Hi! I jumped the fence from Cooks Talk. My husband wants a chain saw to cut down fallen (and soon to be fallen) trees on our property. The largest are about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. He wants a gas saw. I told him I thought this would be the best place to ask for your expertise. Any suggestions on brands and blade length, and any important other info I have left out due to my ignorance on this issue? Safety is one of my big concerns.
Thanx in advance for your help!
Christine
Replies
My personnel preference is STHIL. They always start, and run great.
The two I have are 026 Pro, and 044 Mag, with several different bars.
The 026 bars are 16", 20". About 3.5HP. Great power to weight ratio.
The 044 has a 24" and 28", It's a monster, About 5HP. Sort of heavy, but if you get in any big stuff, it kicks you know what.
For the occasional cutting that you describe, the current model I'd suggest is a STIHL MS 250, about 3HP, 10.3 lbs. 16"-18" bar, or stepping up abit, the MS 260 Pro, 3.5HP, 10.6 lbs. 16"-20" bar. Get it with the 20" bar.
Note the increase in HP with out much increase in weight.
If I was going to replace both of my saws with one, I'd go with a 036 Pro.
PS: Follow all safety warnings and don't cut anything over head, use a pole saw.
Glad ta have ya over here. I've poked my nose over in Cook's talk a bit lately also.
There's have been tons of threads here about chainsaws. Using the search function will get you enough reading to either give ya all the info ya want or put you to sleep.
Just one side note - I saw a Stihl daler yesterday at a farm show, and they had soem new "EZ start" models. It was amazing how little of a pull it took to get them going.
Just one side note - I saw a Stihl daler yesterday at a farm show, and they had soem new "EZ start" models. It was amazing how little of a pull it took to get them going.
Over by Decatur? Got a co-worker whose house borders the site.
jt8
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." --Warren Buffett
Yup - Decatur it was. Nine hours of walking around in the dust and the heat. Saw lots of neat stuff, and took a pic of this T-shirt:
Few women admit their age, few men act it.
Find a local Stihl dealer and tell him what you need it for.
Visit the VIP Club in Corpus Christi, Texas - The Premier Tejano Nightclub in the Coastal Bend.
for what he wants... go to Lowes and get a Husqvarna.
16" bar..
say about a model 340
My parents had a Stihl for 10 years and I got it from them and did some rework on it and used it for another 3 until it was stolen. Now I own an 029 Farm Boss with a 16" blade, which I use constantly since I assist our heating season with a wood burner and enjoy fires in the fireplace. These saws are the best you can buy and your hubby will love it too.
I agree with Huskies and I rate them above the other brand.
While we are on the subject : Ive hired some tree top men and looked over what they were using . A small Echo. They start after warmed up on the first pull every time. the handle is on top of the saw making it a one handed saw. I thought I needed one of them for forming and sawing stakes. They had a 2. for 200 and a 2.5 for 250. I bought the bigger one weighing in at a pound more. The whole thing weighs about 6 lbs if memory seves me correct. Certainly easy on arthritis. Small enough to carry in the tool box and on the four wheeler which I do. Its big enough for fire wood if you give it time but Ive got bigger saws for that. Sure gets used more than the other two as I limb with it too and cut small trees off at the ground in preconstuction. 12 inch bar I believe.
I have one of those little Echos also. Absolutely love it. So easy to use I have to keep reminding myself it can be dangerous. Has always started immediately. Need a different saw for big work though.
I have a 16" Echo and it starts everytime, first pull when warm and in about 3-5 pulls when cold. Great machine.
Stihl 21. I use it for blowdowns, etc. about the same diameter as yours. Very reliable, easy to use saw.
Stihl and Husqvarna/Huskie are going to be the two most popular brands.
jt8
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." --Warren Buffett
Thank you ALL for your input. My DH was looking at at Homelite 18" Timberman at Home Depot. No one has mentioned this one. Sounds like it too much for what he needs and no one mentions this brand. You all are as helpful and knowledgeable as Cooks Talk, which is saying a lot. Again, thank you!
Homelite is crap.I'd avoid it like the plague.
I'm the man of this house and I have my wife's permission to say so.
I would shy away from Homelite...I've never heard enough good about them. Echo, Stihl, and Husky are all excellent saws.Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
I started out with an 029 super from Stihl....will never speak bad of the brand but now own and love a huskie 455 Rancher....it's the later version of the 55 Rancher,new body, less noisy, less vibration.....very nice saw retails for approx. $299-$325....Sounds like you can get away with a saw with a 16" bar, Stihl or Huskie definately CAN'T go wrong
good luck and be careul
I think you're missing the big picture here. She should go ahead and get hubby the homelite, or a poulan. Trust me, this will be to her benefit. After a few years of pulling and pulling and pulling to get the *%$&*# piece of sh#$* started, he's gonna have arms like friggen schwartzenager. She should appreciate that !
