Thanks for Watching! Find a link to all of my "Must Have", Favorite Tools HERE!! www.amazon.com/shop/chickanic?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_aipsfchickanic_9ERPFPBNGQ924P8NS63B
Hello. It is refreshing to see a woman as a small engine mechanic. I have been in the field for about 25 years now. We are a dying breed in this throw away society. I really appreciate your videos. They are very informative and not grueling to watch. So many videos out there are of what not to do and not so much as to how to repair the problem. Thank you.
My lady .I'm in the Caribbean, trinidad . I've solved much of my small equipment problems by watching your videos. Explanation is easy to follow. I'm gaining a new skill and saving much money and time. Thanks much.
@@Chickanic hi,ausie here.. it gets me, how the chinese pay there workers $2 wk, they have all the tech, equipment,cnc, robots, they need, but they make junk..there products should be better than japan, u.s. sveden.. but, they build sht.. i just dont get the mentality, or,,are we all suckers for a cheap product we think is german built. you watch ave.?. he pulls tools down to nothing. canadia,n..bc. funny guy, jokes, he tried doing a vid when hungover,,didnt happen..i think he,s a rig engineer.. teiwan stuff seems pretty good, i bought a 43 piece socket set.. its so nice, i hav,nt used it..
@@Chickanic how long did he use the chainsaw? Wondered if u knew or not. If someone bought it cheap and used it year or so maybe that's not too bad or did it immediately have issues. Ty
I agree I had about 25 years in saw tuning and repair and have never seen anything that poorly built Thanks for the video, always enjoy a chain saw video. GOD BLESS.
Ok, you asked for a reply. I got into small engine repair in '84. I had 16 acres of private lawn to mow. You keep me up to date with tips and tricks. It's good. Thank you!
I started working on small engines in my grandad's shop back in the 60's. believe me there were "disposable" junk back then too like this one. if we had co-workers like you back then I might have stayed in the business! love your content you are amazing
Thanks for your excellent expose'.. I just this chainsaw in today's mail. Have not nor will I start it up. It gets returned tomorrow in it's original packaging. Can't thank you enough for this video. Blessings.
As much as I enjoy the straight forward tutorials and the “insider secrets” videos, would love to hear more reviews like this one... . From a repair shop’s viewpoint, would be great to hear about who’s push mowers you like, what lawn tractor you’d spend your own money on, or not, electric vs. gas, etc. in today’s world product reviews are usually worthless and/or paid for - you do a great job of not hyping specific brands for the most part - and when you do, they’re based on facts and personal use - reason why I rushed out to get a Speed Feed after seeing it on your channel. As someone who enjoys maintaining their equipment over the condition of their lawn, keep up the great content!
I have a 30 year old 3816 Mac McCulloch that I have to take apart about every 10 years and replace the fuel lines. Still runs great and I love it. I originally bought it from a Hechinger store in Northern Virginia for around $100 as it was a discontinued floor display. One of the best $100 buys I ever made.
i think i have that same model. a friend of mine got it off a neighbor's trash pile, and all it needed was new fuel lines and a primer bulb. one of the best $15 buys i ever made. he just told me to keep it on the one condition that i can never loan it to anyone
My first chain saw was a Poulan I bought at Home Depot at least 15 years ago. I upgraded to an Echo with a longer bar a few years ago, but that cheap a** Poulan still runs like a champ. It's easy to start and does whatever I ask it too. It's still my go-to for quick jobs around the yard.
I still have a Poulan (Craftsman) 18 inch I bought about 1980. I have gotten too old to wrestle with one and no doubt the years of neglect have rendered it unusable but it was functioning well 6 years ago.
Me and dad ran a Poulan wild thing for over a decade till compression got so low it wouldn't run any more, bought a poulan pro 20" and an echo and that second poulan is still strong 5 years later cutting firewood
Poulan and USA made by Poulan Craftsman before the early Aughts were good enough saws for homeowner use. Later models I can't say for sure, but believe they are junk. Have heard avoid the "easy to start" models.
My first thought was- who the hell would buy a chainsaw with the name Coocheer? I love my ancient Dolmar but it's awfully heavy, so I bought a 16" Echo and love it- I hire a pro to do any climbing and that's what he uses.
That has been my biggest dilemma as a small engine mechanic. When to call it quits on a repair. To have to call the customer and tell him that the repair is going to cost more than it's worth. It's the reason I don't work on John Deere products. The parts are outrageous. I refuse to call the customer and tell him a brake cable for his mower is $110. I save the hassle and stopped taking them in. Thanks for the videos
I bought a new Stihl used it once and put it away dry. I tried to start it last year and gave up. I just watched tour video on starting saws, went out and tried it and it worked. Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up on Coocher. I had never heard of that brand before and not knowing it was Chinese made, but was thinking about buying a Coocher trimmer/ brush cutter from Amazon. After seeing this video I belive I have changed my mind about that.
thats exactly what happened to me. picked it up from home depot on sale. used it 2 times and it wouldnt start anymore. i ended pitchin that pulan into the trash.
No one ever said “I made a mistake” when buying a quality product. Though sometimes the bean counters get a hold of a product and take it from legendary to trash. All in the interest of padding their “bonus”.
I have a Poulan Pro 18” and was using that expensive canned pre-mixed gas (the good stuff that my Echo trimmer loves) and I can’t get the saw to start anymore. Not sure if I will get it fixed. I will probably get an electric saw to replace it. I use my chain saw to cut logs into manageable pieces that I later resaw into useable lumber. An electric saw will allow me to work indoors without gas fumes. Um, I just sold myself on an electric.
I bought a poulan saw in 2015 because someone stole my stihl and I couldn't afford to replace it. I cut around 20 to 25 rick of firewood a year with it plus other stuff. I cut down a huge dead sycamore tree with it just a few days ago. It was at least 80 ft tall. At shoulder height I lacked about 2 ft being able to reach around it. It's been a good saw for me. Haven't had much trouble with it. I was surprised by how well it works. I don't know. Maybe it's just me but I know I use it quite a bit and i'm not sorry I bought it. Just saying.
Bought my first chainsaw in the early '80s, a Poulan. After a couple of years I started having issues with it either starting hard or starting ok but not running right. Sold it for $50 and bought a professional grade 154 Husky along with my dad who purchased a new pro 266 Husky in 1984. Just replaced the 154 in 2021 with a new 562XP Husky. Dad is gone but the old 266 is still going strong. You get what you pay for.
Husqvarna 266XP is a Muscle Saw absolutely a beast and pings like a dirt bike at a idle. A good chain and that 266XP probably cuts faster then your 562XP and definitely sounds cooler.
@@kevind3185 When I was logging I ran a 385XP Husqvarna, one day I went down into the woods behind my house to cut some firewood with it, on the way back up to the house I stopped at my next door neighbors transmission shop which was in a garage behind his house, the owner and his brother were in there and when I first walked in he ask "What size engine is on that saw of your's? We could hear that thing all the way up hear and it sounds pretty mean, we've been taking bets on what size engine is on it." I told him "85cc". He said "Jesus Christ there's an 80cc dirt bike class in motocross racing". And I told him "Yea, when I have the 3 foot bar on it and rev it up and sink it into a tree it's like holding on to an 80cc racing bike". That saw was mean as hell, with a skip tooth chain on that 3 foot bar it would melt right through a 3+ foot diameter hardwood tree and ask for more.
@@dukecraig2402 that's a serious saw for sure ,, I own a 395XP and a 3120 ,,both are killers ,,,i've got a 48 inch bar on the 3120 ,, it's got so much torque that you can stand on it even cutting a 4 foot tree
Hi Chickanic I have the same design of that saw bought it 2 months ago, the only difference is the body color is orange and grey and is named PROFESSIONAL!! I used it once still brand new and when i discovered bar oil leaking from under the saw is when came across this video.
Thanks for the heads up. After 25 years of using outdoor power equipment, I have found that spending the $40-$50 more than the 'cheaper' brands is well worth it as far as durable equipment is concerned. With the cheaper brands, I found myself running into problems that routine maintenance just won't fix. I've used an echo cs 310 for almost a decade and haven't looked back. I've cleared out small national forests with it (worked the crap out of it), have used things like surfactant when I've run out of bar and chain oil, has tumbled around in the trailer, tons of abuse, and the saw still starts after 3-4 pulls and runs strong, like I could clear out small forests with no problem. I don't really have a specific brand that I can say don't buy, to me, all the cheaper models are a do not buy thing as far as longevity is concerned. Not to say the cheaper ones won't work, they do work, they've just given much more problems and eventually found their selves in a scrap junk pile.
I was running this saw for about 2 hours at about a 30-50% duty cycle ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxfQm1wmg0ItKDLavxj1nXtQY9HP7EF504 and it did a great job. I used the lever for the built in sharpener to clear chip buildup out more than to actually sharpen the chain. It managed to cut some hardwood stumps much larger than it's size without bothering the neighbors with hours of 2 stroke noise.
Bought a Stihl Farmboss 18" for use around my property, used it for 13 years and used some bad gas in it and toasted the piston, bought a Stihl replacement motor made in Taiwan, and it's been a year and still runs great. Motor cost $80, labor was my own.
My Son bought a Tornado chainsaw, 20” bar, that I used to cut up some really good size Oak for less than $100. I was so impressed I bought another one. The second one is still in the box because the first One runs like a Banshee! I have a bunch of brand name and other chainsaws so will always have a backup.
the thing about most people when it comes to low priced chainsaws is they think they can use it like a lumber jacks chainsaw. another thing is even though the chainsaw in the video needs repair it would be a low priced fix with the crank seal and then donate it to a poor family so that their son can make a gocart or something with it.
Back in the day sitting on my Dad's knee learning how the world works, he'd have suggested adding a little more to what you'd spend for the cheap and get a smaller used model from a brand you can get parts easy and cheaply. His chainsaw was small, but the best maintained power equipment you ever did see.
I was a bit iffish about Ryobi, but I bought one anyway, about 6 or 7 years ago. It's a treat. As long as you clean, lube and sharpen regularly, no worries mate!
I have two forty year old 16” Stihls…running flawlessly. Why try to save a few dollars on an Amazon purchase…save now pay later??!! No thanks. Keep up the great work and QC insights you provide! Great and valuable content.
I owned an Echo chain saw. It cranked easy and cut like a razor. Still going strong after 10 yrs. I have owned a Stihl also. Very hard to crank but when it gets going it is great.
I had 2 cheap huskies (141). They are true JUNK. One injected a mounting nut which I still can’t figure out how they made that possible but the dealer knew. The replacement was a hard starting crapper. I ditched it and got an Echo at Home Depot and its been fantastic 15 years on👍🏻
I have always found that getting parts for the Chinese small Engines is a nightmare. Sure the cost is cheap up front . But there is no support at all for most of them.
Ive actually made quick money with Hyundai 36cc chainsaws. There is lot of Them to buy as junk. And its Nice if you buy three junk Saws and get 2 to sell as working ones 🤣
the problem with china junk, is once in a while they make something really good for cheap. Which fools people into thinking they can get anything like it, or get one just like it a year later.
I design products that are made in China. They are made exactly the way you ask them to and for a reasonable price. If you aren’t happy with their reasonable price, they will tell you how they can make it cheaper but in the end the decision is with the company making the request. If you ask them for a quality product they will deliver, and they can. So ask yourself who is to blame for the crap you have in front of you.
Love your channel! I’m a retired teacher who became a Stihl tech, and have been doing this for about 5 years at an Ace Hardware. Yourself, Donny Boy, and Small Engine Saloon are my go-to to pick up new tips, and frankly, to empathize with! I love customer descriptions…….”it won’t start or run, hasn’t been run in two years, may need an air filter.” Yep, that will fix it! Also, “just needs a tune-up.” Right!! Chris
Hi, Chris and Matt: There is another very educational/intelligent/patient small engine ' guy'. Checkout Taryl Fixes All .....here on UA-cam. Humorous, (no beer !) and very ....uh......'' toothy' ....indeed.
