In Search Of A Good Top-Handle Saw

[Battenkiller]

After hearing from the AS guys so much about how stupid it is to use a top-handle saw unless you are a climber, I went to the repair shop with my saw and the dealer stuck an Echo CS-330T in my hands. Now I just gotta have a TH saw. Trim work around the place, plus a nice light and compact saw to take on canoe camping trips. The Echo is $259, 5-year warranty, and only weighs 8 pounds!

I'd like to hear from others more experienced than I am about other saws that may be better for the purpose. No, the MS 200 T will not make it to the list ($$$), but the Redmax G3100, the Dolmar PS-3410 TH and the the Stihl MS 192 T have piqued my interest as well.

Any thoughts? Anybody use any of these saws?

 

[midwestcoast]

Never used a top-handle. FWIW Husky also has a mid-grade option, the T435 @ $300 & 7.5lbs. You must canoe trip a little different than me. I can't stand double-carries, so don't carry much heavy stuff like saw, hatchet.... let alone a chainsaw. Did a nice 6 day with the wife & dog this summer. That is heaven to me.

 

[smokinj]

I really like the stihl 192t. Echo I would go with the 360t.

 

[Beowulf]

Well, I went through the same analysis in the spring. I ended up picking the 200T with no regrets.

However, the Echo CS-330T and CS-360T made the short list. I liked them, but they did not have the same "feel" or maybe balance that the 200T did. (lot less $$$, though.) The 5 year warranty was appealing.

I will climb, occasionally, so actually use the 200T for it's designed purpose, sometimes. However, where it really saves the day is in a day spent limbing brushy stuff on the ground. The balance and light weight combined with the power make it a light saber in taking off smaller limbs and bucking up 4-10" wood on limbs that are off the ground, but still attached to a tree.

I suppose this is not considered a "safe" practice with a top-handle saw, but I do it anyway, with full PPE.

 

[smokinj]

Well, I went through the same analysis in the spring. I ended up picking the 200T with no regrets.

However, the Echo CS-330T and CS-360T made the short list. I liked them, but they did not have the same "feel" or maybe balance that the 200T did. (lot less $$$, though.) The 5 year warranty was appealing.

I will climb, occasionally, so actually use the 200T for it's designed purpose, sometimes. However, where it really saves the day is in a day spent limbing brushy stuff on the ground. The balance and light weight combined with the power make it a light saber in taking off smaller limbs and bucking up 4-10" wood on limbs that are off the ground, but still attached to a tree.

I suppose this is not considered a "safe" practice with a top-handle saw, but I do it anyway, with full PPE.

That is the best choice I just dont use the top handle that much...

 

[Battenkiller]

I suppose this is not considered a "safe" practice with a top-handle saw, but I do it anyway, with full PPE.

I just got off the phone with Bailey's and the guy I talked to said, "Well, it's a matter of practicality vs. liability". Which means to me, if you know how to use a saw and understand its reactive forces, use your own judgment, but when they are selling the things they have to consider the possible lawsuits from folks who don't. I can't see how being up in a tree and one-handing the saw is safer than having both feet on the ground and both hands on the saw. Heck, I know that some guys actually prefer the top-handle saws for carving. That's something I always wanted to do anyway, and Bailey's sells the conversion carving kits for these saws for $125.

The Bailey's dude highly recommended the Echo 360 above the 330. He says he has two 360 rear-handle saws of his own, one set up for carving and one for trim work. I'm leaning that way, if for no other reasons than the 5-year warranty and that I have a good Echo repair shop not too far away to go to if I have a problem with it.

 

[Danno77]

I'm still not following why you need a top-handled saw. For someone who does not do any limbing, what is the selling point of the 192T over the regular 192, for example?

 

[Battenkiller]

You must canoe trip a little different than me. I can't stand double-carries, so don't carry much heavy stuff like saw, hatchet.... let alone a chainsaw. Did a nice 6 day with the wife & dog this summer. That is heaven to me.

Heh, heh... well, I said canoe camping, not tripping. I mean heading out on a lake and paddling until we find an open campsite, where the emphasis is on the camping and not the paddling. Also, when we are on a river trip with no rapids, we don't have to worry about portages, except maybe to drag over beaver dams. There are lots of places in the ADKs where you can do that. Nice to have a cooler for those beers, once you go down that road a small saw is not too much to add.

When we actually canoe trip, we pare things down quite a bit, but we have never been able to single-carry. Heaven for Lady BK is not the same as heaven for me. We are a great tandem team, and I'd trust her in the bow more than anybody I've met. I let her decide what we're bringing, and she wants to bring everything but the kitchen sink. Wait, I just looked at her list. She brings that, too. :roll:

 

[Battenkiller]

I'm still not following why you need a top-handled saw. For someone who does not do any limbing, what is the selling point of the 192T over the regular 192, for example?

