Recommend a Chainsaw

paperclap

Hi all,

Recently moved into our first home, and it has a beautiful little wood burner (dream come true!).

Rather than purchasing cut-to-size, seasoned wood, I would like to start prepping and seasoning wood myself.

Have recently been picking up free wood people are getting rid of. Occasionally (when small enough), a handsaw does the trick, and then an axe to split. But, have recently picked up some whoppers (talking 1ft in diameter, 4ft in length). Tried a bow saw, but frankly, just doesn't do the trick either!

What do you all think? Is a chainsaw my best bet?

Worth just getting a cheap and cheerful petrol corded chainsaw, like Screwfix's Titan?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttl758chn-2000w-230v-electric-40cm-chainsaw/719fg

Or, worth investing more, and getting a petrol chainsaw?

Thank you in advance.

Martin_the_Unjust

For the occasional log you may be better going for an electric one, in my experience petrol ones don’t take kindly to being unused for months at a time (especially cheapish ones)

tacpot12

I bought an Einhell Electric Chainsaw from Toolstation last year to help remove a couple of trees that had been blown over in our garden. It worked very well, it was certainly powerful enough, but I found I needed to buy a sharpening file as the blade started to get a little dull as I was getting into the second tree.

Sharpening is a doddle with the correct tool - draw the file across each tooth three times and you are done.

The same saw is currently £68 at Toolstation.  

pmartin86

I cant comment on the one you linked, I've had some "Titan" tools that have lasted forever (detail sanders that's on its 3rd house now) and I've had others that went in the same bin as the packaging I bought them with (Drill)

However I bought a chainsaw a few years back for essentially what you are doing - Light use, maybe 3-4 times a year for "half a day" at a time, mostly for prepping firewood with the occasional small tree in the garden and ive had no issues with this one for far:

Oregon CS1500 2400W 230V Electric 45cm Self-Sharpening Chainsaw | Chainsaws | Screwfix.com

It needs light maintenance each use (I tend to give it a 5 minute check of before i use it to keep my fingers in tact) - just basics like chain tension, oil etc and so far its done me well. New chains are cheap too - I managed to go through a metal rod that ruined one chain (had grown into the tree) and the replacement was less than 20 quid and was fitted in 10 minutes.

paperclap

Thanks one and all!

pmartin86 — what made you purchase that Oregon chainsaw over the cheaper Titan one?

Though, there do seem to be some advantages over the Titan…

3 years guarantee vs 2 years guarantee
Tool-free sharpening vs tool sharpening
45cm bar vs 40cm bar
6 metre cable vs 3 metre cable

danrv

I have a Qualcast which is the same as the Oregon, only it’s 2000w. It’s good and certainly powerful enough.
Just don’t leave a lot of oil in it when storing as it will leak.

pmartin86

laurencewhymark said:

Thanks one and all!

pmartin86 — what made you purchase that Oregon chainsaw over the cheaper Titan one?

Though, there do seem to be some advantages over the Titan…

3 years guarantee vs 2 years guarantee
Tool-free sharpening vs tool sharpening
45cm bar vs 40cm bar
6 metre cable vs 3 metre cable

Apologies for the delay in response - The main factors were the previous mentioned "hit and miss" with Titan I've had and the built in sharpening tool - Though admittedly that's less effective that I had first imagined, but still handy..