First chainsaw purchase

I’m stuck between echo and stihl. I’ve run numerous of both brands, though I couldn’t tell you what they were. I’m not gonna use it a ton, half a dozen times a year for 1-3 hours each time. Cutting pine, and sweet gum primarily and some oak and cedar. Thinking roughly a 16” bar should be fine.

I’ve read the other chainsaw thread, I’m wondering if you guys think the stihl is worth the extra money for my use?

In your situation no. Just go with best deal between the two.

Make sure and run carb dry before storing for an extended period and you will be good. Oh and don’t use gas with any percentage of ethanol

I would go electric if I bought another saw. I have two Stihls.

I have the 58V Echo. For what you want to do, OP, it would be a solid choice. You can get them pretty cheap and the battery also runs their 58V weedeater, mower, and several other battery tools.

I used to have a Poulan...matter of fact, my first chainsaw purchase was that Poulan. It did last me almost 20 years. But, I had to replace carbs, gas lines, and the dreaded bain of my existence, the f%^&ing primer bulb! I was looking at a Stihl ms180c and comparing it to Echo. Just like you are doing. I asked the sales guy where the primmer bulb on the Stihl was...because I could not find one. He said that it was a self priming carburetor. No priming bulb. SOLD! Been cutting trees for two years since and am happy as punch!

I never thought echo was comparable to stihl. I guess I need to reconsider my beliefs in stihl.

I have both an Echo and a Stihl. They get more than moderate use maintaining my four acres. I actually like the Echo better in that it never fails to start or floods on me, but it's also a couple years newer. The Stihl can be a bit finicky to start, but once it does it runs all day. For your level of use I'd save the extra money and buy an Echo. Just my .02 cents.

Higher CC stihl

Lower either or

On a side note; I buy the premixed gas from Home Depot or Lowes, it does not have any Ethanol and it sure makes life easier

$40 to rent one when you need it.

The use you’ve described, cordless will work

Poulin.

I had a Stihl 180c with a 16” bar. It was a cutting little machine still I smooshed it with the tractor. After repair, it was never the same, and I swapped it on a MS250. I sorta miss that MS180c sometimes.

As for which make to buy, they’ll all work. The Poulan I had worked fine, but wore out a bit sooner than I had expected, but I worked it hard.

X2

I have a stihl ms170 and an echo cs305?

My next saw is gonna be battery powered Stihl.

I have a stihl ms170. Been a great saw for the last 5 years. Just started bogging down so I need to take it in. I would get a battery powered one if I only used it lightly.

Echo or Stihl

I’ve got both and prefer the Echo

I lean Stihl but don’t think you can go wrong with either one...

I ran one of these through two full charges Saturday. Amazing.

X2

How much do those run?

15 minutes???

Ran it at least 2 hours. Ate a sandwich and charged it back up. Another hour. Then went hunting. It ran longer than I wanted to anyway.

that sounds like it will work

$300
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-80-...ctric-Chainsaw-Battery-Included/50408238

I have an echo with a 16 in bar. No complaints, it has run like a champ. I’ve used it to cut shooting lanes through mesquite and it was up to the task.

Ouch!? The stihl 180c only ran me $260 if i am correct.

Personally while I have Stihl saws for the OP's limited use it shouldn't matter. Regarding gas vs battery, I wouldn't suggest a battery powered chainsaw if it was my only saw for two reasons. The main reason is I seem to need to use my chainsaws just about every time the power goes out after big storms roll through. When the power is out, trees are usually down and roads need to be cleared.

Also, the more battery tools I have, the more I want them to all run on the same type of battery. At least for me, especially when it comes to traveling between properties, it becomes a hassle to properly manage multiple brands or types of batteries.

Eventually with a gas saw, you'll have to replace the fuel lines, gaskets or even the carb. The good news is at least on my Stihl saws, it's a pretty simple, quick, and inexpensive DIY project. If you need to go to the dealer for repairs that would be a different story...

Last time I looked at the Stihl dealer it ranged between $80 to $150 for replacement batteries. Sure you'd save on gas, oil and fuel parts if you used it a lot but for the limited use the OP describes using it I suspect he'd replace the battery in a few years and during that time he'd likely only have run very little fuel through it. Based on his scenario he'd likely use less than a gallon for each 3 hours of use, so only 5 or 6 gallons of fuel a year.