Seriously though, you really do get what you pay for. Don't talk yourself into getting the cheapo home depot p.o.c. since "you're only gonna use it occaisionally" . What happens is it works great when you first buy it, and you feel smug about getting such a bargain. Then stuff starts to go wrong with it. it gets harder and harder to start. you find out that the repair guy wants more than you paid for it to do any sort of repair or maintenance on it, (You'll notice that home depot doesn;t have a service department, guess why.)
So it winds up sitting in the corner of the garage, not running and preventing you from replacing it with a "good" one because you've already got too much money tied up in it and you can't buy another one since you already have one, "It just needs a little work, I'll fix it the next time I need to use it." Effectively this translates to, you no longer have a chainsaw, just a bandito sitting in the garage, holding your checkbook hostage.
Husquvarna are good tools, albeit awfully pricey. Stihl are as good if not better, and unlike husquvarna, you can't swing a dead cat around without hitting at least 2 stihl dealers." If I were a carpenter"
Hehe you're right on that one! Keep poulan and poulan LOL!Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
Avoid Homelite. For that matter, avoid Home Depot
I bought a Husquvarna (sp?) 141 16" at Lowe's last year for $175, and it's paid for itself many times. Never a prob, and my tree-cutting buddy borrowed it because it cut better than his Craftsman (which is a rebadged Poulan.)
Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
How tall are your trees?
Any powerlines, house drops nearby?
buildings nearby?
Are you confident that this tree(s) will fall in the planned area?
home much experience doe he have with chainsaws?
Do you really think the savings will outweigh the costs of personal injury/accident or property damage/incident?
What to do with the tree once fell, all the branches, debris and rounds, where are you gonna put it?
Carefully consider these, I have seen some disaterous accidents from homeowner tree removal and just a word of caution.
For all you other macho types out there, advice is great but, good advice from seasoned vets can lead a HO into false confidence...
Not chastising anyone just a little caution and know when to hire out to an experienced pro.
Best advice so far. I've got a Shil 046 Mag, which is not what a home owner wants. The best selections are above.
However, chainsaw work is about as dangerous as it gets. There are a thousand ways to seriously hurt or kill yourself. Here's an example of a few pitfalls felling just one medium size tree. While notching the saw can kick back seriously cutting you. As the tree falls it can jump the stump and get you, or barberchair and get you, or a dead or broken limb in the crown can fall out smashing you, or on a snag, dead tree, part of the crown can break off and come down and get you. But most common for beginner the tree fall backwards and drives you into the ground. Once its down and you limb it, the tree could have fallen on a limb the size of your arm bending it into a spring. You cut the limb, whap, the limb springs out lighting fast and nails you. Or you limb the tree along one side and the folded under limbs on the opposite side spring or roll the tree over on you. As you buck, cut the tree into pieces, pieces or the remaining stem, weighing hundred of pounds can roll on to you.
If you must, get him a relative small saw, good recommendations above, but the best gift maybe hiring a pro to do the job, while you take him to lunch.
Never serious, but always right.
Edited 9/2/2005 6:45 am ET by JRuss
My favorite chain saw is one I hire.
Not only do I not have to deal with maintenance (small gasoline or gasoline/oil engines are notoriously temperamental), but I don't have to risk life and limb (literally!).
Trees are incredibly heavy objects! If they fall the wrong way, they can easily damage person and property. In your haste to remove yourself from the area while the tree is falling, don't forget you're probably running with a powered chain saw in your hand that's capable of taking off a leg or an arm in a second. What if you trip?
Then, what's your plan when these monsters are on the ground? How many spare backs do you have to rupture or sprain? Even cut up into smaller pieces, they are still unwieldy and incredibly heavy.
No disrespect intended here: If, like me, hubby is coming off his easy chair on a weekend to go out and cut down a few trees, think twice before doing it. Then call a pro.
I personally agree. But the my man we are talking about here is granted, 66 years old, but can NOT be kept out of the yard. He's retired and probably spends at least 6 hours working on our 2 acres around the house and yard seven days a week and loves it. When a large tree falls he cuts it with a hand saw. You are right, I seldom say "no" to his requests, but the chain saw was on the "no list" for safety concerns. I hate to see him suffer physically cutting those trees with a hand saw. He worked for 35 years as a Union Pipefitter (we met on the Trans-Alaska when I was an electrician and he was a Piptefitter foreman building the piers to bring in the tankers). He's no stranger to hard work and safety is always top priority, but accidents do happen. I'm a tree hugger, so he's not going to be cutting down any of our forest. I just want him to have the minimal, but best tool for the work he insists on doing. I'm looking out the window now and he's rolling about a 50 pound rock about 50 feet. Thanx again for all the info. I'll read it to him at night when he comes in around 5:00pm. That is a time I've asked him to call it quits each day!
