Can anyone school me on Chainsaw's?

I need a chainsaw, and don't know the first thing about one. Never once pulled the cord on one...

Just want one for cutting logs to length so I can split them for fires in the fireplace (in the house). I'm not realistically going to be cutting down or logging 10ft diameter trees, but I'd like to be able to handle something more than sapplings, ie more than a few feet around if possible...

Ideally I'd like to buy a used one off of CL... Ideally not spending a ton, as I'd only use it a few times a year

What are the brands to look for? and the ones to look out for? What kind of size is reasonable for the above task?

 

There is only one:


Stihl

 

Done in one.

 

Tanaka is a good brand, but you will most likely have a hard time finding one. I would avoid Husqvarna unless you want to spend $300+ to get a good one. Their more budget priced saws are made by Poulan and are not great quality. I would go for a Sthil. Quality product throughout the line. They are a competitor of mine, but I cannot deny they have great equipment. Use Sthil fuel. It has no alcohol and is already stabilized.

 

My dad and I cut down acres and acres of trees with Homelite Super XLs. If you can find one of those, they're an awesome saw.

This was before all that pussy kick-back brake shit.

 

I am in the OPE business and cannot stress the importance of using fuel with no alcohol. Trufuel, Sthil, and Husqvarna have premixed fuels available. Pay the little bit extra for them. They are more then worth the money in less downtime and maintenance costs. Again, these are all competitors of mine.

 

Search Youtube for Australian V8 chainsaw. That's what you need. Post videos of yourself using it to cut firewood.

 

What's OPE mean?

 

I buy them cheap ass $150 Poulans from Lowes about every three to four years. I abuse the shit out of them till they die, then get another one. I use them about 3-4 times a year cutting up deadwood for the fireplace. Meh.

 

Do yourself a favor and don't buy a used saw. I've tried all the major brands and have found Husqvarna to be very dependable. Plus they have a cool motorcycle name.

 

OPE -- Outdoor Power Equipment

 

What he said.

 

danke. I should have known...

 

Chain saws, trimmers, cutoff saws, Stihl is hard to beat.

 

Husqvarna only makes the higher end saws. All the lower priced ones are Poulans. And Metal, But a good saw once, take a bit better care of it, and it will be around for a lifetime. You will save money in the long run. Poulan is garbage. My company was the Western Canadian distributor for their parts. We recently decided to drop their product. It is not worth the issues we were seeing.

 

The problem is, if I do that, I have a really hard time giving up on used parts and throwing them away.

If it doesn't work, I'll take it apart, waste many hours f'ing with it, and refuse to buy a new one until I fix it. Even when it is inevitable, I'll keep the old taken apart one, thinking I'll use the parts on the next one...

 

Use good fuel. For those of you that like race gas you could always use this:

http://www.vp-sef.com/

This is what I use. But it isn't available in the US yet.

http://en.aspen.se/

 

When you say " a few feet around" is that what you really mean (i.e., circumference = 3 feet). I ask because size of saw (both head and bar) need to be targeted to diameter. That translates to a little under a foot diam. log.
A 16 inch bar likely is what you are looking for. Depending on how much you will work it, and what your $$ proclivities are, will land you in the right spot.
Billy is right about ethanol fuel. It kills stuff (gas lines, carb parts mostly) but I have been getting away with using the treatment the local Stihl rep hawks and clearing the damn things between use.

 

Then buy a good chainsaw.

 

Exactly the info I was looking to hear, Thanks