Another chainsaw thread

[Camelot]

Ian I have been a rural fencer for many years. stihl are just rubbish echo are the best anything else will just let u down or be hard to tune.

[D4D]

echo are the best

Love my Echo saw and blower

[Symon]

I agree on the quality of reviews when they are from Amazon, Whirlpool and the like but some of the worst reports were from aborist and landscaping sites etc.

I would be somewhat concerned about professionals using consumer grade equipment for professional use, and then complaining when the equipment doesn't perform to their expectations.  Use the right tool for the job, the low end of the range is for light use, maybe once or twice a month.  If you use it seriously then fork out the extra coin and get serious equipment.

My brother has the Stihl 170 and I have the 181, both have worked flawlessly for felling trees around the house, and camping use which is what they were designed for.

[marc81]

Oleo mac are great. I've got a whippy and a mate a chainsaw. Both over 3 years old never even looked like missing a beat.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Coiled]

I am probably Stihl biased inheriting my fathers 021 thank I have been using for about 20 years. Stihl performs flawlessly and starts easily! I have to say though that maintenance of saw and chain is probably the most important things for longevity and reliability.

I recently bought a Victa/Kobalt 80V chainsaw to use with my batteries from the lawnmower (picked it up on clearance for $99) and I have to say it performs at 90-95% of the Stihl and run time is great. Will it last forever probably not but with reasonable maintenance should get a decent life. Mine is the Victa so 3yr warranty but if bought under Kobalt it comes with a 5yr warranty which is more than Stihl/Huskie etc when you do the oil purchase.

If buying a new saw, I would probably stump the approx $1,000 to get a non-chinese made Stihl but haggle hard on price. It should continue to give a service life as long as your own and if you ever need parts they are easily obtained (even after 20+ years) and if you want to sell it you will get reasonable money for it. They are complex things so they either work or don't and fixing is straight forward(ish). To get into this range I think it is the MS231. That being said I probably wouldn't hesitate on an upmarket spec of the Huskies except I like the setup of Stihl (what you are used to) and the Jap stuff is also very good quality just less main stream. I would stay away from Italian gear as whilst they are usually great when going and look the goods, I have had too many bad experiences with Italian marques even the high profiles like Piaggio/Aprillia.

[kylarama]

I purchased an elchepo McCulloch, had some good reviews and some bad, bad were seizing after running for awhile
and hard to start.

The saw is made by Husqvarna, hard to start, nope starts fine if you follow the instructions, like my other McCulloch gear,
choke and turn over, when it coughs set the choke to half and away it goes, if you leave the choke on full you'll never
 get it started.

I bought a McCulloch back in 1998 for my first saw. A 38cc MacCat with an 18" bar.  This saw went onto be copied / rebranded by just about everyone.

A little under powered, but reliable as all hell if you religiously followed the start procedure HKB shows above. At the advice of a tree lopper, I dropped the bar size to 16" and then 14" which improved it massively. Never leaked a drop and had a neat little case which made it great for 4wding/camping.

Last year I grabbed it out of the shed and the fill neck on the bar oil tank had snapped clean off. Not replaceable as the tank forms part of the saw body. Stripped the bar and sold the saw for $20.

Now got a 2nd hand Stihl US made 017. The model right before they renamed them ms170. Great little saw and so much nicer to use than the trusty MacCat.



Sent from my GT-I9507 using Tapatalk

[ATC]

Looking for a small chainsaw to live in the back of the 4wd.
Been looking at a Stihl MS 181 C, the US made version, these are currently $579 on special.
The alternative is to go to a battery chainsaw, thinking of the Victa 80 volt.

What are peoples thoughts on the electric chainsaws, anyone got one and used it in anger?

Thanks
ATC

Sent from my SM-T815Y using Tapatalk

[Coiled]

Recently bought the 80V Victa. I was really impressed with its power and run time from the battery. It will hopefully get another workout this weekend.

[prodigyrf]

Do not try this at home children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NRmYzLrvfM

[ATC]

Recently bought the 80V Victa. I was really impressed with its power and run time from the battery. It will hopefully get another workout this weekend.

What sort of stuff have you used the victa 80v on?

I just want one to live in the back of the car, for cutting stuff of tracks, occasional bit of firewood when camping.



Sent from my SM-T815Y using Tapatalk

[Camelot]

I am a little surprised that the safety of a quality saw is not even considered here just the price.

[GBC]

I fire up the old promac and safety ensues all over the place. If you don't respect an old beast like that you're going to have a fist full of trouble. We got a $99 Ozito mini saw about 5 years ago to quickly replace the shindiawa climbing saw which suffered an untimely death on a job. It would be one of the better value for money purchases we have made. It came with an Oregon blade and all. I'll buy another when this one goes.

[terravista]

I am a little surprised that the safety of a quality saw is not even considered here just the price.

