Small homeowner saw

[finnyct90]

Sthil 026????

I already have a saw in the power and size of the Sthil 026 with my old Jonsered 49 sp. Shoot if my old 49 sees me bring a 026 in the shed, the poor old girl would die of a broken heart The 026 is a great saw, I have had many hours hanging onto one of them.
I want to go real small and light. I agree that there are lots of good used saws, but I think if you get into the little ones, you need to be careful buying a used one, some folks may have asked too much of them.

 

[K7NUT]

why not a used saw????your money will go much farther, espcially when money is tight.. my 2 cents.

:agree2: <BR>
I second it!

 

[finnyct90]

If you're considering spending more than the $140 you initially were considering - - check out the new Husky 435. It has new X-torq 2.2 hp engine and weighs in at only 9.33 lbs.
They are selling for $249.

Al

Thanks, I'll add that to the list.

 

[minnnt]

I already have a saw in the power and size of the Sthil 026 with my old Jonsered 49 sp. Shoot if my old 49 sees me bring a 026 in the shed, the poor old girl would die of a broken heart The 026 is a great saw, I have had many hours hanging onto one of them.
I want to go real small and light. I agree that there are lots of good used saws, but I think if you get into the little ones, you need to be careful buying a used one, some folks may have asked too much of them.

I would dfinately go with the ms180 then. cheap popular saw and there are lots of people on here who have them so they will be able to give you a hand out should you need one. good luck mate, keep us updated with what you get!

 

[TreeTopKid]

Hello All,
Just found this site and I was glad to find the "Homeowner Helper".
I am looking for a small light saw for once in a while use. My background, Back in 1980 I came home from the army and could not find a job. I did find a guy who wanted some land cleared. I took my savings (about $2000.00) and bought a 63 F-600 dump and a brand new Jonsered 49sp. I cut, split and delivered a dump truck load 6 days a week for almost a year till I found a steady job. I still have the 49sp and an old blue XL12, as well as an old XL12 brush cutter. I guess what I'm saying is I can handle a saw.
Now at 50 years old, I am looking for a nice light saw for yard work. if I need to cut anything bigger than 8", I'm calling the local tree guy. I found a new Jonsered 2137...what do you think of this saw? I can buy this saw for less than $140.00 new in the box. I can't bring myself to go to sears or the big box store.

If you looking for a cheap and cheerful saw for use around the home try the much improved Sthil MS210. We need extra chainsaws during Hurricane Ike, but demand was so high they had sold out of everything we wanted but they had five MS210's. I had really bad memories of 1 STIHL 021 I used to own, but as there was nothing else we purchased all five.

They are not my first choice obviously but I was pleasantly surprised with how they performed.

 

[finnyct90]

how about this one?

Well, I stopped out at the shop where I bought my 49sp way back when and they have a used Jonsered cs2135T sitting on the shelf. They are asking $185.00 for it, 14in bar and new chain, what do ya think? It is light and seems perfect for pruning and yard work. The saw has some wear but the shop has been around for 30 years or more. I never considered a climbing saw but I don't intend to cut firewood or fell trees with it.

 

[minnnt]

I would try a normal small saw first to see how you fare with them aswell. Although if the top handle saw feels comfy and you're happy with it then go for it. Not sure about then price though mate, other members seem to be picking up quite good saws, some like new for like a 100 dollars or so...

 

[masiman]

... I never considered a climbing saw but I don't intend to cut firewood or fell trees with it.

I personally don't like cutting for any length of time on the ground with my top handle. It takes more effort to rotate the saw when you have it dogged into the wood and the control is not as good. But that is my opinion.

 

[finnyct90]

Baby Sthil

I would dfinately go with the ms180 then. cheap popular saw and there are lots of people on here who have them so they will be able to give you a hand out should you need one. good luck mate, keep us updated with what you get!

I tried out a Sthil 180 today. Both verisions, one with a fancy easy start and easy chain adjust feature and one that has a regular pull start and old school 2 nut, I screw tensioner. They are neat! very light and fast.
these saws are built in west by God virginia!
I think I would avoid the fancy starter though. Seems like more to break.
This is around a 200 dollar saw.

 

[minnnt]

I tried out a Sthil 180 today. Both verisions, one with a fancy easy start and easy chain adjust feature and one that has a regular pull start and old school 2 nut, I screw tensioner. They are neat! very light and fast.
these saws are built in west by God virginia!
I think I would avoid the fancy starter though. Seems like more to break.
This is around a 200 dollar saw.

Good for you buddy. Are you having one? Alot of people say that about the chain tensioner, but other people swear by it. I would imagine its a neat bit of kit if you're not used to saws, but if you know what you're on with save yourself some cash and as you say, probably just something to go wrong in the future. I really love mine, it's light and nimble.

 

[MrDrift]

Love my MS180. I only have a 14" Bar. It bucks up 25" logs with little effort. Just takes a little longer than a larger saw for the big stuff.

 

[finnyct90]

thanks

Well, I might own one this weekend, Been out of town for work.
what model do you have the easy start or the regular?

 

[MrDrift]

Regular. It starts in about four pulls. Three with the choke and one after it sputters with the choke off. I've run a gallon through it already, and it runs great!

 

[minnnt]

Mine is just the normal bog standard 180, no elastostart, although it can be retro fitted by yourself, no quick chain tensioner and it has the normal caps... seems like less things to go wrong, plus how hard is it to use a screwdriver to tension the chain? LOL!

Go for it mate, you won't regret it, it has alot of revs for the size of saw.

 

[Adam in VA]

Stihl MS170, 180, 210, 230, etc..... Also the Stihl MS192T is a great little saw for your purposes, if you like a tophandle saw. It's light and easy to use. With B&C, fuel, oil, and everything it probably only wieghs 7.5 lbs. You can put a 12", 14", or 16" bar on it so handling small stuff would be a breeze. ECHO also has some decent saws that I'm familiar with..... The CS306 isn't too bad. The 330T and 370 aren't too bad for most folks either, but IMHO I've never thought the fit and finish on the ECHOs were as good. I would definitely keep my eyes open for a decent used saw though.

 

[landyboy]

Another vote for ms180. It amazes me sometimes what it will cut and how fast. The Jack Russell terrier of saws.

 

[capetrees]

I know you said jonsered but Stihl has some nice light weight saws. Ms170,Ms180 might be a good option?

+1

I have two MS170's and I love them things. Cheap and easy.

 

[finnyct90]

Bought a saw!

First of all I want to thank everyone for their input on the small saws.
I narrowed my decision down to 2 saws
#1 the sthil MS170...By far the hands down best saw made under $200.00!
#2 the Shindiawa 235S The Best small commercial quality saw in the 300.00 range.
The sthil is just a great basic small homowner saw, couldn't't go wrong at that price unless you underestimate the size of the wood you plan to cut.
The Shindiawa has features that a professional or daily user would expect to find in a quality saw.
I was just about to go get a brand new MS170 last Saturday am when I hear water running in the basement, so by the end of the day,all my chainsaw money went to a new hot water heater...shoot.
So my "new" saw is a nice old mini mac 25 that I bought for around 30 bucks...oh well ...actually the mini mac is kinda handy. It idles good and is pretty well balanced, I might get to like it.
Well that's life...I'm not complaining...lucky I had the money saved up, last thing ya want to do these days is put something on the credit card.

 

[Javelin]

Dolmar 401/420 Echo 370/400 Jonsered 2141 Redmax 3800 Just to name a few! All of these are pro grade construction type saws especially the Dolmars!