I bought a SENIX 49cc chainsaw from Tractor supply for$149.00 to use around the house. Model CS4QL-L1. The main reason i got this chainsaw was because it's a 4 cycle. I've owned other saws and loaned hem out only to get them back broken or locked up. I've watched all of your videos about chainsaws and mowers and weedeaters. I've learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the best way of getting them going again.
Love the videos. I'm a new homeowner and I just got my first saw. Had some branches come down in the last storm so I picked up the little Echo 310. After watching this I'm so glad I didn't go with the chinese E-Bay/Amazon ones.
That’s a good little saw and will last for years when used for it’s intended purpose. By that I mean people try to cut firewood and bigger wood with a 30 cc saw then bad mouth it when it breaks.
That's a great little saw....really good at limbing and easy on gas. I got a nearly new one from a pawn shop that had been discarded by the owner because it wouldn't cut well. Turned out the chain had been installed backwards.
My Mac was in the shop waiting on parts so I bought a 6200 20" Coocheer. Runs great, oils great. Bar and chain are horrible. Soft metal that just didn't last. The coil failed after 2 weeks. Had to order one from China. Spark plug, air filter, and a coil for $13 including shipping. Had it in a week. Kept at it until both chains were gone. There isn't a spot on either side of the bar that cuts straight. But it always started and ran really well. I haven't decided whether to get a good Oregon bar and chain or not. But at $139 I may just give it away.
Well young dudette. I'm now a watcher. Glad to see you put your wig up when running the Chinese thing. I'm an old guy who's been cutting wood for 50 years. And my saws are running @ this time. I got a husky 460 rancher, a 46 cc craftsman w/20 inch bar. And everybody's favorite. Poulon pro /18 inch bar. The poulon Wil not idle down. All fuel lines are new, carburetor parts new & the purge ball is new. Next stop air leaks. I'll be back. 👍
No rubber gloves! I love it! Here is a woman who is not afraid to get her hands greasy and dirty! How many shop/repair videos have you seen in which men seem to alway work with rubber gloves to keep hands clean and unscratched? Love it! I also work "bare-handed," ie no gloves.
That’s crazy because Coocheer chainsaws have a 4.5 star review on Amazon, are buyers/reviewers using the saw one time and saying it’s good. I’ll stick with Echo, Stihl and Husqvarna…..thanks for your time!!!
Reading reviews is like understanding another language. First thing I do is look up all the poor ratings and look for the consistencies in them. No one gives themselves a poor review. Then I look at the reviews following the poor reviews. To see if the manufacturer countered the poor review with a padded review. That then tells me pretty much everything I need to know. Scratch all the poor reviews that blame shipping issues because that has nothing to do with the product itself. If the purchase is over a hundred bucks I’ve spent hours sifting through reviews and using other platforms. I design products and I never ever use anything that is inferior because the cost of a returned product erases the profits from the next 10 sales. So many manufacturers put a glitzy exterior and crap on the inside. Sorry if this is long winded.
This is because of amazon fake reviews mate. How can such a piece of shit get a good rating? Is it this was a bad one? I doubt it, because of the poor manufacturer, not poor assembly. I bet I won't last a day on a big job.
@@rich10849 see, did they also offer to pay for the item if you give a five star review? Thats what they normally do, then your in and they keep wanting you to write fake reviews.
I got the coocheer 62cc and had constant problems from day one. Eventually it died at not even a year old. I took it apart and somehow had a bent crankshaft and the flywheel key sheared off. you get what you pay for. I've since upgraded to a CS-590.
My Dad bought a Homelite Super XL with a manual oiler in about 1964. I was about 7 or 8 years old and not strong enough to pick it up and hold it very long. I would throw it up onto the log and have to set it on the ground at the end of the cut. We had other big saws, Pioneers and McCullochs which were way too big for me at the time. I used that saw for years and all through high school sawing and selling cord wood to make money. I even used it occasionally after that and all during this time other family members routinely used it too. I would bet that old saw cut thousands of cords of wood, mostly oak. Recently I found that old saw in my Dad’s garage where it hadn’t been used in who knows how many years. After taking it home and putting fresh gas (16:1) and oil in it, pulling the rope less than 5 times, it fired up and ran perfect. I then used it to cut up a downed 24” fir. What’s truly amazing the saw has never needed any work other than two helicoils for the muffler. They sure don’t make any brand of saw like that anymore.
I tried your method of starting my chainsaw and back pack blower and both of them started on first or second pull thank you for making it easier for an 80 + senior
I have a Makita made by Sachs-Dolmar in West-Germany, being labelled "West-Germany" should give a hint of how old it is. All I do is fill it up with oil and fuel and service it when required and it runs as good as the day I bought it.
I have an old Olympic chainsaw that wouldn’t idle. I took it apart it had a blown out crank seal. The seal was actually blown out of the hole. A new set of seals (it took 3 months to get them from efco) and it ran like a top. The first completely blown out seal I’ve ever seen.
@@brandonstclair6530 Interesting. I have 4 saws. The oldest is a 1974 Olympic and it still runs great. I have always mixed Klotz 2 stroke oil at 40 to 1 and use fuel stabilizer. Seems to be a good recipe so far.
This video is one of the reasons I limited our service to Stihl only. You are right, if you fixed it, it will be back in tomorrow for something, and you really can’t guarantee the repairs to the customer.
Great video!, I hope a lot of people learned something from your video!, I must admit there's more things wrong than I would have thought!. I'll stick with my husqvarnas and echo saws!.
If you have to replace your Huskqvarna saw I would get something else, they have been bought by Electrolux and parts are terrible to get, they own all the low end co's even ruined Frigidaire. First thing they do, disconnect 1-800 phone help for customers!
Used to work on them for a car and sled dealership a half century ago. Many many unhappy customers of the McCulloch chainsaw. Always breaking down. Not even close to a good saw.
Good to know! I was just talking about these things on Friday, a friend wanted to buy one. Told him to save his money, now I can send him this video. What a piece of junk!
The one thing I always tell people, "If you're buying it off Amazon. You're getting garbage." IF you're buying power equipment. Go to Lowe's, Ace, Home Depot, the local equipment shop, and hell, even a pawn shop. Anywhere but Amazon. The pawn shop part, you've got a chance of getting trash. But, nowhere near as often as you get it from Amazon.
Just an FYI, if you go into Lowes and buy a Craftsman chainsaw, this is the saw that you get. My guess is that the factory quality control they come from is better than the folks at Coocheer?`There are some good things about this unit though? Most consumer grade saws are clam shell design and this is one of the rare ones with an all metal case rather than just the jug and crank being metal with plastic tanks and frame. When you order 2 oil pumps off of Amazon, the package arrives with 4 pumps as they already know one or two may not work brand new Lol. I have one that runs like crazy. Starts every time and plenty of power for the CC's it claims to be? If you buy one on Amazon or Lowes, you will, repeat WILL be changing out a few oil pumps until one works. The reason the saw in this video died is because the oil pump quit, the bar, chain and clutch overheated and the user didn't realize why it was cutting poorly so they continued until the heat affected the crank seal and probably melted the bar cover? The bar attached to that saw probably has no paint except in the middle, as the chain running with no oil burned all of it off from the edge inwards and also caused the tempering process to reverse and none of the bars edges are still hardened. Every cut they made with this saw was a curve to one side or smiley face in the end. Oh well?
That is because amazon lets those scam china crap sellers use their site to sell their china junk. Watch the seller info and most will say china or have some funky name in English that is a dead give-a-way it's being sold from china. Also a dead give-a-way, is the time of shipping to receive the product, clue it's coming from china and do not buy those items on amazon from those scam china sellers. Report them as scammers to amazon.
@@carbonarrow7 I just make it easy on myself. I don't deal with Amazon at all. If I need tools or power equipment. I go to the hardware store or autoparts store to get it. If I need computer parts. I'll go to Best Best or somewhere else local and get it or order it. This has three advantages over Amazon. 1 - I know I'll be getting a quality product. 2- I know if something goes wrong with it early on, I can go swap it out, without having to wait for all the return shipping crap. I've had this one happen with a Poulan chainsaw that was pumping bar oil into the carbarator. I returned it and dropped the little extra to get a Husqvarna instead. 3- It supports my local economy. Well, four advantages really. 4. I can go to the store, pay for the item, and leave with it. I don't have to wait for shipping at all. Well, unless it's a computer part of something that needs to be ordered.
@@jarack3256 There is a limit on supporting your local businesses. Around here the local businesses want and do jack their prices to that of California cost of living and this is a small town that only creates new business of Banks, credit unions, restaurants, and realtors, complement of the ignorant city council and its operations. On those wages they expect those businesses to keep supporting each other and the local economy forgetting the actual cost of living now, and with everything being so price jacked now, it is stopping people from so called luxury buying and going back to basic necessities buying only. With most wages being stagnate and a average restaurant meal here costing $30 per person or more in a small town, Walmart jacking food prices and their products distribution has been so lacking that they are out of stock on many items and lots of constant empty shelves for over a year now, so much that a shift of is customers are now going to other grocery stores that have managed to keep there shelves stocked and not price jacked on their food items. Walmart here now is losing money and customers over their food price jacking, having to self checkout, bag your own groceries and now pay for your plastic bags and paper sacks, and still a constant barrage of empty shelves. So the support your local businesses crap is getting out of hand when the businesses cannot supply what the community needs for products and items, jack their prices to that of California and New York cost of living in a small town, Still having to go on line to order items or products because they are actually cheaper for same items and or cannot find at any stores due to the fact they will not stock common used items for the community by its people. So, support your local businesses in most areas today is a joke, and a conditional brainwashing tactic to spend what little a family has left on price jacked products just to support your local business. If a business cannot keep products in stock and prices competitive for your local area forcing people to shop elsewhere, they need to be out of business.
The worst part is it's not even a good value before it breaks. It's $170 on Amazon ($140 + $30 S/H), you can get a Echo CS-310 for $199 from HD in the store or delivered to your door and have a good basic saw. I've put hundreds of hours on my CS-310, hogged out the muffler and re-tuned for a bit more power to run a 16-18" bar with no problem, the only thing I've had to do to it was feed it fuel,bar oil and replace worn out chains.
I love your honesty and value your opinion, I worked in the automotive field for over 40 years and actually just quit my job have to many back problems. I did quit for a issue I could no longer deal with and it is watching bosses son rip people off by not giving honest estimates and not really explaining what could actually be the real issue that vehicle is not worth repairs. I never liked lying to anyone so I would always let customer know that it could have bigger issues, or a more major issue.I watched my boss pull engine from anniversary edition trans-am and order new engine block with no ser number so he can stamp block to match vehicle and pass it for original, I told him to put in different crank and just make it a sleeper car. He piped up saying worth more all original, I told him that is true but his kid's could careless and when he dies they will just sell it for the money. I should have quit year's ago but injuries and the fact that once people find out how bad they are, no one will hire knowing that you will be a liability. My only hope at this point is winning the lottery, always remember to stay honest and people will keep you busy when I finally left was watching the business going to the dog's and only hope they get what they deserve
Really makes you wonder why someone would spend all that time designing, casting, and assembling such a piece of junk. A lot of effort that could easily be put to use making a decent saw for a few dollars more.