On the other hand if you don't need it for emergencies a battery chainsaw runs cleaner and quieter without the hassle of non-ethanol premix.

Be safe,

Blue Moon

I was just looking at that one. How long have you had yours?

I understand what you’re saying about the emergencies, but gas saws that sit get hard to start really quick. I saw multiple guys on one Lewisville block outside struggling to get theirs running after the twisters 10-12 years ago. By contrast, I Used my Echo saw in September and had the backup battery fully charged. In December, I pulled the saw out, put the spare in it, and it was still fully charged and ran like a top for the hour I needed it. If you need more and can do more than 3-4 hours of straight sawing, then cut a lane to get your truck out and go rent a bigarse saw from Home Depot for that emergency. I have gas Echo equipment as well but if you aren’t running gas equipment at least monthly, I’d avoid it like the plague.

I agree sir

I don’t agree, in fact a strongly disagree.

Most of the members on here are home and or land owners another large portion have land they lease, rent or own outright.

Using this logic tells me there is a need for many cordless tools from a drill to and impact.

Personally I chose a Milwaukee cordless chain saw to go with my other assortment of cordless tools.

You could buy several other brands of cordless chainsaws and have many other tools to go with them.

I would need to count the number of Milwaukee batteries in my collection but it has to be more than a dozen now.

Instead of have many different brands of cordless tools or a big set of a cheaper brand.....

You’d be surprised how much money can be saved by looking for second hand tools and watching for sales on the batteries.

Enough that most of my Milwaukee tools were less than brand new Rhyobi.

for light duty anything I go cordless
normal to heavy duty I go corded or GAS.

Txhntr and his Dad bought one of those last spring. There are probably 6 of us that used it in some capacity at the deer lease last season. Everyone that’s picked it up has commented about how much it’s surprised them. It’s impressive to the point I never would’ve considered a battery chain saw but to Quit Shooting YB’s point it is exactly what I am going to buy now.

I’m not far from needing another drill so I’ll probably align my saw to my drill choice to utilize the same batteries.

My first saw, MANY years ago was a Stihl. It was great. I wore it and several others out in the last 40 or so years. Then I bought a new one with the snap caps for oil and gas. They didn’t work. I was told to send it back for repair. I did and the repair people told me that it was my fault for over filling them. I said BS and bought an Echo. I talked to the repair guy at a local hardware store who told me that Stihl saws had been having that problem for several years.

The bottom line is that I will never buy another Stihl. They had a problem and wouldn’t back the product. Damn shame.

My newish MS250 Stihl has those weird oil and gas caps. They frustrated me at first, but I figured them out and I’m Ok with them now.

Now you guys have me considering a battery chainsaw! Never would have considered it in the past, but they look great for small day to day projects.

I've got a gas Stihl that I absolutely love and it's very easy to start. I needed a new pole saw, and went with Ryobi battery powered. It is so simple to merely grab the battery off the charger, dump bar oil and get after it. I was really amazed at the power. I did find out that one battery charge also consumes all the bar oil, as I was going to put the bigger battery out of the blower on it to run longer, but once I found the smaller battery run time that oil is needed, so I just made a mental note to run the smaller battery. If I were buying another full size saw, I would have to look hard at a battery powered one.

Go electric unless you ACTUALLY need a real chainsaw. Sounds like for your uses electric is fine and probably much more convenient.

If you go gas and aren’t the mechanical type get the brand the best dealer in town offers; be it Husky, Stihl, or Echo.

another thing to consider , imo battery needs to get USED. I bought my gas chainsaw 10-15 years ago. Let is sit for many years, years later it cranked up with no issues. I dont know if electronics will last that long. In 20 years there will be more batt chainsaws filling the land fills than gas chainsaws. The batts are not sustainable.

Actually TH, you’re a little behind the times. Now we have lithium batteries that deliver higher power with extreme shelf life. They won’t discharge in storage and last decades.

There is a downside Cast.

Places like batteries plus will not rebuild lithium.

Well, you know I buy Ridgid. Their batteries are lifetime guaranteed.

After buying an electric saw, the only time I pull out the Echo is when I need to cut something that's greater than 6-8 inches in diameter. And if I had known this new generation of electric saws performed so well, I would have gone with a bigger electric saw when I bought my current one just to trim trees.