Best Starter Chainsaw for under $300??
- Thread starter ReggieT
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
I know it's an 8 year old thread, but since I commented on it in 2012, I'm taking this chance to update my comment... If you're cutting firewood for camping, or just cleaning up storm damage around the house, go with a battery powered saw from one of the big names in power tools like Dewalt. Letting a gas powered tool sit for long periods of time often ends up costing a lot in maintenance and repairs. Battery powered saws don't have this problem. If you go this route, it's useful to stick to one brand for everything (chain saw, weedeater, leaf blower, cordless drills/saws) because they use common batteries and chargers. One charger and 2 or 3 batteries is enough to power several different tools long enough to get through an entire project. That may not power a chain saw long enough to cut an entire truckload of wood, but it will power the saw long enough to do a lot of clean up work, or cut enough wood for several camp fires*.
*Some people think you need to burn half a cord in order to have a decent camp fire. Make sure those people supply their own firewood....
If you're wanting to cut wood because its a manly hobby, buy one of those older saws and learn how to do the work yourself. It's part of the experience, and its a valuable skill set that will bleed over into other parts of life.
If you're getting firewood to heat your home all winter (probably not in Alabama), then start off with a used 40-50cc saw from one of the big names as previously mentioned. However, do not, under any circumstances, take your saw to a dealer for service or repair. Find a good 2 cycle mechanic that isn't a dealer. The Stihl shop that my family USED to deal with had a good mechanic and he treated us well. He's been gone for years now. I've been to 4 other Stihl shops on 4 other occasions since then. All 4 times I was told that the saw in question was beyond repair and needed to be replaced. None of the repairs ended up costing me more than $100, with most costing less than $50. The $100 repair was on my 064 on which the lining on the jug had started flaking off and ate the piston. I found a local guy who does race saws for a hobby and he rebuilt it with leftover parts for $50. I gave him a Benjamin instead along with a heart felt thank you. My last experience was with my 036. I couldn't keep it running for more than a minute or two. I just didn't have time to mess with it, so took it to a local Stihl Dealer that was supposed to have a good mechanic. They told me the compression was low, the P&C were worn out, and the saw needed to be replaced. I took it home and checked the compression. It was 150 psi just like it was 6 years earlier when I bought it (used). Put a new plug in it (for the first time), and it's cut 8 cords of hickory since. Lesson to learn here is that the dealers are under a lot of pressure to sell saws in order to make their required quotas, so they aren't usually very interested in fixing very much, and they generally don't pay their mechanics enough to interest someone who actually knows what they are doing. Over the past several years I've spoken with a hand full of good mechanics who USED to be dealers for one brand or another and they all had the same story. They couldn't afford to work on used saws because they would loose their dealership status if they didn't sell enough new saws. I suspect that there are some exceptions out there, but as a general rule, dealerships employ good salesmen, not good mechanics. It's no different than a car dealership. I suspect that the exceptions would be places that deal with logging companies, and/or do custom builds. Those shops will sell enough new saws to loggers to meet their quotas, but they will also do a good job of servicing their customers because the make their living on repeat business. That's all just speculation on my part, but that's the pattern that fits with automobiles.
*Some people think you need to burn half a cord in order to have a decent camp fire. Make sure those people supply their own firewood....
If you're wanting to cut wood because its a manly hobby, buy one of those older saws and learn how to do the work yourself. It's part of the experience, and its a valuable skill set that will bleed over into other parts of life.
If you're getting firewood to heat your home all winter (probably not in Alabama), then start off with a used 40-50cc saw from one of the big names as previously mentioned. However, do not, under any circumstances, take your saw to a dealer for service or repair. Find a good 2 cycle mechanic that isn't a dealer. The Stihl shop that my family USED to deal with had a good mechanic and he treated us well. He's been gone for years now. I've been to 4 other Stihl shops on 4 other occasions since then. All 4 times I was told that the saw in question was beyond repair and needed to be replaced. None of the repairs ended up costing me more than $100, with most costing less than $50. The $100 repair was on my 064 on which the lining on the jug had started flaking off and ate the piston. I found a local guy who does race saws for a hobby and he rebuilt it with leftover parts for $50. I gave him a Benjamin instead along with a heart felt thank you. My last experience was with my 036. I couldn't keep it running for more than a minute or two. I just didn't have time to mess with it, so took it to a local Stihl Dealer that was supposed to have a good mechanic. They told me the compression was low, the P&C were worn out, and the saw needed to be replaced. I took it home and checked the compression. It was 150 psi just like it was 6 years earlier when I bought it (used). Put a new plug in it (for the first time), and it's cut 8 cords of hickory since. Lesson to learn here is that the dealers are under a lot of pressure to sell saws in order to make their required quotas, so they aren't usually very interested in fixing very much, and they generally don't pay their mechanics enough to interest someone who actually knows what they are doing. Over the past several years I've spoken with a hand full of good mechanics who USED to be dealers for one brand or another and they all had the same story. They couldn't afford to work on used saws because they would loose their dealership status if they didn't sell enough new saws. I suspect that there are some exceptions out there, but as a general rule, dealerships employ good salesmen, not good mechanics. It's no different than a car dealership. I suspect that the exceptions would be places that deal with logging companies, and/or do custom builds. Those shops will sell enough new saws to loggers to meet their quotas, but they will also do a good job of servicing their customers because the make their living on repeat business. That's all just speculation on my part, but that's the pattern that fits with automobiles.