There's a ton of decent almost identical saws for only a few dollars more. I heard the really cheap ones are made from the reject parts off the better ones. This saws been cloned for 5-10 years now and sold under a ton of different names, some of the slightly more expensive ones are trouble free for years, I have 2 a joncutter and a timberpro, same design just put together better and have been trouble free. Parts are also dirt cheap and super easy to get once you figure out its sold under tons of names.
@@nseric1233 You're right. Absolutely. The defect parts have to go somewhere. I believe a batch of items does not pass inspection because 10% or so fail. So the whole batch gets sold to a dealer and he/she deals with the 10% returns...or more because they're no good in a perfect state. We have a saying in my area...Don't by anything made on a Monday or late on a Friday. LOL
I worked for a Factory as a Parts Inspector. I could and would reject parts and was told to reject parts even if they were 100% Usable but the Name on the part was Smudged or had a Dent in it on the outside that did not effect/affect the inside and other Minor Things.. Ones without any Defects at all would ( one part for Example) sell for $100, the one with the Crooked name or dent would sell for $40... those Cheaper parts were bought up by Big Companies to make Cheaper Products... But in this Case, they went Bottom of the Barrel for parts.
@@Eddie.D346 You could be right...absolutely. My last job paid me $75/hr, and charged me out at over $100/hr with all the govt. required stuff. My boss bought a $3000.00 18 volt strut cutter to save me the steps from the field to the hydraulic strut cutter set up 200 ft away. I'm retired now and have time to tear tools apart, but on some jobs minutes add up to hours and really cut into profit. I certainly wouldn't want to be 80ft up in a tree when I find out my cheap saw failed. LOL
The lawn care juggernaut had one of these briefly on his channel. Didn't last very long. He didn't disassemble his to find the issue, just smashed it to pieces.
Sometimes it depends on the products. Some products, cheap knock offs are as good as the brand names. Other products, only the name brand will do. Take raisin bran for instance; store brand is garbage. Peanut butter on the other hand, store brand is just as good as any other! Lol.
I've run chain saws here or there, at different jobs working on ranches or farms, or small jobs at my home, for close to 50 years. Last year I bought a mountainside of land; steep... so steep that whatever I build for my off-grid cabin is going to have to be built from what I can harvest up there; there's no way I realistically get building materials up to the build site. Until a few days ago, I had three chainsaws. My Jonsered 2250 which was my primary with 18" bar, a Craftsman I got at the dump cause someone threw away when it wouldn't start in the spring-- got it running with a good cleaning; that's also 50cc, but has a 20" bar. Then I bought one of those 56V battery powered E-GO saws... light, runs for 3-4 hours of near constant use, and I just love that when I let go of the trigger, the NOISE stops. So I'm dropping trees and cutting logs for my cabin, and I can tell the Jonsered (literally the same as the Husqvarna, just different plastic) ain't gonna make it through this process... it was bogging down and taking 1-2 minutes to cut through a 15" log-- even with a sharp chain. It was exhausting. So last week I shelled out $1200 for a Stihl 462 with a 25" bar. I had handled Stihls before, but the pro grade models are AMAZING. Those same 15" logs I was taking 1-2 minutes to slice through with the Jonsered, I was suddenly blasting through in 20 seconds. Over the course of building my log cabin, and a couple of out buildings as well, I figure this saw will pay for itself in a few months through savings of time, blisters, aggravation, and killing an otherwise good Jonsered simply by asking too much of it. The lesson? You really do get what you pay for. If AT ALL possible, and you're going to be using your saw on a regular basis, try to spring the extra $$$ for a pro grade saw. It really does make a world of difference. Thanks for a great video and channel; this is my first viewing of your vids, but looking forward to watching many more!
My 1985 McCulloch 20” bar 3.5 cubic inch PM 605 still soldiering on. Runs great on premium pump gas, non ethanol, Bel Ray SI-7 50 to 1 premix. Sharp chain and greased bar nose sprocket ⚙️ with bar oil it will sawbuck up 18” logs 🪵 with authority. Bit loud, ear plugs, virtually no smoke. Put dual raker teeth on saw bar joint for good leverage. Will run in sweet spot with plenty of power with out a miss. Yellow and Black color scheme with rubber mounted handles for low vibration. Slightly lower chain rake teeth will allow cutting teeth to each pull some nice chips.
Thank you for the informative video. I use chainsaws a lot on the farm and one of my favorite saws is a Husqvarna with a 16 inch cutting bar. Unfortunately I have had to discard it because of the starting pull rope and parts related keep breaking and I have spent way more money on repairs than it is worth. My service person is experienced and seems to fix the problem for a little while but it always fails at the wrong time. Good riddance! I have since purchased an Echo brand and have had good performance from it so far! Time will tell if I made a good choice! POMO
I bought my first chainsaw and I decided to go with a cordless 80 volt. The reason I went with an 80 volt is that I didn't like all the steps involved in starting the chainsaw. The chainsaw is good for the work I do.
i agree . cant beat those electric chainsaws when it comes to around the yard. my hired help use a 110 15 amp along with an inverter and a truck or car battery. they dont mind the cord and yet eventually a portable rechargeable electric chain saw would be nice.
I've had a couple electrics and used even more of them and they do not even compare to a gas saw, you can't compare apples to oranges, electric saws are great but very weak in comparison
Great video, I always thought if you need this kind of tools it is always best to physically see able to see them first hand in person , even if it is cheaper brand like Puolan or Homelite ,at least you know it has some history of being ok for light duty use, not clearing brush or an acre of small trees, glad i listened and learned from my dad and uncle who were farmers and machinists and mechanics, i bought an Echo SRM-21 straight shaft trimmer with dual line outs to help with less vibration for my Carpal Tunnel in both hands, got it from Home Depot in 2004 and never looked back routine maintenance is all i have ever had to do to it, just new fuel line twice in all these years that cost me $2 bucks and any Echo chainsaw is just as good and reliable as the other famous names brands 👍 like my friends Ukrainian grand mother use to say you cheap you buy twice
Echo makes some of the best trimmers i have ever owned ,,i own several different ones ,, the oldest is a PAS-230 that i bought in 1998 and it's still going ,,and an SRM2400 which i picked out of a trash dumpster a decade ago ,,carb kit and fuel lines and it ran perfect ,,,i bought a new one this year too ,, fiinally decided it was time causei use my trimmer a lot sometimes 8-10 hours a week
I own an ECHO SRM 200-DA from the early 1980's ! It still runs, thanks to parts off Ebay, although has been relegated solely to occasional brush cutting duty. Poulan & Homelite USED to be good when still made in USA out of METAL. Avoid any plastic case Homelite made after about 2000.
I just bought the smaller $200 Echo the chain wore out in a half hour. Bought a good chain and adj the carb. Now it works great. I was a Echo dealer for 15 years in Phoenix.
We all know the no name chainsaws are complete $hit. Repair shops shouldn't get tangled up with those in any way except maybe have a recycling bin out front as a service to future customers??
I just got $125 chainsaw, not my choice, it's what the person I am working for got for me to use. Turns out, the saw works great! Just as good if not better than any Stihl or Husqvarna that I've used. Comes with both 16" and a 20" bars and chains. If anybody responds to this, I'll actually get up off my butt and go look at the saw so I can tell you the brand name that I didn't bother remembering. Got it on Amazon. It's green. :)
If I get one year out of it, I will consider it money well spent. I will probably get more than that because I'm pretty good at taking care of my tools.
@@jamesrussell6870 you are probably right, still, I'm sure I will get $125 worth of work out of it. And when I am in charge of the shopping, I'll get something with a good reputation.
@@jamesrussell6870 where would you expect the loss of power to come from? Clogged carburetor, worn out rings, or something else? I won't bother with a full rebuild, but I can handle carburetors and most small problems.
In my country this type of saws are very popular and they have way too many problems, the crankshafts always wear where the clutch bearing rides on, (the same thing Donyboy73 explained in one of his recent videos, even the crapy bearings are harder than the crankshafts), the handlebars either bend or break at the bottom part (i think the one of the video has the handlebar bent back at the top corner at the starter side) , the guide bars sometimes have like a 2mm wide groove from the factory and the chains always flop around, the chains seem to stretch most of the time under normal use and tension and start to jump or stick on the sprocket rim, the recoil also has a tendency to have the pulley teeth destroyed rather easy or the sping breaks without any reason, the buffers also wear out pretty fast and the on/off switch is always loose and flopping around, i even once got a crankshaft to get bent at the connecting rod end while pulling the starter, the flywheel starter to rub with the coil for no reason until i saw the crankshaft end moving to the sides and i couldn't believe it, they are really bad saws to work on and even though i think the chinese trimmers and brushcutters can be somewhat good i can't say the same for the chainsaws
Thanks for the heads up on this cheap made saw. I bought a Stihl for I will use it just once in a while seems nice and light to use not to heavy. I have been using saws for over 50 years. thanks for your awesome videos and you are doing a great job explaining things as you do your video's
I ended up with one of these Coocher, you are right it is cheaply made, I expected it to work for about a week, that was three years ago and I have had to put parts of it back together with duct tape, but it kept cutting. I would include a photo but someone stole it from my barn at the end of summer...LOL
Well now this was a interesting video and I'm sure now that your customer wished instead of going for what he thought would be a bargain that might work, he probably wishes now he would have spent a little more money and bought something that for sure would have got the job done.
As others have said, you get the quality you pay for. There are a few online brands here in Oz that are about the same price and are 'not worth a pinch of Penguin Poop' . No support, no parts and no service. 💩 Love your work. 🙂🚜🐻 Bear Queensland Oztralia.
What do you know about the Holzfforma's? they appear to be exact copies of Stihl and Husky models so if they're built half decent with OEM spare parts readily available they might be an okay budget choice, I'm thinking of getting one because I can't justify the Husky/Stihl price, I got my eye on the G660
Talking about cheap chainsaws. Was helping a neighbour last week to chop down some trees on their property using my trusty 20yr old Stihl chain saw. After about an hour the chain crapped itself & I didn't have a spare. No worries said the neighbour we bought a new chainsaw recently - made in China call ROK which I'd never heard of for $129 Aust (about $96 US) from the local hardware store on special. It did throw off a chain initially but after putting it back on the bloody thing worked faultlessly for the rest of the day which surprised me. Don't know how long it will last but was impressed at that price it actually did the job.
I have honestly had excellent results with Chinese chainsaws. I definitely agree that one looks like a dud. However, if you tune em up and treat em right...they'll cut. I cut up 20+ trees in one tornado alone and have done countless other jobs. Usually the oil leaks come from where the oil pump sits in the tube that goes to the oil reservoir. I usually put a small zip tie over the tube, push the pump back on, and voila....no more oil leak. All in all, chinese chainsaws are good for the guy who doesn't use a saw very often OR for a guy who has some mechanical abilities for when it breaks down.
I've actually had pretty good luck with Poulan's pro line. They certainly aren't a Stihl or Echo, but for the average home owner, they're ok (as long as they're taken care of) I've seen problems with Huskies, though
Some of the new huskies have plastic crankcases that melt. Not a good buy. Get an older one and immediately take it to a shop. You won't be left hanging. That's an old tree workers joke, now laugh damnit!
My wild thing has aways been a good backup to my husky which was a dog from day one. Got a lemon I guess. Keep going through pistons jigs. I ran it on 25-30 to 1. The echo hasn't looked back.
I have a tree farm and a small saw mill and I own nothing but Stihl. My oldest saw is a 70's model and I retired after the couldn't parts for the blade lock.
I am enjoying my second year with my 60 volt brushless electric chain saw. I am a consulting engineer and my time is worth $200/hr. I am no longer strong enough to pull start a gas machine, sometimes endlessly. I keep it in my truck because sometimes in Oregon you need a chain saw to get where you are going or pruning a 2 inch limb.
