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If you are only dealing with 18" diameter stuff occasionally, then those little saws with the 16" bars will still get the job done. And they are lighter. Size matters.

Buy a Stihl and be done with it.

I own 4 or 5.

I would like to get my hands on an 880 with a 3 foot bar and a ripping chain.

^^^ Go big or go home!

One of the local dealers usually has a big azz Stihl with a 5' bar on display .... I don't even know the model ....

I go home :D

Stihl makes 3 different levels of products. 1)Homeowner 2)Mid level 3) Professional

I have a mid level saw, Farm Boss. If you feed it Stihl gas they package, they'll extend the warranty another full year.
Like anything else, buy more saw than you think you need. Mine is bad@ss and the fuel smells like race gas out the exhaust. It's been rock solid, the only thing is I go through chains as because of what I'm cutting.

Nope... your Farm Boss is constructed & built just like the smaller displacement Homeowner saws like an MS250, etc. The larger ones do have the decompression button for starting ease, but same design.... all made in the USA. The pro German made Stihls are constructed differently, with different materials and "race motors" ... all are great saws. I used to think like you stated .... but naw ;).

I like my Bauer!

https://image.invaluable.com/housePh...L178562047.jpg

^^^ LOL .... that's a cutie pie Steve....

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All of them (even the small Echo) wear the yellow coded Stihl chains, or full chisel Oregon. I don't have my 13' Stihl pole saw here, but it came with their POS green bar & chain ... WTF? Cost another hundred to transform it from a butter knife into a serious saw.... and worth every cent. No matter what saw ya pick... the chain is what matters :).

A chain that touches dirt .... just needs sharpening .... mebbe even on a bench sharpener, but certainly not ready to be tossed. Supe is nutz ;)

For bigger stuff than what my saws will do easily.... I call "the man", but 3-4' oaks are common here and these have seen their fair share :D

The next chain I purchase will be a full chisel. Never tried one but I hear their cut is superior .

My Bauer will cut 3-4" oaks also. :)

This guy's somewhat of an expert. An early Stihl perhaps?

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Like "buttah" If it'll help, I'll do a video of me cutting some stuff that big. But I'm tellin ya, the Dewalt 16" saw is a beast.

^ I have the middle two, and two more Stihls with the compression relief valve. I just don't like the spring assist - it feels weird to me. And a Husky. The last two Echos died. They were too heavy for all day use anyway. We use the hell out of these things. That's how we find out what's good.

My two main saws see the most use, and they have yellow Oregon chains. The best sharpener is the electric one that you bolt to a work bench. It has a little cutoff disk, and you use it like a miter saw. It's fast and works well.

I have a thirty year old husqvarna 45 with a 20 inch bar. Thing has been rock solid. However, it being so old that parts are hard to find. I’m going to buy a Stihl ms261 soon. It’s a pro saw but with the tree situation I have I’m going to put it to good use.

Which one did you get, 40V, 56V, 80V?

I have one of these also, which I use mostly for pruning but also construction. Like when I was building my decks here to saw off a 2x4 or 4x4 or whatever needs it.

Cordless and you can use it with only one hand.

I use these 12" carbide pruning blades, but you can use whatever standard sawzall blade you want.

It's called a "HACKZALL".......and you want the M-18 "Fuel", which has the brushless motor.

Milwaukee 2719-20 M18 FUEL Hackzall (Bare Tool), Red, Black

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QwnolLoC1rk/maxresdefault.jpg

https://www.acmetools.com/on/demandw...7B22CBE9_7.jpg

Dewalt 60v. Look at my thread I linked back on page 1. Several videos comparing models. I'm a research geek when it comes to buying stuff like this. I spent hours going over each model.

Yep, I've had one of those for years. Works great for little stuff.

I've also got one of these. I probably need to sharpen the chain. It is impressive, but not really adequate for my needs.

https://2e1293630802db8d0d56-50fcdb1...22bc262dd4.jpg

The Dewalt will eat that thing for lunch! Seriously, if you haven't watched the comparison videos I posted in my thread, they're worth the watch. The Dewalt is for real. I went into it a skeptic and after using for the first time came away a believer. The saw really impressed me. I plan to take it to my hunting property to clean up some downed trees in the near future. I'll let you know how it does when I get the chance to go up and use it.

i have an echo and a craftsman.
i had a craftsman that lasted a loooong time even with abuse.
they also come with a case.

problem with new saws is both of mine came with some california BS on it.
the other problem is is does not matter what saw yo buy if you dont run it it WILL NOT run after a while.

speaking of that i need to get them out and run them

^^^
Come up to Ohio. I've got plenty of wood to cut at the hunting property. Dead Ash trees everywhere!

