Chainsaw recommendations

[Duckandswing]

My trusty Husqvarna 130 is serving me well but sometimes lacks power for some of the larger logs I am processing.

I am looking to purchase a further chainsaw, something with maybe a 24 inch bar. The echo chainsaws get a good write up but am I best sticking with what I know, husky and stihl?

 

[strimmer_13]

I love the smaller echo stuff (tho I now don't own any), and I binned husky off as the new stuff I ****. I'm pure stihl now. 

Going from a little saw like that to a 70cc range is quite a jump and most importantly a weight difference. If your logging jumping over fallen brash I'd want as light as I get and sod the 24'' off. I have nearly a saw in every class, and the saw I pick up most is still a ms261 (or my modded exhaust ms026, but she's rather loud. Same saw just older really). It has a 16'' bar and it does 90% of what I want log and felling wise. 

I have a ms391 as a chogging/logging saw, you can find them cheap as not really classed as pro range, but it's great with a 20" bar on and saves me dicking about putting a small bar on the 661.  

If your honestly set on a 24" bar, I'd only recommend the ms460 range (ms460, ms461 and  ms462), and out of all them I'd get a looked after ms460 as parts are cheaper. I'll hopefully be bringing one home this week that only ever used 2 chains. Though I was using a 462 last week and it weighed less than my 391 and beat the pants off it (462 25" Vs 391 20") the cost is high at about £1200+. 

 

Before you go to get what ever you want, get the seller to send a photo of the cylinder/piston by taking the exhaust off. If it's scored avoid.

[bluesj]

I was given a felled oak tree to clear a couple of years ago, the trunk was about 31/2 foot across but my little old stihl wasn't big enough so i bought a cheap Hyundia saw with a 20 inch bar my thinking was if it lasted long enough to cut that up i could chuck it in the bin and still be quids in. The saw is still going and so is the fire wood!

So depending how much you are planning to use it they might be worth a look.

its a copy of an older stihl saw i think.

[chrisjpainter]

I'll offer similar thoughts to @strimmer_13, except I love my Husky! 

A 24" is a LONG bar. If you have to have that kind of reach a lot, then as Strimmer says, you're looking at a 70cc engine and they weigh more than the moon and will kill your arms after a heavy logging session. It'll also feel quite unwieldy for small stuff.

The 130 has a 38cc engine, which is pretty small for anything beyond domestic use. I'd be looking at stepping up to a 50cc. I did have a relatively new 550XP, and Strimmer's right about that age of Husky, they're great when they work - if they work. But the Mk2 is a lot better and that's what I have now. It fires first time every time, whatever the weather and I find it a lot more balanced than the 261 - although that's personal preference and won't be the same for everyone. Mostly I run it with a 15" bar, but it runs an 18" nicely too and can take a 20" and still not feel too much loss of power.

If you've been able to do all the jobs you have to do - albeit not terribly efficiently - with a 130, then getting anything bigger than a  either the 261 or 550XP mk2 (I think the 261's a 50cc as well) would, to me, seem like overkill for a lot it. 

[Duckandswing]

Thanks for the reply’s guys. I think you’re right, a 24 will likely be too big for what I might be doing. I’ll go for the 18 to 20 bar and up the cc’s. I suppose I could go and handle some of the different brands and see what I like.

[Sweet11-87]

i use a 261 daily for work and honestly it has no guts with 20" bar.  18" and it ok.