| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Chez |
Upgrading our man-tools ... chainsaw advice?We need a small chainsaw to chop hedges, brush, logs and the ankles of recalcitrant children. Small enough for me to wield, big enough to do the job.I am looking at this Stihl one, which comes in to their 'property maintenance' category - which I guess is pretty much what we will be doing. Opinions anyone? Informed or otherwise? |
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| Nick |
I have one of those, although it's possible my bar might be slightly longer...
It's fine for chopping firewood, working the hedges, discarding small fallen trees and the like. I paid about 150 5/6 years ago, so price seems about right. |
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| alison |
Oh says go for the 14", rather than the 12"
If you are going to do trees then you need an 18" |
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| dpack |
get the armour as well please | ||||||
| RichardW |
Ditto the safety gear.
If you look after your tools get that one or another big name costly one. I tend to abuse mine so use cheaper ones. Bought a 52cc one for about £80 nearly a year ago. Ok its now got a problem in that the air filter cover screw keep undoing its self but not major & a big name one would have been £4-500 for the same size. Bigger ones tend to be safer than smaller ones for some strange reason. Justme |
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| alison |
Thrided safety gear.
OH won't use his without being all kitted up. |
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| mochyn |
And fourthed. If you want to come over at the weekend the old chap will show you his.
Shut up. |
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| gil |
Stihl are good. As are Husqvarna, which might be a bit pro for your requirements.
seconded re bigger bar and safety gear |
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| Chez |
Thanks all. Re the safety gear, one of our mates is a pro chain-saw chappie. I have been particularly looking forward to his visits with his enormous tool because of the way his chaps set off his rear.
Mochyn - you're on  .
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| vickersdc |
Safety gear is very important - and others have made that point already.
Ideally try and make sure that you can start the saw easily - Stihl actually make an 'EasyStart' system, which is excellent. The saw that you have picked will be fine for lightweight jobs - keep it well maintained, and keep it sharp (quick plug... check out http://drivelink.blogspot.com for maintenance hints and tips ).
That's absolute rubbish! (Apologies for the confrontational comment!). There's so much 'myth' about chainsaws it's incredible. I teach chainsaw maintenance, cross-cutting and felling and I only ever use a 15" bar at the most - with that (and the right technique) you could fell a tree 3' in diameter. David. |
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| Gervase |
Excellent stuff on that blog - having just sharpened two chainsaws properly for the first time, thanks to those tips, I can recommend them to anyone. | ||||||
| vickersdc |
Thank you Gervase!
I'm genuinely pleased that it's been of assistance to you. There's lots more articles planned... Many thanks, David. |
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| Gervase |
I look forward to more. Those you've already done are really useful - a first-rate set of articles there. Anyone even thinking of picking up a chainsaw should read through them. | ||||||
| alison |
OH said he wouldn't feel comfortable felling with anything less than that. I guess it is what you are used to, and what your tutor taught you at the time. Obviously it was waht was taught to him. |
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| vman |
hey...new to the site but love it! just wanted to say ditto again the safety gear...boots, trousers, gloves and helmet...and also a 13" or 15" bar should be adequate for all your needs unless your doing big trees...im studying forestry and we use 13" bars and have taken down a fair number of good sized trees with it i.e 15" diametertrunks/15m tall trees 
i have a stihl ms180 for use at home, and its great for doing logs, brashing, pruning etc...just need to make sure you maintain it well and it should last you years...the saws we use at school are husqvarna 254s which are also great machines, though maybe a bit more expensive/more heavy duty...hope some of that helps, good luck
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| vickersdc |
You're right of course, but it just gets me that there is an attitude that bigger is better and it's not helped by sellers of chainsaws pushing bigger bars on their saws (as if it made it better). Naturally it depends on the chainsaw and what you're actually cutting - you wouldn't stick a 13" bar on a Husqvarna 3120, but for most purposes a 15" bar is perfectly adequate. |
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| boisdevie1 |
I have a big chainsaw which cuts big stuff. But mainly I cut small stuff and for that it's knackering. I'd go for the lightest model you can find that's sufficiently big for your needs. |