Buying chainsaw for the first time

Onesimus

Hello, what would you recommend I buy? which type of chainsaw?

JohnBoy

what sort of work do you want it for?

there's a fair element of you get what you pay for in the chainsaw business.

I killed my aldi saw a few months back and have been using a borrowed saw for a few jobs since while I do some shopping around.

Some of the best value I've seen has been in husqvarna saws from these guys. http://www.douglaslawnmowers.ie/sites/categoryproducts.aspx?pc=2

the biggest thing is to buy local (it's rare I say this) from an established chainsaw dealer. a good saw should last 15-20 years and will need servicing in that time, a cheap saw will maybe last 5 and odds are you wont be able to get it serviced when it dies.

djmc

I think ebay is the best for value I posted a link in buying chains online thread
where I got a new 58cc saw for 70euro you wont get that value in ireland.
If you want a good brand saw like husky or jonsred,stil etc do a worldwide ebay search and see prices in US or canada compared to here you might have to pay duty but still good value.
There are plenty of places that will service a saw you did not buy from them
I would say away from cheap small cc saws if you want it for more than cutting branches in the garden.
I think lidl woodies argos etc sell garden saws not profesnal saws

Onesimus

I'd be wanting it for little jobs and big jobs, I'm prob best off with a 15 inch blade to start with, I wanted to see what you guys would reccommend, I've a licence to fell and crosscut with a chainsaw, and the saw I used or borrowed for the course at the time was a ''still'' and I'm telling you it was amazing, but of all the shops I've been to, none are selling any ''still'' chainsaws.

So a step down from that will have to be a husky, I like the e-bay idea and will definitely give that a go.

Cheers Lads.

meathstevie

I've a husqy 460 with a 18" bar. In my opinion it's a great allrounder. I bought it through ebay fro a lad in Winsconsin and after paying duty and the lot it cost me a little over €400 including two chains ( that was with the dollar at an all time low).

dunsandin

Its been posted before, but just one word-Jonsered. De best,most reliable,powerful and wonderful chainsaw ever to burn unleaded. They are the Skoda Octavia of the chainsaw world. Chuck Norris uses a Jonsered. Buy one, the trees will fall down into stove sized pieces when they see you walk up with it. Anything else is a toy, hard to start, Orange, or expensive, or maybe even both.

mossfort

dunsandin wrote: »

Its been posted before, but just one word-Jonsered. De best,most reliable,powerful and wonderful chainsaw ever to burn unleaded. They are the Skoda Octavia of the chainsaw world. Chuck Norris uses a Jonsered. Buy one, the trees will fall down into stove sized pieces when they see you walk up with it. Anything else is a toy, hard to start, Orange, or expensive, or maybe even both.

are jonsered the same as husqvarna?

O.A.P

mossfort wrote: »

are jonsered the same as husqvarna?

As good as, made in the same factory but there cheaper

red bull

from my experience its a stihl, have one for over twenty years never had a problem.

dunsandin

red bull wrote: »

from my experience its a stihl, have one for over twenty years never had a problem.

Do you ever use it? Or is it stihl in the wrapper?

I have a soda stream, and ive had it over 20 years and it still works fine, cos I never bleedin use it. I got a new spanner today, and despite being one of the finest 22mm spanners ever made, a big russian chap managed to snap it in half, cos he was over-using it.

colrow

dunsandin wrote: »

Do you ever use it? Or is it stihl in the wrapper?

I have a soda stream, and ive had it over 20 years and it still works fine, cos I never bleedin use it. I got a new spanner today, and despite being one of the finest 22mm spanners ever made, a big russian chap managed to snap it in half, cos he was over-using it.

rotflmao

JohnButler

I myself do a lot of sawing and would be loyal to Stihl. Have never let me down and i would recommend to anyone.