I do limbing, just not climbing. Plenty of trim work to do around here after every storm.

I just liked the balance of the saw when I held it, it feels very light and nimble. It's also a lot more compact to camp with. I'll never need a bar bigger than 12" when I'm in the woods, mostly clearing deadfall and getting firewood for the campfire. I may get it and not like it, but that's why God invented eBay.

And I'm sure I'll end up learning to one-hand it from time to time, against advice here and elsewhere. There are situations I've been in clearing underbrush where the rear handle and/or my arm just got in the way of the movement of the saw, and I think that's a lot more dangerous than just reaching into the underbrush and blipping the trigger to remove a hard to reach sapling. After watching my landlord's helper (an ex-tree service guy) struggling to reach into a tangled mess with a 290 to take down the brush that was overhanging my driveway, I thought there really has to be a better way.

 

[smokinj]

I'm still not following why you need a top-handled saw. For someone who does not do any limbing, what is the selling point of the 192T over the regular 192, for example?

For me I use one had on the branch and the other for the saw very quick and light easy to manage...Not for everyone but for me its my favorite limbing saw by a land-side. The 50cc saws to me are a joke limbing to big to limb and to small to buck. jmho

 

[Danno77]

I'm still not following why you need a top-handled saw. For someone who does not do any limbing, what is the selling point of the 192T over the regular 192, for example?

For me I use one had on the branch and the other for the saw very quick and light easy to manage...Not for everyone but for me its my favorite limbing saw by a land-side. The 50cc saws to me are a joke limbing to big to limb and to small to buck. jmho

I just pictured you holding a saw in each hand and cutting rounds that way

 

[smokinj]

I'm still not following why you need a top-handled saw. For someone who does not do any limbing, what is the selling point of the 192T over the regular 192, for example?

For me I use one hand on the branch and the other for the saw very quick and light easy to manage...Not for everyone but for me its my favorite limbing saw by a land-side. The 50cc saws to me are a joke limbing to big to limb and to small to buck. jmho

I just pictured you holding a saw in each hand and cutting rounds that way

One hand One saw branch in the other throwing the branch....With a 50cc saw you need two hands for the saw along...

 

[Battenkiller]

One hand One saw branch in the other throwing the branch....With a 50cc saw you need two hands for the saw

OK... I'm sold.

 

[Beowulf]

One hand One saw branch in the other throwing the branch....With a 50cc saw you need two hands for the saw

OK... I'm sold.

Using a light, well balanced top-handle saw one-handed to cut up branches can be a joy. I find that holding a branch in my left hand and a the saw in my right, I can lop off 16" sticks very quickly from 4" and under branches. Usually the branch is stabilized on my right chapped thigh, and the cut made about 6" to the right of my thigh, with all body parts out of line with the potential kickback arc of the saw.

 

[smokinj]

One hand One saw branch in the other throwing the branch....With a 50cc saw you need two hands for the saw

OK... I'm sold.

It takes a little practice and quit when your tired as always...But that 192t is about 8 lbs and a micro chain.

 

[Battenkiller]

It takes a little practice and quit when your tired as always...But that 192t is about 8 lbs and a micro chain.

Sounds like the left hand really needs to know what the right hand is doing.

 

[smokinj]

This is true and not for everyone....I have the cut shirt as well. No real reason to be cutting close to your other hand. Good common sence and trigger time.

 

[PJF1313]

I use an old(er?) Echo 280 to climb. I bought it used about 4 years ago for a whopping $15. I needed some TLC, but starts on the 3rd or 4th pull cold, 1st pull when warm - especially important when up in the tree.

If money was no concern, I would get either the Stihl 192t or the 200t. But in a budget, and what that the little 15 buck wonder has help me do, I'd go with the Echo again.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I really like the stihl 192t. Echo I would go with the 360t.

My dad has that saw. It's handy. Kinda light on power, but handy.

 

[smokinj]

I really like the stihl 192t. Echo I would go with the 360t.

My dad has that saw. It's handy. Kinda light on power, but handy.

That somes it up!

 

[Beowulf]

Got to looking on the local Craigslist for a 460 this weekend. No go, but spotted a 020 (about the same saw as my new MS200T that I just bought in the spring.) The 020 has/had a cold start problem, but seems to be tolerable. I imagine that I can fix it. Sheesh, price was cheap enough that I HAD to buy it, even came with a Stihl case.

My dilemena now: Clean up the old 020 and sell the new MS200T or cleanup the 020 and sell it for a big chunk off of the price of the 460?

Or....

Keep them Both (probably not the DW's first choice)