Little saw for trail clearing

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PeeOnTheTree

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Messages
10
Reaction score
2
Location
BC
I need a little saw for trail clearing. I probably will only use is 8-10 times per year. Probably cut up to 8" wilfall, anything over that and I will get someone who is better skilled than I am. I am basically replacing a pruning saw.

A local dealer has a used old Homelite XL2 for $100 CAD. New Stihl 192 sell for $350. I am all for buying a nice tool, but not sure if I need it.

I will be packing the saw in on my back so I want something light.

Suggestions?

thanks!
 
I need a little saw for trail clearing. I probably will only use is 8-10 times per year. Probably cut up to 8" wilfall, anything over that and I will get someone who is better skilled than I am. I am basically replacing a pruning saw.

A local dealer has a used old Homelite XL2 for $100 CAD. New Stihl 192 sell for $350. I am all for buying a nice tool, but not sure if I need it.

I will be packing the saw in on my back so I want something light.

Suggestions?

thanks!

Are you looking for a NEW saw or a used? If you play your cards right, you could find a nice older mini-saw for under $50. Arborist style saws are more compact and lighter and would work better for being packed. The problem with many older saws though is they leak. New saws are cleaner and won't ruin your backpack/clothes.
 
8 to 10 times IS "occasional"

stihl ms170
husky 435
dolmar ps32
redmax gz4000/4500
echo cs271t, cs352

There are others, also.

Don't let it sit with gas in it.
 
Echo CS-310 is a good option; arguably you don't now NEED anything bigger. Seems they don't have "bladder problems" from seeing a friend's in action regularly.

He bought it with disposability in mind. Takes a licking, and keeps on ticking.
 
The ms180 or 170 seem to work well for that kind of stuff for me. But any kind of saw will do for that kind of job, just make sure its light and it works. If you want to get off cheap you can check out the earthquake saws you can get for $40, they would probably do the job just as well.
 
I found some new redmax 3200s on ebay a while back for $150 complete with bar and chain. Ideal for small work. Light and very smooth. Love em.
 
I need a little saw for trail clearing. I probably will only use is 8-10 times per year. Probably cut up to 8" wilfall, anything over that and I will get someone who is better skilled than I am. I am basically replacing a pruning saw.

A local dealer has a used old Homelite XL2 for $100 CAD. New Stihl 192 sell for $350. I am all for buying a nice tool, but not sure if I need it.

I will be packing the saw in on my back so I want something light.

Suggestions?

thanks!

8 inch wood? Light duty use, not very often? Just for clearing out of the way?? You dont need any chainsaw, Im 100% serious, get a good quality modern hand saw, silky, sandvik, bahco. Take yer pick. They cut just fine, can sit forever, no tune ups needed, no rotten fuel lines or filters to replace, no need to carry gas and bar oil, lighter than any chainsaw, etc. Replacement sharp blades are relatively cheap as well, and the saws brand new are cheap compared to any new saw you could find outside of those chinese junkers..

edit: I dont know what pruning saw you are using, but if it is a home depot or walmart special..meh, stick to the three brands I just mentioned. Hand saws are the same as chainsaws, you pay more for quality and you wont find them in the box stores.
 
Last edited:
Echo CS-310 is a good option; arguably you don't now NEED anything bigger. Seems they don't have "bladder problems" from seeing a friend's in action regularly.

He bought it with disposability in mind. Takes a licking, and keeps on ticking.

my echo 310 is a great little workhouse,but it leaks oil like a sieve!
 
I use my stihl 009 and my little echo cs3400 for quite a bit of small work, both are light, pretty reliable and don't leak. However, my stihl ps30View attachment 271282, gets quite a bit of use and never fails me....and for $20-30 or whatever it was, you can't beat it. I can cut thru most of what you are describing in very little time with that hand saw, it is VERY sharp...
 
A 21' bow saw that cost new less than $20 bucks up here (fiskars/sandvik.....hell even the cheaper US made ones) will do all the cutting you need. You'd be half way through a n 8" log/limb before you even had your hand on the starter handle of a chainsaw.

Hunted in winter in a tent and used a bow saw to cut all the firewood for the seasons hunt for years with it.
 
I suggest a used poulan 2300, sa25, super xxl, etc or the craftsman equivalents... you can get them cheap and they are nice and compact. Never ran a homelite.

It feeds my CAD
 
Thanks all for the great info. I'll stay away from the XL2. There is a used 170 close by for a $100 that sounds like it will fit the bill nicely. I have been using my pruning saw for quite a while, and works just fine for the smaller stuff. But I am not talking about just ONE 8" log. The amount of windfall we get around here a pruing saw wont cut it - HA!
 
