Best small cheap chainsaw?

[Sidecarflip]

MS 180 has been my 044 compliment and "truck saw" for ~20 years. Been used for work WAAAAY above it's pay grade A LOT.
Starts, cuts and restarts like new. New carb at 15 years is the only repair, and that's probably due to me leaving it sitting for months with corn squeezings in the tank.

I only run canned fuel in all my saws and brush trimmer but none of them get used every day anyway so canned fuel (Echo Red Armor) for me is the way to go. I don't ever bother draining the canned fuel out when they sit either and they sit a lot.

bad enough dealing with the 'corn squeezings' in my 4 stroke stuff. In fact I'm trading in my ZTR for a Kubota diesel powered mowing machine. That leaves my roto tiller, pressure washer and my wife's zero turn with gas motors on them.

I much prefer diesel power anyway.

 

[Lightning Performance]

A free one

 

[Sidecarflip]

A free one

I did just that with the Neo-Tek saw I bought during a weak moment. Was such a turd, I gave it to my neighbor down the road I don't much care for. Used it ONE TIME and that was enough. Even gave it to him full of fuel and oil.

 

[Hermio]

I'm not fond of any China saws so those aren't even in my equation and neither are battery powered chain saws. I have cordless (battery powered hand tools) but no chainsaw and will never be with me.

To each his own. I use an MS500i for most of my cutting. That, of course, is not a small, cheap saw. But I use a Kobalt 80 volt cordless for a few quick jobs, as it is less effort than starting the 500i. It has an 18" bar and enough torque to handle it buried in hardwoods. We also have a Kobalt hand-held mini saw with an 8" bar that is handy for cutting off wild grapevines and pruning small branches.

 

[Rich 07830]

"Not to hijack, but since we're talking about Echo saws, anybody got info on which model is their best top-handle tree saw?
Looks like there are half a dozen or more different TH models.

The CS-355T is excellent. I upgraded from an early model CS-360T and it's just better everyplace. I would NOT recommend a CS-330T or CS-360T. Not really a bad saw or anything of the sort, they just don't have the power and professional features of the CS-355T's."

This includes clutch driven oiler, two full size bar nuts, inboard clutch, unlimited coil, more power everywhere and no CAT in the muffler to deal with.

I have no experience with the CS-2511T, but imagine it's a smaller version of the CS-355T with all the same features.....

Thanks, good to know! I've ordered a CS-355T and am looking forward to it coming in. I'm am very happy with the two Echoes that I have, a CS-620P that I bought new a year ago and a grey CS-4600 that a friend gave me last fall. The 620 is amazing with a 24" bar! My 4600 is way more ballsy than I expected and it starts easily! Echo power saws cannot be beat for quality value!!!

 

[Sidecarflip]

Echo is also hard to beat on price other than a China saw that is.