Although I have and use several Pro line Echo and Stihl Chainsaws, I just had to try one of these Chinese or “Commie,” as I like to call them, chainsaws. So, a couple of years ago, I bought one for $89.00. What did I have to lose? What a good purchase. This saw has become my go to saw for general cutting, saving the real strenuous cutting for one of the pro saws. I actually bought another one to keep in my truck just in case of emergencies. I also use them as my loaner saws. Over all I have been quite pleased with these saws. They are so easy to start that even my muscular challenged wife can start it and if and when it dies and repairs are prohibitive, I just will throw it away and not be out that much.
I had a problem with people stealing my 55 gal trash can....so on the replacement, I put 160 lb of concrete in the bottom of the can.....so far, after 14 yrs, the can has not moved......just an idea for you....
My dad had a Stihl when we lived in the Midwest and I don’t ever remember him having a problem with it; always started right up in the spring…however, he took care of his tools. I have a Poulan I’m trying to get running after sitting for two years with old gas inside…
Why would you pay €150 for that when you can get entry level homeowner saws from Echo and Stihl for around $50 more? Also, I’m loving the fake CE marking.
I have never worked on this brand before, but excuse me for saying this, "What a piece of shit!" I repair a good many pieces of equipment as a side gig at home and don't like to tell customers it's not worth repairing, but that's the way this business is. Thank you for the videos and will stay away from this brand, except for carb work.
A local dealer recently posted a sign. Sign lists the short list of brands they work on, mostly only what they sell, with a few exceptions. For good reason, owner runs a successful small engine business and does not have time to even LOOK at this garbage shit purchased from the big box stores which is never worth fixing even IF you could get parts in the first place.
I had a Stihl chain saw for years and when it wore out the replacement price was $1299, I bought a Chinese chain saw with a Oregon chain and bar for $129, it has now been ruining for 18 months and the only problem I have had was leaking bar oil, when I took it apart I found a small ball had dropped out of the pump oil passage, replaced the ball and the nylon gear that drove the pump making sure the end float was minimum, I can buy 10 of these for the same money as the Stihl and the Stihl is now made in China, that was my deciding factor when I bought the cheaper saw.
The big Echos' have become a viable replacement for the big Stihls, at about 1/2 the price. My ms880 will prob last me till I die, but if it dies first, another Echo 8000 is on the list. ( got an older , pawn shop Echo 8000, a few yrs old, it is amazing)
that's what those cheap saws are build for , to last about a year without repairs ; a nice indication for the duration of a chainsaw without expensive costs is the price ; a chainsaw worth 150 dollar should work properly to 150m³ of wood , a 600 dollar piece should work up to 600 m³ of wood without having heavy repaircosts or broken parts
A Remington I Bought in the early 1970s that had metal gears running in bare plastic. They didn't even use metal sleeves. It finished one job and I threw it out after diagnosing the problem. It was an electric, btw.
We grew up fairly tight on money. Me and dad ran a Poulan wild thing with an 18 inch bar for over a decade till it finally ran out of compression, but we kept it sharp, clean and tuned on a 40:1 mix, I've since upgraded to echo but wouldn't be scared to buy a poulan if I needed one in a pinch
The worst chainsaws I have bought?? Two rebuilt Poulans with "full warranties". One for me to do yard work. One as a gift for my son. After a couple of weeks mine lost power. I took it to my local repair shop. They took five minutes to tell the piston was scored and said it was not worth repairing. I called Poulan to get authorization to repair the saw and was promptly told that warranties did not cover the piston. Yup, just what the repair guy told me they would say. Their warranties seem to be rather useless. On a hunch I took the saw I had bought for my son to the repair shop and asked them to inspect it. Th repair guy simply unpacked the saw, took out the plug, and showed me a piston already scored. This for a saw with the plastic still around it. I had been sold two pieces of junk. Fortunately, the dealer I bought the saw from, Princess Auto , was a reputable dealer who gave me a full cash refund for both saws. There are some good guys and some disreputable ones.
@@michaelmiller5618 , DO YOU READ BEFORE YOU SPOUT OFF? THE SECOND CHAINSAW MY REPEAIR TECH INSPECTED WAS STILL IN THE BOX WRAPPED IN PLASTIC. IT HAD NEVER BEEN UNPACKED. LET ALONE USED. FUEL, INCLUDING MIXING OIL, WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT THE PROBLEM.
@@michaelmiller5618 , do you read before you spout off? There was no mixing oil or fuel problem. The second saw had never been unpacked before the repair tech inspected it..
That saw looks like it wasn't used much at all before those parts were damaged, due the saw's trash level quality. Not a good value at any price, apparently.
I have a 1994 Stihl 009L 12" Bar. Mix 2 stroke Oil a little rich. Never been in the shop. Keep it in the Orange case when not using. Change Plug, Air Filter and Sharpen chain. Cut a ton of wood. Would buy another if still made in a Heart beat.
I don't live in the USA anymore I have had several of the 5200 and the 5800 saws most of the time there is some kind of craftsmanship issues. What I have done is everytime I bought one was to order an extra gasket kit and completely disassemble the the saw and then check and make sure everything is put together right I had one 5200 that I used with my edger for lumber it lasted for 183 trees before needing replacement. At 50 bucks each it's very cheap when you figure the price per bft.
The most underrated and forgotten chainsaw brand is the Shindaiwa. Owned a Shindaiwa for ten years and it still runs wonderfully and cuts like a beast. I have even started it with ease when it sat in -30° F temperatures and ran perfectly. Dont judge it by its name. Shindaiwa is a brand owned by ECHO. so it is american made
As a young new homeowner with a lot of big oak trees overhanging my house and very little money I went shopping for a saw but something about the $150 offerings made me wary. I bought the smallest Shindaiwa at a power equipment dealer even though it cost almost three times as much. Never regretted it, the saw never has failed me and has saved me thousands in heating costs and more than paid for itself in cutting friends and neighbors’ trees for “free”. After 20 years I did have to replace the gas and oil cap cork gaskets but it still rips. Unfortunately I have run out of trees to cut down.
I remember looking at this saw and thinking, I can’t use a saw branded “Coocheer” It sounds like a name of a company that has some type of weird grudge against themselves.
My father bought a Homelite with a 20 inch bar, back in the late sixties, early 70s. It was small but very reliable and it was a beast. We also had a McCulloch that was called a Mac 15 that thing weighed a ton and I think it had a 26-inch bar it could not be stopped. There were times it did have issues starting but when it ran it ran great. In the mid-90s I bought a 50cc McCullough, with a 20in bar. That saw has always started well and will cut through anything without bogging as long as the chain is sharp. The only issue was when I had to replace the bar and the first one I found was wrong so it kept throwing the chain so a different shop was able to find the correct one and I haven't had any issues. Sometimes you get lucky.
OLD metal Homelites made in USA were great, imo. Totally avoid any Homelite made out of plastic, after about 2000. Those are not exactly your Grandfather's HOMELITE.
It took me 3 cheap(relatively) chain saws before I learned to bite the bullet and get a good one. That was 11 years ago and it still starts and runs great.
I have '96 Poulan. Cost me a six pack of beer, a carb kit, a bar and a chain. Runs like champ on two or three pulls. A Stihl it is not, but it cuts what I need, 15 yrs later. YMMV.
@snapbean7817 i got a new one about 5 years ago. It wouldn't run for more than an hour before I had to completely clean it up and mess with the carburetor or fuel lines. It was the worst piece of equipment I've ever used! I did hear the older ones fired right up with a clean air filter, and fresh gas... but not mine!!
A friend had an 044 Stihl that he bought for a good price some 15 years ago. It screeched to a halt after felling and bucking firewood for all those years, cause unknown without a large autopsy fee. He couldn't justify the price of a replacement Stihl...and bought a Chinese 52cc saw that looked like a clone of a Husky...and ran 25:1 mix...so probably fitted with plain bearings like they used to in the 1960's rather than roller bearings. He has had it over 2 years now, doing the same work as he used to with the Stihl...and has had no problems with it. The Chinese make things to a buyer's instructions...you want that in it, they put that in it. Price is dictated by buyer specification and preferences. And the Chinese work on the "You pay up front for 1000 chainsaws, you specify them, you pay for them...we make them...no comeback to us...OK?"
Seems to me that many Chinese startup companies make some real crap at first, and then, hopefully, improve the next model. I noted on Amazon that Cocheer has a Pro 6200--maybe an improvement? The trick is avoiding these people to begin with...and that's why I subscribe to Chikanic! Thanks for the heads-up.
Thanks for Watching! Find a link to all of my "Must Have", Favorite Tools HERE!! www.amazon.com/shop/chickanic?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_aipsfchickanic_9ERPFPBNGQ924P8NS63B
Hello. It is refreshing to see a woman as a small engine mechanic. I have been in the field for about 25 years now. We are a dying breed in this throw away society. I really appreciate your videos. They are very informative and not grueling to watch. So many videos out there are of what not to do and not so much as to how to repair the problem. Thank you.
My lady .I'm in the Caribbean, trinidad . I've solved much of my small equipment problems by watching your videos. Explanation is easy to follow. I'm gaining a new skill and saving much money and time. Thanks much.
Thanks Darron!
@@Chickanic hi,ausie here.. it gets me, how the chinese pay there workers $2 wk, they have all the tech, equipment,cnc, robots, they need, but they make junk..there products should be better than japan, u.s. sveden.. but, they build sht.. i just dont get the mentality, or,,are we all suckers for a cheap product we think is german built. you watch ave.?. he pulls tools down to nothing. canadia,n..bc. funny guy, jokes, he tried doing a vid when hungover,,didnt happen..i think he,s a rig engineer.. teiwan stuff seems pretty good, i bought a 43 piece socket set.. its so nice, i hav,nt used it..
@@Chickanic how long did he use the chainsaw? Wondered if u knew or not. If someone bought it cheap and used it year or so maybe that's not too bad or did it immediately have issues. Ty
Thank you, I rarely see someone that shows the actually workmanship of these saws. Excellent observations.
I agree I had about 25 years in saw tuning and repair and have never seen anything that poorly built
Thanks for the video, always enjoy a chain saw video. GOD BLESS.
Ok, you asked for a reply. I got into small engine repair in '84. I had 16 acres of private lawn to mow. You keep me up to date with tips and tricks. It's good. Thank you!
I started working on small engines in my grandad's shop back in the 60's. believe me there were "disposable" junk back then too like this one. if we had co-workers like you back then I might have stayed in the business! love your content you are amazing
Thanks for your excellent expose'.. I just this chainsaw in today's mail. Have not nor will I start it up. It gets returned tomorrow in it's original packaging. Can't thank you enough for this video. Blessings.
$37.50 for labor??? Where are you? That’s way too cheep.
NANCY DREW, D.C. UPDATE
As much as I enjoy the straight forward tutorials and the “insider secrets” videos, would love to hear more reviews like this one... . From a repair shop’s viewpoint, would be great to hear about who’s push mowers you like, what lawn tractor you’d spend your own money on, or not, electric vs. gas, etc. in today’s world product reviews are usually worthless and/or paid for - you do a great job of not hyping specific brands for the most part - and when you do, they’re based on facts and personal use - reason why I rushed out to get a Speed Feed after seeing it on your channel. As someone who enjoys maintaining their equipment over the condition of their lawn, keep up the great content!
I have a 30 year old 3816 Mac McCulloch that I have to take apart about every 10 years and replace the fuel lines. Still runs great and I love it. I originally bought it from a Hechinger store in Northern Virginia for around $100 as it was a discontinued floor display. One of the best $100 buys I ever made.
i think i have that same model. a friend of mine got it off a neighbor's trash pile, and all it needed was new fuel lines and a primer bulb. one of the best $15 buys i ever made. he just told me to keep it on the one condition that i can never loan it to anyone
After 40 plus years of using small engine equipment I have found that like automobiles you can find good ones and bad ones in all of them.