There are some excellent mechanics at dealerships but they are getting hosed on everything as time passes, the good ones have figured out how to make 70+ book hours a week and work 40 but everything is going towards remove and replace not remove, find the problem, repair and reinstall. You can not survive turning 30-40 book hrs a week on warranty work at a dealership and is designed to keep the tech swamped on very little pay. Best guess is 8 out of 10 are parts cannons that have 0 idea whats going on unless its a oil change or tire rotation and just follow what they are told to do but one of the two who can diagnose and repair.
I'm not trying to insult anyone, but I think 8 out of 10 is overly generous. As part of my job, I've worked with and trained dozens, possibly hundreds of mechanics and technicians over the past 20+ years. It shocking many of them aren't smart enough to pour 6!$$ out of their own boot. There was a time when a mechanic was someone who was able to figure out how something worked on his/her own, diagnose the problem, and then correct it. Most of that learning process occurred by learning from their mistakes. Mistakes are no longer acceptable, so everything is dumbed down to the point that a monkey should be able to do it. Do what the book says, nothing more, nothing less. We lost a transmission because the dealership followed the book despite the fact that the service manual clearly stated that the transmission required additional steps for service. That's the quality of work you get today with $120 shop rates. I better stop now. This is a rant that I could go on for weeks, if not months...
Vibes
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have an old friend who got injured in a motorcycle accident several years ago. He doesn't think too clearly at times now. He had one of the cleanest 041's you would ever find. He was a chord a year cutter and always takes extra good care of everything. He went out to saw up some firewood and his trusty 041 wouldn't start. He takes it in its original carry case to this newer shop in our area and was told parts aren't available . He exchanged his really nice saw for a spanking brand new 291 Wood Boss at the urging of the shops owner. They gave him $50 on trade for it. It probably needed a spark plug.I know it's an 8 year old thread, but since I commented on it in 2012, I'm taking this chance to update my comment... If you're cutting firewood for camping, or just cleaning up storm damage around the house, go with a battery powered saw from one of the big names in power tools like Dewalt. Letting a gas powered tool sit for long periods of time often ends up costing a lot in maintenance and repairs. Battery powered saws don't have this problem. If you go this route, it's useful to stick to one brand for everything (chain saw, weedeater, leaf blower, cordless drills/saws) because they use common batteries and chargers. One charger and 2 or 3 batteries is enough to power several different tools long enough to get through an entire project. That may not power a chain saw long enough to cut an entire truckload of wood, but it will power the saw long enough to do a lot of clean up work, or cut enough wood for several camp fires*.
*Some people think you need to burn half a cord in order to have a decent camp fire. Make sure those people supply their own firewood....
If you're wanting to cut wood because its a manly hobby, buy one of those older saws and learn how to do the work yourself. It's part of the experience, and its a valuable skill set that will bleed over into other parts of life.