If your husband worked a full life as a union pipefitter, I've got to believe that he's had his share of safety lessons drilled into his head. And, he's got to have learned that his personal safety is primarily his own responsibility.
Now, he's 66 years old, presumable working alone, with reaction times delayed by advancing age, with vision that maybe isn't what it used to be, maybe his heart or blood pressure or cholesterol aren't where they should be (certainly, he no longer has the heart of a 30 year old), and with muscles weaker than when he was younger. Maybe his joints aren't so quick or easy to move either. (In other words, doing what he was trained not to do.)
I'm sorry. I'm not trying to paint a bleak picture of ill health - I don't know your husband and he may be a true physical specimen of retained youth and vigor. At least, he still makes your heart tick, right? Don't answer that. ;)
I'm just trying to convey, probably in a less than eloquent manner, the seriousness of a decision to obtain any powered tool. A gasoline powered chain saw is probably the most violent and dangerous of tools to consider for reasons others have clearly set forth on this bulletin board.
If you can't convince him to hire someone to help with the occasional heavy tree that falls in your yard (how many times a year does this happen?), at least make sure the blade on his hand saw is sharpened so he has a bit easier time of it. Striking the dirt will dull most blades as will years of normal use cutting wood. And, if that hand saw is 20-30 years old or so, think about getting a new one. Ergonomics (I think it's called), the science of movement, may have caused a new more efficient and more comfortable design to appear on the market. At least that might make it a tad easier on him.
And, while you're at it, make sure his vision is protected (one set of eyes to last the rest of his life) and that his gloves are padded with a gel so that he has protection against developing carpal-tunnel syndrome - I suspect he would not willingly undergo surgery to one or both wrists to correct that nerve problem.
Good luck. And, good health to both of you. Enjoy your retirement. Sounds like you earned it.Griff
I was once hired by a 97 year-old man to cut down a tree in his front yard. It was in Fort Collins, Colorado in about 1992. He was living alone and was more than able to care for himself. I will always remember him, his name was W.C. Springer.I pulled up in front of his house with a '74 Chevy Blazer and an older chevy pickup bed trailer. With a Stihl 034 Super Chainsaw, I felled the tree, limbed it and started bucking it into firewood lengths. As fast as I could cut the tree up, Old Mr. Springer had it loaded into my trailer. The next day, I drove past his place and he had dug a 2' hole and was planting an oak tree. I wondered why he even hired me. He could have felled that tree himself with an axe in the fantastic shape he was in.I will never again assume age will limit what a man can do.
Edited 9/3/2005 4:05 pm ET by basswood
I could be erudite and wax on about the indomitable human spirit, but that would detract from the uniqueness of some people. It is truly amazing. Hope for us all, maybe.
My step father in law is 87 and still in great physical shape too. Puts me to shame. He works out in a gym 3 times a week, runs 5 miles 3 other days of the week. Except, sometimes he gets lost while out on his runs and has to be led home or picked up when he ends up in the next town and can't figure out his way back.
Go figure. Griff
I am 61, just a little bit younger than your DH, but I have operated a chainsaw for at least a few hours each year since I have been 13. I was a white collar suit before I got lucky enough to retire early, but since then I have been doodling in housebuilding. I really only use a chainsaw occasionally, but my 028AV Stihl with its 16-inch bar is always in the toolbox of my truck.
While I am partial to Stihl chainsaws, my advice is that he should get whatever the local chainsaw shop is recommending. Forget Lowe's or Home Depot or some other kind of bigbox store. A chainsaw shop is where you want to do business. They may be selling Stihl, or Husky, or Poulan, or something else, but they will know all about them, will make the best recommendation about size, and they will be able to fix whatever needs to be fixed.
But most importantly, I am here to insist that he gets three pieces of protective gear for use when operating the saw.
A pair of Kevlar chaps.
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A hardhat with face screen and ear protective muffs, all attached as a unit.
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A good pair of gloves.
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All these pics were cut from the website of my favorite place to buy all this stuff, Forestry Suppliers, Inc. They are in Mississippi, and I hope they have survived the wrath of the hurricane.
