Many know of our problem. That is, my body is not in very good shape and I am no longer a young man. To top it off, this past fall I took a really bad fall. My wife has bugged me for several years trying to talk me into a small saw for cutting the limbs and small trees. I resisted until this last fall where I came close to breaking my back.
So what to do? I don't have a big saw to start with; only a Stihl 290 but it is big enough to do all our wood with the trees we have here on our place. I had several options (I really thought hard about the 261 but it is not that much lighter) but finally took the advice of a man who works on Stihl saws. He said, " You need a 180."
My fear was that this is a really light saw and I just pictured a little whimpy thing that was not much more than a toy. In the meantime a neighbor brought a 250 for me to use and I was impressed with that little saw. However, in the end we bought the little 180. Shoot, if it doesn't work out we are not out a lot of money.
So now I've ran 5 or 6 tanks of gas through this little thing and have to report that it really does amaze me. I never expected it to do as well as it does. I started by cutting up tops from pin oak and ash. Then we also cut some dead elm. Today I cut more oak. The largest I've cut with it was a 14" ash and today I cut a couple logs from an 18" red oak.
Yes, it is a little slower but not by much. I think the super slim bar and chain have much to do with it. But overall I give a thumbs up to this saw.
It does not have the easy start which I sort of wanted but he had none in stock so I just bought the regular saw. It is over 7 pounds lighter than the 290 and my back does appreciate it. It has a 16" bar but one could run a shorter bar. It seems to handle the 16 bar nicely.
One thing many would appreciate is that it has screw on caps for the oil and gas tanks. That is nice!
So we don't know how long this little thing will last but right now we are not disappointed that we bought it.
So what to do? I don't have a big saw to start with; only a Stihl 290 but it is big enough to do all our wood with the trees we have here on our place. I had several options (I really thought hard about the 261 but it is not that much lighter) but finally took the advice of a man who works on Stihl saws. He said, " You need a 180."
My fear was that this is a really light saw and I just pictured a little whimpy thing that was not much more than a toy. In the meantime a neighbor brought a 250 for me to use and I was impressed with that little saw. However, in the end we bought the little 180. Shoot, if it doesn't work out we are not out a lot of money.
So now I've ran 5 or 6 tanks of gas through this little thing and have to report that it really does amaze me. I never expected it to do as well as it does. I started by cutting up tops from pin oak and ash. Then we also cut some dead elm. Today I cut more oak. The largest I've cut with it was a 14" ash and today I cut a couple logs from an 18" red oak.
Yes, it is a little slower but not by much. I think the super slim bar and chain have much to do with it. But overall I give a thumbs up to this saw.
It does not have the easy start which I sort of wanted but he had none in stock so I just bought the regular saw. It is over 7 pounds lighter than the 290 and my back does appreciate it. It has a 16" bar but one could run a shorter bar. It seems to handle the 16 bar nicely.
One thing many would appreciate is that it has screw on caps for the oil and gas tanks. That is nice!
So we don't know how long this little thing will last but right now we are not disappointed that we bought it.
so I can see why they can handle 14 or 16 bar so easily.
but was still very pleased.Its had rough use,but never 'abused'.Keep it clean,sharp chain,proper fuel mix & it'll probably outlast me.
Time to get the 023 back to work!
