Portland electric chainsaw

[Elmer Fudde]

I have a Portland electric chainsaw that I bought at Harbor Freight several years ago. Inside the saw (It's a clamshell design) there is a 59 tooth plastic gear, tan in color, that is stripped. Harbor Freight doesn't have the part. Harbor calls it part 30, large gear and bearing.

Does anybody have any experience with these plastic gears. I see several tan-colored plastic gears on the internet for other brands of saws, but no 59 tooth gears for the Portland brand saw. What a shame that I will not be able to repair this saw, as otherwise it is in perfect shape.

 

[Wood Doctor]

You have two options (1) Buy a new one for $50 or another one like it for more cash (2) Contact Portland direct and see what they can do to help. Nowadays and in times past you usually get what you pay for.

 

[OM617YOTA]

It's a $50 saw. Expecting any kind of part support is unreasonable.

Maybe look at it as you can get any part you want, from an entire new case to a single sticker. Price list is easy, they all cost $50.

 

[Grateful11]

Well it went on sale today for $37. I'd just buy another one and save the old one for what parts are left. None of these saws are going to last very long anyway. If you go to the saw HF and click on the 1 star reviews you'll see the plastic gear is a problem. My wife bought me a Earthwise brand electric chainsaw about 15 years ago and I've used it a few times when it was convenient and it ok at best. She got it closed out for like $30. Really haven't used it enough to see if it's worth a crap or not.

 

[Grateful11]

I haven't looked at corded electric chainsaws in probably 10-15 years. It's crazy that Stihl wants more for their corded electric ones than gas models but anyway. If you absolutely need or want a corded chainsaw I'd look at the Makita not going to get it for $50 but it's $250 on Amazon. By the looks of this video many light saw users might benefit from a saw like this. It appears to actually cut pretty well.

Makita corded saw video

 

[OM617YOTA]

That Makita looks like what the tool rental places rent out. If it'll handle rental use long enough to give the rental company a good ROI, it'll handle the conscientious user forever. Keep a spare set of brushes on hand.