You teach me something every time I watch your videos and I worked on saws and engines for years.
My first chain saw was a Poulan I bought at Home Depot at least 15 years ago. I upgraded to an Echo with a longer bar a few years ago, but that cheap a** Poulan still runs like a champ. It's easy to start and does whatever I ask it too. It's still my go-to for quick jobs around the yard.
I still have a Poulan (Craftsman) 18 inch I bought about 1980. I have gotten too old to wrestle with one and no doubt the years of neglect have rendered it unusable but it was functioning well 6 years ago.
Me and dad ran a Poulan wild thing for over a decade till compression got so low it wouldn't run any more, bought a poulan pro 20" and an echo and that second poulan is still strong 5 years later cutting firewood
Poulan and USA made by Poulan Craftsman before the early Aughts were good enough saws for homeowner use. Later models I can't say for sure, but believe they are junk. Have heard avoid the "easy to start" models.
My first thought was- who the hell would buy a chainsaw with the name Coocheer? I love my ancient Dolmar but it's awfully heavy, so I bought a 16" Echo and love it- I hire a pro to do any climbing and that's what he uses.
Echo is a darned good saw. I’ve had one for many years 👍🏻
.
Coocheer sounds like south Africa dutchman
That has been my biggest dilemma as a small engine mechanic. When to call it quits on a repair. To have to call the customer and tell him that the repair is going to cost more than it's worth. It's the reason I don't work on John Deere products. The parts are outrageous. I refuse to call the customer and tell him a brake cable for his mower is $110. I save the hassle and stopped taking them in. Thanks for the videos
@Fred brandon "dealership"-or should I say stealership prices. And the small shops take a beating $$ wise when ordering that stuff...
In some cases it's still cheaper or better to fix what you have even if the cost is "more than it's worth".
I bought a new Stihl used it once and put it away dry. I tried to start it last year and gave up. I just watched tour video on starting saws, went out and tried it and it worked. Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up on Coocher. I had never heard of that brand before and not knowing it was Chinese made, but was thinking about buying a Coocher trimmer/ brush cutter from Amazon. After seeing this video I belive I have changed my mind about that.
My first chain saw was a Poulan Pro. I spent more time working on it and adjusting it than I did cutting with it. Been using Stihl ever since.
thats exactly what happened to me. picked it up from home depot on sale. used it 2 times and it wouldnt start anymore. i ended pitchin that pulan into the trash.
No one ever said “I made a mistake” when buying a quality product. Though sometimes the bean counters get a hold of a product and take it from legendary to trash. All in the interest of padding their “bonus”.
I totally agree. I have a Poulan sitting in my shed that gave me trouble from the first day I have owned it. All my stuff is Stihl.
I have a Poulan Pro 18” and was using that expensive canned pre-mixed gas (the good stuff that my Echo trimmer loves) and I can’t get the saw to start anymore. Not sure if I will get it fixed. I will probably get an electric saw to replace it. I use my chain saw to cut logs into manageable pieces that I later resaw into useable lumber. An electric saw will allow me to work indoors without gas fumes. Um, I just sold myself on an electric.
I bought a poulan saw in 2015 because someone stole my stihl and I couldn't afford to replace it. I cut around 20 to 25 rick of firewood a year with it plus other stuff. I cut down a huge dead sycamore tree with it just a few days ago. It was at least 80 ft tall. At shoulder height I lacked about 2 ft being able to reach around it. It's been a good saw for me. Haven't had much trouble with it. I was surprised by how well it works. I don't know. Maybe it's just me but I know I use it quite a bit and i'm not sorry I bought it. Just saying.
Bought my first chainsaw in the early '80s, a Poulan. After a couple of years I started having issues with it either starting hard or starting ok but not running right. Sold it for $50 and bought a professional grade 154 Husky along with my dad who purchased a new pro 266 Husky in 1984. Just replaced the 154 in 2021 with a new 562XP Husky. Dad is gone but the old 266 is still going strong. You get what you pay for.
Husqvarna 266XP is a Muscle Saw absolutely a beast and pings like a dirt bike at a idle.
A good chain and that 266XP probably cuts faster then your 562XP and definitely sounds cooler.
Poulan back pack blower sucks too.
@@kevind3185
When I was logging I ran a 385XP Husqvarna, one day I went down into the woods behind my house to cut some firewood with it, on the way back up to the house I stopped at my next door neighbors transmission shop which was in a garage behind his house, the owner and his brother were in there and when I first walked in he ask "What size engine is on that saw of your's? We could hear that thing all the way up hear and it sounds pretty mean, we've been taking bets on what size engine is on it."
I told him "85cc".
He said "Jesus Christ there's an 80cc dirt bike class in motocross racing".
And I told him "Yea, when I have the 3 foot bar on it and rev it up and sink it into a tree it's like holding on to an 80cc racing bike".
That saw was mean as hell, with a skip tooth chain on that 3 foot bar it would melt right through a 3+ foot diameter hardwood tree and ask for more.
@@dukecraig2402 that's a serious saw for sure ,, I own a 395XP and a 3120 ,,both are killers ,,,i've got a 48 inch bar on the 3120 ,, it's got so much torque that you can stand on it even cutting a 4 foot tree
oh yeah
Hi Chickanic I have the same design of that saw bought it 2 months ago, the only difference is the body color is orange and grey and is named PROFESSIONAL!! I used it once still brand new and when i discovered bar oil leaking from under the saw is when came across this video.
Thanks for the heads up. After 25 years of using outdoor power equipment, I have found that spending the $40-$50 more than the 'cheaper' brands is well worth it as far as durable equipment is concerned. With the cheaper brands, I found myself running into problems that routine maintenance just won't fix. I've used an echo cs 310 for almost a decade and haven't looked back. I've cleared out small national forests with it (worked the crap out of it), have used things like surfactant when I've run out of bar and chain oil, has tumbled around in the trailer, tons of abuse, and the saw still starts after 3-4 pulls and runs strong, like I could clear out small forests with no problem. I don't really have a specific brand that I can say don't buy, to me, all the cheaper models are a do not buy thing as far as longevity is concerned. Not to say the cheaper ones won't work, they do work, they've just given much more problems and eventually found their selves in a scrap junk pile.
Why don't,A company in USA,make their own chainsaw,and their products,so we don't have to deal things like this
I was running this saw for about 2 hours at about a 30-50% duty cycle ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxfQm1wmg0ItKDLavxj1nXtQY9HP7EF504 and it did a great job. I used the lever for the built in sharpener to clear chip buildup out more than to actually sharpen the chain. It managed to cut some hardwood stumps much larger than it's size without bothering the neighbors with hours of 2 stroke noise.
Bought a Stihl Farmboss 18" for use around my property, used it for 13 years and used some bad gas in it and toasted the piston, bought a Stihl replacement motor made in Taiwan, and it's been a year and still runs great. Motor cost $80, labor was my own.
My Son bought a Tornado chainsaw, 20” bar, that I used to cut up some really good size Oak for less than $100.
I was so impressed I bought another one. The second one is still in the box because the first
One runs like a Banshee! I have a bunch of brand name and other chainsaws so will always have a backup.
the thing about most people when it comes to low priced chainsaws is they think they can use it like a lumber jacks chainsaw. another thing is even though the chainsaw in the video needs repair it would be a low priced fix with the crank seal and then donate it to a poor family so that their son can make a gocart or something with it.
Back in the day sitting on my Dad's knee learning how the world works, he'd have suggested adding a little more to what you'd spend for the cheap and get a smaller used model from a brand you can get parts easy and cheaply. His chainsaw was small, but the best maintained power equipment you ever did see.
I was a bit iffish about Ryobi, but I bought one anyway, about 6 or 7 years ago. It's a treat. As long as you clean, lube and sharpen regularly, no worries mate!
I have two forty year old 16” Stihls…running flawlessly. Why try to save a few dollars on an Amazon purchase…save now pay later??!! No thanks. Keep up the great work and QC insights you provide! Great and valuable content.
I owned an Echo chain saw. It cranked easy and cut like a razor. Still going strong after 10 yrs. I have owned a Stihl also. Very hard to crank but when it gets going it is great.
I had 2 cheap huskies (141). They are true JUNK. One injected a mounting nut which I still can’t figure out how they made that possible but the dealer knew. The replacement was a hard starting crapper. I ditched it and got an Echo at Home Depot and its been fantastic 15 years on👍🏻
ALL Echo tools are great!!
I have liked my Echos too… Seems like Stihl is more fussy.
@@drizler I just found out my Husky 235 is a Poulon, and I've got issues.
I have always found that getting parts for the Chinese small Engines is a nightmare. Sure the cost is cheap up front . But there is no support at all for most of them.
Ive actually made quick money with Hyundai 36cc chainsaws. There is lot of Them to buy as junk. And its Nice if you buy three junk Saws and get 2 to sell as working ones 🤣
Zenoah clone saw parts are very inexpensive and readily available.
Never heard of them. At least they have a website . Doing better than 90% of the of the off brands on Amazon.
@@StratoArticA Yes but it's usually the same parts on each saw that are knackered .
@@Christopher.C123 Yeah. Im actually sometimes terrified to work on Them. I fear that i break The saw while repairing 🤣
I love you for telling "the way it is" with the China junk. More companies should do the same.
the problem with china junk, is once in a while they make something really good for cheap.
Which fools people into thinking they can get anything like it, or get one just like it a year later.
I design products that are made in China. They are made exactly the way you ask them to and for a reasonable price. If you aren’t happy with their reasonable price, they will tell you how they can make it cheaper but in the end the decision is with the company making the request. If you ask them for a quality product they will deliver, and they can. So ask yourself who is to blame for the crap you have in front of you.
@@carbonunit6573 I blame people like you for helping the commie country get the knowhow to build the junk.
@@ldr9146 Lol shut up McCarthy
@@Gulpathfinder Whaaaaaaat the fuck
Love your channel! I’m a retired teacher who became a Stihl tech, and have been doing this for about 5 years at an Ace Hardware. Yourself, Donny Boy, and Small Engine Saloon are my go-to to pick up new tips, and frankly, to empathize with! I love customer descriptions…….”it won’t start or run, hasn’t been run in two years, may need an air filter.” Yep, that will fix it! Also, “just needs a tune-up.” Right!! Chris
Hi, Chris and Matt: There is another very educational/intelligent/patient small engine ' guy'. Checkout Taryl Fixes All .....here on UA-cam. Humorous, (no beer !) and very ....uh......'' toothy' ....indeed.
@@petersack5074 Yes, Forgive me, she’s definitely on my viewing list!
I bought a SENIX 49cc chainsaw from Tractor supply for$149.00 to use around the house. Model CS4QL-L1. The main reason i got this chainsaw was because it's a 4 cycle. I've owned other saws and loaned hem out only to get them back
broken or locked up. I've watched all of your videos about chainsaws and mowers and weedeaters. I've learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the best way of getting them going again.
I’m a fairly heavy duty fire wooder and my practice is to by a good brand and step up to the professional grade. Worth the difference in $$.
Love the videos. I'm a new homeowner and I just got my first saw. Had some branches come down in the last storm so I picked up the little Echo 310. After watching this I'm so glad I didn't go with the chinese E-Bay/Amazon ones.
That’s a good little saw and will last for years when used for it’s intended purpose. By that I mean people try to cut firewood and bigger wood with a 30 cc saw then bad mouth it when it breaks.
That's a great little saw....really good at limbing and easy on gas. I got a nearly new one from a pawn shop that had been discarded by the owner because it wouldn't cut well. Turned out the chain had been installed backwards.
