Best small cheap chainsaw?

[Sidecarflip]

MS 180 has been my 044 compliment and "truck saw" for ~20 years. Been used for work WAAAAY above it's pay grade A LOT.
Starts, cuts and restarts like new. New carb at 15 years is the only repair, and that's probably due to me leaving it sitting for months with corn squeezings in the tank.

I only run canned fuel in all my saws and brush trimmer but none of them get used every day anyway so canned fuel (Echo Red Armor) for me is the way to go. I don't ever bother draining the canned fuel out when they sit either and they sit a lot.

bad enough dealing with the 'corn squeezings' in my 4 stroke stuff. In fact I'm trading in my ZTR for a Kubota diesel powered mowing machine. That leaves my roto tiller, pressure washer and my wife's zero turn with gas motors on them.

I much prefer diesel power anyway.

 

[Lightning Performance]

A free one

 

[Sidecarflip]

A free one

I did just that with the Neo-Tek saw I bought during a weak moment. Was such a turd, I gave it to my neighbor down the road I don't much care for. Used it ONE TIME and that was enough. Even gave it to him full of fuel and oil.

 

[Hermio]

I'm not fond of any China saws so those aren't even in my equation and neither are battery powered chain saws. I have cordless (battery powered hand tools) but no chainsaw and will never be with me.

To each his own. I use an MS500i for most of my cutting. That, of course, is not a small, cheap saw. But I use a Kobalt 80 volt cordless for a few quick jobs, as it is less effort than starting the 500i. It has an 18" bar and enough torque to handle it buried in hardwoods. We also have a Kobalt hand-held mini saw with an 8" bar that is handy for cutting off wild grapevines and pruning small branches.

 

[Rich 07830]

"Not to hijack, but since we're talking about Echo saws, anybody got info on which model is their best top-handle tree saw?
Looks like there are half a dozen or more different TH models.

The CS-355T is excellent. I upgraded from an early model CS-360T and it's just better everyplace. I would NOT recommend a CS-330T or CS-360T. Not really a bad saw or anything of the sort, they just don't have the power and professional features of the CS-355T's."

This includes clutch driven oiler, two full size bar nuts, inboard clutch, unlimited coil, more power everywhere and no CAT in the muffler to deal with.

I have no experience with the CS-2511T, but imagine it's a smaller version of the CS-355T with all the same features.....

Thanks, good to know! I've ordered a CS-355T and am looking forward to it coming in. I'm am very happy with the two Echoes that I have, a CS-620P that I bought new a year ago and a grey CS-4600 that a friend gave me last fall. The 620 is amazing with a 24" bar! My 4600 is way more ballsy than I expected and it starts easily! Echo power saws cannot be beat for quality value!!!

 

[Sidecarflip]

Echo is also hard to beat on price other than a China saw that is.

 

[olgreenmachine3400]

Anyone tried one of these?? Is this even possible?? 52CC 20"Bar Gasoline Chainsaw $38.87 Free Shipping. I ordered one just see how big of a POS this really is. Will report on it when it comes

eBay item number:204724516601

 

[thompsoncustom]

Anyone tried one of these?? Is this even possible?? 52CC 20"Bar Gasoline Chainsaw $38.87 Free Shipping. I ordered one just see how big of a POS this really is. Will report on it when it comes

eBay item number:204724516601

Well at about the cost of a gallon of premium 2 stroke oil you don't have much to lose.

 

[Cliff R]

It looks like a scam to me. You'll be lucky if you get the item.....IMHO.....

 

[NSEric]

Anyone tried one of these?? Is this even possible?? 52CC 20"Bar Gasoline Chainsaw $38.87 Free Shipping. I ordered one just see how big of a POS this really is. Will report on it when it comes

eBay item number:204724516601

They've been around for a long time now.
The plastics are cheap and easy to break, the air filter needs an O ring under it to seal up better but 9/10 of them run and cut just fine.

 

[eb20]

eBay item number:204724516601 ? Is this a clone of what OEM saw ? I'm just curious.

 

[Sloughfoot]

eBay item number:204724516601 ? Is this a clone of what OEM saw ? I'm just curious.

There's a number of inexpensive saws made in China that on close inspection look to be the same thing. Different brand name and color scheme. A guy I was taking some trees down for had a new one, Proyama maybe. 62 cc I believe, performed like a 42 cc. Very light. I got it running for him. New chain needed a lot of file time. Took several tries to get tension right. Difficult to start cold, warm or hot. Ran out of fuel quickly (pick up may not have been on the bottom of the tank). Ran fine. Low rpm but had some torque. What really jumped out was the really long springy pull cord. For comparison, ones like he had go for around $150 on Amazon.

