momma says daddy can buy a chain saw

[Grande Mastere Dreade]

momma says I can go get a chain saw, urban use, i do have 60' trees that drop branches occasionally ... so i'm considering the Stihl MS180cbe with a can of their gas...

i have an electric milwaukee pole saw.. but it's only like a 10" bar and it's at the end of the pole which makes it cumbersome to just cut wood not attached to something..


talk me out of it... anything better? echo / husqvarna / poulan

 

[Talchotali]

Husky...

A don't forget the technical pants:

 

[Foreverslow]

momma says I can go get a chain saw, urban use, i do have 60' trees that drop branches occasionally ... so i'm considering the Stihl MS180cbe with a can of their gas...

i have an electric milwaukee pole saw.. but it's only like a 10" bar and it's at the end of the pole which makes it cumbersome to just cut wood not attached to something..


talk me out of it... anything better? echo / husqvarna / poulan

have had that unit for years.
Punches way above its class with a good blade installed.
Lightweight.

Got a MS391 if any big oak wants to pick on the little guy.
That SOB throws chips/chunks that smack you good in the shin.

Be sure to use the Stihl oil. Comes out top of the heap in engine protection every time.

 

[Quickstep192]

I'd go with an EGO Electric saw for small stuff like fallen branches. I'm tired of tinkering with clogged carbs on little motors.

If you do go with a Stihl gas saw, buy MotoMix gas. No ethanol; already mixed with their oil.

 

[Wetabehindtheears]

I have the 17” Stihl for about 5 years now. It is a great saw hands down. I used it for cutting trees of a couple homes I had after Hurricane Michael, used it around the mountain house to cut fire wood etc.
Heck I didn’t use it for over 8 months and the other day I wanted to trim some branches it fired on the third pull.
Get the Stihl!

 

[veni vidi vici]

Spend the extra a get the Sthil series above homeowner, Ranch or whatever they are calling it these days. They make some powerful small saws and you don’t need a big bar .
Gas … use a preservative and don’t buy a storage container bigger than a gallon. When you are done with the project empty the saw tank and then start it up a run it dry. Dump the container into your vehicle gas tank after 6 months and don’t fill it again until your next project.
I gave my 1984 Sthil to my son when we sold our house a year ago.

 

[Slowboat]

I have a Stihl ms310 which is great. I also have a Makita electric that is amazing! If you already have cordless tools, you might think about electric.

 

[Point Break]

momma says I can go get a chain saw, urban use, i do have 60' trees that drop branches occasionally ... so i'm considering the Stihl MS180cbe with a can of their gas...

i have an electric milwaukee pole saw.. but it's only like a 10" bar and it's at the end of the pole which makes it cumbersome to just cut wood not attached to something..


talk me out of it... anything better? echo / husqvarna / poulan

All the FD’s urban and wildland……at least in western US…..use Stihl. I’m not familiar with that model. There is a thread somewhere that we beat that question to death.

 

[hdra]

If you're not going to be using it all day every day or far away from electricity, it's worth thinking about an electric one - we've got a Stihl MSA 200 C-B battery saw with a 14" bar and it's been really perfect for our needs - the battery lasts longer than my arm does, no need to worry about fuel/mixing 2-stroke oil, and has had plenty of power for felling small doug-firs around our property and bucking up firewood.

 

[Black Jack]

 

[scars&scrapes]

momma says I can go get a chain saw, urban use, i do have 60' trees that drop branches occasionally ... so i'm considering the Stihl MS180cbe with a can of their gas...

i have an electric milwaukee pole saw.. but it's only like a 10" bar and it's at the end of the pole which makes it cumbersome to just cut wood not attached to something..


talk me out of it... anything better? echo / husqvarna / poulan

I've always been a Stihl guy (still have my dad's 028) but recently have switched to Husqvarna for chain saws. the MS180 isn't a bad saw but for the size I would consider the Husky 440e for ease of use, reliability and quality, my go to small saw. If I'm doing big trees I would switch to the 550XP and for the really big stuff I would grab the 562XP which is a beast of a saw.

 

[giegs]

All the FD’s urban and wildland……at least in western US…..use Stihl. I’m not familiar with that model. There is a thread somewhere that we beat that question to death.

