Well I've read all the chainsaw posts on TBN. Question is, do I need a pro saw or is a homeowner version acceptable?
Please don't turn this into a brand war, I know that a husky, stihl, jonsered, echo, john deere and puloun are all viable options. I've narrowed it down to husky or stihl based on popularity & local dealer locations.
I've got 1.5 acres of trees. Will be cutting some down for the woodstove plus the usual pruning & wind damage cleanup. I don't think I have a big enough woodlot to sustain heating by wood, so eventually I may have to have the firewood delivered. Since a chainsaw is one of the more satisfying power tools, I'm considering saving money & having the wood delivered in log form which I will cut to length & split myself. Since our new woodstove is small, it will only take up to a 16" long log. I'd hate to have to re-cut pieces I already paid somebody to cut.
I like to buy/have quality tools, but when is it overkill? For instance, I could have spent $2,000 for a powermatic 66 instead of $550 for my Jet contractor saw or gasp $129 for the sears special benchtop.
Right now I'm borrowing my dad's 16" sears (puluon) lightweight saw. It does a decent job & has lasted many years of occasional use. It runs out of power on the bigger logs (8" and up)
What is an intelligent carburator and is it worth extra money? I think I want the decompression for easier starting.
I'm drooling over the Husky 346XP $350 and the Stihl 260 $400 and 260 pro $430?. All are about 3.5HP. I haven't tried any yet (maybe friday). Hoping santa will get me one. For the prices I've been able to find on the net, the husky seems like better value.
I figure I'll get a 16" bar to use most of the time & maybe a 20" for the occasional big tree.
The husky rancher and stihl farm boss models are cheaper, but seem a bit heavy (13.5# vs 10.5# for the powerhead).
The husky 350 (homeowner model) is $275, same weight, 3 HP.
Brand issues aside, two bars are a good choice. I have a 12" for general purpose use and a 20" for felling and cutting larger stuff. I picked the 12" for the more frequent chore of limbing trees and cutting fallen limbs. Lighter and easier to maneuver than a 16.
If I were in your shoes, I would go with the quality of the pro. I also would stick to the 20" bar and not have to be changing it (or wishing it was changed) all the time.
I like the 20" bar because it demands less bending over when limbing and cutting wood than a shorter bar. True, the 20 is a bit heavier, but I think being used to one bar length is helpful (for safety, if nothing else).
I get two new chains for each new sprocket, and if I had two bar lengths, I would feel I would need two sprockets and four chains. Another reason I would stick to one bar length.
Just another though to justify the pro model.
If cutting fire wood this is a constant operation and the saw may operate at elevated temperatures for long periods of time. The pro model will handle this. The home owner model does not have the cylinder/piston metelurgy for this type of operation.
Egon
Sounds like the consesus is to have santa spend the extra $75 for the pro model. That is what I was leaning towards, but it is good to have know that I am on the right track.
I just remembered that my father in law has an old saw he wants to give us maybe 14 or 16". I think I'll spec. the new one with a 20" bar and keep the old one for the limbing if it works well, or maybe just for the dirty stump work if it doesn't.
I just got my husky on thurs. the bar on mon. and called about the chains today. I ordered it from nopel online and saved about 130.00 on a husky 372xp with a 20" bar. sounds like you like quality tools so I would go for the pro line if I were you.
Thanks for the link. The place is about 25 minutes from my house [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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