Re: Any Suggestions for an Electric Chainsaw?

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 00:17:55 -0400, JoanD'arcRoast

I have an electric Husky, and it does the job. I use it in and around the shop. Nashville, Ga

if you search the archives, you'll find my detailed discussion of my trials and tribulations with electric chain saws. Short version - tried sears, tried poulan (16 inch)- they are about the same, but sears has 1/2 more hp - I went through 12 chain saws - the worst didn't work out of the box, the next worst failed in 5 seconds, the best lasted about an hour. All that ran and then failed had the same failure, a nylon gear stripped off the shaft. Each was replaced under warranty. Finally, in disgust, I spent $550 and bought a STHIL with a 20 inch bar and have had no problems since, cutting for extended periods with the full 20 inches burried in the wood, both rip and cross cut. So, my recommendation is clear

. "JoanD'arcRoast" My family all owns Stihl for gas saws, but I want an electric! Used a

I purchased a Poulan electric and have cross cut and ripped bowl blanks from white oak, cherry, maple up to 18"s in diameter and I have yet to go through a sprocket. I would say that I have exceeded the intended types of use of the saw without failure.

I've cut a bunch with a Craftsman electric, including wood too wide to cut in one pass, bot rip and cross-cut. Mostly maple, willow and ash. All green. So far, so good.

Bill

"william_b_noble" wrote: ( clip) All that ran and then failed had the same failure, a nylon gear stripped off the shaft. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^ Bill, this is deja vu all over again. As I recall, the plastic gear that broke on your saws is actually the spocket that drives the chain. My electric saw is very much like the ones that failed you, except that it has a steel drive sprocket. I have not had any problem.

So, my advice is: if you don't want to spend the big bucks for a Stihl or Milwaukee electric saw, buy one of the cheaper ones, but make sure it has a steel drive sprocket.

I do envy you with an electric Stihl saw, though.

Hi Leo

Leo don't feel bad but your saw also has the nylon gear, i'm sure, but they sit on the inside, the electric motor has a steel shaft with a warm gear machined on the end, the nylon gear runs on the steel warm gear and the chain sprocket is on that same shaft on the outside of the housing, if you do not force the saw the whole assembly last for a while but will get stripped eventually, my advise to you is keep the chain sharp and don't force the saw and you will get maximum life out of it, I got a couple of those saws and one in use, the others have stripped nylon gears, never got a price on a replacement gear so I don't know if it is a good idea to replace the gears. Hope this does not ruin your day

The other Leo Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Leo Lichtman wrote:

the gear that failed was the gear reduction unit driven on the inside by the motor (as I recall), with the metal shaft driving the chain sprocket - the nylon gear would heat up and then lose it's grip on the shaft (the design was just plain bad, no excuses possible). I was cutting full bar length, but not stalling the motor or anything.

HP is important but it isn't everything. I have had several electrics including the $200+ Husqvarna. I burned that one out, too, by driving it too hard, so whatever you get, use some restraint when cutting with it. My current electric is the 3 hp/12 amp Remington I got at Lowe's, model number 107625-02. I did a lot of checking on the internet and found Remington offers several nearly identical 3 hp electrics and at least one

3.5 hp version (or they did 2 years ago). I put more faith in amp ratings than horsepower, but this particular Remington model is 1/2 pound heavier than the others. I reasoned that might indicate it was better built. I haven't taken it apart to see what mechanical differences it might have but it works well and "feels" like it may be a better unit. The auto chain oiler works great and I have been pretty happy with it for the last two years.

-mike paulson, fort collins, co

I recommend a Makita, the long one. This was the best in a test in Europe and it's reasonable priced. Unfortunately I've bought a rather expensive1800W electric Husqvarna for roughing out blanks. I thougt the Husqvarna gas saws are fantastic, so the electric will be the same, but it's terible. It's always giving trouble with the chain tension and has been back 2 times for major problems, within 1 year. 9 out of 10, the tension varies from rather loose to rather to tensioned, within 1 rotation.

I've had some cheap one's who lasted a year or so but there is also a very old Makita, without chainbreak, it just won't give up, even with a poor oil pump, very cheap for the oil but a bit unsafe.

Dutch Chris

"JoanD'arcRoast" My family all owns Stihl for gas saws, but I want an electric! Used a

I've cut Cherry and Maple with my Craftsman for 4 years. I just cut some Desert Ironwood with it. I was surprised it went through so easily. I'm sure I need to sharpen the chain, now. But after the Ironwood it went through some Cherry like it was butter.

Bob Darrah West Linn, Oregon "JoanD'arcRoast" My family all owns Stihl for gas saws, but I want an electric! Used a

Get ceramic guides for wet wood. The Delta has lower guides closer to the table, which is a good thing.

"JoanD'arcRoast" Thanks for all the informative and thoughtful replies! I decided on the

Ditto for both suggestions. As for the ceramic guides and why you should consider them, I have discovered that they are great at not only holding the blade completely stationary and running cool, but they also help scrape off the resin and crud that accumulates on the blade.

Also consider the Timberwolf blade designed especially for green wood. Is has a heavy set on the teeth that helps prevent blade binding in green wood. I've had OK luck with the Olson Pro 5/8 x 3TPI Hook style blade in green wood, but make sure your wheels are coplanar with this wide blade.

FWIW,

Greg G.