My Mac was in the shop waiting on parts so I bought a 6200 20" Coocheer. Runs great, oils great. Bar and chain are horrible. Soft metal that just didn't last. The coil failed after 2 weeks. Had to order one from China. Spark plug, air filter, and a coil for $13 including shipping. Had it in a week. Kept at it until both chains were gone. There isn't a spot on either side of the bar that cuts straight. But it always started and ran really well. I haven't decided whether to get a good Oregon bar and chain or not. But at $139 I may just give it away.
Well young dudette. I'm now a watcher. Glad to see you put your wig up when running the Chinese thing. I'm an old guy who's been cutting wood for 50 years. And my saws are running @ this time. I got a husky 460 rancher, a 46 cc craftsman w/20 inch bar. And everybody's favorite. Poulon pro /18 inch bar. The poulon Wil not idle down. All fuel lines are new, carburetor parts new & the purge ball is new. Next stop air leaks. I'll be back. 👍
No rubber gloves! I love it! Here is a woman who is not afraid to get her hands greasy and dirty! How many shop/repair videos have you seen in which men seem to alway work with rubber gloves to keep hands clean and unscratched? Love it! I also work "bare-handed," ie no gloves.
That’s crazy because Coocheer chainsaws have a 4.5 star review on Amazon, are buyers/reviewers using the saw one time and saying it’s good. I’ll stick with Echo, Stihl and Husqvarna…..thanks for your time!!!
Reading reviews is like understanding another language. First thing I do is look up all the poor ratings and look for the consistencies in them. No one gives themselves a poor review. Then I look at the reviews following the poor reviews. To see if the manufacturer countered the poor review with a padded review. That then tells me pretty much everything I need to know. Scratch all the poor reviews that blame shipping issues because that has nothing to do with the product itself. If the purchase is over a hundred bucks I’ve spent hours sifting through reviews and using other platforms. I design products and I never ever use anything that is inferior because the cost of a returned product erases the profits from the next 10 sales. So many manufacturers put a glitzy exterior and crap on the inside. Sorry if this is long winded.
Sorry if they use the word professional on the product that’s going to be the last thing it is.
This is because of amazon fake reviews mate. How can such a piece of shit get a good rating? Is it this was a bad one? I doubt it, because of the poor manufacturer, not poor assembly. I bet I won't last a day on a big job.
I've received requests for writing a review at the same time I got the invoice for the product. What should I write? How well FedEx did delivering it?
@@rich10849 see, did they also offer to pay for the item if you give a five star review? Thats what they normally do, then your in and they keep wanting you to write fake reviews.
I got the coocheer 62cc and had constant problems from day one. Eventually it died at not even a year old. I took it apart and somehow had a bent crankshaft and the flywheel key sheared off. you get what you pay for. I've since upgraded to a CS-590.
My Dad bought a Homelite Super XL with a manual oiler in about 1964. I was about 7 or 8 years old and not strong enough to pick it up and hold it very long. I would throw it up onto the log and have to set it on the ground at the end of the cut. We had other big saws, Pioneers and McCullochs which were way too big for me at the time. I used that saw for years and all through high school sawing and selling cord wood to make money. I even used it occasionally after that and all during this time other family members routinely used it too. I would bet that old saw cut thousands of cords of wood, mostly oak. Recently I found that old saw in my Dad’s garage where it hadn’t been used in who knows how many years. After taking it home and putting fresh gas (16:1) and oil in it, pulling the rope less than 5 times, it fired up and ran perfect. I then used it to cut up a downed 24” fir. What’s truly amazing the saw has never needed any work other than two helicoils for the muffler. They sure don’t make any brand of saw like that anymore.
The little XL2 top handles were great saws too. Cut a lot of firewood with one.
Back then Homelite was the saw to have, We used it to cut firewood and hired to clear trees from powerlines. They were the best then.
Been cutting timber for decades. Always been satisfied with Olympic, Stihl, Jonsered, and Echo saws.
I tried your method of starting my chainsaw and back pack blower and both of them started on first or second pull thank you for making it easier for an 80 + senior
I have a Makita made by Sachs-Dolmar in West-Germany, being labelled "West-Germany" should give a hint of how old it is. All I do is fill it up with oil and fuel and service it when required and it runs as good as the day I bought it.
I have an old Olympic chainsaw that wouldn’t idle. I took it apart it had a blown out crank seal. The seal was actually blown out of the hole. A new set of seals (it took 3 months to get them from efco) and it ran like a top. The first completely blown out seal I’ve ever seen.
All the hours I put on my saws and I have never had that issue. Do you run ethanol fuel or non?
@@carlatamanczyk3891 this was a saw from the late 1970s that had been sitting a long time. The rubber seal had hardened and shrunk and popped out.
@@brandonstclair6530 Interesting.
I have 4 saws. The oldest is a 1974 Olympic and it still runs great. I have always mixed Klotz 2 stroke oil at 40 to 1 and use fuel stabilizer. Seems to be a good recipe so far.
I love Craftsman tools but I never had any luck with their lawn equipment.I always use Echo and I believe it is a good name.
I have a good Craftsman push mower. M100 or something
This video is one of the reasons I limited our service to Stihl only. You are right, if you fixed it, it will be back in tomorrow for something, and you really can’t guarantee the repairs to the customer.
Great video!, I hope a lot of people learned something from your video!, I must admit there's more things wrong than I would have thought!. I'll stick with my husqvarnas and echo saws!.
If you have to replace your Huskqvarna saw I would get something else, they have been bought by Electrolux and parts are terrible to get, they own all the low end co's even ruined Frigidaire. First thing they do, disconnect 1-800 phone help for customers!
@@scottjohnson4910 Been running the shit out of Husqvarnas for 40 years. Zero parts acquisition problems.
I have and still use a 45 yr old McCulloch. They were a decent well made saw in their day.
No they were not ever a good saw.
What model, my first McCulloch was a Mac 10-10 that I got free and used the hell out of it
Used to work on them for a car and sled dealership a half century ago. Many many unhappy customers of the McCulloch chainsaw. Always breaking down. Not even close to a good saw.
Good to know! I was just talking about these things on Friday, a friend wanted to buy one. Told him to save his money, now I can send him this video. What a piece of junk!
The one thing I always tell people, "If you're buying it off Amazon. You're getting garbage." IF you're buying power equipment. Go to Lowe's, Ace, Home Depot, the local equipment shop, and hell, even a pawn shop. Anywhere but Amazon. The pawn shop part, you've got a chance of getting trash. But, nowhere near as often as you get it from Amazon.
I've had good luck with their drill press, but I can't comment on small engines.
Just an FYI, if you go into Lowes and buy a Craftsman chainsaw, this is the saw that you get. My guess is that the factory quality control they come from is better than the folks at Coocheer?`There are some good things about this unit though? Most consumer grade saws are clam shell design and this is one of the rare ones with an all metal case rather than just the jug and crank being metal with plastic tanks and frame.
When you order 2 oil pumps off of Amazon, the package arrives with 4 pumps as they already know one or two may not work brand new Lol. I have one that runs like crazy. Starts every time and plenty of power for the CC's it claims to be? If you buy one on Amazon or Lowes, you will, repeat WILL be changing out a few oil pumps until one works.
The reason the saw in this video died is because the oil pump quit, the bar, chain and clutch overheated and the user didn't realize why it was cutting poorly so they continued until the heat affected the crank seal and probably melted the bar cover? The bar attached to that saw probably has no paint except in the middle, as the chain running with no oil burned all of it off from the edge inwards and also caused the tempering process to reverse and none of the bars edges are still hardened.
Every cut they made with this saw was a curve to one side or smiley face in the end. Oh well?
That is because amazon lets those scam china crap sellers use their site to sell their china junk. Watch the seller info and most will say china or have some funky name in English that is a dead give-a-way it's being sold from china. Also a dead give-a-way, is the time of shipping to receive the product, clue it's coming from china and do not buy those items on amazon from those scam china sellers. Report them as scammers to amazon.
@@carbonarrow7 I just make it easy on myself. I don't deal with Amazon at all. If I need tools or power equipment. I go to the hardware store or autoparts store to get it. If I need computer parts. I'll go to Best Best or somewhere else local and get it or order it.
This has three advantages over Amazon.
1 - I know I'll be getting a quality product.
2- I know if something goes wrong with it early on, I can go swap it out, without having to wait for all the return shipping crap. I've had this one happen with a Poulan chainsaw that was pumping bar oil into the carbarator. I returned it and dropped the little extra to get a Husqvarna instead.
3- It supports my local economy.
Well, four advantages really.
4. I can go to the store, pay for the item, and leave with it. I don't have to wait for shipping at all. Well, unless it's a computer part of something that needs to be ordered.
@@jarack3256 There is a limit on supporting your local businesses. Around here the local businesses want and do jack their prices to that of California cost of living and this is a small town that only creates new business of Banks, credit unions, restaurants, and realtors, complement of the ignorant city council and its operations. On those wages they expect those businesses to keep supporting each other and the local economy forgetting the actual cost of living now, and with everything being so price jacked now, it is stopping people from so called luxury buying and going back to basic necessities buying only. With most wages being stagnate and a average restaurant meal here costing $30 per person or more in a small town, Walmart jacking food prices and their products distribution has been so lacking that they are out of stock on many items and lots of constant empty shelves for over a year now, so much that a shift of is customers are now going to other grocery stores that have managed to keep there shelves stocked and not price jacked on their food items. Walmart here now is losing money and customers over their food price jacking, having to self checkout, bag your own groceries and now pay for your plastic bags and paper sacks, and still a constant barrage of empty shelves. So the support your local businesses crap is getting out of hand when the businesses cannot supply what the community needs for products and items, jack their prices to that of California and New York cost of living in a small town, Still having to go on line to order items or products because they are actually cheaper for same items and or cannot find at any stores due to the fact they will not stock common used items for the community by its people. So, support your local businesses in most areas today is a joke, and a conditional brainwashing tactic to spend what little a family has left on price jacked products just to support your local business. If a business cannot keep products in stock and prices competitive for your local area forcing people to shop elsewhere, they need to be out of business.
The worst part is it's not even a good value before it breaks. It's $170 on Amazon ($140 + $30 S/H), you can get a Echo CS-310 for $199 from HD in the store or delivered to your door and have a good basic saw. I've put hundreds of hours on my CS-310, hogged out the muffler and re-tuned for a bit more power to run a 16-18" bar with no problem, the only thing I've had to do to it was feed it fuel,bar oil and replace worn out chains.
I love your honesty and value your opinion, I worked in the automotive field for over 40 years and actually just quit my job have to many back problems. I did quit for a issue I could no longer deal with and it is watching bosses son rip people off by not giving honest estimates and not really explaining what could actually be the real issue that vehicle is not worth repairs. I never liked lying to anyone so I would always let customer know that it could have bigger issues, or a more major issue.I watched my boss pull engine from anniversary edition trans-am and order new engine block with no ser number so he can stamp block to match vehicle and pass it for original, I told him to put in different crank and just make it a sleeper car. He piped up saying worth more all original, I told him that is true but his kid's could careless and when he dies they will just sell it for the money. I should have quit year's ago but injuries and the fact that once people find out how bad they are, no one will hire knowing that you will be a liability. My only hope at this point is winning the lottery, always remember to stay honest and people will keep you busy when I finally left was watching the business going to the dog's and only hope they get what they deserve
@Official_Chickanic... I do like you honest estimate, I always told the customer what it needed and if any other potential problems could occur
Really makes you wonder why someone would spend all that time designing, casting, and assembling such a piece of junk. A lot of effort that could easily be put to use making a decent saw for a few dollars more.
