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They work but they work slow.... Might be some user error here too. It's a light weight saw and combined with the slow cutting it's not going to do much if you're just setting it on the log. There is usually large teeth attached to the saw section that point towards the front of the saw, those teeth are for levering the saw into the log.
Last edited by thecoalman; 08-29-2012 at 10:14 PM..
DH says he has never seen an electric chain saw perform the way a gas one does.
The key here is the power to weight ratio, you could build an electric saw as powerful as you want but it's going to weigh a hell of lot more compared to a gas one with the same performance.
As mentioned dirt, rocks, and metal(like nails in the tree) will dull a chain very quickly, cutting just wood and it will remain sharp for a very long time. You can check to see if it's dull by looking at the top of the tooth. The flat part on the top of the tooth that would be horizontal with the ground has to be flat right up to the cutting edge. As it dulls the cutting edge will round over like this one:
The worse thing you can do with a dull chain is to continue to run it dull, that rounded edge will get a lot worse requiring more metal removal to properly sharpen it. To do it properly you have to sharpen it back to the point where it's no longer rounded. You're better off sharpening frequently with just a couple of light strokes with the chain file on each tooth than waiting until it dull which requires a lot of metal removal. Any saw I owned would never get to the condition of the tooth you see above.
Just one small tip, observe the size of the chips your saw makes while cutting when you know the chain is really sharp. As the chain dulls the chips will get smaller, once they start getting smaller sharpen it. The chips from that saw you posted when it's sharp will proabaly be a little bigger than oat meal.
Though I have never used an electric chain saw (only gas), the first thing I would do is replace the chain with a carbide-toothed chain. Yes, they are a bear to sharpen, (you need a rotary diamond wheel), and the carbide can chip, but they last a long time between sharpenings, and will eat nails. Also works well on dirty lumber, but I recommend washing the logs first a day or so before cutting, if they have been dragged through the woods.
I recently used a borrowed Remington 12in electric chain saw to cut 4x6in landscaping timbers. It worked awesome. Amazon sells it for less then $50.00.
Someone made a good point above. Replace the chain and get rid of the homeowner version of a chain. They are made to be so safe, they will barely cut. I had forgotten about that. We has an Echo gas saw borrowed form dad and it hardly cut anything. Went to an actual chainswa shop and they told me about the homeowner chains and sold me one made for people who have some idea how to use a chainsaw (with some gratuitous instructions on how not to cut off my ears), with that chain, the thing ripped through any size log faster than I could beleive. The difference was night and day. A cut the would take half an hour with the homewoner chain took a few minutes with the real chain. Also you have to constantly sharpen your chain. It only takes a few minutes but if you keep it sharp, it will save you more time than it takes to sharpen it.
Though I have never used an electric chain saw (only gas), the first thing I would do is replace the chain with a carbide-toothed chain.
That's a bit of overkill for homeowner especially considering the chain is going to cost more than the saw in this case, you'd be better off investing your money in a real saw. My Brother had a tree service and he never used them. About the only time they might have been useful to him is cutting the stump to ground level or if he knew he had a tree with the possibility of a lot of metal in it.
Someone made a good point above. Replace the chain and get rid of the homeowner version of a chain. They are made to be so safe, they will barely cut. I had forgotten about that. We has an Echo gas saw borrowed form dad and it hardly cut anything. Went to an actual chainswa shop and they told me about the homeowner chains and sold me one made for people who have some idea how to use a chainsaw (with some gratuitous instructions on how not to cut off my ears), with that chain, the thing ripped through any size log faster than I could beleive. The difference was night and day. A cut the would take half an hour with the homewoner chain took a few minutes with the real chain. Also you have to constantly sharpen your chain. It only takes a few minutes but if you keep it sharp, it will save you more time than it takes to sharpen it.
Yes, there is the standard 'safety chain', that comes with a homeowner's chainsaw, and then some more advanced ones.
It's been a while since I did this; I thought that chain saws had to have two out of three 'safety features': 1). A tip guard (totally ridiculous), 2). A chain brake, activated if the saw kicks back, or 3). a 'safety chain', i.e low kickback. Don't know it those same rules still apply....
My Stihl's have #2.
You can get a semi-chisel or full-chisel chain, that will cut much faster than a safety chain, but they are more prone to kick, so I would recommend being experienced with a chain saw.
Formerly being a rank amateur wood cutter (a 10-cord grapple load per year, just for heating the house), I definitely recommend a semi-chisel once you get familiar and proficient with the saw.
(Well, and a log-lift splitter with a 4-way wedge, but let's save that for another thread).
I have that exact one. It does an OK job if your making downward cuts. It's doesn't do too well if your trying to cut a stump down to ground level. The nice thing is you don't have to worry about trying to get it started, but it moves the chain slower than a gas power chainsaw would.
That's a bit of overkill for homeowner especially considering the chain is going to cost more than the saw in this case, you'd be better off investing your money in a real saw. My Brother had a tree service and he never used them. About the only time they might have been useful to him is cutting the stump to ground level or if he knew he had a tree with the possibility of a lot of metal in it.
It all depends on your application. I am a homeowner, and when I heard that some of my peers at work were having 36" diameter rock/sugar maples taken down (typical sections 20+ feet long, no branches, typically 140 ft^3 in one log), given their age, I had no fear of musket balls in them, as those are just lead and relatively soft, but the fear was a horseshoe. No lumberyard would touch them, to make 16" wide flooring, without a huge risk deposit for their 3-story bandsaw. Cheaper to buy a carbide blade than a metal detector, though I ended up with both anyway. The wood all ended up in the woodstoves.
I guess one person chooses Harbor Freight and another chooses Stihl/Husqvarna/Jonsered. Personal preference.
Decent tools (even for us homeowners) aren't cheap... go look at a M-K 14" diamond wetsaw blade, for cutting tile/blocks, or a Freud 92-tooth 12" carbide finish blade for a RAS....
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