NEWBIE : What saw to choose

[hammerfall]

Hello Members, It's my first post but not the last one

Im looking to buy a new chainsaw (gift for my aniversary (today)

I want to use the saw to cut around 10 "wood cord"
in french it's "corde de bois"

if you prefer i would like to cut around 10 times this amount (4 foot high per 8foot long of 16 inches log)
it's a mesure to order wood when you want your firewood to be shipped.

anyway

Most of the wood is Hardwood (Sugar maple, red oak and other hardwood) To burn during winter

Also in the family we have a sugar shack (where we produce maple sirup and we cut lot's of pine and sapin (dont know the english word... but the same tree as christams tree )

I want a super saw that will do the job right at a max of 350$ i was looking for the Rancher55 (husky) or a still 250.

Is there other good stuff easy to maintain and lot's of parts available? i dont want to buy a saw that will be discontinued in 2 years (like poulan and Mcculloch )

What "CC's" would be the best to fit my application.

I can tell that i will use the saw 3 to 5 days a month.

Also.. IS IT POSSIBLE to have less polluting Saw ?
im concerned about our little planet and i know there is green cap husky's but i dont know which model

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Welcome to the forum!

As far as your criteria-first realize that all two strokes are polluters. They just are, it's the nature of the engine. That said, the environmental impact is miniscule when compared to the vehicles on the road, or even a lawn mower that burns oil. They will smoke, and they are loud. Many think that a four stroke saw is on the way, and that may very well be so, but they'll have to figure out how to make it weigh less, and still be compact enough to be handheld. I love the environment too, as we all should, and I protect it by not leaving pre-mix bottles on the ground when I use them, or even wasting trees that I cut down. I wouldn't worry too much about your saw. Moving on...I'm a Stihl guy, but I'd go with the Rancher over the Stihl 250. The 250 is shy on hp, and the Rancher has a good rep, and is a good saw, though it's been discontinued, and replaced by the 455. You should still be able to find one somewhere though. There's a good thread on here about comparing the two. Read it. It'll tell you EVERYTHING you could want to know about these two saws. I don't know if you can get into a Stihl 290 for that cash or not, but it's a popular saw, and fills a niche. Not a pro saw, but it's got holding power for Stihl, and there's a reason for that. You could run either the Rancher or the 290 with an 18" bar, and run it well. Stick with Husky or Stihl, and you'll do fine.

Take care all,
Jeff

 

[brent denny]

My suggestion would be a husky 353 or 359. The ones that say e-tech (green cap models) have catalytic converters and produce fewer emissions. They are in your price range (359 may be a little bit more) and are pro saws. The 55 Rancher is a good proven saw that is hard to beat for the money. It was recently discontinued but i'm sure parts will be available for a long time. Stihl 250 is a good little saw and a little cheaper but I would kick in the extra $$ and get something just a bit bigger. I personally have a 353 husky with the narrow kerf bar and chain and love it.

 

[SteveBullman]

i'd agree, cant go wrong with a 359....but im not sure your prices that side of the pond. id imagine it would be out of your budget, in which case id say go with the 353.....i was using one today actually, its a nice little saw

 

[brent denny]

BTW, there are lots of other companies out there that make good saws but just dont have much dealer representation. Do you have any good dealers near you? If not, you might as well buy it online and save some $$. Tony Miller is a sponsor here that sells dolmar and solo. I can tell you personally he is a great guy to deal with.

 

[DarioMO]

I just purchased a slightly used Husqvarna 55R for $185.00 from another member here and I am very pleased. If you are familiar with eBay you might want to check there too. I see a lot of nice used Husqvarna and Stihl chainsaw going at half the new price. Just be careful with whom you are dealing with and ask questions if you have any. I just got a Stihl 044 for $269.00 (delivered) but still waiting to see if I got a good deal or not.

As they said...with Husqvarna or Stihl you can't go wrong. There are other good saws out there but will need more know how/research to know what you are getting.

Good Luck!

 

[TonyM]

Isn't the PS5000 Dolmar available in Europe? I'm sure rollacosta mentioned buying one. There is a Catilytic muffler version being worked on as well. Maybe that is a available across the pond already. It would be worth considering, and should be close to your price range. Plus, if you get one and ship it to me first, I'll make sure it runs okay and ship it back at my expense

 

[hammerfall]

Thanks to all.

