Buying new saw

Am looking to buy a new chainsaw. Will be for occassional use. Looking for one with 16" bar. Am older, so want something easy to start. Considering Stihl, Husky and Echo. Any preferences or something to consider?
Thanks for comments.

Get a "pro" model of any of those brands. have owned them all at one time or another. Skip the "homeowner" saws and you'll be much more satisfied with your purchase down the road, Pete

For a small part-time user, that's very easy to start - you're not going to find much better then an Echo CS-370, or Makita (Dolmar) DCS34, or Efco MT-3700 (also was sold by John Deere).

Depends on what's important to you. If you feel you need a local dealer around to service your saw (which I'd never do) - then buy local and get what that dealer sells.

If you want the best quality for the buck - in a 16" saw - it's going to be Echo, Efco, or Makita/Dolmar. Of course Sthil also makes some good small saws, but you waste a lot of extra money on the hype and brand-name - with nothing else to show for that extra money. Stihl also has one of the shortest warrantees. Sames goes for Electrolux in Sweden that owns Husqvarna, Jonsered, and Poulan Pro brand-names.

If warranty is important- that narrows it to an Echo or Efco. Both come with 5 year consumer-use warrantees.

I've got them all, big pro versions and small "climbing and pruning saws."

Echo CS-370 with 16" will cost $260-$300. Easiest starting saw I know of and has a 5 year warranty for consumer use. Buy on-line, or pay a little more locally at Home Depot.

Efco MT-3700 with 16" will cost $220 - $250, unless you can find a John Deere left-over somewhere. Very popular saw in Europe and used to be sold here as "Olympyk." Sold in Italy as Oleomak.

Makita DCS-34 with 16" bar will cost $250-$280. Great German saw (Makita is Dolmar). To be technical, Dolmar has been making saws longer then Stihl.

By the way, ease of starting is not a big issue with me yet. But, I've got two retired farmer neighbors that still cut wood and they are in their late 70s. Both are using Echos for their smaller saws, due to ease of starting.

And, if you don't care about quality so much -buy a "factory serviced" Poulan for $100. A piece of junk that starts reasonably well and is apt to last you many years - in part-time use. Their "tool-less" bar adjuster is one big piece of crap - but for $100 - is still a good deal.

I have an Echo, Like JDM says, starts 2nd or 3rd pull every time.

Go with a Stihl MS250 with "EasyStart". I have one and I love it. I can't imagine buying a saw without it.

With the EasyStart feature, when you pull the starter cord you're not turning the engine over, you're winding a spring. When the cord is retracted, the spring unwinds and spins the engine. Similar to the windup starters they tried on lawn mowers 30 years ago. But this really works!

No fighting against compression, just a smooth, easy pull on the cord. Costs $40 more than a standard saw, but it's well worth it. I've used both the standard MS250 and the EasyStart version, and there's no comparison for starting.

The dealer I got mine from said he sells a lot of them to women, and he even sold one to an uncle who kept throwing his back out trying to start a standard saw.

I have a good Stihl that is 20 years old but I am going to have to get rid of it as at 67 and bad back I cannot even pull the rope to get it to turn over once, Amish carpenter crew got it running after setting 5 years and used it to cut some trees out of way for the work to be done, and 3 days later I tried to start and could not pull rope enough to get it over the compression cycle, just gave away at consignment 2 good gas weed eaters because I could not start them. I wish there had been something like that windup starter at that time or need a electric starter. For use around the home I bougt a cheap electric saw that I use if I need a saw. And those windup starters on lawn mowers did work and work good, do not understand why they quit making them.

Buy a Stihl or a Husky. get a professional model. I own a number of saws and have found these two brands money well spent. The small Huskies seem to have a little more power however will run hotter in extreme heat (For most people not a problem). Make sure there is a ready parts source nearby. Lowes sells the huskies. Normally $200.00-300.00 will get you a small pro model. All saws will go through chains, bars etc in a hurry. A sleeper is a Shindowa. Had one however parts were not easy to get. That big red Shindowa was a bear. Loaned it out and some one poured gas with no oil in it. Needless to say I no longer have the Shindowa. If memory serves me well I had a Husky 350 that was a great saw. Carried a 16" bar and was very powerful. Easy to crank and adjust. Someone ran over it with my dump truck. Was not much left. These saws are used in my business. I am sure other brands will serve you well however these are the brands the pros use.

The easiest saw to start without question is the Stihl Easy Start. If you're strong enough to pick the saw up and hold it you can start it. Like the above poster said you'll wonder why they don't make them all that way.

No argument that somebody, somewhere, prefers it. But "without question??" Sure is - I question that claim.

I used one and couldn't stand it. At the time, I was thinking - did Stihl actually think somebody is going to like this?