Husqvarna, Stihl, or Echo - all are good.................. a good local servicing dealer would help me make my choice- for me it's Husky and Echo (have a friend who sells both). I'd second Mike Smith's suggestion of the Husky 340 (or 350); nice saws- powerful and lighjt weight. As for safety, chaps and a hardhat if he's out in the woods.
You got lots of good advice here about saw brands, and safety, and reading your first post, it sounds like you are undertaking a little woodlot management. Those soon to be fallen trees you are taking sound like dying or dieseased, I just wanted to suggest if you are thinning out the woods perhaps you may want to consult an arborist, you see, some species of tree thrive only as a "stand of trees". If you are going to leave a lonesome pine by itself the next windstorm might take it.
Bought a small Sthil last year. Man at the saw store suggested that I get the 17 or 18 inch bar instead of the 14. My answer was that if I need a bigger saw, than I need some profecional help and won't cut that size of tree down. Bought some property this year, and it is full of tall but thin trees. Doing fine with what I have and for the bigger trees I get the man down the street , he knows what he is doing, to cut it down.
Maybe she should get him to buy a Sawzall. Put a rough cut blade on it and it would allow him to trim out the trees and take most if not all the branches off. He may even be able to start cutting the main trunk into segments depending on it's thickness (I'm assuming he's not taking down 20"+ diameter trees that are 60-70' high.
It's electric, double insulated (GFCI circuit would be good), slow and unlikely to cause him to slice off or into his leg.
Griff
If safety is your big concern don't buy him one. I work in an emergency room and have seen many chain saw accidents. Most are not that bad, but the potential is there for horrific problems. The most common although not the most dangerous aspect is foreign bodies in the eye. Goggles are a must, and ear protection for long term hearing concerns are also. Buy a Stihl and they have all the gear that you need. Jeans with a fabric that jams a saw are also available. If you buy a Stihl, you get repair at their shop. Buy at a big box and you get at the end of the line.
Stihl MS 260 with 18 inch bar. Get the more aggressive pro chain which although seems contradictory is safer I believe.
I've run chainsaws all my life... and like any power tool they are dangerous. When I was a faller I treated 3 chainsaw injuries and let me tell you they are very nasty. When a chainsaw cuts you it leaves a 3/8th of an inch void full of sawdust oil and metal filings. They take forever to heal. Each cut I treated were to the legs. All of them while the worker was wearing chaps. Ensure that these are worn any time you pull the cord and make sure they fit. In addition steal toe boots are another requirement not only for the crushing hazard of logs but I can't count the amount of times I've kicked my chain. I would concur that you should shy away from anything but the major brands. I prefer Husky and my little saw is a 266. I prefer a 18" bar...but you need to ensure that the bar length matches the power of the saw. My big saw is a 5100 with a 3ft bar. Great for felling big stuff or milling lumber. In addition if you are only using the saw occasionally ensure that you get a fuel stabilizer additive to keep your fuel useful...it also helps when you park it for a winter and try to start in the spring. Depending on the season there are also different types of bar oils, winter, summer and Canola oil when you split that moose in hunting season.
Byron
Throw in one more from the 60's YO crowd.
Let's see, total chainsaw and axe stiches about 163 (157 at one time) over last 45 years, so be careful, ear protection a must unless you take out your hearing aid. Never the same type accident twice<G>
Keep your left arm straight.
Felled 165 ft 4ft dia breast height cottonwood last year, neighbor is a retired 82 YO logger, let him do the final backcut (it was cabled for fall control) for 'old times sake'
As to Homelite, they have one VERY GOOD attribute, in that they are in the $20 to $50 range at garage sales for 3.5 cuinch 18" bar models - usually only need the little screen in the carb cleaned and the fuel filter changed. Had to change the carb to engine rubber boot on one, otherwise, IMHO, $20 to $50 for a 3.5 cubic ich saw is a good deal for Homelite (I have 5) - a few old Crafstman saws are Homelite. Attribute the poor rep to widespread homeownership and poor care/fuel cleanliness and filling care. Never have seen a Sthil at a garage sale for under $100.
There is only one choice for chainsaws. Stihl. The saw will last longer than you will. Husky and Echo are excellent brands, but they come in behind Stihl in the chainsaw race. Also.... Don't buy a saw from a home center. They sell lines that aren't carried by the authorized retailers who are usually the repair shops as well. Buy from one of these small shops. The prices are about the same, they know alot about the tools (not just the boxes they come in) and they will service your tools as well.
no ones mentioned the trusty.. can do anything...
Sawzall
Let him get introduced with a rental. HD rents better tools than they sell. Don't leave until they prove to you it's a good starter.
try to find a pamphlet on safe operation