Chainsaws? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Chainsaws?

Jampy00

Jampy00

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Have a few crab apple trees I want to remove. I figure this would be easier with a chainsaw.
While I know the big names and mixing gas, that is about it, so I figured I'd ask for some recommendations on sizes brands etc.
For reference these trees are small maybe 8-10 inch trunks, also want it for some branch removal on other trees, nothing larger than 10" I'd say.

Should I look at cordless electric or stick with gas, what features should I be aware of, any brands to stay away from etc...
My property it took large for anything corded.
 
Buy a good one the first time, that's my advice. Stihl has a good warranty and dealers are close by. I bought this one and it's been great. Light and easy to use with good power. The C-BE version has a quick-adjust chain which works well but the best feature is the easy-start which makes pulling it over almost no effort (don't need it now but when I'm 70 I'll be happy it has it).

the MS 251 gas chainsaw | STIHL

The MS 251 is the successor to the popular MS 250 chain saw. This mid-sized unit will deliver great power to get through those bigger cutting jobs. Powered by a low emission and fuel-efficient stratified scavenging engine, it features the STIHL Quickstop inertia chain brake, Master Control...
www.stihl.ca www.stihl.ca

This saw will easily do what you need it to do. Only time I wish it was bigger is when I was recently cutting 2ft tree trucks at ground level but the times I need to do that are very few and it's better to have a lighter saw when doing the majority of things it's used for.
 
I am curious how were you planning to do this without a chainsaw?

I bought one of these to cut branches etc
Little more work on thicker stuff like 5" but still does it.

Sun Joe 10" Electric Multi-Angle Pole Chain Saw | 8-Amp

SAW WHAT YOU SEE! Tackle those hard-to-reach branches full two-year warranty.To watch us replace the chain saw chain on a similar model, the SWJ802E, click
snowjoe.com snowjoe.com
 
Dad has a normal STIHL and it cuts through trees like butter. Highly recommend the brand.

Whatever your largest cut is, just get one bigger than that and you’re set for life so long as you maintain it well.

For branches we have a DeWalt on a post that’s 10-12” only and works good, but only for branches high up.
 
Cordless have gotten very good if you buy a good one but cost will be far higher than a gas saw with similar power. Bare saw will be about double the money and batteries quickly double the price again.

For your use, the cheapest stihl you can buy at a power equipment dealer will work fine. Echo and husqvarna can be fine too but I know less about them. Don't store gas in the saw and you'll be fine.

I have a lot of hours on an 026 and picked up a 290 from a neighbour for a great price. The 026 is better in every way but it was far more expensive new. The 290 is a heavy pig.

When I need a pole saw, I borrow one from neighbours. I would not want to fell trees (nor buck them) with a pole saw. They are great for pruning without climbing.

If I only had one chainsaw, I want a conventional rear handle gas saw.
 
For a gas chainsaw you can't go wrong with a Sthil or a Husqvarna. I'd be inclined to go with whichever your local dealer sells. They will be able to give you good, useful advice and help you familiarize yourself with the required maintenance for whichever saw you end up with.

You're going to end up buying or renting a whole bunch of outdoor equipment for your place over the years so it's good to make some local connections with smaller stuff now rather than buying from a big box store.

If the largest thing you're looking at cutting is 10" and the bulk of your use is to be for trimming and limbing, I'd consider looking at a Milwaukee cordless hatchet.

I have the M12 Hatchet with the 6" blade and I absolutely love it. I've had it for 2 years now and rarely use my full size chainsaw. I thought being 12v it might lack for power. Nope. Even buried to the hilt in Black Walnut it chews it up (with a sharp chain of course). Super light and easy to operate with one hand makes it perfect for pruning or cutting from a ladder. Again being small and agile makes using it for limbing very effortless. Battery life is really good using XC batteries. The bar oil res is small, but lasts a full XC battery so it's no big deal. I leave the bar oil by the charger. The battery lasts longer than it takes to charge, so if you have 2 there is no delay.

They didn't have the M18 version out yet which has a 9"blade I believe? Or else I would have grabbed that one assuming the 12v would be weak. The 12v is not weak, so the 18v must be a beast.

