I am very much a recent newbie to using a chainsaw.
A friend of mine lent me his 181 with 16 inch bar.
I used it half a dozen times over 6 weeks.
I cant tell you how it compares to other saws, but can say I got on well with the saw. I felled 2 small ash trees and a blackthorn tree. I also cut these down to logs for seasoning. The saw coped well with both tasks. This was my first time felling trees so I was not too concerned with the speed of felling, and the saw did slow down at times, but as a noob I was happy to take my time.
All in all my experience with this saw was good, obviously this is not a comment about long term use or a comment on other recommendations in this thread, but I thought it might be useful info for op as our situation seems similar.
Bob
