New chain saw

[dennis kranz]

A couple weeks ago I said I was looking for a chain saw. If you saw my other post you saw that I scored some wood today that needed to be cut. Over at the local Home Depot they had this little saw by Homelite that looked good to me. Let me say this, it is good for what they say it will do. On some smaller Mesquit logs I had it went through them very easy. The green wood from today bogged down the saw when you tried to split it. Now I am not an expert with a chain saw and I am sure that some of the problems where because of me. But to me the 33 cc just was coming up short and the 16 inch bar should be at least 18 at min. Biggest problem was when it got hot, I had a heck of a time starting it. I am going to return it and wait untill I can upgrade.
Dennis

chain saw (600 x 450).jpg

[Robert McGowen]

Dennis,

If you are buying at the Borg, I got a Poulan 18" Woodshark there several years ago. It has always worked great. I upgraded to a Poulan Pro with a 20" blade when I got the load of mesquite a while back. No problems at all. I paid $169 for it and it came with TWO chains and a carry case. I might have been able to get it cheaper looking around, but I wanted RIGHT THEN, so you know how that goes. Just my $.02. Good luck!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I definitely would be taking it back. I took my Poulan back to Wal-Mart and bought the Stihl 360. That thing is a horse.

[Ian Abraham]

Save up and get something decent

Look at the ccs of the saw, not just the bar length. Some of the cheaper brands fit longer bars than they can really handle to make them look more impressive. Get something up over 50cc if you are wanting to carve up bigger turning blocks, and the better brands are actually better. Stihl, Husky, Dolmar, JRed, OleoMac, Shindiawa etc. A good saw dealer will know more about the saws than a box store, and actually have parts when you need a new air cleaner, chain, recoil spring etc.

This is my favourite saw

Cheers

Ian

[joe greiner]

The Homelite is a nice little saw, but it's more for limb cutting than serious tree work.

For splitting, say for bowl blanks, you can do that back in the shop with a reasonably robust electric. The main reason for using a separate saw is to also use a different chain, one designed for ripping: typically ground straight across or at about 10 degrees, vs the 30 degrees for cross cutting. Also consider angle of attack; straight across the log seems to take more effort than at an angle of about 45 degrees. Long ribbons of wood may accumulate at the motor end of the bar; unplug the saw and clean them out with a small twig.

Horsepower ratings for built-in electric motors are more marketing than engineering. That said, a "5HP" McCullough works well for me.

I think Bill Grumbine has a more enlightened discussion of log splitting on his web site. If you have trouble finding it, Google is your friend.

Joe

[Brett Baldwin]

Dennis, you might want to look at buying a used HD rental chainsaw which is a Makita 6401. I called all around here and they didn't have any availble. They sell them on their own schedule so it is a hit or miss thing but up here they are supposedly getting a list of sell items in early August.
Obviously, it is used so be careful about checking it over but at half the price of a new one, its a hard deal to beat. Its much better than the ones they sell in the store. It is 64cc with a 20" bar and is a "pro" level saw. Actually it is much the same as the Dolmar that Ian shows (BTW, which model is that Ian?). Makita and Dolmar are merged. Just an idea to look at.

[Mike Vickery]

Good choice. I have a 45cc Stihl and while it works pretty good for what I do if i were able to do it again I would have went for more power. Ripping the pith out is very hard on saws.

Brett - with a saw that big you are going to need to get a bigger lathe ;-)

[Ian Abraham]

It is 64cc with a 20" bar and is a "pro" level saw. Actually it is much the same as the Dolmar that Ian shows (BTW, which model is that Ian?). Makita and Dolmar are merged. Just an idea to look at.

Yup.. Dolmar is owned by Makita, so the gas saws sold under the Makita name are German built Dolmars in a different colour.

Thats a 7900 (79cc). The 64cc Makita rentals are basically the same saw, just a smaller cylinder/piston and Makita blue colour. If you can get one of those in good condition it would be ideal for what you want to do.

Cheers

Ian

[mike fuson]

I have had several, the gas powered poulan is junk, so now I have a husky that does pretty good. In the shop I use an electric poulan and that little thing is tough. I have used it for several years ripping bowl blanks, and for the life of me I don't ever recall even sharpening it.

[Brad Schmid]

Returning it... good decision. There's nothing more frustrating than a saw that won't start, won't stay running, or doesn't have enough power.

Here are my 3 favorites and the ones I use the most. The small saw is a Shindaiwa 377 (37.7cc, 16" bar), the mid size saw is a Stihl MS361 (59cc, 20" bar), and the large one is a Stihl MS660 (93cc, ported, 32" bar). There are 2 more saws I really like that i don't have, one is the Dlomar 7900 that Ian mentions, and the other is a Husqvarna 372XP. Soon, one of these will fill the gap between the 361 and the 660 in my garage. Probably the 7900 since the 372XP's are hard to find now. Save up, do your research, pick a reputable model/brand, and find a good local dealer, In the long run you'll have no regrets.

PS. don't forget the safety gear.

[Jim Becker]

I bought a Homelite saw like that for my first one...burned it up after two trees. (Unfortunately out of warranty as I had it for awhile before actually using it. My shame was that the cost of my next saw (a Stihl) was magnified by the money I lost on the first one, instead of only being a $150 more if I had bought it the first time around.