personally  it...was mostly  on borrowed tools as a volunteer

 

I like it that new blades are cheap.

 

Since a bought a small battery saw I hardly use  silky saws much.

 

How efficient a pair of good loppers is imo much under  apreciated as most  loppers are so  poor. A curved anvil design is very good but this type arent used or sold  much in the UK.

 

Loewe Loppers 22 100 cm with Curved Blade

PGHORTICULTURE.CO.UK

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Loppers with anvil counter blade, that combine advantages of both ordinary bypass and anvil loppers. Very robust, but yet...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Peter 1955]

11 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

Bow saw? They get a bad rep, but its often because people use a blunt blade or the wrong type of blade (there are special blades for green wood). 

 

Indeed there are, the Sandvik was always my favourite.

It looks like Screwfix are doing them cheaper than I remember. 

 

 

[green heart]

On 03/03/2025 at 16:18, Zombosis said:

Originally looked at the Husqvarna version as there was a free spare battery offer going, but dithered and now that’s ended. Watched a few of these being tested and they looked a bit pants to be honest with comments such as “I’d be quicker with a silky” and other disparaging remarks on YouTube.

 

Hence my switch to the small petrol chainsaw route..

 

As it happens I do run the Makita 18 volt system, and have only one remaining functional battery despite having three chargers, two drills, an impact driver and angle grinder. (Did have the mini hoover and torch but both broke. Will have a look into this Makita one, if it’s available as a kit so that I can restore my battery arsenal. 
 

thanks.

 

Whilst the 18v makita mini pruning saw is lovely and compact for tree pruning  -it's also slow and gutless, compared with a Sthil GTA40 or the superior Milwaukee M18 fuel .

Tho I gather Makita do have a 40v version, but it's currently only for sale in Japan, for now...

 

I do also have both versions of the 2511 saw  -and now very rarely use either of them (for pruning works), since buying the M18 Fuel and Makita. 

 

[Zombosis]

6 hours ago, Stere said:

I always found the the  blades liable to twist then jam but never really used them much or tinkered with then personally  it...was mostly  on borrowed tools as a volunteer

 

I like it that new blades are cheap.

 

Since a bought a small battery saw I hardly use  silky saws much.

 

How efficient a pair of good loppers is imo much under  apreciated as most  loppers are so  poor. A curved anvil design is very good but this type arent used or sold  much in the UK.

 

Loewe Loppers 22 100 cm with Curved Blade

PGHORTICULTURE.CO.UK

---

Loppers with anvil counter blade, that combine advantages of both ordinary bypass and anvil loppers. Very robust, but yet...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice suggestion! I have a pair of rather over engineered ratchet loppers which I bought years ago from a brilliant little shop in Yeovil.

 

They have chomped through some pretty thick stuff but are bloody hard work and knackering when reducing a heavy buddlia for example. 
 

Are these nice ones you are bringing to my attention easier to use without feeling like I’ve been doing deadlifts for a day? 
 

Must admit, I like the idea of reinventing my inventory with non powered, non fuel dependent, and basically ‘forever’ tools. 

[Dave1976]

Srihl ms 162

 

Because ot has inboard clutch

 

Parts are available

 

Low vibrarions

 

Good balance

 

 

 

Clutch side exhaust on Echo 2511 WES. Not sure if that is good idea.

Edited March 6 by Dave1976

[kram]

On 06/03/2025 at 19:46, Dave1976 said:

Clutch side exhaust on Echo 2511 WES. Not sure if that is good idea

Most small top handle derived saws have the same location exhaust. Why wouldnt it be a good idea?

[Stere]

Exhaut heat causing some damage im guessing but i have no idea really?

 

[Zombosis]

On 06/03/2025 at 19:46, Dave1976 said:

Srihl ms 162

 

Because ot has inboard clutch

 

Parts are available

 

Low vibrarions

 

Good balance

 

 

 

Clutch side exhaust on Echo 2511 WES. Not sure if that is good idea.

So are you saying I’d be better of buying the £150 MS162 than the £400 Echo 2511? 
 

I get that we are talking overall value for money rather than ‘performance’ per se.

[kram]

No, dont buy the german rubbish. Ms151tc would be the Stigl equivalent, louder expensive and heavier, less good.

 

The 2511 is a great saw, but get the TES top handle version. Not enough power, in my opinion, to need a bulky heavier rear handle. I love how compact it is.

 

Have you considered a finger chopper for the smaller work?

 

[Zombosis]

On 11/03/2025 at 00:05, kram said:

No, dont buy the german rubbish. Ms151tc would be the Stigl equivalent, louder expensive and heavier, less good.

 

The 2511 is a great saw, but get the TES top handle version. Not enough power, in my opinion, to need a bulky heavier rear handle. I love how compact it is.

 

Have you considered a finger chopper for the smaller work?

 

Ok thanks Kram, now I have another whole rabbit hole to go down. The finger chopper looks suitably dangerous to pique my interest 😁

 

I actually watched those two goofy bloke on Machinery Nation (YouTube) test a load of these things, and although they were cutting through broom handles etc with them, I kind of thought they were a bit of a gimmick. You know the kind of shite that JBL make and have a demonstration video on loop at the end of an aisle in The Range or B &M bargains. 🤣

 

Knowing that you use one in a professional capacity and rate it gives me confidence in their usefulness and ability. I think it’s certainly on the shopping list, perhaps as an ‘as well as’ rather than an ‘instead of’.

 

I’m still keen on the idea of another lightweight chainsaw though. And I’m leaning towards  Echo as a brand, because they seem to have a good balance of price and quality. Since I’m not going to be climbing with it, using it professionally day in day out, I wondered if the Echo CS3510 would be a good compromise as it’d save me over £100 vs the 2511, and is only about 1kg heavier at 3.7kg dry. I know it lacks the panache and cool mini form factor of the 2511, but it’d probably do what I need right?

 

They also offer an autochoke version which as far as I can tell just has the automatic choke feature and some kind of solenoid on the carburettor to adjust it according to temperature. It’s more expensive and seems like it could just be more to go wrong, so I’d appreciate your views people?

 

Back to the finger choppers, I found one for about £30 on Aliexpress that is a bare unit, but takes the 18v Makita batteries. Haven’t done much research yet, but thanks for the suggestion.