josephl@tekigm.UUCP (Joseph Dean Ludwig) (03/29/85)
The following are responses I received about chainsaws. Thank you all for the good advice. The consensus seems to point strongly to spending the extra money up-front and getting a Stihl. That's what I plan to do. _____________________________________________________________________________ I,too, live on wooded land (in the Santa Cruz Mountains) and heat 2000 sq ft exclusively with wood (oak & madrone). I have two McCulloch chain saws: a 10" model 110 that I bought on sale for $69, and a 20" model 650. I've been using both for 5 years with no engine maintenance whatsoever. I use the little one to remove smaller branches from a felled tree, then I use the big one to cut the tree into 22" lengths. When you use a chainsaw, the sharpness of the chain is everything!!! Hitting the dirt even ONCE while cutting requires resharpening. If you run out of chain oil on a stubborn cut, you might as well throw away the chain since it overheats and loses its temper. If you baby the chain, you'll find that the saw is great while a dull chain is very fatiguing, slow, frustrating, and dangerous. I suggest cutting & splitting your wood early in the summer so that it seasons during the hot months. I like to keep the house comfortable (70) and use about 4 cords per year to do so.and use about 4 cords per year to do so. Have fun. "Wood heats three times as well as gas or oil: Once when you cut it, once when you split it, and once when you burn it." _____________________________________________________________________________ Go for the best and get a STIHL. It's false economy to buy an el cheapo as I found out with my Sears Craftsman saw bought on sale. It kept on burning out the centrifugal clutch at $30 a shot. When my third clutch went out (I do moderate sawing for firewood on 3 acres) I decided that was it and got a STIHL. It's a beautiful saw and I've had no problem since. Good luck. ______________________________________________________________________________ I live out in the country, and the only source of heat for my house is a woodburning stove (one of the airtight variety). Consequently, I cut a LOT of firewood, as well as using the saw for clearing brush, disciplining the dog :-) etc. I checked out the chainsaw scene, talked to dealers, manufacturers, my neighbors (all chainsaw owners), and three service places nearby. The concensus was that Stihl was the only saw to buy. It happens to be one of the most expensive, but worth it because 1) it will last a lifetime (two people had their saw for over 10 years), 2) it incorporates all of the important safety features, and 3) the damn things are VERY reliable - they always start and keep on running (none of this business about trying to start it for 30 minutes and giving up in despair). I've been using mine now for about 2 years (regular summer & winter use) and am very pleased. A few details now. Stihl makes 2 classes of saws: a homeowners and a professional (more $$ of course). I got the next to smallest professional grade saw (Stihl model 028 - the smallest pro saw is called the 024). [I would have gotten the 024, but my dealer was sold out and gave me an 028 for the same price!] Why the pro? Even though the engine size and max RPM was the same as the top homeowner's saw, the gearing is different and the *chain* RPM was almost double. The result is that you cut faster, and put less wear and tear on the engine per unit of wood cut. The internal engine oiling mechanism is also different some- how, but I don't remember the details. My dealer used to carry Echo, Poulan and McCulloch, but stopped because they kept coming back. Down here (south central Texas) we have a group of people called "Cedar choppers" who spend their lives clearing people's land of cedar trees (actually it's Mexican Juniper). They cut from sunup to sundown (14, maybe 15 hours/day in the summer), and my dealer won't sell them anything besides Stihl now because with ALL the other brands, they would come back with dead saws after about 2 months. The things were just all used up. He says they've been getting about 1.5-2 years of life out of a Stihl (that's more than a lifetime of cutting for me). Now, the real bottom line. These saws are on the expensive side - I think I paid $380 for mine & they may have gone up. You have to decide based on what you can afford, how long you want it to last, and a comparison of safety features (this last point is the subject of a whole other discussion I can engage in if you like...). I decided that since wood was a pretty big part of my life, I might as well make the lifetime investment. By the way, a friend of mine who lives in the city and doesn't have a fireplace had an 028 that he brought down from Washington state. He didn't need it any more, took it to a Stihl/Toro dealer and traded his 5 year old saw for a brand new lawn mower - even trade! There is a moral there somewhere. ______________________________________________________________________________ I have had very good luck with my Stihl 031AV. Stihl tend to be on the expensive side, but I believe that their quality justifies it. I bought mine 5 years ago to take care of a 5 acre wooded lot. This winter I had my first serious trouble with it when the electronic ignition module failed. Since I do all of my own repair work, the parts cost about $20 to replace the module. I would suggest that you get a saw with electronic ignition (a lot fewer hassles) and a chain brake. If you are going to be cutting much wood larger than 1.5 feet in diameter, then you probably want about a 20 inch bar and the horsepower to drive it. ______________________________________________________________________________ I've got a Homelite. DON'T get a Homelite. It suffers from vapor lock, power loss when hot, wandering air/fuel mixture screws. It's a royal pain in the butt. It was garage sale cheap, though. I've heard bad rumors about Mcullogh. The smaller ones suffer from vapor lock as well. I've heard Good things about Stihl - easy starting. I've tried Huskaverna - Very quiet (NICE), Low vibration (NICE), Light (NICE). If you plan on home heating with wood, get something at least 3 cu in. Also with a 20" bar. You'll be thankful when cutting maple or oak. Fir and alder cuts like butter with even a butter knife. If you plan on cutting <= 1 cord, something in the 2-2.5 cu in. range is fine. Personally, I plan on getting a new chainsaw real soon. After yanking the damn cord and having that Homelite sputter sporadically good and bad, I'm trying the next saw I buy! Usually saw shops have a few logs in the back. I cut/burn about 4 cords/year. I'll look at Stihl first in the 3-4 cu in. range. Approximate cost is $300-$400. Is firewood cutting really your bag? Unless you like it/recreation, it's about even to electric heat. First comes the saw, then comes the 4x4, then comes the winch, then ... Also buy your wood cutting permit from the BLM. Firewood Finders is a rip off. Where do you think they get their permits? -Jay ______________________________________________________________________________ McCulloch makes some of the best chain saws around, in a whole range of sizes. I strongly suggest you get one with an automatic oiling feature - the manual alternative is really tiring on the old thumb after a while. It's also a good idea to invest in a chain sharpening device if you're planning on cutting a reasonably large amount of stuff. The blades go dull amazingly quickly, and it's a lot cheaper and faster to sharpen them yourself than to pay someone else. Rick ______________________________________________________________________________ Be aware of a distinction between "new technology" and "old technology" chains. One is much safer. See back issues of Consumer Reports. If you don't find out any other way, I can look up the issue date for you, but it won't really help because the new chains were being introduced on older models of saws at the time the article appeared and that was some time ago (1 year?). Mark Brader ______________________________________________________________________________