chainsaw to buy

bigfella567

hi all,
looking at buying a chainsaw for cutting up firewood for my own use as well as cutting down trees on other peoples land to sell as fire wood. i have roughly 500-600 to spend on chainsaw . what should i buy ? i hear stihl and husqvarna are best . but i have also used oleo mac before and i quite like it. the trees are fairly big around 2 ft or a little more so what ever you think is best ? i'm only a newbie to the chainsaw market so i need some advice.

thanks in advance!
bigfella567.

case956tom

im in the market for a chainsaw too at the min,its going to be a stihl anyway, looking at a ms 261 seems to be a nice light saw,pricey though.

TomOnBoard

If youre going to be cutting trees of 2 foot or more diameter, youll need one helluva long bar and the power to drive it. Such a saw from Stihl (eg ms461 or ms660) would cost you an arm and a leg ( no sick pun intended :-)) You certainly wont want to try and drive a 24 inch b/c with a 261. That sells with a 18 inch b/c max.

case956tom

TomOnBoard wrote: »

If youre going to be cutting trees of 2 foot or more diameter, youll need one helluva long bar and the power to drive it. Such a saw from Stihl (eg ms461 or ms660) would cost you an arm and a leg ( no sick pun intended :-)) You certainly wont want to try and drive a 24 inch b/c with a 261. That sells with a 18 inch b/c max.

already have a 044 just wanted something a bit smaller/lighter with a bit of power for smaller trees.

TomOnBoard

case956tom wrote: »

already have a 044 just wanted something a bit smaller/lighter with a bit of power for smaller trees.

Sry. My post was for BigFella..

kay 9

372xp. You would pick up a good s/hand one for that money..

Sam Kade

bigfella567 wrote: »

hi all,
looking at buying a chainsaw for cutting up firewood for my own use as well as cutting down trees on other peoples land to sell as fire wood. i have roughly 500-600 to spend on chainsaw . what should i buy ? i hear stihl and husqvarna are best . but i have also used oleo mac before and i quite like it. the trees are fairly big around 2 ft or a little more so what ever you think is best ? i'm only a newbie to the chainsaw market so i need some advice.

thanks in advance!
bigfella567.

Have you qualifications and insurance for cutting timber on other peoples land?

Jonty

Can you also budget for some PPE?

Alexthegrater

I realise it's a risky business, but if you have any mechanical aptitude, you can buy secondhand. I bought a Husqvarna 50 with starting issues but good compression on eBay, and just rebuilt the carb. It's an original Swedish chainsaw 1990's vintage and is absolutely bulletproof, being pre Electrolux, and it's easily the equal of later model flimsy chainsaws. There are a lot of chainsaws bought that only do intermittent light work out there, and may have sat in a garage for 10 years.

bigblackmug

Husky 50 in the nineties is an Electrolux era saw. You'll see EM with the date stamp on the inside of every plastic part of that saw. Doesn't mean it isn't a good saw.
They're a good farmer's saw.

Nekarsulm

Electrolux back as afar as the early 90's. Nothing wrong with that. Ask anyone with a 61.

Alexthegrater

bigblackmug wrote: »

Husky 50 in the nineties is an Electrolux era saw. You'll see EM with the date stamp on the inside of every plastic part of that saw. Doesn't mean it isn't a good saw.
They're a good farmer's saw.

Didn't know that Electrolux owned them that far back.. You're right, good farmers saw, simple and tough.

Nekarsulm

Actually the 61 that I have has an Electrolux Plate on it, and it was bought in 1984.

bogman_bass

I picked up a Jonsered cs 2238 in Oliver goughs in Navan for 299. If you arent going felling might be a good option

Oldtree

A stihl 026 has done a lot of work for me over the last decade and has much to recommend it, much lighter than my 044 which is a right beast as I put a shorter bar on it.

Aln_S

Anyone know much about the new generation Husquvarna? Was looking at one the other day. 550XP. A pro model? Supposedly reving 20% faster so 20 % more cutting speed & comes to full revs 20% faster.
Price tag discounted is €750.

Is this just sales blurb or the real deal? Worth the money?

Reindeer

Aln_S wrote: »

Anyone know much about the new generation Husquvarna? Was looking at one the other day. 550XP. A pro model? Supposedly reving 20% faster so 20 % more cutting speed & comes to full revs 20% faster.
Price tag discounted is €750.

Is this just sales blurb or the real deal? Worth the money?

€750 is 560xp territory. That 550 should be a lot less. I have liked the ones I have tried. If you're not a pro, the 545 and 555 are worth a look as they are taregted towards land owners, but are otherwise very similar to the 550 and 560.

Oldtree

shop around and don't be afraid to haggle, usually 20% in there leeway. Have online prices (+P&P) in the back pocket to use as a hammer.

monkeynuz

If you are planning on going on to other peoples land you will need chainsaw tickets and insurance and full ppe.

For 2' diameter logs you could use an 18" bar but a 372xp is a terrific saw and will cost around €900 I think although I bought mine a few years ago.

I have heard good and bad about the new generation saws from husky.

