Better, but not best, for occasional use chain saw

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^^ G ..... You are spot on. Though I have an older MS250, and prefer it over the newer versions...

Those are the chainsaws we used on the two day chainsaw course. Great power to weight ratio. Very good quality.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by cabmando

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

I was taught to avoid the "sawing" motion he uses. just sayin'

[mattdavis11]

In the last 20 years, I have used many different saws, from various manufacturers. Echo, Husq, Stihl, McCullough. My favorite was a 20 inch Stihl MS270 with a full chisel. The McCullough 20 inch wasn't bad either, a bit heavy/unbalanced. I have a Stihl MS170 14 inch that I call the Fisher Price, but she can use it too. My only complaint about the 14 inch is that I haven't found a full chisel chain.

I would really like to have the MS270 now. We have big oaks.

[Jim Bremner]

I need to run some gas through my MS 250 Stihl. Bought it at the start of covid and cut trees down for a week straight. There's a few more to drop and buck. Anyone in Orange County who needs some firewood?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I was taught to avoid the "sawing" motion he uses. just sayin'

Yeah the method isn't great and it does take away from the saw's abilities but still, the saw is pretty impressive.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

I need to run some gas through my MS 250 Stihl. Bought it at the start of covid and cut trees down for a week straight. There's a few more to drop and buck. Anyone in Orange County who needs some firewood?

Call Will Smith. He needs to chop some wood if he can hit a smaller man in the face (who has his hands behind his back) and not knock him down.

Then maybe he will be tough enough to stand up to GI Jane.

[masraum]

We are the proud new owners of a Stihl MS181 CB E. picked it up this morning with an extra chain from the local farm store. Also got some Stihl premixed gas.
https://gilfordhardware.com/collections/stihl-chainsaws/products/stihl-ms-181-cb-e-chainsaw-16-bar

[Seahawk]

Please give a real world review after you have used it.

My small, battery powered chain saw has the De Walt version the quick chain adjuster and it is friggin' great.

I know the pre-mix isn't cheap but all my gas powered stuff fires right up.

Good luck!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Please give a real world review after you have used it.

My small, battery powered chain saw has the De Walt version the quick chain adjuster and it is friggin' great.

I know the pre-mix isn't cheap but all my gas powered stuff fires right up.

Good luck!

Yep, you guys convinced me to go with the premixed fuel. The saw that I got has the quick adjust or tool-less adjust chain tensioner and the "easy2start" system.

I came really close to getting one of the battery powered models, but decided to go with something tried and true. I figured that I'd probably be fine with a good battery powered, but I should definitely be fine with a nice Stihl.

It's funny, the wife has showed me all of this stuff that she wants cut up, 8-10" branches, old trunks that are 18-24', etc...

I asked her what she wants me to do first and most of it is a bunch of little 1.5-3" saplings. I probably wont even use the chainsaw for those. I guess we'll see.

[Scott Douglas]

I can almost guarantee that once you use the saw for some of those 1.5-3" saplings you'll never put it down to do it any other way.

Glad to see you went with the Stihl.

[latunabernie]

Yesterday I was wondering if and what model saw you got.
So many people ask about purchasing things and never follow through.
I fired up my Sthill 391 for the 1st. time in over a year.
Cut some 30" hard oak.
Went threw it like hot knife through butter.

Bernie

[Evans, Marv]

I have a Husqvarna I like a lot, but this is the chain saw I find I use mostly. I've had ir for 35+ years, so it predates modern battery powered. Easy to use and lots of power with a 16" bar. Right now I'm cutting up this pile into firewood sized pieces. The new chain is making for easy cutting.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by masraum

We are the proud new owners of a Stihl MS181 CB E. picked it up this morning with an extra chain from the local farm store. Also got some Stihl premixed gas.
https://gilfordhardware.com/collections/stihl-chainsaws/products/stihl-ms-181-cb-e-chainsaw-16-bar

We'd planned on cleaning up a bunch of downed branches and dead wood on the property and trimming a bunch of trees that are a pain to mow under earlier this year. But we've had such a dry summer that there's been 5-6 months of "burn ban." There was no point in creating an enormous pile of wood if we couldn't do anything with it, so we bought the chainsaw and then didn't use it for months.

The lifted the burn ban so I've been using the chainsaw the past week or two. So far I've been mostly cutting smaller stuff, probably maxing out at 8-9" green wood. So far I'm glad that I got it. I can see how it might be nice to have gotten a more powerful model, but I don't think this one is going to be inadequate. I can just see how this might be one of those times when the Tim Allen / Jeremy Clarkson strategy might be the best strategy.

