Thread: Budget chainsaws

its like everyting else if you are a tradie you have quality tools for youre trade Im a chippy and my stuff prob cost in the region of 10 000 for for my saws drills impact driver ect ect but I want to buy a cheap chainsaw for fire wood im not gona go spend 2000 on a husky or stilh when its gona be used once a year thats madness thats joe diy who puts up one shelf a year and has m28 milwaukee just so he can show off so sayin that i will get a ross chainsaw from total tools next weekend for a 150 how can i go wrong and there is noting wrong with cheap stuff still plenty of gmc knocking around the sites that says it all

Sorry. I am probably one of the culprits. For my opinion I am keen on the huskies, but my 170 miniboss is a fabulous workhorse for small stuff. I would cut up to about a foot in diameter with it before reaching for the one I am not allowed to talk about. My 170 ms has a micro chain which makes a lot of difference I believe. The cut is very narrow. The downside of this is that they will not last anywhere near as long as the bigger ones. I paid $33.00 (I think) for a new one when I bought my saw. I have not bought a saw chain other than that for about 5yrs so I cannot compare prices. The bar will wear faster too I believe due to the reduced surface area.

However I cut up an unidentified gumtree I cut down next to our garden which was about 30inches at base. Almost all the branches from this tree less than 1ft in diam were done with the miniboss with, from memory one chain change. I have 2 chains per saw and rotate them. The theory I was told is 2 chains worn out, change the drive sprocket. Next 2 chains will need to be bigger tongue. After those 2 the bar is probably worn out as well. Start with all new. It is a very loose theory. Anyway I am trying to sharpen only with a 240v electric sharpener now so I generally only do it at night after being out cutting. This is also a very loose theory.

There was also another smaller gumtree nearby which I dropped and cut up at the same time with the same chains but this had a lot less branches. Only the trunk had to be cut with another saw however.

Clean green wood. It just kept cutting and cutting. The chips were coming out fine. I kept checking. I did have a problem with the sap from the bigger tree clogging up the chain / bar tho. I had to pull it apart and clean it out about 6 times. It did not have the power to pull thru it. The other thing about the 170 is that it ran for a long time on a tank of fuel which is only 250ml. I bought a 1litre fuel container because it has a different ratio to my other 2. That container would probably last all day.

I don't know what chain / bar the 180 has tho.

Everything I have heard about the mcculloch's says not to touch them.

My opinion is go for either husky or stihl as they are the biggest manufacturers and both have a solid name. The husqvarna 240e $399 16 inch 38cc is bigger than the stihl by over 6cc. Thats an extra 20%.

Makita's are regarded as pretty good as well tho I have never even seen one. Only going on what you can also read.

I don't know much about echo's although my middle saw is a mobilco echo. It is old and will not be comparable to modern saws.

Dean

Man I can't believe this thread is still running I been away for like 6 months and it is still here!!!

once again for a small saw buy a dol/makita, oleo mac stihl or husky. mchulloch are the budget range for husky and are really rubbish (see the post on the arborist site.) DO NOT waste time on the ebay rubbish

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Man I can't believe this thread is still running I been away for like 6 months and it is still here!

YOU were surprised? I hadn't logged on to these forums for months till yesterday!

Anyway; waaaay back when I started this thread what I was after was a recommend for a reasonably priced (ie dirt cheap) saw that I would use very infrequently for destroying palms and the occasional gum tree. I ended buying a BBT 40cc.

Since October the saw has come out only five or six times but has demolished well over a dozen large palms plus a few gum trees and a miriad of small trimming jobs. Everything it cuts down then gets cut into smaller pieces to make them easier to carry. After each use I clean and sharpen the blade, then I empty the bar oil tank otherwise it sits there in a puddle like an incontinent puppy.

I give it fresh(ish) fuel and once the carby is primed it starts first pull. It's noisy but that's why hearing protection was invented. Being plastic it cleans really easy too.

I now only have 3 palms left on my "to die" list and when they're done in a few months time the machine will be pretty much redundent as it will then only get used for pruning when I can't be bothered to use a hand saw. $160 delivered? It has more than paid for itself and keeps on going.

Maybe I got lucky; maybe I bought the one cheapy chainsaw that didn't explode, run backwards or deliberately try to remove my limbs. I don't boubt that all the work I've done with it would have been slightly more pleasurable with a Stihl....maybe a little bit quicker.... but at the end of the day the Stihl will also just end up sitting on a shelf in the shed and I'll have spent much much more.

Picked up a brand new 62cc chainsaw a few weeks ago for $300...with a 2 year warranty,oregon bar and chain...yes,it's made in china...but what isn't these days...if it packs it in during the warranty period,then i get a replacement...if i keep the chain nice and sharp every time that i use it,and treat it with respect,it will hopefully last as long as my Husky did...at a fraction of the cost...