Discussion
Petrol is the way to go, as said.
People will tell you Stihl or Husqvarna and if you're serious then they're probably right. I have Stihl and McCulloch, and think the latter are very good value for money. Makita ought to be good too, they make fantastic tools.
I'd say don't go for Ryobi or own-brand/noname models.
People will tell you Stihl or Husqvarna and if you're serious then they're probably right. I have Stihl and McCulloch, and think the latter are very good value for money. Makita ought to be good too, they make fantastic tools.
I'd say don't go for Ryobi or own-brand/noname models.
Strange, I was just thinking about posting on here about chainsaws, mostly out of curiousity to see what people have and who uses them for work etc.
I just missed out on a Husky 357xpg which went for £240 on Ebay, which is a bloody bargain and I was stupid not to put a much higher maximum bid on
Always used husqvarnas to date and found them to be excellent, reliable and cut well (really easy to maintain). Now looking at possibly getting a stihl ms260/026 as they tend to go for a bit less than equivalent husqvarnas.
I gather makita newer saws are pretty good (at least the bigger/pro level saws).
i wouldn't buy anything too cheap as it'll be a bit weedy on power and potentially more dangerous as they'll skimp on some of the safety features you'd get as standard on a husq/stihl saw.
I just missed out on a Husky 357xpg which went for £240 on Ebay, which is a bloody bargain and I was stupid not to put a much higher maximum bid on
Always used husqvarnas to date and found them to be excellent, reliable and cut well (really easy to maintain). Now looking at possibly getting a stihl ms260/026 as they tend to go for a bit less than equivalent husqvarnas.
I gather makita newer saws are pretty good (at least the bigger/pro level saws).
i wouldn't buy anything too cheap as it'll be a bit weedy on power and potentially more dangerous as they'll skimp on some of the safety features you'd get as standard on a husq/stihl saw.
I bought a petrol mcculloch recently for just under £100. Works ok for a bit of DIY and chopped down/up quite a few trees with it now, main issue has been with keeping the carb in check so it idles properly. Not the best but good for the money and miles better than my friends equally expensive electric saw he was using.
Guess it depends on what you want it for. I needed one for cutting firewood in one location so i opted for a cheap electric one. Bought a Titan 2000w one from Screwfix for about £60.
Seems decent enough so far and does exactly what I want.
I was tempted with the bigger petrol ones but having had to mess around with various petrol stimmmers, mixing fuel, cleaning carbs etc etc I wanted a plug and play model.
It honestly scares me how much damage it could do if attention is not 100%.
Seems decent enough so far and does exactly what I want.
I was tempted with the bigger petrol ones but having had to mess around with various petrol stimmmers, mixing fuel, cleaning carbs etc etc I wanted a plug and play model.
It honestly scares me how much damage it could do if attention is not 100%.
Malx said:
Guess it depends on what you want it for. I needed one for cutting firewood in one location so i opted for a cheap electric one. Bought a Titan 2000w one from Screwfix for about £60.
Seems decent enough so far and does exactly what I want.
I was tempted with the bigger petrol ones but having had to mess around with various petrol stimmmers, mixing fuel, cleaning carbs etc etc I wanted a plug and play model.
It honestly scares me how much damage it could do if attention is not 100%.
Would need to agree on all counts (including the damage the thing could do)Seems decent enough so far and does exactly what I want.
I was tempted with the bigger petrol ones but having had to mess around with various petrol stimmmers, mixing fuel, cleaning carbs etc etc I wanted a plug and play model.
It honestly scares me how much damage it could do if attention is not 100%.
Took a few small trees down in my dads garden and chopped them up for firewood - think he paid about £45 for a cheapo Bosch one - did the job perfectly - if you have half a forest to clear, then petrol makes sense (and has way more man points), but for little trees and firewood, I can't fault the electric.
I've had a Ryobi for about 6 years now and it's done a LOT of work for me. I had to replace a bearing on it which was readily available from somewhere on-line for a couple of quid, all spare parts can be sourced too. I realise it's not as good as the other names mentioned but I wouldn't knock it. I even bought their petrol strimmer too with the shaft that splits for other tools - I have the hedge trimming tool which again has been completely reliable for approx 5 years too!
I read that chainsaws are the most dangerous tools, just ahead of angle-grinders. The problem is that they tear flesh and muscle in a way that makes it very hard to stitch back together. So much as I'm not an elf'n'safety type I would ensure it has a kick-up chain brake and as a minimum buy some sort of eye protection - I use a hard hat with a flip-up mesh guard which has saved my eyes/face many times from both flying fragments and low branches 
I'm seriously considering the safety trousers as a lot of what I cut is on the ground. Try and avoid holding down what you are cutting with a foot. There are quite a few other do's and don'ts, including cutting techniques to avoid trouble, but I'm sure a Google will find you an authoratitive list.
I've both electric and petrol saws and really the electric one is pretty feeble. The pros seem to go for the Husks and occassional (on average a few hours a month) users like myself are fine with Stihl. I've never had to do any maintenance on it although after about 10 years use it could use a new sprocket. Bizarrely I've found that Oregon chains are better than the Stihl's own ones.
