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New Chainsaw - Any Recommendations

HYRDGOON

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Location
Breslau, Ontario, Canada
Hey Fellas,

I'm looking to buy myself a saw as a Christmas-gift-to-self as I'm tired of going at everything by hand after these ice storms and branches down everywhere. I have about 5 - 90 foot white maple in my backyard so the limbs that come down are a good size (although I could get away with a new Bucksaw what fun is that!)

This one in particular has caught my eye with the 18" bar http://en.stihl.ca/STIHL-Products/C...farming-and-landscaping/21824-120/MS-271.aspx

any thoughts or recommendations?
 
Decent saw but are expensive and imo, you're paying too much for the name...but at least it has bucking teeth which is always a plus. I keep my eyes open for moldy oldie ones. My old Craftsman (exact same thing as a Poulan 3400) is an 85 model and has cut a lot of wood with very good reliability. Only major thing I've had to do to it was replace the jug gasket....but they are hard to find. IMO, there are a number of good saws out there without having to pay for the Stihl name.
 
Although I have never owned a chain saw, My Dad always used a Stihl brand when we used to go out cutting firewood to heat the house. I always thought that the old Stihl was a real workhorse and wouldn't consider any other brand if I were to purchase one myself....
The one in your link looks like a good one!!!
 
and this one....

[video=youtube;zUbxJA0LaBs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbxJA0LaBs[/video]
 
I would have to agree with the Stihl brand (which is why I was solely looking at it) Yes you're paying a premium for the name AND reputation but if you plan on having the saw for a long time it's well worth it.

I also appreciate that Stihl hasn't sold out the same way John Deere, Husqvarna and Poulan Pro have by having different levels of their products available at Lowes/Home Depot/Canadian Tire (for us canucks) where you get an identical looking product with lesser quality than you would from an authorized dealer.

Ideally someday I'd like to get a little further out of the city and have a bit more property so a saw I could grow into would be nice... that's why I picked that one but welcome any recommendations for sure

BeastlyBirdie I've never heard of Jonesred... I'll look it up

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.jonsered.com/ca/en/chainsaws/cs-2238-s/

Interesting.... anyone else know em?
 
Jonsered and Husqvarna is the same company Swedish quality!!, Have one of both love them equal, great machines, heating my house with log so I have to cut 50-100 trees every year.
 
Seems like most of the commercial loggers around here use Stihl. One consideration is parts and service. There are five Stihl dealers within 20 miles of my place. One thing I would recommend is not getting a bigger saw than you need. I'm considering buying a smaller saw so that I don't have to horse the big saw around when I don't need it for falling or bucking up big stuff.
 
Like I mentioned, got mine in 85....28 years of cutting fire wood is nothing to sneeze at. Now I don't cut 50 to 100 trees a year but I do cut quite a bit as I also used my fireplace to help heat my home. The only thing I don't like about mine is that it's heavy and sucks for doing light duty work but for getting with it on big stuff, I love it. Sounds like you have your mind made up but this might help you solidify your decision....

www.popularmechanics.com/home/revie...farming-and-landscaping/21824-120/MS-271.aspx
 
[video=youtube_share;cWJpP2uhDM4]http://youtu.be/cWJpP2uhDM4[/video] I like stihl I have several some with short bar and some with long bar and don't forget safety equipment either
 
Same on my end Smitty there's a lot of Farmland around where I am so there's at least 4 Stihl dealers within 20 minutes of my house the closest one being only 3 minutes away.

Thanks for the advice on making sure I don't go too big either.. I think the one in the link I listed is still a fairly small saw meant more for residential than forestry and doesn't seem too heavy (although I'm a big guy so heavy is relative) I was also advised an 18" bar would be safer than a 16" with less chance of bucking back or binding with a longer bar?
 
stihl-chainsaws-dont-spend-your-life-at-work-4-small-51794[1].jpgthere great in the woods
 
Mine was a 16" bar but I put an 18" on it right away and it handles it very well. The pic shows that it has bucking teeth....make sure it does come with them or that you can install them. Mine came with them but I had no idea at the time just what good they were until I borrowed another saw that didn't have them.
 
Same on my end Smitty there's a lot of Farmland around where I am so there's at least 4 Stihl dealers within 20 minutes of my house the closest one being only 3 minutes away.

Thanks for the advice on making sure I don't go too big either.. I think the one in the link I listed is still a fairly small saw meant more for residential than forestry and doesn't seem too heavy (although I'm a big guy so heavy is relative) I was also advised an 18" bar would be safer than a 16" with less chance of bucking back or binding with a longer bar?

The Stihl MS-271 looks like a good all around saw that I'm considering buying myself. My place was logged of about 30 years ago so it's mostly Alder and Maple with a few big Doug Firs that I'm leaving so I don't need a big saw. If you go with the Stihl be sure to let us know what you think after you've used it for awhile.:chain saw:
 
I've had an Echo 16" saw for 7 or 8 years. Never had an issue with it and i prob cut 1-2 cords of wood a year. Beware, as the others have said, th big box stores carry lower quality Echos so go to a dealer.
 
Seems like most of the commercial loggers around here use Stihl. One consideration is parts and service. There are five Stihl dealers within 20 miles of my place. One thing I would recommend is not getting a bigger saw than you need. I'm considering buying a smaller saw so that I don't have to horse the big saw around when I don't need it for falling or bucking up big stuff.
x2 on the parts/service. It seems there is a Stihl dealer in every nook and cranny, at least here in BC.
 
I think I'm gonna go forward with a STIHL for sure based on the reasons of reputation and access to a lot of Authorized dealers... I'm on a timeline to buy the saw as I can actually write it off so I'm gonna pick it up within the next few days... Before asking specifically for the MS-271 which is my choice I'll see what the guys at the dealer recommend based on what my intended use is... Hopefully they can do something good for me at the dealer my (ex) father in laws roofing shop is right next door and he has solely bought STIHL and rented products from them for as long as he's been there so I'll see if I can leverage that relationship into a better deal.

Whatever I wind up with I'll come back and update this thread once I've had a chance to use it and let you know what I think for sure.

Thanks everyone that weighed in and I'm sure any of the other brands would be fine as well it just seems for dealer convenience Stihl is the smart buy for me,

Mike
 
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