Chainsaws (Gas/Battery/Corded)???

David L

David L

IPCT Contributor
Aug 2, 2019
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29,370
USA
Now living on 10 acres of 90%+ Forest land with a mix of Hard/Soft wooded trees (Oaks/Cedars/Pines) I am in search for Chainsaws. I know in time I will probably own several but with Black Friday coming up, hoping to find a good deal. Before I throw out $500 I would like to find something in the $300 or less range.

Had a Tree Crew come out a few times and cut down about two dozen or so trees, most dead, and trim branches over our house/buildings and drive. In talking to the owner and crew, they were all in on Stihl but found the Husqvarna 455 Rancher is their go to chainsaw now.

BLADE SHARPENING:
How often?
Oregon has their sharpening tech on their saw, not sure if that is a good thing or does it chew up blades faster? I think their blade has a different design too.

CORDED 15AMP CHAINSAW:
I have been watching videos and reading reviews, and I am a bit impressed with the 15AMP Chainsaws, my question is what size electric cord do they need, as mentioned before looking at 50 to 100 feet where I will be cutting...Do I really need a 12 gauge cord or will a 14 or 16 work? I understand 100 feet would be pushing it, 50 feet should work find for me...

Any help/experiences will be very much appreciated...
 
I have a smaller Stihl gas chainsaw. When it's running well it's a little monster and an electric chainsaw wouldn't be able to touch it for a big job, which comes along when a really big tree or limb comes down. For smaller jobs it's a pain in the ass, sometimes taking an hour to get running correctly. Non-ethanol gas helps a lot, making it a smaller pain in the ass. For the smaller jobs I'd rather use an electric chainsaw, and I have a feeling that some of the battery units do a decent job. I sharpen the chains with a harbor freight chainsaw sharpener, which does a decent job. The chain has to come off the saw to use it. How often the chain needs sharpening depends on what you're cutting. Most of my trees are very hard juniper, with a lot of dirt trapped in the bark. They go through the chains pretty fast. The chain lasts a long time with fir and pine. Touching the ground, a rock, or metal with the moving chain takes it out pretty fast. For a plugin unit, consider using a generator instead of a really long cord. If you're pulling anywhere 15 amps you need 12 gauge. Based on how strong my Ego weedeater is, I'd look at their chainsaws if going for an electric unit. If money were no object I'd get one, but don't think I'd use it often enough to justify the cost, and I need the money to buy more cameras.
 
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there is no substitute for a stihl farm boss or its slightly bigger brother (ms391), and a Milwaukee Hatchet with a hefty battery or 2 to delimb. I also have the adjustable Mil. pole saw for high 6-8" branches about 12' up
this combo works its butt off around here.
 
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It all depends on how much wood you intend to cut yourself. Will you be felling trees? How large in diameter? I‘m a fan of the Stihl pro series saws. My wife loves her MS192 C rear handle saw, and it’s light way and powerful for up to 6-8” or so. Will handle larger, but the bigger stuff is dealt with by my MS361, which is my go-to saw for felling and bucking. We also have an MS250, which is Stihl’s do everything consumer saw. It’s a good saw, but not as comfortable as the other two.

Do you really want to have to drag out an extension cord to use a saw? I understand that the battery powered saws have come a long way, although I haven’t tried one. If your cutting sessions will be smaller and for short periods, a quality battery electric might be just the ticket.

As for sharpening, Project Farm on YouTube did a comparison of different sharpening tools. I get great results with my Granberg File N Joint.
 
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I got a deal on one of the 16" Ego battery-powered saws a while back. It's a great small saw. Plenty of power and good enough run time with a 4 or 5 ah battery. A little heavy with the bigger battery. Not a replacement for a good gas saw if you need to do a lot but so much easier for quick jobs.

Corded saws suck. Pain in the ass managing the cord with things coming down and stuff on the ground.
 
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I love my battery Dewalt 12" bar saw. I love it if I just need to cut a few branches that are the size of my wrist, give or take. I always feel guilty starting my gas chainsaw for one measly cut.

But if I'm going to do more than that I use my Stihl.
 
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A gas saw is going to be more powerful than any battery/electric option. That being said, the ability to pick up a battery/electric saw at any point and have it instantly work is a real benefit if you don't use the saw very often. Gas saws can be very hard to get started, especially after they have been sitting a while, especially if the engine wasn't run out of fuel prior to storage.

With that big a piece of property you'll probably want a gas saw, but for your average homeowner who might just need to cut down a few branches once or twice a year, a battery/electric saw can't be beat IMHO.
 
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Thanks everyone, great advise. Not having good luck finding a good Black Friday deal. Can't stop watching all the chainsaw videos :)
 
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Depending on how much you have, you can’t go wrong with Stihl, Husqvarna, echo or Dolmar/Makita

My current go to is the Stihl 261. I love that thing. I have no desire anymore to cut big wood, that 261 is perfect.

I’ve owned hundreds of saws over the years. I used to work on them on the side for tree services and buy non running saws from our local dealers to rebuild. There isn’t many saws out there which I haven’t ran.

My two all time favorite was the 372xp and 395xp Husky.

I am not a fan at all of the consumer grade saws (Stihl 290, Husky 455 etc.). They are hard to work on and they vibrate way more than the pro series saws.
 
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and ACE hardware ..
 
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So I just ordered one of these to play with or carve a turkey with :rofl: ...It uses Dewalt v20 MAX batteries...

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I don’t know how often youll run this saw, but at the least run ethanol free gas in it.

If you are buying a 170, I am guessing you won’t be going through gallons of gas a year. If that is the case, then just bite the bullet and buy the gas in a can at your local hardware store. Heck even Walmart sells Tru-Fuel in gallon cans. (And buy 40:1 over 50:1.)
gallon
You’ll thank me later by buying the fuel in the can vs E-0 from the pump if your saw sits for months on end before you need to run it again.
 
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Also, learn how to sharpen a chain. Don’t send a chain to someone and pay them $10 to sharpen it.

Also, junk that shitty safety chain that comes on the saw and buy non saftey chain that actually cuts.
 
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rolibr24 said:
If I were to get any homeowner grade Stihl that would be the one, just for price point alone.


I‘d recommend the 170/180 over a 290 all day long.
I have an absolute loathing for the Stihl 290/310/390 saws.
Click to expand...
Do you know much about the MS 171:

 
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