Thread: Budget chainsaws

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Some good discussion going on here, but lets please keep it on track and without personal derogative comments, or it will be closed

yes dad

Wasnt me wasnt me wasnt meeeeee
Its ok to buy a cheap tool.
But the first post asked for peoples opinions and that is what has been posted more or less.
Just be aware that no cheap tool is going to have the same useability or durability as a well designed and constructed tool.
Do yourself a big favour and buy a really good quality chain and Jig sharpener like a Stil for it. A properly sharpened chain will place far less strain on the machine and make cutting safer too.
Alternatively after each trailer of wood get an expert to sharpen it.
Back when I first bought my Husky I had the small motor guy I bought it from sharpen it.
The cost was well worth it. Only 5 years later when I was taught how did I start sharpening it myself.

+1; chain and bar maintenance make such a difference. You see guys spend over a grand on a tool but are too tight to spend $15 to get the chain sharpenend.

Thanks for all the replies and opinions; after careful scrutiny and consideration I have decided to purchase a "Ross" for the following reasons:

I simply can't afford a decent sized new Stihl/Husky

There are no 2nd hand machines available at this time

The Ross is being purchased from a local supplier who claims he has never had one returned yet, and has at least one professional tree feller use one day in/day out.

The saw was brought to my attention and recommended by a semi-professional user.

After a couple of days of relatively hard use the saw will be relegated to maybe a couple of hours use a year. I don't use firewood, I don't go felling, I don't chainsaw turning blanks. Until I bought my property I've simply never needed to own a chainsaw and at the price I'm paying I can't even hire one economically. The saw won't earn me any money so there won't be any tax relief, and if it does spear in after a week; well, at best I get a working replacement, at worst I've cut down some palms cheaper than hiring one or contracting the job out.

I hope I haven't offended any professional tree fellers with my decision; you guys use your saws to earn a crust so of course you use only the best and sing their praises. I appreciate, buy and use quality tools all the time; these tools earn my livelyhood. But if I know I'm only going to use something once or twice then I'm not going to pay Snap-on prices when a Supercheap Special will suffice and I am willing to accept the compromise with ease of use, power and tool life.

Who's willing to spend upwards of $500 on a wristwatch knowing that it is going to be bashed and shaken, may come into contact with some detrimental substances and other rather extreme working conditions? I wear a Pro-master dive watch because it can take all the abuse I can possibly give it and it still looks good enough to go out to dinner with it on. It seems to be completely vibration proof and because I work in a remote(ish) locality it's an auto so no batteries to fail. I also work in a hazardous environment so it's future proof for when our OH&S "experts" decide that watch batteries can become an ignition source. I bet there's a lot of guys here who wear a $10 servo special for the same reasons I'm buying my chainsaw!

Good for you "Chief"

Nice One chief. Be sure to report back on how it goes for you.

Brendan

I have 2 Baumr 22" saws bought 1 year apart. I wanted to do some slabbing and the first one did an excellant job straight out of the box. It performed a lot better than my original 20 something year old McCullock (only because the Mac is slow revving I think) The second saw was never very good and was spasmodic in its performance.
Now both won't go. They have spark but it must be the fuel. I have a mate who is a mechanic but is not all that keen on small engines
Has anybody done some deep dissections of these saws? Is there a fuel filter deep inside that could be clogged?
Or is there some where else to look?
I know you get what you pay for and I am expecting these saws to have short and brilliant career. But I think a little tinkering might get them to go

Has it got compression? 2 stroke motors are a piece of cake to work on. If theres a nice strong spark then thats 90% of potential problems ruled out. The other potential probs are compression or fuel. If its got no compression then do the rings and/or the gasket at the bottom of the cylinder. Im pretty sure these things have the cylinder head and cylinder itself cast as one so theres no head gasket to blow.

If its not compression you'll have a blockage in one of the ports in the carby. You'll have to pull the carby off and clean it thoroughly. They arent too complicated but you will be working with small parts. Take care and work in a clean space. Theres probably info on the web that will help you with a chainsaw carby rebuild.