Again though if your not sawing regularly there is no point in spending a fortune. Deals are available on Husqy saws and they do the job. I was never a fan due to the fact they were a bitch to start when cold and always seem to have niggly little problems. In saying that my experience of them were a few years back so things may be different now. Although being purchased by an American crowd may not have helped, as parts seem to be taken and mix and matched with other saw makes owned by husqvarna. With Stihl, everything is Stihl made and works!!

dunsandin

Its a bit hard to spend a fortune on a chainsaw. If you went out in the morning and bought a professional, full time forestry saw, for say €1200.00, it hardly qualifies as a fortune. If you buy a top grade part time saw for €650.00 it will see you out, you will have a piece of equipment that will give pleasurable service every time you need it. I hate cheap sh1te. It works slow,vibrates, and every time you pick it up, you forget the price and remember how crap it is. Buy a bit of quality, and have some class. Quality remains long after the price is forgotten. Goes for pretty much everything really, not just revvy baxters that can kill you if you mess with them.

red bull

dunsandin wrote: »

Do you ever use it? Or is it stihl in the wrapper?

I have a soda stream, and ive had it over 20 years and it still works fine, cos I never bleedin use it. I got a new spanner today, and despite being one of the finest 22mm spanners ever made, a big russian chap managed to snap it in half, cos he was over-using it.

Ha ha dunsandin ! when I bought the the saw over 20 years ago the salesman told me to treat it like a wife never lend it out ! That saw could tell stories, but it has kept me and my family warm for the past 20 years. worn many a chain, but still gives satisfaction starts every its time its needed. Stihl with me.

dunsandin

im really only ripping the pi55 Red Bull. I have stihl consaws and they are excellent, I used to always buy stihl chainsaws, but then I bought a used Jonsered and found it to be just as good, but cheaper, so started buying them instd. Stihl, Husqy or jonsered -all goodies, even the old dolmars were excellent. (But I still prefer jonsered!!!)

dunsandin

red bull wrote: »

Ha ha dunsandin ! when I bought the the saw over 20 years ago the salesman told me to treat it like a wife never lend it out ! That saw could tell stories, but it has kept me and my family warm for the past 20 years. worn many a chain, but still gives satisfaction starts every its time its needed. Stihl with me.

I never lend mine out either, and i just hope none of my mates nip in to have a quick borrow when I am out. The chainsaw that is......:)

O.A.P

red bull wrote: »

Ha ha dunsandin ! when I bought the the saw over 20 years ago the salesman told me to treat it like a wife never lend it out ! That saw could tell stories, but it has kept me and my family warm for the past 20 years. worn many a chain, but still gives satisfaction starts every its time its needed. Stihl with me.

I belive there a good saw alright, nothingh to do with Sthil though because they are made by Husqvarna.;)

dunsandin

What are? I cant keep up. Are you saying husky make stihl? Is anything sacred? Next you will be telling me volvos are really fords.

O.A.P

dunsandin wrote: »

What are? I cant keep up. Are you saying husky make stihl? Is anything sacred? Next you will be telling me volvos are really fords.

No Stihl are about the last chainsaw that Husqvarna are not involved with. They bought Jonsered over 30 years ago and they have Partner, (its a big list but Stihl is not on it) all owned by Electrolux or Husqvarna I'm not sure who is top dog. Anyway some Jonsered and Husqvarna saws are the very same apart from colour and price, others have the same major parts with slightly different minor parts.
Volvo same as Ford? no :eek::rolleyes:

Tora Bora

dunsandin wrote: »

What are? I cant keep up. Are you saying husky make stihl? Is anything sacred? Next you will be telling me volvos are really fords.

Volvos are in fact Frods:D Volvo was acquired by Ford, about 12 years ago:rolleyes::rolleyes:. They are now in the process of flogging it off again, to a Chinese crowd:eek::eek:

dunsandin

Ok, kinda knew the ford/volvo bit, can also throw in jag as well. On the husky/electrolux thing, is General electric not the ultimate Daddy?Could be very wrong there, but seem to remember reading that somewhere

O.A.P

dunsandin wrote: »

Ok, kinda knew the ford/volvo bit, can also throw in jag as well. On the husky/electrolux thing, is General electric not the ultimate Daddy?Could be very wrong there, but seem to remember reading that somewhere

I think Husqvarna is not 100% sure but its some mix in there

CJhaughey

The state of play is that Husqvarna is Husqvarna.
Electrolux did own Husky, Jonsered, Partner, Dimas, Flymo, Poulan, Weedeater and Zenoah (Redmax) and a whole heap of other brands. However in 2006 Electrolux divested itself of Husqvarna and the other outdoor power products to concentrate itself on its core business which was/is home electrical goods.