For the polution im very worried about 2 strokes engine.

sure it's a small engine but when you understand that a snow mobile running 1 hour polute as much as a car in 18 000KM you see that 2 strokes is very nocive.

anyway i will try to push for a 359 with the green cap. (e-tech) (70 % less exaust polution and up to 20% fuel economy)

i didnt know that the Rancher 55 was discontinued. i will try to stick with 35x models.

thanks

 

[glens]

The replacement for the 55 is the 455, and it uses a scheme to reduce emissions by (they claim) 30% or so.  I believe it, but there is a fair amount of extra weight.

Glen

 

[Lobo]

St-Luc I am just down the road from you maybe 12 to 15 kms.
'' Sapin'' is spruce in english by the way, for $350.00 in Canadian funds you will not get much in a new saw even in the models proposed. A quality saw in the 3.3 hp to 4 hp will deffinitely do a fine job for what you want to cut, as you know we do not have that many trees over 18 inches left and on average everything is probably in the 3 to 15 inch range. Unless Husky has dropped the prices on them here the old 55 now 455, 353, 356, 359 will be in the $525.00 to $650.00 range. I was able to buy my last Stihl 026/260 for less than a 55 Husky and Stihl threw in a cap, an extra chain, a bottle of oil and a hard shell carry case. You will have a difficult time also in this area finding a long standing Husky dealer, they seem to change dealers every 1 1/2 - 2 years or so and most of these guys when they get it don't know their chainsaws from their wazzoo's.

In this area I suggest you also look at Jonsered's (excellent saws) carried by Rona l'Entrepôt their prices are lower than Husky, Réno-Dépot carry Makita saws which are Dolmar's painted from red to blue. Home Depot carry Echo but not sure to which sizes. Come May and June Stihl Canda normally have a promotion on all their saws up to the MS460 some of these come with a rebates up to $125.00 off the regular price and they normally throw in a Woodsman Pro kit on top of the rebates. These are probably the best deals around if you can wait until May/June and within 100 miles around your best service will probably be with Stihl dealers as most have carried the line for many years. Do not touch the bargain basement saws such as the current Homelites, Poulan's, McCullogh's as you will be throwing away your hard earned money.

J'espère que ceci te guide un peu plus.

 

[splinter]

lobo how far are you from kingston ont.?

 

[Lobo]

4 1/2 - 5 hours.

 

[splinter]

I live on howe island one of the 1000 islands
just trying to get and idea of where every one is I just joined and find this site incredible, alot of knowledge and people willing to help a fella out,
nice

 

[Lawn Masters]

Thats what we're here for. to help, and inform.

 

[TonyM]

Hamerfall,

Oh, man, now I feel dumb. With all the discussion about French, I assumed that you were in Europe. I forgot all about French speaking Quebec and didn't look at where you were from. Scratch the PS5000 suggestion!

 

[Lobo]

Hamerfall,

Oh, man, now I feel dumb. With all the discussion about French, I assumed that you were in Europe. I forgot all about French speaking Quebec and didn't look at where you were from. Scratch the PS5000 suggestion!

No sweat Tony, I had caught on to that but did not feel it deserved a rubbing in anyway. Any one could have made that same mistake.

Just do not confuse us here with the French across the pond, all we have in common is a language.

 

[Doug01]

Unless your set on a new saw, put a post in the used section here. I'm sure someone will have a good used saw to fit your bill.

 

[hammerfall]

thanks guys (and lobo)

My father live near Thetford mines and there is a guy out there that sell at a price unbeatable.

here's some example
(in canadian fund) 1$ canadian is about 1.30$ US

Here i go with my prices
RANCHER 55 399$
Husky 353 (green cap = lower emission) 499$
Husky 359 (green cap) 550$
he also sells carying case for 15$

(my dad know this guy and he buys chainsaw one VAN at a time this
means a lot of chainsaws! )

when i said 350$ is was US funds (approx conversion) because i didnt know that there where some frenchies here!

Thanks for your inputs guys!

 

[SawTroll]

E-tech disadvantages

Hammerfall, I think the Husky saws mentioned above would all be good choises. The price differences seem fair. If you are going to have just one saw - try to get the 359 or a Jonsered 2159....

.....but are you absolutely sure that you want E-tech? I am no expert, but I think that it carries a price, both by needing more intensive maintanence, and by running hotter - affecting expected life of the motor (not quite certain about this).

Good luck!

 

[hammerfall]

yep i will only get one for the longest time i can!

i prefer put more money in one good saw that shelling cash on crappy saw and never have something that does more than the job


i will try to hit the 353 or 359 for 50$ canadian (about 30$ us difference the choice will surely be the 359)

a 5 kilo saw is to too hard on the arms after 6 hours in the woods?
sure the body tends to ajust to more weight but just to know!

(i currently use as mc cullock 38cc not very heavy) but it's crappy a bit