I realize you're looking for a chainsaw and a 192T or it's predecessors would be a good fit. However, I totally agree with the others on here that a good handsaw would be a better option if you are packing it any distance. A good quality pruning saw and a bow saw with a spare blade would be a solution.

People cut up redwoods with handsaws and if you trade the labor of cutting for the ease of transport it comes out pretty even and you don't have oily, gassy junk in your pack.

There are some really great quality handsaws out there.

If a chainsaw is needed, then I would go with the diminutive Stihl mentioned in my first sentence.
 
Assuming you want a chainsaw (your post wasn't suggesting you wanted a hand saw but of course that will work nice for 1 log) you can pick up a used or reconditioned saw for less than $100 that will run great. no knock on stihl, but I'd rather have a 38cc poulan, homelite, or mculloch than a lower cc stihl for part time use. If 192T's were $100 that would be a different story.

something like this might work if you just like having a chainsaw http://www.ebay.com/itm/Poulan-XXV-...193?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53ef984861
 
Last edited:
Thanks all for the great info. I'll stay away from the XL2. There is a used 170 close by for a $100 that sounds like it will fit the bill nicely. I have been using my pruning saw for quite a while, and works just fine for the smaller stuff. But I am not talking about just ONE 8" log. The amount of windfall we get around here a pruing saw wont cut it - HA!


Just wondering what pruning saw you are using? Make/model size? Just asking because I heated with wood for five winters using a 30 inch sandvik and a 2.5 lb limbing axe. Around 4 to 5 cords a season.

Like I said, not all pruning or handsaws are created equal.

Today in that scenario (well, your scenario of a lot of walking trails and cutting along the way) I would go for a big silky curved pruner in a scabbard(pro arborist saw), a 36 inch Bahco bowsaw strapped to the pack, and a fiskars quality or above felling axe to be carried. Silky for smaller branches, the bahco to cross cut large logs, the felling axe to finish getting down leaners.

I guess it depends on how far you want to travel and clear. Miles and miles, camping out, etc, carrying your food and water and gear, I want the hand tools, the only gallons size and weight of uel I would want is *my* fuel, heh,, whereas like a 1/2 mile trail clearing a day..perhaps a teeny chainsaw, but I would still want an axe.

Id carry the chainsaw inside of the plastic case designed for it to contain drips and so on, strapped to a frame, and the bar oil and mix in tight sealed quart bottles. The canned premix makes dandy containers, already labeled approrpiately so no need to cobjob something else, and you can refill them up. Thats what I use now, after first using the original contents.(and it is good fuel that lasts a lot longer than pump gas..)

As to a small cheap saw, Id take a poulan s25cva over any current dinky homeowner class saw (used, for the money). You can still find those things cheap and they just flat out rip. But whatever, anything in the 30 whatever cc range would work.

Another option is any of the high end battery saws, I know my oregon would work great for the task you have. They aint cheap though.
 
I was wondering how long it would take Zogger to get the battery saws!

OREGON® PowerNow™ 40V MAX* Cordless Chain Saw Tool System

As he noted, it is not as cheap as a used saw, but a number of people have been using it for trail work, if you look at their FaceBook page. https://www.facebook.com/OREGONPowerNowTools?fref=ts

PROS - quiet; no liquid fuel to pack in; no flooding or starting problems; 'self-sharpening' chain; very little leaking from bar oil resivior (on mine at least); ideally suited for wood up to the size you describe.

CONS - relative cost ($400 to $500); limited battery life (30 min +/-).

Depends how far up the trail you are going. I have an extra battery for mine. They say you can charge the battery in your car with an inverter, but I have not tried this yet.
These are the 40 volt models, not the 18 volt ones. STIHL also has one and Husqvarna has one in Europe. Cheaper Ryobi models coming to Home Depot.

You could use a hand saw for smaller stuff, and a saw like this for the slightly larger stuff.

Philbert
 
I would still prefer in this situation a nice bow saw and a high quality axe! With a nicely sharpened axe you are so quick if you know what you are doing. I also agree on not needing to carry excess weight into the brush for trail work. And you can start working while others are still unpacking their gear. Because if we are honest and careful workers we will not only take a saw along but

gas & oil & a filing kit & chaps & steel toe boots & helmet with visor & spare chain & wedge & .....

all this stuff just accumulates to extra weight that I don't want on my back when I'm out on a trail. With a medium size high quality bow saw and high quality axe you will have spent ~100-150$(at least here in Austria), but you will be much faster for the size of wood you are describing.
I had luck with my forest axe. My BIL comes by and says he found some garden tools in the garbage and if I want any. So I take out this lightly rusted forest axe. I unpack my angle grinder with a wire wheel and low and behold out comes a Hult Bruck's!!! Hand forged 80€ forest axe. Yeah it needed a new handle but who cares! :D

7
 

Latest posts

Back
Top