For your purposes the M18 would be just the ticket. Apparently you can put the bar and chain on from their pole saw, which is 12" If I remember correctly. Now you have yourself a full fledged pocket chainsaw.
 
Torren said:
For a gas chainsaw you can't go wrong with a Sthil or a Husqvarna. I'd be inclined to go with whichever your local dealer sells. They will be able to give you good, useful advice and help you familiarize yourself with the required maintenance for whichever saw you end up with.

You're going to end up buying or renting a whole bunch of outdoor equipment for your place over the years so it's good to make some local connections with smaller stuff now rather than buying from a big box store.

If the largest thing you're looking at cutting is 10" and the bulk of your use is to be for trimming and limbing, I'd consider looking at a Milwaukee cordless hatchet.

I have the M12 Hatchet with the 6" blade and I absolutely love it. I've had it for 2 years now and rarely use my full size chainsaw. I thought being 12v it might lack for power. Nope. Even buried to the hilt in Black Walnut it chews it up (with a sharp chain of course). Super light and easy to operate with one hand makes it perfect for pruning or cutting from a ladder. Again being small and agile makes using it for limbing very effortless. Battery life is really good using XC batteries. The bar oil res is small, but lasts a full XC battery so it's no big deal. I leave the bar oil by the charger. The battery lasts longer than it takes to charge, so if you have 2 there is no delay.

They didn't have the M18 version out yet which has a 9"blade I believe? Or else I would have grabbed that one assuming the 12v would be weak. The 12v is not weak, so the 18v must be a beast.

For your purposes the M18 would be just the ticket. Apparently you can put the bar and chain on from their pole saw, which is 12" If I remember correctly. Now you have yourself a full fledged pocket chainsaw.
Click to expand...
The m18 rear handle is a pretty good saw. Like the other cordless saws, unless you have high capacity batteries already, price quickly climbs.

Cutting down a 10" tree with a 6" bar is not easy and can quickly go wrong. For pruning, I've been using a pruning blade in a Sawzall but good to know the hatchet works well. A chain saw would be much better in some situations.
 
GreyGhost said:
The m18 rear handle is a pretty good saw. Like the other cordless saws, unless you have high capacity batteries already, price quickly climbs.

Cutting down a 10" tree with a 6" bar is not easy and can quickly go wrong. For pruning, I've been using a pruning blade in a Sawzall but good to know the hatchet works well. A chain saw would be much better in some situations.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't spend the money on the full sized M18 rear handle chainsaw. I'd go with a gas saw as there is just no value there with the larger cordless saw. The bulk alone of the cordless saw makes it a loser against s MS160.

I would suggest that cutting a 10" tree down with a 6" blade was practical, or a good idea. I was just making the point that even at 12v it has all the power to do so.

It was implied up thread that cordless or electric chainsaws are essentially gutless which was certainly my impression until I tried the little Milwaukee.
 
Torren said:
It was implied up thread that cordless or electric chainsaws are essentially gutless which was certainly my impression until I tried the little Milwaukee.
Click to expand...
More and more arborists are using battery saws for their work when 16" bar or less is required. If there is enough power to keep a professional tree cutter happy, there is more than enough for me. They can now be very functional tools if you can stomach the upfront cost.
 
sburns said:
I am curious how were you planning to do this without a chainsaw?

I bought one of these to cut branches etc
Little more work on thicker stuff like 5" but still does it.

Sun Joe 10" Electric Multi-Angle Pole Chain Saw | 8-Amp

SAW WHAT YOU SEE! Tackle those hard-to-reach branches full two-year warranty.To watch us replace the chain saw chain on a similar model, the SWJ802E, click
snowjoe.com snowjoe.com
Click to expand...

I was not planning on doing it without a chainsaw, I think Sthil might be my go to as there is a dealer 6 minutes from me, but like always I was curious what others thought. I only thought of cordless due to the fact that while I thinking owning a chainsaw makes sense some years it could get limited use...

Going to poke around some more and see what is out there and if anything on sale, I'll also need one of those polesaw chainsaws, I have a manual one but I have about 10,000 branches to cut...
 