Seems you answered my question. Their marketing must of showed that some people actually prefer the convoluted wind-up, delayed action, starter.
For a small saw, I find my little Echo easier to start.

Sears, Cub Cadet, MTD, et. al. had a similar setup called "Incredi-Pull."

To each his own. Like I said, for me . . . that spring-loaded starter is just plain awful. When I pull on a rope - I like it to respond to the engine, and not wind a spring first.

Somebody compared it to the old wind-up starters on lawn mowers (mostly Tecumseh engines). They were nothing but trouble and we had to convert many back to standard rope-recoil.

Thanks guys!
Don

Briggs was good, no trouble. And if you can only wind it half way you could stop and take a breather and finnish winding and I was only in 20?-30's at that time.

I would make sure it is not Chinese made!

I've got 2 Echo's..One is a CS-346 w/16" bar, The other is a CS-400 with 18" bar...Both start incredibly easy..

Good luck. I've messed up my rotator cuffs. I'm only good for 5 or 10 pulls and then I worry about months of pain and rehab. Learned plenty about the Pullin brand of saw.

Why ?? Even some of the Stihl saws are made in China.

I can see having a beef with Germany and Nazi-associate Andreas Sthil. But, China has never been at war with us yet.

I just read that the average cell phone that sells for $45, would cost over $2000 if made in the USA insted of China.

I supposed you'd be one of the first to buy a $2000 cell phone?

Also note that the USA has been dumping toxic chemicals in China for many years - and this saves money for USA companies. I guess we should start dumping here again?

(quoted from post at 15:09:40 11/22/10) Why ?? Even some of the Stihl saws are made in China.

I can see having a beef with Germany and Nazi-associate Andreas Sthil. But, China has never been at war with us yet.

I just read that the average cell phone that sells for $45, would cost over $2000 if made in the USA insted of China.

I supposed you'd be one of the first to buy a $2000 cell phone?

Also note that the USA has been dumping toxic chemicals in China for many years - and this saves money for USA companies. I guess we should start dumping here again?

Click to expand...

I am a PROUD American and I love my country. I will buy AMERICAN made products as my first choice, then I will consider other countries with Communist China being the last.
I just bought a USA made tractor seat. I could have bought a China copy for about 1/2 the price.

Nothing wrong with that as long as you don't try to make the argument to the coverse (not buying American means you don't love your country).

I don't see anything patriotic in wasting money and ergo supporting unions - that extort overly high-wages by supporting politicians - that in-turn support those unions for votes.

OK. So you feel better as a USA citizen (if that's what you are) - buying only stuff made in America - e.g. Mexico, USA, Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba (communist), etc. - but don't feel good buying from communist China??

Or do you just buy from "NORTH" America - e.g. El Salvador, Haiti, Cuba (communist), Dominican Republic, Belize, Canada, Mexico,USA, etc.?

China is basically, "part owner" of the USA right now. And, last I checked, we - as a colony or nation - have never been to war with China as a country - and - we used cheap Chinese labor to build much of the USA infrastructure in the 1800s. We used them and then . . . basically spit in their faces via the Chinese Exclusion Act.

As a colony or nation - we've been to war with the British twice, France at least once, Mexico three times, our own country against the south, Spain, Philipines, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Germany twice, Russia, Hungary, Japan, Italy, Libya, Iraq, Korea, Viet Nam, etc. Depends on semantics and "war" versus "conflict."

You might even argue that the USA has been to war with Canada twice. Once in 1812 when it was under British control. And later - the president - is alledged to have authorized attacks on Canada, by using Irish Fenian soldiers from the USA Union army. Those attacks were lauched from New York State in the 1860s-70s.

The only thing close to war that we've had with the Chinese is the "opium wars" in the 1800s.

I'm not pro-Red China, but will jump at the chance to buy something I can use - made for less money and with no unions involved. Like I said, China is basically a part-owner of the USA right now. Like it or not, we need to get along with them - and watch them - at the same time.

Can"t believe there"s such a thing!!! First thing I thought of was the old lawn mowers you mentioned, Goose. I hope the system works better than it did on the lawnmowers. By the way, I"m a near-neighbor to you---Lancaster Co.

Well said. I completely agree with the above.

And I have no reason to be friendly toward the Chinese, seeing as now no less than Chairman Mao himself once set the date that I was going to die, along with about 300 other Marines. Coincidently September 11, 1958. (He obviously didn't get the job done).

I'm in Seward County.

I got that Stihl from Small Engine Specialists in Lincoln. So far, that EasyStart has been great. Only thing is, the engine turns over more times than you realize and it's easy to flood it on a cold start. Just have to remember to use the choke sparingly on a cold start and not at all on a warm engine.