This is no longer true and hasn't been for more than a decade. Both manufacturers make saws that fit NWCG S-212 requirements. Agencies have been introducing more Husqvarnas lately because they're lighter and have less influence on operator fatigue, which is ideal for what most wildland fire work actually looks like. Most shops have Stihls for larger power heads, but below that it's a mixed bag and reflects crew/shop boss preference the last time they got funding for new saws more than anything. You can make a clapped out Stihl work well enough, but the Husqvarnas are generally easier to maintain and keep running well these days. Training new sawyers generally goes better on Huskies.

In all of the work that's gone into updating saw policies in USFS and NPS the last couple years, the all Stihl all the time crowd is generally regarded as having outdated understandings of the equipment available.

 

[Bump-n-Grind]

stihl with non-ethanol ...happy cutting

 

[Howard Juno]

 

[veni vidi vici]

When I bought mine in 84 the guy that sold it to me said “ never lend it to anyone “
I followed his advice but did volunteer to my neighbor to do the cutting myself, the dragging and stacking was on them. I simply cannot do that type of work anymore, and payed professionals the last 10 years or so for any big job

 

[Howard Juno]

This is how it started

 

[Mark_K]

Spend the extra a get the Sthil series above homeowner, Ranch or whatever they are calling it these days. They make some powerful small saws and you don’t need a big bar .
Gas … use a preservative and don’t buy a storage container bigger than a gallon. When you are done with the project empty the saw tank and then start it up a run it dry. Dump the container into your vehicle gas tank after 6 months and don’t fill it again until your next project.
I gave my 1984 Sthil to my son when we sold our house a year ago.

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What he said, if you go gas Stihl the "Farm Boss" 271 series would be my minimum. Doesn't cost that much more than the tiny ones and it's their best compromise between power and weight. If you're going to have a gas chain saw it might as well be one that can handle the occasional tough job.

However, if it's just taking care of some branches that occasionally fall in the yard I'd go with their electric. The hassle of fresh gas in two-strokes is no longer worth the trouble for light small chores...the electrics have gotten so very much better...always start and almost never foul a spark plug.

 

[bmiller]

Spend the extra a get the Sthil series above homeowner, Ranch or whatever they are calling it these days. They make some powerful small saws and you don’t need a big bar .
Gas … use a preservative and don’t buy a storage container bigger than a gallon. When you are done with the project empty the saw tank and then start it up a run it dry. Dump the container into your vehicle gas tank after 6 months and don’t fill it again until your next project.
I gave my 1984 Sthil to my son when we sold our house a year ago.

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It's cool when you date a tool by the "West" prefix.

 

[d'ranger]

In my life I think I've owned a big variety of saws, several Poulans that were fine until I used them on jobs, they were worth what I paid. I have a Husqvarna Rancher 455 with 20" bar that will cut about anything, at that time was half the cost of the Stihl (which like all tools if you need it a lot it's worth that). With that said I haven't used the cs in a couple of years - I plug in my knock off Sawzall and have blades from 6 to 12" and cut everything and don't worry about dirt/sand as the blades are really cheap. It even took out the really old Sago palm that died and I just kept cutting all the roots until it gave up.

I have a number of gas tools from chopsaw, pumps, generators, lawn mower/weed whacker etc and am looking forward to a gas free future.

 

[Gouvernail]

I have owned multiple chainsaws and used many belonging to other people.

About five years ago I got a Greenworks 16” 60 volt saw. They also make a 40 and an 80.

I have a 4 amp and two two amp batteries.

( I also have a weed eater and a leaf blower and each one came with a battery )

I will NEVER again choose to use a gas powered chain saw. They are loud!! After they sit for a year their carburetors never work right without a half hour of tedious cleaning. At best, the string has to be pulled at least once to start the saw and sometimes the string needs multiple pulls both before and after giving up and cleaning the damned carburator
And… there is a necessary purchase of fuel

With the battery powered saw you make sure the battery is charged… worst case? You plug in the charger and go eat lunch somewhere… I like lunch

With the battery powered saw, you squeeze the trigger and the saw runs. Batteries last about as long as a tank of gas. Some batteries outlast a typical tank of gas

With either the gas or battery power you need to refil the chain oil tank and run a file over the blades when the power supply runs out.

There are zero advantages to the gas powered unit except for the fact a couple batteries only last a couple hours. Dunno about you, dear reader, but a couple hours running a chain saw is enough for me to desire a break.
When your significant other asks why you are sitting with your feet up, “I am waiting for the gas tank to refill.” Doesn’t work.
The first battery needs another half hour on the charger and the second one still needs an hour works.