r/Chainsaw

I had a dead tree (not sure what kind but my guess is pine of some sort) on my property that I paid someone to fell, but the wood is still in my yard. While here, I had him trim some branches from my black walnut tree, and the neighbor had him take down an oak tree that was about to fall. The wood all ended up with me.

I'd like to cut it into smaller pieces so I can burn it in my fire pit. The pieces range in size from 6" to 2'. The black walnut wood is all pretty small and I've been ok getting it smaller with either a hand saw or axe. The (presumed) pine tree was maybe 12" in diameter, but the oak was a doozy, and I've got a good amount of nearly 2' diameter wood from that.

I would really like to get a chainsaw to take care of this because I can't imagine it being possible to deal with that oak wood with a handsaw. But I've never bought one before so I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I've read some posts, done some googling, and I think I'm looking for something with a 20" bar. I am not very strong so I would prefer electric for weight but I worry that won't actually be powerful enough for the job so I am leaning towards gas. I have no idea what brand would be best so I am here to ask the experts for some advice and see if I'm on the right path for picking the right chainsaw.

Thank you in advance for any guidance!

Hi everyone, earlier this year I bought my first home and am quickly realizing that my old craftsman 42cc 16" chainsaw just isn't enough saw for the trees on my property. I want to upgrade to something thats gonna perform better and last me way longer. This is mostly gonna get used to occasionally buck up some of the large oaks (roughly 35 -40" diameter) that have been taken down to get used in the fire pit or to take down some of the smaller trees. But with trees like that around i want something that will be capable of clearing a tree if it falls. I am still saving up some money but my budget will be somewhere close to to $600 which right now has me looking at either the Stihl MS291 20" from my local dealer or tractor supply sells a Husqvarna 460 rancher 24" with the x-torq engine. I really would like to stay between stihl and husqvarna because I have good support for both of them in my area. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

I’ve just rebuilt a husqvarna 55 and starting it for the first time, it will only run while using the throttle. I’m aware this is often a tuning problem and tried adjusting bow low speed and idle to have it idle which did not work.
Interestingly when I release from full throttle the air filter blows off (haven’t got the top cover on).
Any tips for what will be the problem? The fuel line grommet seems incredibly tight, and has narrowed the lumen of the fuel line significantly once it is inserted through the grommet- I suspect this is a probable cause but the gromment and fuel line are both from husqvarna and are supposed to be the right parts.

Chain was slipping off the bar without me noticing. When sparks started to fly I stopped, but it was a bit late and the bar seems to have got a little overheated. You can see some oxidization on the metal. Replace it?
Dunno why I can’t post a pic in this sub.

Hello, j'ai récupéré une husqvarna 61. Elle fonctionne très bien.

J'ai découvert qu'il existait un kit big bore. Le piston passe de 48mm à 52mm.

Est ce qu'il faut changer également le carburateur ou un réglage est suffisant?

Looking to get a saw for home use. Willing to spend the money for quality however I know I don’t need to go crazy for just home use, mainly for fire wood but would love to have something beefy enough that I could help a friend or family member cut a tree or two when needed. Should I go with gas or electric ? I am a dewalt guy when it comes to tools so I have a few dewalt batteries already but dont think the dewalt chains saws would be good enough ? Advice/ recommendations are appreciated.

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I’m finally ready to buy my own chainsaw. I don’t use one a ton, but I’m tired of constantly asking someone else to come over with their saw whenever I have a downed tree or need to clean up after a storm.

My typical use would be:
Cutting up downed logs for firewood
Storm cleanup
General property maintenance
Limbing
Occasionally felling smaller trees
Probably nothing approaching professional/logging-level use

I’m very much a “buy once, cry once” type of person. I’d rather spend a little more upfront and have a saw that I’ll still be happy with 10+ years from now than save $100 and wish I had bought something better.

I’ve been researching:
Stihl MS 250
Stihl MS 271 Farm Boss
Echo CS-590 Timber Wolf
Husqvarna 450 Rancher
Husqvarna 455 Rancher

I know the CS-590 and some of the others can push past my roughly $400 budget, and I’m willing to stretch it if there’s a significant jump in quality, capability, or longevity.

I’m not looking to spend $700–800+ on something like an MS 261. That’s probably overkill for how little I’ll actually use it.

For someone in my situation, what would you buy and why?

Would you go lighter with something like the MS 250/450, or step up to the CS-590/455/271 for the extra power and capability? I see a Husky 450 for $399 at Lowe’s right now.

Also interested in opinions on 18” vs. 20” bars for this type of use.

I’m especially interested in the best overall value around $400–$500, not necessarily the cheapest saw I can buy.

Thanks!

I recently got a used Sears Craftsman chainsaw. I bought a can of premixed gas/oil and filled it with that. The saw starts and runs fine as long as you don't open the throttle all the way. If the throttle is most of the way open it runs fine but when I squeeze the throttle the last bit it cuts off as if it was switched off. I haven't inspected the carb yet.

EDIT SOLVED: Thank you all for your great advice, especially Dockshundswfl and Dr_Juice.

The first (and only) thing I did was take the cover off the air filter and the filter was covered in saw dust. I removed the filter and there was even more saw dust mixed with bar oil on the back side. I cleaned it up, replaced it and now the saw runs full throttle wide open no problem.

Right by the handle on the top of the saw there is a screw on the plastic cover which is covering the air filter. Remove the cover. The air filter has two screws. You loosen those screws up (they don't come off) to remove the air filter. This air filter has a slot on the bottom to pry the two halves open for cleaning.

I've got a couple problems to get it running but first and foremost it idles insanely fast. I have a McCulloch mac 3516 35cc and it has a T screw, H and L. I turned the T screw in either direction and it didnt seem to make a difference. So then I tried the L screw with the T one and now it's running like i'm holding the throttle or something.

So I guess, which direction should I be turning each screw in order to slow it down and then tweak from that point? I keep shutting it off to tweak the screws because the blade is moving too much to be safe to adjust while it's on.

After I can get this figured out I can then move onto figuring out why it's stalling with the choke fully open and what needs to be cleaned out to get the air/fuel mixing correctly. I've got a carb rebuilt kit so I'll get to that issue when the time comes. This blade spinning fast on idle is too unsettling in the meantime.