And yes husky have been owned by Electrolux for ages and they are sister company to jonsered iirc the two factories were next to each other but they couldn't share development so jonsered used to wait for the new husky to come out and then copy it best they could!

CJhaughey

monkeynuz wrote: »

If you are planning on going on to other peoples land you will need chainsaw tickets and insurance and full ppe.

For 2' diameter logs you could use an 18" bar but a 372xp is a terrific saw and will cost around €900 I think although I bought mine a few years ago.

I have heard good and bad about the new generation saws from husky.

And yes husky have been owned by Electrolux for ages and they are sister company to jonsered iirc the two factories were next to each other but they couldn't share development so jonsered used to wait for the new husky to come out and then copy it best they could!

There is no two factories, Husqvarna and Jonsered are the same factory since the late 70's
Only difference is the colour and the straight handle on the Jonsered.
Any built in Sweden saws have the same EM cylinders Mahle pistons etc.

Reindeer

monkeynuz wrote: »

And yes husky have been owned by Electrolux for ages and they are sister company to jonsered iirc the two factories were next to each other but they couldn't share development so jonsered used to wait for the new husky to come out and then copy it best they could!

Electrolux divested itself of Husqvarna in 2006. Electrlux bought Jonsered to acquire technology and market share Jonsered had in the late 70's(much of which was in the states). You could argue it was more Husqvarna 'copying' Jonsered for that. When Husqvarna went about on their own(with the help of investment groups), they took Jonsered with them.

Aln_S

Reindeer wrote: »

€750 is 560xp territory. That 550 should be a lot less. I have liked the ones I have tried. If you're not a pro, the 545 and 555 are worth a look as they are taregted towards land owners, but are otherwise very similar to the 550 and 560.

Thanks. Will look into a few more prices beyond my local.
Not a pro but would pay for a strong saw to have for a long days work every so often.

Rovi

Aln_S wrote: »

Anyone know much about the new generation Husquvarna? Was looking at one the other day. 550XP. A pro model? Supposedly reving 20% faster so 20 % more cutting speed & comes to full revs 20% faster.
Price tag discounted is €750.

Is this just sales blurb or the real deal? Worth the money?

I've been using a 550XP for a couple of years now, and I adore it!

Apart from 1 broken brake band a few weeks ago, it's been utterly reliable.
As it's an early model, the original brake band had a slot in it where it anchors to the case, which it where it broke. The new version doesn't have the slot, and is supposed to be much more robust.

Anyway, it spends almost all its time wearing a 13" bar, and is a joy to use in hardwood and softwood thinnings.

It's an absolute screamer


My brother has a Stihl 026, also with a 13" bar, and while it's a perfectly adequate saw, it's nowhere near being in the same league for power, speed, and throttle response as the 550.
He got a loaner of a Stihl MS261 for a couple of days recently while the 026 was waiting for a part, and while it's a big step up from the 026, I don't consider it to be the equal of the 550.
It's feels about as powerful when buried in a full cut, but the throttle response is a good bit slower, and it's heavier.

Reggie.

Anyone any dealings with the ama make of saw

Sir Arthur Daley

Reggie. wrote: »

Anyone any dealings with the ama make of saw

I was told thet they are just another brand of chinese saws e.g macdillion. Open to correction though.

bogman_bass

I see an ad for chadwicks in Navan for a hyundai chainsaw. 56cc and a 20" bar for 169 :eek: anybody have any experience with them?

Sir Arthur Daley

bogman_bass wrote: »

I see an ad for chadwicks in Navan for a hyundai chainsaw. 56cc and a 20" bar for 169 :eek: anybody have any experience with them?

A rebranded Zenoah, another chinese beauty.

Nekarsulm

well when you condider that a 56cc Stihl/Husky/Johnsred/Solo price rsnge starts about the 475 Euro mark, this gives a fair idea of the quality of the 170 euro offering.

Nekarsulm

Got a very clean 170 off ebay.co.uk for 78 sterling, plus about 12 delivery. Dont rush into buying, and dont buy Chinese.

TomOnBoard

Sir Arthur Daley wrote: »

A rebranded Zenoah, another chinese beauty.

Two unhelpful associations here:

Firstly, Hyundai is not a Chinese company- It is South Korean, and produces some very good, if bland, cars etc.

Secondly, whilst I know nothing abt. the quality of their saws, Zenoah is Japanese, NOT Chinese.

This kind of lazy mis-information annoys me! Just because something comes from the Far East doesn't mean that it is automatically rubbish!

CJhaughey

Sir Arthur Daley wrote: »

A rebranded Zenoah, another chinese beauty.

Zenoah aren't Chinese, they are Japanese saws and high quality saws at that.
Lots of clones out there of everything, Stihl,Husky and Zenoah. Some of them are pretty close copies and if you don't know what you are looking at you could be suckered.
As everything backup is key, no good putting your saw in the shed and finding out when you really need it that the petrol has rotted the carb diaphragm and fuel lines and the parts are no longer available.
A non running saw isn't very useful even as an ornament.
Oleomac/Efco would be a good saw for an average user who doesn't want to buy pro level stuff.
962 is a good saw for the money and very well built.
Good parts backup as they are made in Italy.