Thread: Best Cheap Mini Chainsaw on the market today?

My brother just bought the ryobi 36 volt for himself for Christmas, it will do him, he’s on 5 acres.

Ryobi 36V Cordless 10” 25cm Pruning Chainsaw 2.0Ah Kit - Bunnings Australia


a deal with saw, charger and battery - don’t know if others ie not Bunnings have similar or cheaper.

cheers.

When I was looking to buy one the Ozito ones got good reviews. They have a 18V, 10" one & a 36V (two 18V batteries) 14" one. I ended up spending a lot more & got a Husqvarna 36V, 14" one.

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The options might be a bit different in Norway Eriksen.

makita 18v for me

thought I got it for free as a redemption and only use it for pruning tree's around the house

I thought more about these dirt cheap mini saws. I thought about buying one to have in my backpack when I´m out in the wood and find some nice spalted wood that might be fine for knife handles.

Depends on what you want to cut with it.

I have found from experience that none of them can handle the hardwoods around where I live. Have tried both Ryobi and Makita and burnt out the motor on both in short order trying to cut salmon gum / gidgee etc on the lathe (just trimming the oversize bits to get a piece into balance).

I now rely only on my Stihl 021 petrol chainsaw for this work. It's a bit of overkill (and noisy inside the shed) but it does the job without problems.
Where possible, I try to cut timber into shape / blanks outside the shed with either the Stihl or a much larger Husqvarna that I have. The little cheap units might be OK for cutting a bit of firewood on a camping trip - but useless for what I was hoping to use one for.

Originally Posted by BMKal

Depends on what you want to cut with it.

I have found from experience that none of them can handle the hardwoods around where I live. Have tried both Ryobi and Makita and burnt out the motor on both in short order trying to cut salmon gum / gidgee etc on the lathe (just trimming the oversize bits to get a piece into balance).

I now rely only on my Stihl 021 petrol chainsaw for this work. It's a bit of overkill (and noisy inside the shed) but it does the job without problems.
Where possible, I try to cut timber into shape / blanks outside the shed with either the Stihl or a much larger Husqvarna that I have. The little cheap units might be OK for cutting a bit of firewood on a camping trip - but useless for what I was hoping to use one for.

I want to use it for birch that already has been blown down by the wind and split in halves in order to to free a path for passage.

A bunch of years ago I went to hire a chainsaw and it was a bit steep. So I bought a baby 2 stroke Ozito one for less than 2 days hire of a proper one. It was slow work due to its small chain, etc, but did the trick. I put it away for a few years. Completely neglected it. Then needed to bring down a small tree. The Ozito came out and worked flawlessly. Then put it away for another year or two. Completely neglected it. Got it out and cut down two more small trees. I've never given it any love. Only chain bar oil when I've actually used it. Never sharpened it, maintained it, checked it or anything. Just stuck it in a cupboard in the back of the shed, literally for years now. It's easily paid for itself. We just moved and I thought about throwing it away. No trees at the new place. But why not just keep it and see how many years of neglect before it finally fails?
I'm no fan of Ozito but for this type of use, I reckon they are worth it.

eriksen

It seems to me that almost any powered saw, whether electric or petrol is going to be a little large if you are intending to carry it in your backpack. A petrol-powered saw is probably the best in terms of grunt and cutting ability, but still bulky for a backpack and smelly and probably prone to leaking too. The 10" or 12" battery powered versions are quite good enough for limited use such as you are describing, but size and/or cost may well be an issue. I am not familiar with the mini versions you linked. They seem like "toys." It is difficult to imagine them cutting anything more than branches possibly up to 100mm thick at most and are probably really intended for pruning in the garden.

Maybe branches are enough for knife scales. However, while you might get the width for a small knife, I would have thought a better piece of timber (more stable) comes from larger logs. I am not overly familiar with Birch. I have some vintage hand saws that have used Birch for the handles and more recently my son, who lives in TromsØ, brought me two Sami knives with Birch handles. I later was told on this Forum that they are in fact known as Karelian or Masur Birch.

I keep a coarse toothed hand saw in my vehicle for the sort of purpose you are describing. They used to be called docking saws, but at 24" and although one of the shorter versions (full sized models are 30"), it is probably still too big for a backpack. You could look out for a smaller hand saw with large teeth.

I have a Milwaukee pole saw which is battery operated and I have found it excellent, but it is not at the cheaper end of the spectrum even as just a skin (I already had the batteries from other cordless tools in the same brand.) Actually, that is a good time to suggest that if you already have cordless tools, check to see if your brand offers a chainsaw.

Regards
Paul

Personally I think a sharp machete might be the best tool for the job. Not that I have had much experience with fallen birch but I've been able to cut thru fairly substantial other green and downed stuff with a sharp blade before. If you are backpacking a machete in a belt sheath wouldn't be much more to carry.

Just bought the dewalt battery chainsaw as all other tools are dewalt. Very impressed with it…

After searching a bit more on the web I finally went for a Silky folding saw. I think it will be easier to carry around and last for a longer time than the electric ones.