If you're getting firewood to heat your home all winter (probably not in Alabama), then start off with a used 40-50cc saw from one of the big names as previously mentioned. However, do not, under any circumstances, take your saw to a dealer for service or repair. Find a good 2 cycle mechanic that isn't a dealer. The Stihl shop that my family USED to deal with had a good mechanic and he treated us well. He's been gone for years now. I've been to 4 other Stihl shops on 4 other occasions since then. All 4 times I was told that the saw in question was beyond repair and needed to be replaced. None of the repairs ended up costing me more than $100, with most costing less than $50. The $100 repair was on my 064 on which the lining on the jug had started flaking off and ate the piston. I found a local guy who does race saws for a hobby and he rebuilt it with leftover parts for $50. I gave him a Benjamin instead along with a heart felt thank you. My last experience was with my 036. I couldn't keep it running for more than a minute or two. I just didn't have time to mess with it, so took it to a local Stihl Dealer that was supposed to have a good mechanic. They told me the compression was low, the P&C were worn out, and the saw needed to be replaced. I took it home and checked the compression. It was 150 psi just like it was 6 years earlier when I bought it (used). Put a new plug in it (for the first time), and it's cut 8 cords of hickory since. Lesson to learn here is that the dealers are under a lot of pressure to sell saws in order to make their required quotas, so they aren't usually very interested in fixing very much, and they generally don't pay their mechanics enough to interest someone who actually knows what they are doing. Over the past several years I've spoken with a hand full of good mechanics who USED to be dealers for one brand or another and they all had the same story. They couldn't afford to work on used saws because they would loose their dealership status if they didn't sell enough new saws. I suspect that there are some exceptions out there, but as a general rule, dealerships employ good salesmen, not good mechanics. It's no different than a car dealership. I suspect that the exceptions would be places that deal with logging companies, and/or do custom builds. Those shops will sell enough new saws to loggers to meet their quotas, but they will also do a good job of servicing their customers because the make their living on repeat business. That's all just speculation on my part, but that's the pattern that fits with automobiles.
I had an 042. Only saw I had for the first ten years (then added an 021 for wacking up and scattering brush from tops). Loved it... Not too big, not too small. Probably six cords a year.
Unfortunately it's not only the service techs, lots of user error, lots.
When I had my little shop in garage which was just a hobby and I wanted to mainly sharpen chains because had a fulltime job.
Here's what I ran into time and time again.
Straight gassed was #1
Ethanol fuel and let it sit was #2
Burning up bar and chain on a dull chain #3.
I went back to drinking.
When I had my little shop in garage which was just a hobby and I wanted to mainly sharpen chains because had a fulltime job.
Here's what I ran into time and time again.
Straight gassed was #1
Ethanol fuel and let it sit was #2
Burning up bar and chain on a dull chain #3.
I went back to drinking.
ECHO CS-490, all the way. Pro engine design with solid cases. About the only differences between it and a pro saw is less power, and a plastic sprocket cover instead of a metal one. It looks like echo does this with pretty much everything.Already got chaps and tons of other safety gear....I keep reading reviews on STIHL, Echo, Husqvarna, Jonsered....the more I read the more I am confused!
All I do is bust up 16 -20 inch in diameter rounds 10-12 times per yr and saw up medium sized firewood about 5-10 times a year.
I've never ran a chainsaw...but I'm anxious to get my feet wet...just found some "Black Locust & Osage Orange" right here in Alabama...and I'm gonna load up my P/U till I pass out!:hmm3grin2orange:
I don't do a whole lot with a maul & handsaw but about 3-4months out of year...just tired of hand-sawing big rounds & flailing on away with a maul!(due to auto accident)
My budget is firm @ $300...just need some great feedback on saw type, what size bar and cc...just what would be great for a beginner!:confused2:
If you could list your top 3 starter saws...Thanks
God Bless You All!
ReggieT
Sounds more common than i like, there's alot of shops buying those saws(vintage) and selling them on EBay or craigslist under a techs name. Really criminal!
Try this,go into that shop and offer the 60.00 for his saw ,they make 10.00 doing absolutely nothing and you can fix the saw and gift it back to your friend. I guarantee you won't be able to buy that saw , because some greedy little dirt bag working there already has it gone.
That's another reason I suggested a battery powered saw.... Not trying to call anyone stupid, but if a person isn't accustomed to running gas powered tools, ignorance can be VERY expensive, and often times very painful... It's AMAZING how many people fall into this category these days. The battery powered stuff ain't cheap, and the batteries don't really last very long for what they cost BUT when you pull the trigger the chain moves every time. If you can pair them with one or two other tools that use the same batteries, it becomes a pretty good option for a tool that doesn't get used often.
I've heard a lot of complaints about ethanol fuel over the years. I hate the stuff, but knock on wood, I've never had issues on my 2 cycle engines. Most of mine sit in my shop for 6 to 9 months at a time, some for over 2 years and I've never had to replace one of the carbs. My dad is in the same boat. We're both scared to change our ways because there haven't been any issues in +20 years... For my 4 strokes, I treat every tank with Sea Foam unless it's something like the mower where I'm using it every week. The mower gets treated fuel in the fall, but I just run RUG from the pump for most of the season.
I'm to the point that I'm going to save the next spark plug that I wear out. I'll put it in a running saw and let the dealer diagnose the problem before I considered purchasing anything from them. If they sell me a spark plug, I'll buy a saw from them and tell everyone how great they are. If they tell me my saw is junk, I'll literally tell everyone in the county that they aren't even smart enough to change a spark plug...
Here is some that are good starters in your price range.
Similar threads