Originally Posted by chambezio

I have 2 Baumr 22" saws bought 1 year apart. I wanted to do some slabbing and the first one did an excellant job straight out of the box. It performed a lot better than my original 20 something year old McCullock (only because the Mac is slow revving I think) The second saw was never very good and was spasmodic in its performance.
Now both won't go. They have spark but it must be the fuel. I have a mate who is a mechanic but is not all that keen on small engines
Has anybody done some deep dissections of these saws? Is there a fuel filter deep inside that could be clogged?
Or is there some where else to look?
I know you get what you pay for and I am expecting these saws to have short and brilliant career. But I think a little tinkering might get them to go

How old is the mix in the saws?

There is usually a filter inside the tank that filters the fuel before it goes to the carby but doing the following is likely to help the filter and many other problems.

Tip the CS upside down and let all the old fuel drain out until none drips out.

Then fill the saw with raw petrol (BUT DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN THE SAW) let it sit for a couple of hours, and shake the saw for 30 seconds every 15 minutes or so, and then tip that out. Now fill with fresh mix and try to start it.

Thankyou gentlemen for your very prompt replies.
* Yes they both have a lot of compression.
* The old Mac is VERY low in compression in comparison.
** I will try the straight fuel trick and see what happens
We pulled both carbis off and had a look and cleaned them with "Carbi Clean" but to no avail
There is no visible way to see how the carbis work(to me anyway) they resemble a match box with with some small holes in them
So I will give the suggestions a go and report back later today or tomorrow
Thanks

Originally Posted by chambezio

Thankyou gentlemen for your very prompt replies.
* Yes they both have a lot of compression.
* The old Mac is VERY low in compression in comparison.
** I will try the straight fuel trick and see what happens
We pulled both carbis off and had a look and cleaned them with "Carbi Clean" but to no avail
There is no visible way to see how the carbis work(to me anyway) they resemble a match box with with some small holes in them
So I will give the suggestions a go and report back later today or tomorrow
Thanks

If my suggestion doesn't work try the direct injection of a squirt of mix into the spark plug head.

Originally Posted by hybridfiat

"Religous fervour" I like that
It really boils down to experience doesnt it. My 40 years of experience of buying cheap tools and wishing I hadnt later when they didnt perform like the more expensive tool I turned down is just my experience.
I still do it now and then but it is false economy in the long run. I get caught each and every time. A cheap shifter, a cheap clamp, a cheap screwdriver etc etc.
Small expenses that add up to a lot of waste.

I had an X1/9 years ago.

Anyway:

I'm a motor mechanic, or used to be. For some years I worked on F truck ambulances. I had a set of 3/8 no name sockets, including a 3/8 universal. Some of my coworkers regarded this set as inadequate. I still have most of those sockets. Some I've lost, never broke one. Used them to pull c6's and 9" diffs, clevo heads and suspension members. I used quality ratchets but no name T bar and other handles.

I've got a set of stahwille spanners. I've got bosch blue power tools and xu1 power tools and everything in between.

Some of my tools are the best you can get, some came out of a $1 shop bargain bin. I very rarely break anything.

My point is that while cheap tools can sometimes be worthless and not fit for purpose some can be perfectly servicable and suit the occasional user. The trick is to make an informed considered choice that suits YOUR circumstances.

Blanket statments are never right.

Not looking at if a tool gets the job done or not: how enjoyable is it to work with it? I have some very expensive tools which working with them is fast, easy and most of all enjoyable (stihl chainsaw is one of them). I own tools that were cheap to buy, do the job, not break but are not a pleasure too use. They often are extra noisy, slower, harder to use and it makes the job a lot more painful. What is the value on enjoying what you are doing?

When I use my cheap chinese chainsaw it starts easily, often easier than my stihl brushcutters, it doesn't drip oil, nothing has ever broken. It cuts fast and has never jumped or jamed or anything.

It's possible a stihl would be nicer to use, but most of my friends have them and they seem to think the no name is ok.

Actually one bloke I know has a whole stack of stihls. Seems he's collecting them

2c