 

[NSEric]

eBay item number:204724516601 ? Is this a clone of what OEM saw ? I'm just curious.

That item number wont work for me, likely because im in canada.
Most all of the 52cc chinese saws are a clone of a japanese Zenoah 45cc pro level saw.
They come in 45cc, 49cc and 54.6cc. They are sold as anything from 45 to 68cc lol.
The "52cc" ones are really 49cc, they're alright but the next size bigger is quite a bit stronger and the exact same weight.
Like posted above some claim to be 62cc but they are not. Proyama sells a lot of them on amazon. The only proyama saw worth getting is the "68cc", it's really 54.6cc, the others are 45cc with long bars.
In canada the best running one on amazon is the supmix 6220, it's 54.6cc. The supmix runs very well but has cheap, thin, easy to break plastic.

 

[Sloughfoot]

That item number wont work for me, likely because im in canada.
Most all of the 52cc chinese saws are a clone of a japanese Zenoah 45cc pro level saw.
They come in 45cc, 49cc and 54.6cc. They are sold as anything from 45 to 68cc lol.
The "52cc" ones are really 49cc, they're alright but the next size bigger is quite a bit stronger and the exact same weight.
Like posted above some claim to be 62cc but they are not. Proyama sells a lot of them on amazon. The only proyama saw worth getting is the "68cc", it's really 54.6cc, the others are 45cc with long bars.
In canada the best running one on amazon is the supmix 6220, it's 54.6cc. The supmix runs very well but has cheap, thin, easy to break plastic.

Supmix. That's what the guy had that I got running. Waaaay too light. Has to be a lot of plastic, thin steel and aluminum where it shouldn't be. Pull cord that doesn't stretch and it might start better. I don't think it was cycling more than once or twice with the stretchy one.

 

[huskydave]

That item number wont work for me, likely because im in canada.
Most all of the 52cc chinese saws are a clone of a japanese Zenoah 45cc pro level saw.
They come in 45cc, 49cc and 54.6cc. They are sold as anything from 45 to 68cc lol.
The "52cc" ones are really 49cc, they're alright but the next size bigger is quite a bit stronger and the exact same weight.
Like posted above some claim to be 62cc but they are not. Proyama sells a lot of them on amazon. The only proyama saw worth getting is the "68cc", it's really 54.6cc, the others are 45cc with long bars.
In canada the best running one on amazon is the supmix 6220, it's 54.6cc. The supmix runs very well but has cheap, thin, easy to break plastic.

You might want to shoot Pioneerguy600 a private message, he lives in your Province and might be able to help you out with a good used saw. He does excellent work with small engines.

 

[NSEric]

There's a number of inexpensive saws made in China that on close inspection look to be the same thing. Different brand name and color scheme. A guy I was taking some trees down for had a new one, Proyama maybe. 62 cc I believe, performed like a 42 cc. Very light. I got it running for him. New chain needed a lot of file time. Took several tries to get tension right. Difficult to start cold, warm or hot. Ran out of fuel quickly (pick up may not have been on the bottom of the tank). Ran fine. Low rpm but had some torque. What really jumped out was the really long springy pull cord. For comparison, ones like he had go for around $150 on Amazon.

Once you get used to the easy pull/springy start system they start great, I have no issues with it at all.
To start, hold the saw still then pull slowly and very easily the length of the pull rope and they fire right up. Pulling hard and fast doesnt help, it makes them start worse.

 

[NSEric]

You might want to shoot Pioneerguy600 a private message, he lives in your Province and might be able to help you out with a good used saw. He does excellent work with small engines.

I Have too many saws now and am a bit of a saw mechanic myself lol.
My ported 160 dollar supmix was easily out cutting my buddys 550xp last winter bucking up logs, I think I got it running half decent lol.

 

[huskydave]

I Have too many saws now and am a bit of a saw mechanic myself lol.
My ported 160 dollar supmix was easily out cutting my buddys 550xp last winter bucking up logs, I think I got it running half decent lol.

Good to know, nice to see more Canadians on here.

 

[Cool Breeze]

I'm a pretty big fan of the smaller Echo's in lieu of the "homeowner level" Stihl and Husqvarna offerings.

Hi Cliff - I see this a lot on hear but I'm curious why people say that. What is it abut the Husqvarna offerings in this category that you don't find as appealing as the Echo?

 

[huskydave]

Hi Cliff - I see this a lot on hear but I'm curious why people say that. What is it abut the Husqvarna offerings in this category that you don't find as appealing as the Echo?

The homeowner husqvarna lines leave a lot to be desired. The Echo saws have a 5 year warranty and they have a lot of pro saw features, much better quality.