cheap saw

[oldaxman]

My wife wants a tiny little saw to do some thinning on christmas tree size stuff around our place. Are there any cheap little saws out there that don't immediately fall apart?

[Weekend_Sawyer]

How about a good old hand saw?

Jon

[Ed]

Cordless Sawzall with a "green wood" blade.

Ed

[mad murdock]

Oregon has a new product on the market, an electric chainsaw, with an automatic sharpening system.  Check out the video of the product on their website, i think it is calld a 40v max or something like that.  It looks almost like a gas saw, and is pretty impressive for what it is.  It has a 14" bar I believe. I think Bailey's might sell it as well.
It would be good option for your wife, she would'nt have to deal with having to start it up every time she wanted to use it.

[Cut4fun]

Oregon had sent me one of these to test out. I think ready to cut they go for $399 to your door with 1 standard battery.

Cutting a half inch to 3/4" groove  in a brick is no good for the chain (last cuts) even on the quick touch ups with powersharp. But how many people are going to ruin a chain like I did just to see. For the normal touch ups of a dull chain it worked great. Even a non cutter could sharpen their own chain this way to keep cutting.

http://youtu.be/zaffJf5A0-M

[beenthere]

cut4
What wood were you cutting?

[Cut4fun]

That piece was spruce.  They are designed as small trim saw, but I just had to try a little bigger stick.

[acco1840]

One of these may be worth a look. They are a Baumr-AG

http://www.agrmachinery.com.au/buy/b-umr-ag-25cc-pro-arborist-chainsaw/cs-25

I used their 62cc version when I was too broke to buy anything else and it cut 45 Tonnes of Firewood before the clutch let go. I brought another saw and it is still going (but only used for limbs now, as am running an 090).
http://www.agrmachinery.com.au/buy/baumr-ag-62cc-professional-chainsaw/SX62

[Ohio_Bill]

The Oregon saw sounds like it would be great. I'm just not sure about the 399 price.

[John Mc]

I don't know about the Oregon saw in particular, but other things being equal, an electric chain saw can be more dangerous than a gas powered one. Electric motors still have a lot of torque, even when they are in the act of bogging down (a gas engine in that situation would just stall). That's one of the reasons that many chaps aren't rated for use with electric chainsaws.

Not saying don't get one, just make sure your wife aware of what she is getting into. Don't assume that because it's smaller and electric that it's any less dangerous than your gas saws.

[oldaxman]

The Oregon saw sounds like it would be great. I'm just not sure about the 399 price.

Kind of answeres my question though, as I suspected there is no such thing as a CHEAP good saw.

[Doc Hickory]

Usually cheap and good don't appear in the same sentence.  I'd go with a small gas saw made by a dependable name such as Stihl, Husqvarna, or Echo.  I'd recommend staying away from the saws with the 'no wrench' tensioner- I had a Poulan with that system and it stunk on ice, spend more time giggering with the saw than cutting with it. Sold it for less than half what I paid for it and called it a bargain to be rid of it. Be safe!

[Magicman]

For yard trimming I use this:Craftsman 19.2 volt Reciprocating Saw   They also sell a special tree trimming blade.

The saw, battery, and charger for less than $100.  Of course, I use the dills and other stuff too.   ;D

[oldaxman]

I found this on "the google" as Bush put it. Under 200 bucks, seems like a good fit, anyone ever use one of these?
http://www.powertoolswizard.com/stihl-ms170.html

[Reddog]

The 170 I have has been a good gas powered sawzall.

But hard to beat a Silky Zubat. https://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=SKY+27033&catID=

No gas goes bad in them.  ;)

[oldaxman]

If I hand my wife that she will use it to castrate me! :D

[TessiersFarm]

Father, retired, bought a stihl 180 (could be a 170) to carry on the tractor with him for cutting the occasional limb or 2.  He is in his words, over weight and out of date, and can't handle the big saws anymore.  I am amazed at how often we all use that little saw for pruning, fence posts, whatever comes up.  Light, starts easy, easy on fuel.  It is a couple years old and has been a great little saw, about $200 if I remember right.  It doesn't get the hours our big saws get but it does get used quite a lot.

[John Mc]

I found this on "the google" as Bush put it. Under 200 bucks, seems like a good fit, anyone ever use one of these?
http://www.powertoolswizard.com/stihl-ms170.html

I don't know much about the Stihl ms170, but I do know I would NOT trust the reviews on "Power Tools Wizard". I clicked on their Husqvarna section. They call the Husky 235, a "mid-sized, mid-powered chainsaw". It's the least expensive, lowest powered saw that Husky sells.

For the Husky 455, they say:

If you are looking for raw, unadulterated power, then there is no other choice among Husqvarna chain saws that trumps the HUSQVARNA 455.

The HUSQVARNA 455 is considered to be one of the most powerful chainsaws in the world, featuring a top of the line power to weight ratio.

Gee, I had now idea that this 3.5 HP, 55cc home-owner/landowner saw was one of the most powerful in the world and had top of the line power to weight ratio. But then according to Power Tools Wizard, it's 28.6 kg (almost 63 pounds) and 8.4 HP. That would match Husky's 3120 for HP, but weigh almost 3 times as much.

Come on, guys, do just a little homework before you write a review.