There's a ton of decent almost identical saws for only a few dollars more. I heard the really cheap ones are made from the reject parts off the better ones.
This saws been cloned for 5-10 years now and sold under a ton of different names, some of the slightly more expensive ones are trouble free for years, I have 2 a joncutter and a timberpro, same design just put together better and have been trouble free.
Parts are also dirt cheap and super easy to get once you figure out its sold under tons of names.
@@nseric1233 You're right. Absolutely. The defect parts have to go somewhere. I believe a batch of items does not pass inspection because 10% or so fail. So the whole batch gets sold to a dealer and he/she deals with the 10% returns...or more because they're no good in a perfect state. We have a saying in my area...Don't by anything made on a Monday or late on a Friday. LOL
I worked for a Factory as a Parts Inspector. I could and would reject parts and was told to reject parts even if they were 100% Usable but the Name on the part was Smudged or had a Dent in it on the outside that did not effect/affect the inside and other Minor Things.. Ones without any Defects at all would ( one part for Example) sell for $100, the one with the Crooked name or dent would sell for $40... those Cheaper parts were bought up by Big Companies to make Cheaper Products... But in this Case, they went Bottom of the Barrel for parts.
@@Eddie.D346 You could be right...absolutely. My last job paid me $75/hr, and charged me out at over $100/hr with all the govt. required stuff. My boss bought a $3000.00 18 volt strut cutter to save me the steps from the field to the hydraulic strut cutter set up 200 ft away. I'm retired now and have time to tear tools apart, but on some jobs minutes add up to hours and really cut into profit. I certainly wouldn't want to be 80ft up in a tree when I find out my cheap saw failed. LOL
Thats the point though ,make it cheap and nasty and customers will buy it because its ........ cheap
The lawn care juggernaut had one of these briefly on his channel. Didn't last very long. He didn't disassemble his to find the issue, just smashed it to pieces.
Watch out for the off brand equipment- You don't know what you are really getting!
Thank you for a great video!
I generally agree with you, but sometimes you luck out! It is a gamble though.
Sometimes it depends on the products. Some products, cheap knock offs are as good as the brand names. Other products, only the name brand will do. Take raisin bran for instance; store brand is garbage. Peanut butter on the other hand, store brand is just as good as any other! Lol.
regarding off brand equipment: well if you don't know you are getting garbage shit, you'll darn soon wise up fairly quickly.
I've run chain saws here or there, at different jobs working on ranches or farms, or small jobs at my home, for close to 50 years. Last year I bought a mountainside of land; steep... so steep that whatever I build for my off-grid cabin is going to have to be built from what I can harvest up there; there's no way I realistically get building materials up to the build site. Until a few days ago, I had three chainsaws. My Jonsered 2250 which was my primary with 18" bar, a Craftsman I got at the dump cause someone threw away when it wouldn't start in the spring-- got it running with a good cleaning; that's also 50cc, but has a 20" bar. Then I bought one of those 56V battery powered E-GO saws... light, runs for 3-4 hours of near constant use, and I just love that when I let go of the trigger, the NOISE stops.
So I'm dropping trees and cutting logs for my cabin, and I can tell the Jonsered (literally the same as the Husqvarna, just different plastic) ain't gonna make it through this process... it was bogging down and taking 1-2 minutes to cut through a 15" log-- even with a sharp chain. It was exhausting. So last week I shelled out $1200 for a Stihl 462 with a 25" bar. I had handled Stihls before, but the pro grade models are AMAZING. Those same 15" logs I was taking 1-2 minutes to slice through with the Jonsered, I was suddenly blasting through in 20 seconds. Over the course of building my log cabin, and a couple of out buildings as well, I figure this saw will pay for itself in a few months through savings of time, blisters, aggravation, and killing an otherwise good Jonsered simply by asking too much of it.
The lesson? You really do get what you pay for. If AT ALL possible, and you're going to be using your saw on a regular basis, try to spring the extra $$$ for a pro grade saw. It really does make a world of difference.
Thanks for a great video and channel; this is my first viewing of your vids, but looking forward to watching many more!
My 1985 McCulloch 20” bar 3.5 cubic inch PM 605 still soldiering on.
Runs great on premium pump gas, non ethanol, Bel Ray SI-7 50 to 1 premix.
Sharp chain and greased bar nose sprocket ⚙️ with bar oil it will sawbuck up 18” logs 🪵 with authority.
Bit loud, ear plugs, virtually no smoke.
Put dual raker teeth on saw bar joint for good leverage. Will run in sweet spot with plenty of power with out a miss. Yellow and Black color scheme with rubber mounted handles for low vibration.
Slightly lower chain rake teeth will allow cutting teeth to each pull some nice chips.
Thank you for the informative video. I use chainsaws a lot on the farm and one of my favorite saws is a Husqvarna with a 16 inch cutting bar. Unfortunately I have had to discard it because of the starting pull rope and parts related keep breaking and I have spent way more money on repairs than it is worth. My service person is experienced and seems to fix the problem for a little while but it always fails at the wrong time. Good riddance! I have since purchased an Echo brand and have had good performance from it so far! Time will tell if I made a good choice! POMO
echo is the same saw as steel
I bought my first chainsaw and I decided to go with a cordless 80 volt. The reason I went with an 80 volt is that I didn't like all the steps involved in starting the chainsaw. The chainsaw is good for the work I do.
i agree . cant beat those electric chainsaws when it comes to around the yard. my hired help use a 110 15 amp along with an inverter and a truck or car battery. they dont mind the cord and yet eventually a portable rechargeable electric chain saw would be nice.
I've had a couple electrics and used even more of them and they do not even compare to a gas saw, you can't compare apples to oranges, electric saws are great but very weak in comparison
@@douglasfick4817 i like both apples and oranges equally. we are not talking about taking an electric chainsaw into the rain forest lol.
Batteries and electric motors are improving day by day lately. It won't be long before they are better than the gas powered ones.
@@theobserver9131 Electric chainsaws problem is they have one speed flat out or off.
Great video, I always thought if you need this kind of tools it is always best to physically see able to see them first hand in person , even if it is cheaper brand like Puolan or Homelite ,at least you know it has some history of being ok for light duty use, not clearing brush or an acre of small trees, glad i listened and learned from my dad and uncle who were farmers and machinists and mechanics, i bought an Echo SRM-21 straight shaft trimmer with dual line outs to help with less vibration for my Carpal Tunnel in both hands, got it from Home Depot in 2004 and never looked back routine maintenance is all i have ever had to do to it, just new fuel line twice in all these years that cost me $2 bucks and any Echo chainsaw is just as good and reliable as the other famous names brands 👍 like my friends Ukrainian grand mother use to say you cheap you buy twice
Echo makes some of the best trimmers i have ever owned ,,i own several different ones ,, the oldest is a PAS-230 that i bought in 1998 and it's still going ,,and an SRM2400 which i picked out of a trash dumpster a decade ago ,,carb kit and fuel lines and it ran perfect ,,,i bought a new one this year too ,, fiinally decided it was time causei use my trimmer a lot sometimes 8-10 hours a week
I own an ECHO SRM 200-DA from the early 1980's ! It still runs, thanks to parts off Ebay, although has been relegated solely to occasional brush cutting duty. Poulan & Homelite USED to be good when still made in USA out of METAL. Avoid any plastic case Homelite made after about 2000.
I just bought the smaller $200 Echo the chain wore out in a half hour. Bought a good chain and adj the carb. Now it works great. I was a Echo dealer for 15 years in Phoenix.
I have and Echo since 7 years and no complaints, very well made.
We all know the no name chainsaws are complete $hit. Repair shops shouldn't get tangled up with those in any way except maybe have a recycling bin out front as a service to future customers??
I just got $125 chainsaw, not my choice, it's what the person I am working for got for me to use. Turns out, the saw works great! Just as good if not better than any Stihl or Husqvarna that I've used. Comes with both 16" and a 20" bars and chains. If anybody responds to this, I'll actually get up off my butt and go look at the saw so I can tell you the brand name that I didn't bother remembering. Got it on Amazon. It's green. :)
If I get one year out of it, I will consider it money well spent. I will probably get more than that because I'm pretty good at taking care of my tools.
@@theobserver9131 Wait until you watch the power loss with each tank of gas... Don't try using that for any production work whatsoever!!
@@jamesrussell6870 you are probably right, still, I'm sure I will get $125 worth of work out of it. And when I am in charge of the shopping, I'll get something with a good reputation.
@@jamesrussell6870 where would you expect the loss of power to come from? Clogged carburetor, worn out rings, or something else? I won't bother with a full rebuild, but I can handle carburetors and most small problems.
I told myself a long time ago: never pay for Coochee
Word😭
I never heard of that brand but it REEKS of Commie junkiness😡
Hahaha! Good call. It still costs you money, though.
"Coochee" is never free. It's only a question of price...
Does dinner count?
In my country this type of saws are very popular and they have way too many problems, the crankshafts always wear where the clutch bearing rides on, (the same thing Donyboy73 explained in one of his recent videos, even the crapy bearings are harder than the crankshafts), the handlebars either bend or break at the bottom part (i think the one of the video has the handlebar bent back at the top corner at the starter side) , the guide bars sometimes have like a 2mm wide groove from the factory and the chains always flop around, the chains seem to stretch most of the time under normal use and tension and start to jump or stick on the sprocket rim, the recoil also has a tendency to have the pulley teeth destroyed rather easy or the sping breaks without any reason, the buffers also wear out pretty fast and the on/off switch is always loose and flopping around, i even once got a crankshaft to get bent at the connecting rod end while pulling the starter, the flywheel starter to rub with the coil for no reason until i saw the crankshaft end moving to the sides and i couldn't believe it, they are really bad saws to work on and even though i think the chinese trimmers and brushcutters can be somewhat good i can't say the same for the chainsaws
YEP Donyboy's videos are a great 👍 reference source, I can't remember everything.
Thanks for the heads up on this cheap made saw. I bought a Stihl for I will use it just once in a while seems nice and light to use not to heavy. I have been using saws for over 50 years. thanks for your awesome videos and you are doing a great job explaining things as you do your video's
Bought a 20V electric Kobalt chainsaw from Lowe's and changed out the factory 14" bar for an Oregon 18" one. Never been happier with it.
I ended up with one of these Coocher, you are right it is cheaply made, I expected it to work for about a week, that was three years ago and I have had to put parts of it back together with duct tape, but it kept cutting. I would include a photo but someone stole it from my barn at the end of summer...LOL
I don't want to encourage theft, but you should post a giant thank you card on your barn.
Well now this was a interesting video and I'm sure now that your customer wished instead of going for what he thought would be a bargain that might work, he probably wishes now he would have spent a little more money and bought something that for sure would have got the job done.
As others have said, you get the quality you pay for. There are a few online brands here in Oz that are about the same price and are 'not worth a pinch of Penguin Poop' . No support, no parts and no service. 💩 Love your work. 🙂🚜🐻 Bear Queensland Oztralia.
What do you know about the Holzfforma's? they appear to be exact copies of Stihl and Husky models so if they're built half decent with OEM spare parts readily available they might be an okay budget choice, I'm thinking of getting one because I can't justify the Husky/Stihl price, I got my eye on the G660
Generally the rule of thumb.
I've had my Echo gas chainsaw for the last 10..... it never fails to start
@@nedshead5906 They seem to be ok , look into a owners blog and see the comments about them .
Talking about cheap chainsaws. Was helping a neighbour last week to chop down some trees on their property using my trusty 20yr old Stihl chain saw. After about an hour the chain crapped itself & I didn't have a spare. No worries said the neighbour we bought a new chainsaw recently - made in China call ROK which I'd never heard of for $129 Aust (about $96 US) from the local hardware store on special. It did throw off a chain initially but after putting it back on the bloody thing worked faultlessly for the rest of the day which surprised me. Don't know how long it will last but was impressed at that price it actually did the job.