I'm seriously considering the safety trousers as a lot of what I cut is on the ground. Try and avoid holding down what you are cutting with a foot. There are quite a few other do's and don'ts, including cutting techniques to avoid trouble, but I'm sure a Google will find you an authoratitive list.I've both electric and petrol saws and really the electric one is pretty feeble. The pros seem to go for the Husks and occassional (on average a few hours a month) users like myself are fine with Stihl. I've never had to do any maintenance on it although after about 10 years use it could use a new sprocket. Bizarrely I've found that Oregon chains are better than the Stihl's own ones.
Edited by CunningPlan on Tuesday 8th November 05:19
I've got a Stihl MS390 (039 in olden times) and it's a brilliant bit of kit but didn't come cheap. As others have said though they can bite and when they do they bite hard. I had the advantage of having several friends who work in forestry and were able to give me very good advice. Even when I could afford the saw I didn't buy it until I could afford the safety gear to go with it, and that didn't come cheap either!
As a minimum I'd recommend a pair of chainsaw trousers which are designed to shred and stall the saw if you hit your leg. If you're working on full trees (rather than just cross cutting firewood) you'd need a proper helmet with ear defenders and mesh faceguard as well. I've witnessed first hand one of these helmets save someone's life. Even with a helmet it wasn't pretty and they spent a long time in hospital but ultimately they're still around today. I also wear proper chainsaw gloves which contain the same saw stalling fibres as the trousers. I think the safety gear didn't leave me much change out of £200 in the end (and that's without buying chainsaw boots which cost about £100 a pair on top!) but it's a small price to pay for not losing a leg or worse I think.
As a minimum I'd recommend a pair of chainsaw trousers which are designed to shred and stall the saw if you hit your leg. If you're working on full trees (rather than just cross cutting firewood) you'd need a proper helmet with ear defenders and mesh faceguard as well. I've witnessed first hand one of these helmets save someone's life. Even with a helmet it wasn't pretty and they spent a long time in hospital but ultimately they're still around today. I also wear proper chainsaw gloves which contain the same saw stalling fibres as the trousers. I think the safety gear didn't leave me much change out of £200 in the end (and that's without buying chainsaw boots which cost about £100 a pair on top!) but it's a small price to pay for not losing a leg or worse I think.
Trevelyan said:
As a minimum I'd recommend a pair of chainsaw trousers which are designed to shred and stall the saw if you hit your leg. If you're working on full trees (rather than just cross cutting firewood) you'd need a proper helmet with ear defenders and mesh faceguard as well. I've witnessed first hand one of these helmets save someone's life. Even with a helmet it wasn't pretty and they spent a long time in hospital but ultimately they're still around today. I also wear proper chainsaw gloves which contain the same saw stalling fibres as the trousers. I think the safety gear didn't leave me much change out of £200 in the end (and that's without buying chainsaw boots which cost about £100 a pair on top!) but it's a small price to pay for not losing a leg or worse I think.
This. In spades.Do NOT feck about with a chainsaw.
Stihl/Husq or Makita, that is all.
Aldi have a petrol at £55 with a decent Oregon chain and bar.
Same as my chinese cheapy - if it's for occasional use only should be ok - so far mine's been fine other than a replacement chain.
As above - don't scrimp on the safety equipment. I *really* need to get the chainsaw trousers/leg protection.
Same as my chinese cheapy - if it's for occasional use only should be ok - so far mine's been fine other than a replacement chain.
As above - don't scrimp on the safety equipment. I *really* need to get the chainsaw trousers/leg protection.
As said above, and certainly for any petrol saw, a pair of ear defenders and a visor or safety goggles are a must. Then obviously helmet if you're felling etc.
I don't always wear gloves, don't feel as agile/tactile with them on, but would never use a big saw without my trousers and boots (wellies in fact) on. I've heard far too many horrific stories to take risks
Having said that I find chainsaws, as long as you're sensible and know what you're doing, to be far safer than many hand tools because people do treat them with respect.
I don't always wear gloves, don't feel as agile/tactile with them on, but would never use a big saw without my trousers and boots (wellies in fact) on. I've heard far too many horrific stories to take risks
Having said that I find chainsaws, as long as you're sensible and know what you're doing, to be far safer than many hand tools because people do treat them with respect.
For DIY garden work I use an electric chainsaw and find it exceptional in the way it makes short work of log cutting and small tree felling. Bought my WORX from B&Q for 80 quid - bargain. It came with 2 years full warranty as well. Found petrol chainsaws to be a PIA for occasional use.
I have a little cheapo electric Bosch which is surprisingly good and is extremely quiet. With a short bar it can kick back. I've also got a Stihl 260 which is not as powerful as I was expecting, however it has the safest chain according to the catalog.
I would echo comments about safety equipment - I bought proper trousers and a jacket new on ebay and a full helmet and ear defenders from the Stihl dealer. Face, ear and leg protection is a must. If you buy one read the manual so that you have an idea of what can go wrong before using it.
I would echo comments about safety equipment - I bought proper trousers and a jacket new on ebay and a full helmet and ear defenders from the Stihl dealer. Face, ear and leg protection is a must. If you buy one read the manual so that you have an idea of what can go wrong before using it.
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