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| Electric Chainsaws |
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| message from Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
Hi Group,
I was in the Home Cheapo the other day and saw they have some small electric
chainsaws for about $60. They claim they have about 3 hp and a 12" blade.
Now I do own 2 gas chainsaws and use them quite often. The wood in my
storage pile has already been cut to length and halved using one of the gas
saws, but occasionally I end up with a piece that is too big to get under my
bandsaw. I turn mostly at night so running a gas chainsaw is out of the
question (my wife would kill me if I woke up our little one). So I was
thinking one of these cheapy chainsaws would be perfect for trimming a blank
in my shop so it would fit into the bandsaw. A friend of mine has a
wonderful Stihl electric that cuts through logs like butter but the price of
that is wayyyy out of my league. I'm looking for opinions from users of
these on how they would work for my intended usage. I know they have
plastic gears and I would have to cut lightly with them but I am only
looking at trimming off corners or making a flat spot on a bark edge to
reduce the blank height. Very light duty. Thanks for the help.
Tony Manella
Lehigh Valley Woodturners
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| Kip055 replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
My experience pretty much parallels Darrell's: Have a Polan electric that I
got at Walmart ~4 yrs ago. I don't try to force it past its capability and
it's done fine. Love my Stihl gas model, but don't even think about using it
inside.
Kip Powers
Rogers, AR
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| Darrell Feltmate replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
Tony
Poulan makes almost every home electric on the market, McCullough,
Remington, Sears, and a few others. Stihl electrics are still made by
Stihl but they are priced out of the home market anyway. I wore out my
Remington electric and bought a Poulan 16" with steel drive sprocket. No
complaints at all. I have a Stihl gas chainsaw and there is really no
comparison but I do not want to use the gas saw indoors. The electric is
great for it. Hope it helps.
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
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| Steve Tiedman replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
All,
Here's a link to an online seller of Husky and a bunch of other tools and
equipment. This link takes you right to the page of Husky chain saws, the first
one shown is their electric model #316, $204 (w/ free shipping), 2.2hp/1600
watts, 4500 rpm, 16" bar. Take a look, they have the whole line of Husky saws
here. I know nothing about pricing (and not much more about chain saws in
general), but a co-worker just bought his new Husky gas powered saw through them
and he said they had the best price he could find, and no shipping fee.
http://www.southwestfastener.com/productsHusqChainsaw.htm
Stop at the ".com" portion to see their main site, too.
I'm interested in this saw, that's for sure. Lot of other priorities, first.
But an electric appeals to me so I can use it inside the shop.
Steve.
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| william_b_noble replied to Steve Tiedman on 26 Apr 2002 |
I have heard, from a not unbiased source, that the Husquavarna electrics are
far more problematical than the Sthils. I say not unbiased because it was
from my local chain saw shop and they sell Sthil (but they do repair all
kinds). I have no reason to believe he was being untruthful, and I did end
up buying a Sthil electric, but this may be worth considering.
Unfortunately I don't remember the exact statement of what was wrong, but
whatever it was, it seemed to be recurrent between 6 different owners.
The prices are similar for equivalent models (the Sthil is a bit more $$ but
not twice the price). Sthil does sell only through a dealer network, and
dealers are not allowed to ship saws, so you won't be able to do any price
vetting (I tried), on the other hand, I called the main factory rep when I
couldn't get good info locally (few electrics are sold here in southern CA)
and they shipped one of each to my local dealer for me to play with.
There is a small Makita chain saw that looks good (electric), but I never
could find one to actually heft - and the local makita distributor (who I
encountered at a tool show) was clueless. But if you want a small light saw
this may be worth looking at. A hardware store I asked said they had sold
half a dozen of the makitas to a guy who ran a crew that built movie sets,
and that he really liked them.
"Steve Tiedman" <s...@mninter.net> wrote in message
news:3CCA275E.A0678A4B@mninter.net...
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| Victor Radin replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
Hi Tony,
I have the Remington electric, about the same price and size- It's not a
bad little saw for light duty. Certainly not in the same league as a
Stihl or Husky, but I found it to be very useable. I've used mine to cut
logs up to 8" diameter, and halve them. As long as you remember slow
steady cuts, clear the gears regularly on rip cuts (saw unplugged,
please), and LIGHT DUTY it should meet your needs quite well.
It's not THAT quiet a saw to operate. True, lots less noise than the gas
models, but still might be enough to wake the baby. You'll need to fire
one up and see how it echoes and reverberates in your shop- it may be
fine. It's actually not much louder (no formal test, just by ear) than
my Delta bench tablesaw.
Hope this helps, Happy turning,
Vic
No, I'm not shilling for Remington, Stihl, Husky or anyone else.
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| Leo Lichtman replied to Victor Radin on 26 Apr 2002 |
I have a very old 14" Remington, and a somewhat newer Poulan. I think they
handle both brands at Home Depot. Both my saws work well, and I believe
would fill your requirements, but your comment on plastic gears worries me.
A few weeks ago(?) there was a thread which discussed the Poulan saw with
the plastic sprocket. The person posting said that the gear would break in
just a few minutes to an hour, and he had to keep going back for
replacements. I went right out and checked, and found that my saw has a
steel drive sprocket, and I heaved a sigh of relief.
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| william_b_noble replied to Leo Lichtman on 26 Apr 2002 |
it was me complaining about that plastic gear - if you use the saw lightly
it ought to be OK - in my case the failures occurred when I was cutting near
the full bar length. I'd get a small saw - 12 inch or so and low horsepower
for your purpose
"Leo Lichtman" <l.licht...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:degy8.47370$Rw2.3702973@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
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| atroodon replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
I have a Sears Crapsman ( with plastic gear! ) the saw is very loud!
so steer clear if the noise is a problem. I have also found that the
chain oiler on some electrics are manual so that is a concern too. I
also seem to sharpen the chain twice as much as on my gas and I do not
use the electric very often ( could this be due to the torque/speed?
or cruddy chain? ).
I will replace this one with the Stihl as soon as my budget allows.
Thx!
atroodon
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| JRQuesada replied to Tony Manella on 26 Apr 2002 |
Tony, I have a Remington I picked up on Ebay for around $35, it is the only
thing I use to round off/trim my bowl blanks. I had originally purchased a
new Poulan from
Lowe's but it really "screamed" seemed like the plastic housing amplified
the sound. The Remington , while also made of plastic seems heavier and is
fairly quiet, not much louder than my table saw. JoeQ
"Tony Manella" <n...@prolog.net> wrote in message
news:uciugug65pum77@corp.supernews.com...
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