Noob Needs A Chainsaw.

[Daniël Bos]

It's a bit difficult asking professional users for an "occasional use opinion" I reckon. I've had a stihl ms210 for years and used it probably 40-60 full days a year for 3 years. In that time all it needed was an airfilter as I brushed one to bits and a recoil cord.

 

I now have a husky 346xp, and a 550xp for work, and would never buy another smaller saw. It did me perfectly fine for years though. I had a 14"bar on and cut mainly hardwood, up to 30" dia oak without any probs. It would just take a bit longer.

 

Go with one of the saws you suggested, make sure you get a good deal (check fr jones' sit for prices, try and get your local dealer to match, assuming you've no certs? If you do they can just send you one) and if you find it falls short of your needs, flog it again. I've seen a 2 year old ms 180 sell for just as much on ebay as a new one from jones'. residual value (esp for stihl) is excellent so don't worry too much about getting it wrong. In 3 years time you'll get not less than 2/3 of the new price I reckon, providing you'll look after it.

[Chris Sheppard]

I've no experience of the little stihl, but our local husky dealer was telling me he's sold a few of the 435's to pro guys who were looking for small saws for underbrashing etc and they seem to last fairly well considering that's not the sort of abuse they were built for.

 

If you've not got experience of usign a chainsaw, then I'm sure you' be fine with either. It will feel plenty fast enough,even on the 12" or so diameter stuff - loads faster than doing it by hand.

 

If you were going to be doing it regularly though, 40cc would get boring fairly quickly

[MartinF]

I agree Rover. I was just hoping that one of you guys may have experience of them but I knew that mainly you guys would be using the big stuff.

What do you mean by certs?

 

Both saws are available from a place close to me.

The Husky is slightly cheaper than Jones' the Stihl is slightly more than Jones'.

My local dealer has said that they sell them roughly at pre vat prices if pushed.

 

Chris, my current steed is a bow saw so a chainsaw will be luxury lol.

[Pedroski]

There are good alternatives to Stihl and Husqvarna.....

Petrol Chainsaws Makita including: Makita DCS500-45P

[FLASH90]

I have a ms211 that is 18 months old it gets used quite a lot for brash bashing and small firewood up to about 6" I only have a 14" bar on which seems to be about all it will handle have run on aspen but ran like a pig.

[Daniël Bos]

I agree Rover. I was just hoping that one of you guys may have experience of them but I knew that mainly you guys would be using the big stuff.

What do you mean by certs?

 

Both saws are available from a place close to me.

The Husky is slightly cheaper than Jones' the Stihl is slightly more than Jones'.

My local dealer has said that they sell them roughly at pre vat prices if pushed.

 

Chris, my current steed is a bow saw so a chainsaw will be luxury lol.

 

Certs: Certifications. Chainsaw retailers cannot send you a saw unless you have proven competency by providing certificates. It's fine face-to-face, no qualifications of any sort needed.

 

I'd go for the husky, if your local dealer will sell it for £280-ish that is a good price (look on ebay for a 435:biggrin:, there's one used one for sale for more than that) and it'll run well on Aspen.

 

The 210/211 does not like Aspen for some sinister reason.

 

 

ps, Aspen is better for occasional use especially as pump-petrol/oil mix starts to degrade after about a month. If you leave your saw in the shed for more than that time with fuel in, you run the risk of killing the saw the next time you use it. Aspen prevents this completely, has a long (unlimited?) shelf-life and is far less evil for your health. Easily worth the extra cost:thumbup1:

[agg221]

Entirely agree on the Aspen.

 

I would go for the Stihl or Husky, rather than the Makita. There's nothing wrong with the Makita, and if you were using it more heavily it would be a very good option to consider. Ironically it's the fact that you're not using it so much which suggests the Stihl or Husky would be a better choice. This is because you're unlikely to work it hard enough to start needing parts for a very long time. If you're the kind of person who, once something breaks you throw it away, it doesn't matter. However the fact that you indicated you want to look after it suggests you might want parts, and I would reckon on being able to get parts for a current model Stihl or Husky for at least 10yrs, and with pattern parts up to 30 (you can still get most parts to keep a 1980s saw running!). I wouldn't count on this with a Makita as although I rate them highly, and you can buy parts for most of their power tools, I suspect the volume will be smaller and hence they won't enter the pattern part market.

 

Alec

[MartinF]

Just had a look on Evilbay, wow they are expensive on there.

 

The place I plan to get one from is a place in Swadlincote who sell them.

 

The nearest official dealer were about £30 or £40 more as he said he would sell at pre vat prices. This place is lower than that for some reason.

 

What is brash bashing?

 

Thanks for the info Alec, never thought about spares.

 

I was pointed to something called an Oregon Powersharp chain system.

I presume this is not as good as a normal chain?

[Old WoodChip]

I would say get yourself a GOOD S/H Husqvarna 254 & use Aspen, much as above really.

Worth asking spudulike on here, he is red hot with saws and may have what your after.

Plenty on ebay:lol: but you have to know them inside out & be able to strip them before you start using them.

Good luck, get a good pair of boots/trousers too

Edited March 18, 2012 by Old WoodChip

[geoff]

Hmmm.

So the two saws I mentioned are going to out of their comfort zone you think Geoff?

Perhaps I should retitle the thread to "what saw do I need for 9 to 13 inch pieces of wood".

 

I just had a look at the Aspen fuel. There is Aspen 2 and 4.

Is that for 2 and 4 stroke engines?

 

Yes,the 2t is for 2 strokes,& 4t for the four strokes.

 

The little saws will do your job,but if you spend a bit more you will not regret in in the long run,in my opinion.