Chainsaw advise

micah537

Hi, I know absolutely nothing about chainsaws so hopefully someone here can help.

Dad used to cut timber in woods in the 80s full time before changing jobs. He occasionally gets trees to cut on sites before the digger would arrive and keep the firewood.

He mostly had a husqvarna for large tres and Stihl for smaller stuff in recent years. They are old {possibly 20 or more years) and have seen better days.

He was trying to get the one Aldi had recently but couldn't.

My brother and I want to get him one for his birthday for under €300 or so. The aldi one was 41cc. We seen a Stihl Ms180 that's 31cc. Would the Stihl be a waste of time. Its not going to get a huge amount of use, maybe a full day or two a year.

CJhaughey

Buying a saw depends on the type of work it will be doing.
What size wood will he be cutting? Is it just small stuff <300mm Ø or is it bigger than that?
A small displacement saw like the MS180 is fine for small trees of less than 12"/300mm Ø but will struggle with hardwoods and trees over that size.
Is your dad still able to run a decent sized saw? or is a small lightweight saw the best for him these days?
€300 is a low price point for anything half decent tbh, I know its only a part time tool but better quality stuff is usually better for parts and servicing.
I would up the budget a little and get a Husky 435 MkII for €350 or so or a left field option is a cordless battery saw which store very well.

Dempo1

micah537 wrote: »

Hi, I know absolutely nothing about chainsaws so hopefully someone here can help.

Dad used to cut timber in woods in the 80s full time before changing jobs. He occasionally gets trees to cut on sites before the digger would arrive and keep the firewood.

He mostly had a husqvarna for large tres and Stihl for smaller stuff in recent years. They are old {possibly 20 or more years) and have seen better days.

He was trying to get the one Aldi had recently but couldn't.

My brother and I want to get him one for his birthday for under €300 or so. The aldi one was 41cc. We seen a Stihl Ms180 that's 31cc. Would the Stihl be a waste of time. Its not going to get a huge amount of use, maybe a full day or two a year.

As it happens I got one of the Aldi Chainsaws. My advice would be that whilst excellent at what I use it for, they would not be sufficient for large tree's, branches over 8 inches would be real struggle. Also the Petrol and chain oli tanks very small so need to be filled at regular intervals, they use a 2 stroke mix. Finally, the Chain Bar mechanism quite tricky to get used too.

I'd certainly recommend for general use but not for Large Trees/ Trunks etc. I've had mine for 4 years now, still working fine

micah537

CJhaughey wrote: »

Buying a saw depends on the type of work it will be doing.
What size wood will he be cutting? Is it just small stuff <300mm Ø or is it bigger than that?
A small displacement saw like the MS180 is fine for small trees of less than 12"/300mm Ø but will struggle with hardwoods and trees over that size.
Is your dad still able to run a decent sized saw? or is a small lightweight saw the best for him these days?
€300 is a low price point for anything half decent tbh, I know its only a part time tool but better quality stuff is usually better for parts and servicing.
I would up the budget a little and get a Husky 435 MkII for €350 or so or a left field option is a cordless battery saw which store very well.

Thanks for that. We said we could up the budget to €500 and it can cover fathers day as well. Which would you choose the 435 for €350 or the 440 for €520. He has various sized bar and chains. Or would you just give him the cash and let him buy whatever.

Its mainly Ash with small amounts of silver Birch, Hawthorn and Hazel, mostly under 20cm. The Ash would probably mostly be under 30cm diameter I'd imagine 50cm would be the biggest but rare enough. It's basically any of the neighbours who are building a house and they'll let him take whatever is worth while before the digger arrives.

He would have a lot of uncollected or broken pallets in his yard that he will cut up as well, but he's retiring this year or early next year so he won't be getting pallets then.

He'd definitely be able to use a decent size saw I'd imagine. He's 58 well 59 when he gets the saw and still active.

Thepillowman

Have used a few ms 180s lovely saw for small diameter stuff bit underpowered for your needs i would imagine .Also have 2 neighbours who recently bought a ms211 and ms 231,both of which are nice little saws .Was surprised how gutsy the 231 was.
For smaller stuff I use a ms 250 which was a freebie lovely little saw discontinued now I think . As we get older a smaller saw is handier ,worked in forestry myself but find lugging a big saw around is not as easy anymore.

timfromtang

Hi All,
Here's an oul lad swinging an MS660, an makin a couch too...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba1q1mKyPu8


tim

Rabbitman

Hi Micah537. Bought a stihl 021 close on 30 year ago . Has cut an awful lot of timber, has 14" bar . Cost me an oil pump in that length of time . Couldn't fault it in any way , they don't do the 021 anymore I think the ms230 is the replacement . Good luck with whatever you purchase , by the way I hear lads saying that have the aldi ones that they are ok but a bit on the heavy side .