Amazing!. You have hands that are in such great shape, bearing in mind what you do for a living.
I have honestly had excellent results with Chinese chainsaws. I definitely agree that one looks like a dud. However, if you tune em up and treat em right...they'll cut. I cut up 20+ trees in one tornado alone and have done countless other jobs. Usually the oil leaks come from where the oil pump sits in the tube that goes to the oil reservoir. I usually put a small zip tie over the tube, push the pump back on, and voila....no more oil leak. All in all, chinese chainsaws are good for the guy who doesn't use a saw very often OR for a guy who has some mechanical abilities for when it breaks down.
if they hadn't stolen your trash can you'd have a place for that saw
🤣
It's red. Plant that bad boy vertical standing on the blade in maybe some cement. It would be like a car on a post.
I love to hear about people and China junk, if their military crap is like that saw no need for us to worry much
I've actually had pretty good luck with Poulan's pro line. They certainly aren't a Stihl or Echo, but for the average home owner, they're ok (as long as they're taken care of) I've seen problems with Huskies, though
Some of the new huskies have plastic crankcases that melt. Not a good buy. Get an older one and immediately take it to a shop. You won't be left hanging.
That's an old tree workers joke, now laugh damnit!
My wild thing has aways been a good backup to my husky which was a dog from day one. Got a lemon I guess. Keep going through pistons jigs. I ran it on 25-30 to 1. The echo hasn't looked back.
I have a tree farm and a small saw mill and I own nothing but Stihl. My oldest saw is a 70's model and I retired after the couldn't parts for the blade lock.
I am enjoying my second year with my 60 volt brushless electric chain saw. I am a consulting engineer and my time is worth $200/hr. I am no longer strong enough to pull start a gas machine, sometimes endlessly. I keep it in my truck because sometimes in Oregon you need a chain saw to get where you are going or pruning a 2 inch limb.
Although I have and use several Pro line Echo and Stihl Chainsaws, I just had to try one of these Chinese or “Commie,” as I like to call them, chainsaws. So, a couple of years ago, I bought one for $89.00. What did I have to lose? What a good purchase. This saw has become my go to saw for general cutting, saving the real strenuous cutting for one of the pro saws. I actually bought another one to keep in my truck just in case of emergencies. I also use them as my loaner saws.
Over all I have been quite pleased with these saws. They are so easy to start that even my muscular challenged wife can start it and if and when it dies and repairs are prohibitive, I just will throw it away and not be out that much.
I notice when I deal with threaded Chinese parts, the threads usually gall badly, or just straight strip out. Buyer beware.
Great video Bree - life is just to too short to deal with saws like this. Thanks for sharing.
I had a problem with people stealing my 55 gal trash can....so on the replacement, I put 160 lb of concrete in the bottom of the can.....so far, after 14 yrs, the can has not moved......just an idea for you....
My dad had a Stihl when we lived in the Midwest and I don’t ever remember him having a problem with it; always started right up in the spring…however, he took care of his tools. I have a Poulan I’m trying to get running after sitting for two years with old gas inside…
Why would you pay €150 for that when you can get entry level homeowner saws from Echo and Stihl for around $50 more? Also, I’m loving the fake CE marking.
I have never worked on this brand before, but excuse me for saying this, "What a piece of shit!"
I repair a good many pieces of equipment as a side gig at home and don't like to tell customers it's not worth repairing, but that's the way this business is.
Thank you for the videos and will stay away from this brand, except for carb work.
A local dealer recently posted a sign. Sign lists the short list of brands they work on, mostly only what they sell, with a few exceptions. For good reason, owner runs a successful small engine business and does not have time to even LOOK at this garbage shit purchased from the big box stores which is never worth fixing even IF you could get parts in the first place.
I had a Stihl chain saw for years and when it wore out the replacement price was $1299, I bought a Chinese chain saw with a Oregon chain and bar for $129, it has now been ruining for 18 months and the only problem I have had was leaking bar oil, when I took it apart I found a small ball had dropped out of the pump oil passage, replaced the ball and the nylon gear that drove the pump making sure the end float was minimum, I can buy 10 of these for the same money as the Stihl and the Stihl is now made in China, that was my deciding factor when I bought the cheaper saw.
The stihl products that are made in China are only sold in China.
@@aaroncarter1345 Sorry, that is why I did not buy one, as it was made in china.
The big Echos' have become a viable replacement for the big Stihls, at about 1/2 the price. My ms880 will prob last me till I die, but if it dies first, another Echo 8000 is on the list. ( got an older , pawn shop Echo 8000, a few yrs old, it is amazing)
that's what those cheap saws are build for , to last about a year without repairs ; a nice indication for the duration of a chainsaw without expensive costs is the price ; a chainsaw worth 150 dollar should work properly to 150m³ of wood , a 600 dollar piece should work up to 600 m³ of wood without having heavy repaircosts or broken parts
A Remington I Bought in the early 1970s that had metal gears running in bare plastic. They didn't even use metal sleeves. It finished one job and I threw it out after diagnosing the problem. It was an electric, btw.
We grew up fairly tight on money. Me and dad ran a Poulan wild thing with an 18 inch bar for over a decade till it finally ran out of compression, but we kept it sharp, clean and tuned on a 40:1 mix, I've since upgraded to echo but wouldn't be scared to buy a poulan if I needed one in a pinch
Let’s hope they build their military hardware cheap like that chainsaw!
that chainsaw cost $5, to make. the rest goes into military funds..
Actually yes,their military hardware is unreliable, they can't sell it anywhere
The worst chainsaws I have bought?? Two rebuilt Poulans with "full warranties". One for me to do yard work. One as a gift for my son. After a couple of weeks mine lost power. I took it to my local repair shop. They took five minutes to tell the piston was scored and said it was not worth repairing. I called Poulan to get authorization to repair the saw and was promptly told that warranties did not cover the piston. Yup, just what the repair guy told me they would say. Their warranties seem to be rather useless. On a hunch I took the saw I had bought for my son to the repair shop and asked them to inspect it. Th repair guy simply unpacked the saw, took out the plug, and showed me a piston already scored. This for a saw with the plastic still around it. I had been sold two pieces of junk. Fortunately, the dealer I bought the saw from, Princess Auto , was a reputable dealer who gave me a full cash refund for both saws. There are some good guys and some disreputable ones.
Please use Stihl chainsaw 2 stroke oil for the gasoline other cheap oils do not lube properly.
Husqvarna (parent company of Poulan) has one of the worst warranty support systems out there. This is coming from a Husqvarna certified dealer tech.
@@michaelmiller5618 , DO YOU READ BEFORE YOU SPOUT OFF? THE SECOND CHAINSAW MY REPEAIR TECH INSPECTED WAS STILL IN THE BOX WRAPPED IN PLASTIC. IT HAD NEVER BEEN UNPACKED. LET ALONE USED. FUEL, INCLUDING MIXING OIL, WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT THE PROBLEM.
@@michaelmiller5618 , do you read before you spout off? There was no mixing oil or fuel problem. The second saw had never been unpacked before the repair tech inspected it..
That saw looks like it wasn't used much at all before those parts were damaged, due the saw's trash level quality. Not a good value at any price, apparently.
I have a 1994 Stihl 009L 12" Bar. Mix 2 stroke Oil a little rich. Never been in the shop. Keep it in the Orange case when not using. Change Plug, Air Filter and Sharpen chain. Cut a ton of wood. Would buy another if still made in a Heart beat.
I don't live in the USA anymore I have had several of the 5200 and the 5800 saws most of the time there is some kind of craftsmanship issues. What I have done is everytime I bought one was to order an extra gasket kit and completely disassemble the the saw and then check and make sure everything is put together right I had one 5200 that I used with my edger for lumber it lasted for 183 trees before needing replacement. At 50 bucks each it's very cheap when you figure the price per bft.
The most underrated and forgotten chainsaw brand is the Shindaiwa. Owned a Shindaiwa for ten years and it still runs wonderfully and cuts like a beast. I have even started it with ease when it sat in -30° F temperatures and ran perfectly. Dont judge it by its name. Shindaiwa is a brand owned by ECHO. so it is american made
As a young new homeowner with a lot of big oak trees overhanging my house and very little money I went shopping for a saw but something about the $150 offerings made me wary. I bought the smallest Shindaiwa at a power equipment dealer even though it cost almost three times as much. Never regretted it, the saw never has failed me and has saved me thousands in heating costs and more than paid for itself in cutting friends and neighbors’ trees for “free”. After 20 years I did have to replace the gas and oil cap cork gaskets but it still rips. Unfortunately I have run out of trees to cut down.
ECHO is made in Japan. I have the smallest ECHO and I'm a fan. A great little saw!
I remember looking at this saw and thinking, I can’t use a saw branded “Coocheer” It sounds like a name of a company that has some type of weird grudge against themselves.
“Coocheer” is Chinese for you've been had!
Ain't nothing wrong with a good old homelite XL 12! Got mine out of the local salvage yard. Tinkered with it,fired it up the same day.
My father bought a Homelite with a 20 inch bar, back in the late sixties, early 70s. It was small but very reliable and it was a beast. We also had a McCulloch that was called a Mac 15 that thing weighed a ton and I think it had a 26-inch bar it could not be stopped. There were times it did have issues starting but when it ran it ran great. In the mid-90s I bought a 50cc McCullough, with a 20in bar. That saw has always started well and will cut through anything without bogging as long as the chain is sharp. The only issue was when I had to replace the bar and the first one I found was wrong so it kept throwing the chain so a different shop was able to find the correct one and I haven't had any issues. Sometimes you get lucky.
OLD metal Homelites made in USA were great, imo. Totally avoid any Homelite made out of plastic, after about 2000. Those are not exactly your Grandfather's HOMELITE.
It took me 3 cheap(relatively) chain saws before I learned to bite the bullet and get a good one. That was 11 years ago and it still starts and runs great.
I have '96 Poulan. Cost me a six pack of beer, a carb kit, a bar and a chain. Runs like champ on two or three pulls.
A Stihl it is not, but it cuts what I need, 15 yrs later.
YMMV.
To call anything made in China “ professional “ is like calling a politician “ honest”
Like trumps Chinese made $100K watches?
Never thought I'd see a chainsaw worse than a poulan.
@snapbean7817 i got a new one about 5 years ago. It wouldn't run for more than an hour before I had to completely clean it up and mess with the carburetor or fuel lines. It was the worst piece of equipment I've ever used! I did hear the older ones fired right up with a clean air filter, and fresh gas... but not mine!!
A friend had an 044 Stihl that he bought for a good price some 15 years ago.
It screeched to a halt after felling and bucking firewood for all those years, cause unknown without a large autopsy fee.
He couldn't justify the price of a replacement Stihl...and bought a Chinese 52cc saw that looked like a clone of a Husky...and ran 25:1 mix...so probably fitted with plain bearings like they used to in the 1960's rather than roller bearings.
He has had it over 2 years now, doing the same work as he used to with the Stihl...and has had no problems with it.
The Chinese make things to a buyer's instructions...you want that in it, they put that in it.
Price is dictated by buyer specification and preferences.
And the Chinese work on the "You pay up front for 1000 chainsaws, you specify them, you pay for them...we make them...no comeback to us...OK?"
Seems to me that many Chinese startup companies make some real crap at first, and then, hopefully, improve the next model. I noted on Amazon that Cocheer has a Pro 6200--maybe an improvement? The trick is avoiding these people to begin with...and that's why I subscribe to Chikanic! Thanks for the heads-up.