The instructions on how to start the thing were unclear (it's got the "easy-2-start" feature). I was over thinking it. It really is weirdly easy to start. I'd also missed the "on" switch once which made it take a little longer than it should have. Since then, it's been smooth sailing. It is weird that the switch has 4 settings (off, on, part choke, full choke) when you can only put it into 2 (off and on).

The bells and whistles are nice, the easy/toolless chain tension/bar adjustment is nice. Even the gas and oil caps are simpler to remove than some of the other models. It is "made in USA." It's not heavy, so I could see using it for a while, although I'm not likely to run into long days of use like some of you.

I'm happy with the performance and glad I made the purchase.

We burned our burn pile on Sun. We got rain throughout Aug, but then pretty much nothing since. It was pretty dry, but there was very little near the pile that could catch. I started the fire and the wind picked up, so I ended up having to put out several small fires in the grass near the pile. Today they put a burn ban back in place. I suspect that's at least partly because the humidity is supposed to plummet and the wind had really kicked up today. We got our burning done in the nick of time.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I have a Husqvarna I like a lot, but this is the chain saw I find I use mostly. I've had ir for 35+ years, so it predates modern battery powered. Easy to use and lots of power with a 16" bar. Right now I'm cutting up this pile into firewood sized pieces. The new chain is making for easy cutting.

If I was dealing with a small enough yard that I could get an extension to anywhere that I'd need one, I'm sure a 120V would be the bees knees. I need something untethered for sure.

[Reg]

We have an Echo. Bought it 15 plus yrs ago. Pull with choke about 4 pulls till it kicks. Turn off choke, next pull it fires. Every time. Will then sit and hold idle on own and still runs like a champ. Been like this since day one. Had it serviced once. Prem fuel and mix gas bang on by using the small bottle of oil/gal. Think it’s 50/1. I’d buy another but don’t need to.

[KFC911]

Echos have always been "easy start" and so are the new Stihls. Older Stihls ... if ya didn't do it "right"... fuggitaboudit ... kept novices from using them .

Took me a while to get the hang of it on my very first Stihl though (weed whacker FS80... a beast).

Use the yellow coded Stihl chains and keep them sharp .... the green ones are great for carving butter ...

Be safe!

[T77911S]

i have an echo and a craftsman. unfortunately the craftsman has some kind of california crap on it, im on the right coast.
used the echo this weekend. good little saw.
it had great reviews in i think it was a handyman magazine.

yes, starts right up
wish i could say the same for my husqi leaf blower. even when new i had to pull it a lot to get it started.

the craftsman runs good.
i had one for a LONG time. abused it pretty bad.
i like the price of the craftsman AND you get a case for it.

if used them more often i would consider a stihl just because it may last longer....or it may not

no matter what you get, do NOT put ethanol gas in it and start them up every few months

[masraum]

Originally Posted by T77911S

the craftsman runs good.
i had one for a LONG time. abused it pretty bad.
i like the price of the craftsman AND you get a case for it.

if used them more often i would consider a stihl just because it may last longer....or it may not

no matter what you get, do NOT put ethanol gas in it and start them up every few months

Stihl, at least the one that I bought and presumably most of the lower end, do not come with a case. I got super lucky that the previous owner of my place left a generic chainsaw case in the garage, so I have a case. THe saw fits fine and there's extra space for parts, tools, spare chains, etc...

I decided that I'd go ahead and use the premixed gas. It's expensive, but since it does seem to be better than regular gas-station gas w/ethanol and adding oil, it seems like a no brainer. It's not like I'm going through 10 gal a weekend, week, or month. Hell, I don't expect to go through that much in a year.

[masraum]

I used it some more today. It cuts great until you run into a nail. Glad I had a spare chain. I think I ran into a nail with the spare too, but realized quickly so it continued to cut pretty well. I think I'll buy a second bar. I've got some sharpening to do.

[KFC911]

Glad it's working out for ya Steve! Usually if I hit a nail or something hard, it's time to swap chains and put that one on my bench sharpener to true it up. I don't keep spare bars... they last a long time unless they get bent. Take a look at the pic I posted earlier .... notice the top saw has Stihl upside down ... occassionally I flip the bar so it wears evenly. You do have the yellow coded chain and not the green one .... right?

Make chips and not sawdust ...