Right, I bought that saw for small stuff, 3-4". I wouldn't expect it to begin to touch a saw running on >3x the voltage.

My wife went out in the common green area of our neighborhood association, and brought back a limb that was 2.5 inches in diameter, and 6 feet long and I needed to cut it to fit in the trash can. She had cut off all the little stems and side branches with the electric sears I got her for her birthday, but she left the 6 foot tall branch sticking out of the trash can for me to deal with. It was going to require a saw of some sort to deal with. I have an electric chain saw, and it would make short work of it. But it is still a bit of work to get all set up. I grabbed a tree saw that was Glen powered. I had it cut in half in under 10 seconds. Sometimes for very small projects the manual saw is faster and easier than anything else. That tree saw hangs in the storage building above the chain saw.

No doubt, if I had multiple cuts to do, the electric saw would have been used.

We have a wood burning fireplace, but the wife does not like the mess or the work to keep up with a pile of wood. It has only been used once, when the power was out for a few hours. About the time the fire was going enough to make heat the power came back on.

Yup. I have found that if I run mine with less oil (55/60: 1) I get more power out of the saw.

First thing ya do with anything is remove those damn "spark arrestor" screens... they rob power, and as the carbon builds up, it gets even worse. And if you remove the 15 warning stickers it makes the saws lighter too :D!

But then how will you know that you're not supposed to put the sawblade on your leg while the engine is running and pull the throttle?

My big azz scar reminds me :D

Yep, I have a Glenn, I mean Steve, powered saw for little onsey-twosey jobs too. Because of the size of our property, nothing is ever that small a job.

Not to mention the warning fluid.

How many operating hours between fluid changes? ;-)

I like the simplicity of the battery powered stuff. I watched the review that you posted in the other thread, the dewalt definitely seemed to come out on top. The no load run time with the original battery was 37 mins, I think. You then bought a 2 pack of batteries, so in theory, your no load run time is almost 2 hours with 3 batteries. The batteries then took him well over 2 hours each to charge. That's not an ideal time of work to charge, and the batteries certainly aren't cheap. The simplicity is nice and probably the primary "pro", but the run time and initial investment to gain additional run time is probably the primary "con."

I think it depends on your warning fluid specification. If you're running something that you can pick up at your FNEC (friendly neighborhood emergency clinic) then it's probably not a big deal to change more frequently. But if you're running some sort of weird European proprietary fluid, then you may want to stretch your change intervals as long as possible.

If it helps, I cut up about a 30 foot tree into 16" pieces in about a half hour but that was only because my dad and I were BS'ing. When I finished, the battery still showed 3 full bars.

Here's one I don't know if I posted on my thread. I know what you're saying about cost. It's definitely not a less expensive option. But two batteries will cut a lot of wood. Plus it gives you time for a nap while the batteries are charging!

https://youtu.be/S4ktxZlhb-Y

Good stuff, thanks.

The electric stuff is probably fine for home owner use. My concern would be aging of the batteries both over decades electrochemically but also being outdated with better stuff soon! It seems there is always a better battery around the corner.

A good quality gas saw will last you the rest of your life and will sell for more than what you paid for it at your estate sale.

I was in a similar situation about 10 years back and bought a Stihl. I buy the premixed gas from Stihl or the hardware store and even in the CA heat in the garage, it never needed anything, even sitting for sometimes 2 years at a time. A couple cranks and it's on! The premix is sold in a gallon and yes, probably about $25 but with light use it will last you several years. If you ever need to run a lot of gas, by all means mix yourself with the ethanol stuff, just make sure the last couple fills are back on the premix that has no ethanol.

This is the model I bought. I wanted something big enough for firewood and when hunting. I often go late season and there may be deadfalls blocking you in. Its also happened that jokers drop a tree in the road for you to cause you trouble going home, if they don't like you showing up in "their spot" on public land. We have big trees here, so needed something that can deal with a few feet diameter, even if it will take a while.

Here is a nice review except for this guy being extremely unsafe with it. Surprised he still has all his digits and limbs.

Have fun!

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^^^^ G ..... You are spot on. Though I have an older MS250, and prefer it over the newer versions... one will not regret purchasing a "real" saw meant to last a lifetime for most homeowners. Will the battery powered stuff last and perform for 20+ years.... who knows? For around $350 a 45cc Stihl with a 16" bar is just a great saw for most folks to purchase and keep forever. Battery powered stuff has it's place .... just not my place ;).

Occasional use for me on one acre is the EGO 56 volt 40 cc equivalent 16" electric chain saw.
It is so easy to operate and very powerful. I like it.