I am not sure I get your statement.
What safety do you expect just by paying more, and when does having a more expensive saw necessarily enhance the quality?
Stihl are getting up in prices but don't have air bags, seat belts or crumple zones, and
$2 000 saws don't have GPS systems to make sure the tree falls in the correct direction.
I had a $90 Hardware special with a chain brake, but the biggest safety feature was it breaking down after a couple of years. Now all I can do is stub my toe on it because it is still in the garage just in case I get around to fixing it. I guess that makes it pretty safe.
Heaps of the cheapo saws make big noises that they come with Oregon blades and chains, but the quality of the blade or chain seems to more reflect the frequency of sharpening required.
Cheers

[Camelot]

mate I think you are missing the point. it is not about the price its just some saws are better built than others.I could name various faults with many brands, the major fault at the moment is tuning due to emission laws.A saw out of tune is very very dangerous . You asked what is the best saw and I told u free from bias, echo have not changed there design in years because it works and if u replace the half turn mix  screw you will have a much better saw

[GanG]

25yo Shindaiwa 488 here, 50cc, 20 inch bar (came with a 16) its done a Shit ton of work and never missed a beat, I rate them very highly, and it gives nothing away when working side by side with may mate and his still......and my saw is easier to start!

[ATC]

I am a little surprised that the safety of a quality saw is not even considered here just the price.

Of course safety is important, but it doesn't make any difference if its electric or petrol.

A poorly maintained saw with no chain break,  loose chain, blunt etc, used in a careless manner, without suitable safety equipment etc....

In my case not having to carry petrol improves safety ( does that help?)

As for safety....
First chainsaw I used 35+ years was poorly maintained, with a blunt loose chain.
The chain came off, thankfully as it was slowing down, only grazed the skin.

Last one i used was a commercial series Husquarna well maintained, damn that thing was nice to use.

Everything (but safety) is a compromise, particularly if its just going to live in the back if a car.


Sent from my SM-T815Y using Tapatalk

[GGV8Cruza]

Picked up another saw on the weekend to make my Stihl family grow. A MS460 Magnum is now in the shed and with a 20 inch bar it sings along. Will pick up a more suitable and longer bar over the weekend to make sure that it does the saw justice and also allow me to cut the bigger logs.

A dual port muffler may find it way onto the saw as well to give it a bit more zing

GG

[gronk]

Knew a bloke who had a Stihl, can't remember the model, but he took off the 20" bar and put a 12" inch on. Didn't cut big logs, but the ones he cut, man, that thing sliced through like butter !!

Heard a story ( 2nd hand ) from a Huskie dealer that while the cheaper Huskies, Stihls etc are made in China, the trusty old Echo are all still made in Japan, and generally are quality compared to built to a price.

[Paddy16]

I bought a Husky 450 for about $1100 for 4wding. Been very happy. Happy with my Shindaiwa tools too. I bought more expensive for size and safety.

[kylarama]

the trusty old Echo are all still made in Japan, and generally are quality compared to built to a price.

Shindaiwa and Echo merged about 10 years ago. Both top quality stuff and popular with the pros.



Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[SambOz]

Picked up another saw on the weekend to make my Stihl family grow. A MS460 Magnum is now in the shed and with a 20 inch bar it sings along. Will pick up a more suitable and longer bar over the weekend to make sure that it does the saw justice and also allow me to cut the bigger logs.

A dual port muffler may find it way onto the saw as well to give it a bit more zing

GG

22" cutter bar suits a 460 to perfection GGV8, 24" can work them to hard in tough dry euc's.

[fuji]

Go to Treestuff.com, as they ship Huskies to Oz and about half price probably more.
Jack

[Coolblue80]

I fire up the old promac and safety ensues all over the place. If you don't respect an old beast like that you're going to have a fist full of trouble. We got a $99 Ozito mini saw about 5 years ago to quickly replace the shindiawa climbing saw which suffered an untimely death on a job. It would be one of the better value for money purchases we have made. It came with an Oregon blade and all. I'll buy another when this one goes.

I had an elcheapo Ozito for five years before it stopped working. Never looked at what was wrong with it as I'd got my moneys worth out of it. It's still in the shed. Went out and got a Stihl ms170. Goes pretty hard for a little saw.
Cheers, Mike.

[Nomad]

I have a stihl ms170 thats about 15 years old. Starts second time everytime.

I have just re discovered trade tools. I had a cheap 2 stroke leaf blower that started to run a little rough after 12 years without a service.
I took it into them for a service, no more than $50 and probably only $35 to $40 including a carby kit.

Anyway they have these

https://www.tradetools.com/product-range/outdoor-power-equipment/chainsaws/tradetools-45cc-chainsaw-18-bar

I thought they would be worth throwing into the mix

Yep prbably made in china but for $198 worth a look.

What I like about Tradetools is that they stick by their product, will service in house and there are a few around the place.

Cheers

[GBC]

Trade tools services all our petrol gear, maybe 20 items? It all goes down to Yatala these days. The same mechanic who was at eagle farm for years. I also have a trade tools blower (built for bloody left handers) but it doesn't miss a beat. We use them blowing concrete dust which tries them out. We have a bit of their imported gear - mig, gensets x2, jackhammers etc - as stated they support their product and they go well too. The 2000w renegade genny would be 12 years old and has been belted commercially. We cannot kill it.