So as of 2006 Husqvarna is Husqvarna and the above mentioned outdoor power brands, which isn't a bad thing in itself as companies like Zenoah have developed a lot of the new strato charged technology which is enabling the 2T engine to survive in todays emission obsessed world.
Husky didn't have the technology so they bought the company. Stihl don't call their strato charged engines anything. Look at the MS211, 441,362 they are all strato engines but not called strato.

Husky also bought out Partner when Partner developed the Turbo system back in the late 80's this is still called Turbo on Jonsered saws and the patent has run out now so Stihl use it on the MS441 and some newer saws.
This system used centrifugal force to fling sawdust out of the airstream before it arrived at the airfilter and consequently kept the filter cleaner for longer. The first production saw with it was the Husky 262xp which is still one of the best power to cc saws ever built.

red bull

But stihl is stihl stihl and stihl best saw:D

CJhaughey

red bull wrote: »

But stihl is stihl stihl and stihl best saw:D

Thats a matter of opinion, You are welcome to yours.
Both Husky and Stihl produce good saws and it really depends on what you want in a saw, For years Husky had better antivibe and air filtration(Turbo) and plenty of Forestry professionals would agree, with saws like the 262, 272, 242 and 346 and 357, 372 it is hard to argue that they are not good. However in the 70cc class the likes of the MS044/MS440 are equally as good and for tree surgeons the MS 020T/MS200T is unequalled by Husky.
I personally don't care what brand the saw is as long as it cuts well.
I don't like the MS 029/290 , heavy and slow, nothing Husky made was ever as popular or as crap as that saw.

Just a heads up for all of you guys using saws, the mix of ethanol in the petrol is proving to be very hard on 2T equipment, I have lots of reports of guys with strimmers and saws having problems with the new fuel.
Try and get proper petrol if you can, the bioblend stuff is rubbish.

O.A.P

CJhaughey wrote: »

Just a heads up for all of you guys using saws, the mix of ethanol in the petrol is proving to be very hard on 2T equipment, I have lots of reports of guys with strimmers and saws having problems with the new fuel.
Try and get proper petrol if you can, the bioblend stuff is rubbish.

I get 5 gallons a time from where ever is cheaper and the wife puts the same stuff in the car. I have not noticed anything telling us about bioblend petrol. I forked out over 1000 euros for a saw last Febuary and I need to get at least 5 years work out of it. So how will I know what not to get?

CJhaughey

O.A.P wrote: »

I get 5 gallons a time from where ever is cheaper and the wife puts the same stuff in the car. I have not noticed anything telling us about bioblend petrol. I forked out over 1000 euros for a saw last Febuary and I need to get at least 5 years work out of it. So how will I know what not to get?

I don't know! I do know that not all places have the 4-5% ethanol fuel but I am damn sure some have it and don't have signs to that effect.
I know that If it was possible to buy Aspen fuel here I would be running that in my equipment rather than the pump fuel.
Maxol has 5% ethanol fuel on it's forecourts afaik but how many others sell it I don't know.

JohnBoy

Husqvarna have the 450e on special offer this weekend for €450

I think that's the model anyway, havent seen the ad yet myself, it's in the journal.

pmct

Anybody know where's a good place to buy a saw in the mid west I Am looking for. Good all-round saw for farming

leoch

i bought a still ms 250 few years its a good saw its light and very easy started and great and handy for fencing and cutting timber

O.A.P

leoch wrote: »

i bought a still ms 250 few years its a good saw its light and very easy started and great and handy for fencing and cutting timber

I think the ms 361 is the new version of that saw and better.
I got that wrong sorry, two completly different saws.