I quite enjoy the hard graft of manually sawing up logs for the fire, but I an tempted by the idea of a small petrol chainsaw especially for when out and about collecting thick logs.

Any recommendations of either really good bow saws or a lightweight petrol chainsaw?

Don’t get a cheap chainsaw, it won’t last like a Husky or Stihl. Add another £2-300 pounds for safety gear, so you may go back to a bow saw.

google chainsaw injuries and see why chainsaw specific clothing is so important along with training.

I went for a cordless reciprocating saw instead of chainsaw/bow saw…had a 3ah 18v makita battery so it meant just buying the saw body for £90ish. Not quite as good for cutting large trunks compared to a chainsaw but easier going than a bow saw

STIHL MS181 will be perfect for fairly big wood.

Bahco bow saw and cancel the gym membership

one of these will be better than a bow saw
Crosscut saw

That cross cut is lovely but expensive and high maintenance.

Yes you would need to learn to sharpen it but it would make you look the part

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7n5mEmXJo[/video]

Husqvarna are bloody fantastic.

Silky sugoi pruning saw will go through a 4 inch branch in seconds. Comes with a cool leg sheath as well. I don’t use my biw saws having bought the sugoi. Around £80 though.

It sure will

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-NjS3s8d1g[/video]

Chainsaw protective gear is the last resort really. There’s no substitute for training and good technique.

A homeowner type stihl is easy to get hold of from some country stores. Most will deal with domestic log chopping if you’re not in a massive hurry. Don’t underestimate the need to keep the saw chain sharp and in good order as that will make the thing efficient or not and also most importantly if not done properly could make it dangerous. Remember dirt on the logs and any contact with the ground will muller the chain pretty quickly. Get a roller file guide and learn how to sharpen with the correct round and flat file.

I did a good few yrs on a chainsaw professionally and have had a minor chainsaw injury and a couple of near misses. I’ve since managed a lot of chainsaw contracts and the like and if you take shortcuts or don’t understand how techniques work the accidents do happen and they’re not pretty. Even just chopping up logs. At the very least get some chainsaw wellies, some zip up protective over trousers, earmuffs, goggles.

If you’re just chopping up wood don’t book on a course but get someone who knows what they’re doing and works with the things full time to go through the basics.

Husqy are good for snedding but the Stihl is much better for logs

I don’t fancy losing any body parts, so I won’t be going down the chainsaw route then. Need to brush up on my bow saw skills as it going through the logs at an angle.
I will have a look at the larger pruning saws too
Thanks for the advice so far

Just get a cheap wet wood saw. They work as well as those expensive ones. My Draper Expert saw cost me 12 quid and it’ll happily cut through a log as fast as those in the video above.

Nothing beats the feeling of cutting wood with a real saw

We bought one of the Finn Garlik 5ft 2 man saws for deadfall
Utter workout but very satisfying

For light work I’ve found a fiskars pruning saw
£10 and it’s got enough Oofft to get through old bt poles

Used to use chainsaws in my scouting days and they scare the crap
out of me, plus they just encourage you to be greedy

If you do it manual labour it’s much more sustainable

Just watched the vid with the silky saw and the fiskars one is about 3/4 of that size

Enjoy

As a recent chainsaw owner I do find it makes a huge difference to the size of tasks I can handle compared to a saw. Suddenly al my relatives seem to have bits of tree that need dealt with! I do recommend a short course, I did a one day intro (not a proper qualification) and learnt a lot. And yes, I have all the basic protective gear, which was under a hundred quid off ebay (but from a proper shop).

Need to brush up on my bow saw skills as it going through the logs at an angle.

Let the saw do the work. You move the saw backwards and forwards, the blade does the cutting. If you exert too much downwards pressure trying to rush the cut, the blade will twist at an angle. Same as cutting bread.

psling – Member

Need to brush up on my bow saw skills as it going through the logs at an angle.

Let the saw do the work. You move the saw backwards and forwards, the blade does the cutting. If you exert too much downwards pressure trying to rush the cut, the blade will twist at an angle. Same as cutting bread.

Chainsaw protective gear is the last resort really.

Utter tosh – always a necessity – you never know when something may happen – the old man has been using the chainsaws most weeks for prob 20 years, very safety conscious , doesn’t know what happened the other day as it spat itself into is leg – and the safety trousers are rather good, although apparently it was a bugger to clean everything afterwards.

There’s no substitute for training and good technique.

Couldnt agree with more,

Buy a nice hand saw unless you are going to do loads

andyfla – Member
Chainsaw protective gear is the last resort really.

Utter tosh – always a necessity – you never know when something may happen – the old man has been using the chainsaws most weeks for prob 20 years, very safety conscious , doesn’t know what happened the other day as it spat itself into is leg – and the safety trousers are rather good, although apparently it was a bugger to clean everything afterwards.

I think what Andy was saying is that you shouldn’t rely on the protective gear, it should be considered the last safety barrier, after proper training, technique and well maintained saw.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I managed to get a Draper Expert garden saw for £11 from Amazon and it is brilliant. No longer any wonky cuts with my bow saw and its about twice as fast. Unusual (for me anyway) it has a pull cutting action but so far it has flown through a pile a hard wood logs. Trying it on some softwood pine later this week

STIHL 880 BRO!

Yes, someone took my first sentence of the post out of context and didn’t bother to read the rest of it.

Chainsaw ppe gear is designed to minimised the chance of getting injured from the saw chain striking you. It isn’t designed to be the only thing stopping you from getting injured. The whole point of chainsaw technique and training and that includes maintenance and proper sharpening etc is to prevent as much as possible the saw coming into contact with the safety gear you have on (as a last resort).

I know your old man has been using one for 20 yrs, blah blah and so have I. You do get the odd time where you might touch your ppe but it is few and far between if you have good technique, know the risks and have well maintained equipment. Your old man will know why that saw touched his ppe last week or whenever. It’ll be due to some tiny shortcut on maintenance, position, technique whatever.

Like I said I’ve managed hundreds of felling jobs after working on a saw myself and I’ve seen chainsaw ppe boots cut through, gloves cut through and trousers mullered. The trick is to not let the saw near them in the first place.

I didn’t ever say don’t wear any gear, I said just don’t rely on it. If you don’t understand how the saw works and the forces involved your ppe won’t be any good.

That’s absolutely the key to chainsaw safety – understanding the forces involved and keeping your mind on what you’re doing. No amount of safety gear will help the idiot who uses a saw dangerously.

I’ve worked for professionals who were using chainsaws. They all did exactly the same routine, every time they picked up and used a saw. I would suggest to anyone thinking of buying one that they get the same training.

I can stress it enough, you need to understand what’s going on and get some training. You only really need crosscut training if you’re not felling trees. Try local agricultural colleges.

Safety gear is a must but again, get some training as well. Hopefully clear now.