Given the property size gas or battery are likely the only answers, otherwise I would go corded electric due to low cost and maintenance (both mine are corded electric and I have done a tonne of work with them). Depending on the amount of expected use a rental gas one may be a good option.

For battery...this is the advantage of going with an eco-system approach for cordless tools (all one brand and battery form-factor) so you can buy a bare tool but also have many batteries at the ready as you go through them.

Not for primary cutting down a large tree but... I find a sawzal with a pruning blade (forget regular blades for this task, way too slow) is handy for smaller limbs and cutting things up once the tree is down (not as fast as a chainsaw but sometimes much easier to use). The sawzal can also be used for cutting roots underground (stump removal). I am not a big fan of heights so my corded polesaw gets a lot of use. I also have a rope saw (basically a chainsaw chain attached the two lengths of rope, toss it over high branches and pull the rope back and forth).

For battery life, as an example my 18v Bosch sawzal with a pruning blade will go through three to four 4Ah batteries cutting hardwood firewood to length (say 4 to 8 inches in diameter). Not sure on the chainsaw but you will be swapping batteries, others can note how often.
 
We had a Remmington , a McCulloch , and a Stihl . All about the same age 40+ , only the Stihl runs. And it runs like new. Spark plugs , couple filters and 3 maybe 4 bars , great value when measured over a lifetime
 
Think more on this I have to consider the price per cut. I have a decent sized property with many trees.

How many do I think I'll cut down in the next 5 years - Maybe 5-6
How many do I think I'll prune/trim in the next 5 years - 50+

This was why I was considering a battery chainsaw specifically the Milwaukee as I already have some batteries that are used in other tools.
While the purchase cost of the saw is higher, the cost of ownership is next to nothing.

With a gas chainsaw, I have to consider the maintenance and fuel etc.
The purchase cost should be slightly lower but the cost of ownership will tend to be much higher.

I've had a member kindly offer assistance and get some use from their chainsaw, so I'm gladly accepting the offer as it might be the only time a chainsaw in required... And a telescopic pruner would be a much more used tool.
 
Jampy00 said:
This was why I was considering a battery chainsaw specifically the Milwaukee as I already have some batteries that are used in other tools.
While the purchase cost of the saw is higher, the cost of ownership is next to nothing.
Click to expand...
Do you have batteries though? It looks like the chainsaws want HO or HD batteries. If you buy a bundle those are 6 to 12 AH. I have a ton of M18 batteries but no HO or HD. I have no idea how much performance is gimped when using regular M18 batteries. Hopefully someone on youtube has done a test so you don't have to.
 
GreyGhost said:
Do you have batteries though? It looks like the chainsaws want HO or HD batteries. If you buy a bundle those are 6 to 12 AH. I have a ton of M18 batteries but no HO or HD. I have no idea how much performance is gimped when using regular M18 batteries. Hopefully someone on youtube has done a test so you don't have to.
Click to expand...
I probably won't need to test it..
"I've had a member kindly offer assistance and get some use from their chainsaw, so I'm gladly accepting the offer"
 
crankcall said:
We had a Remmington , a McCulloch , and a Stihl . All about the same age 40+ , only the Stihl runs. And it runs like new. Spark plugs , couple filters and 3 maybe 4 bars , great value when measured over a lifetime
Click to expand...
This is exactly it. Spend $500-600 on a decent gas Stihl and it’ll work great for the next 40yrs with next to no maintenance other than running the fuel empty if not going to be used for a while. Then after 40yrs factoring in inflation it’ll still be worth $600 used compared to a battery saw that’s worthless because you couldn’t get batteries for it for the past 25yrs.
We had a buddy over for dinner last night and we were talking about chainsaws and how weirdly I find chainsawing trees one of the most satisfying things (two stroke smell, fresh cut wood, cleaned up property, etc).
 
I have a Stihl and Poulin. The Stihl is 25 years old and runs like a top, the Poulin has been great so far, it’s a couple of seasons old.

I also have a small Remington electric saw that I use close to the house and for construction work. Handy and much tougher than I expected.

I’d go with the homeowner grade Stihl, 16 to 18”, gold standard for modern chainsaws. Nothing gets a day started like the sound and smell of 2stroke in the morning.
 
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