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Top handle saw-which one

Started by Tinbeers, April 23, 2018, 07:41:01 PM

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Tinbeers

I have decided to buy a top handle saw for on the ground work. The only saw that I have handled is the 193T stihl with a 14" bar. There is a husqvarna dealer and an echo dealer not to far off but none of them have any top handle saws. What are yall's thoughts on the 193t vs the t435 or the echo 355t? I have an old 028 for big stuff but need a small limbing saw. No I am not a professional, I am 55 years old and have been using a chainsaw sense I was a teenager. Thanks for any information.

Maine372

what task are you accomplishing with a top handle?

if its weight saving you are after there are plenty of reduced weight saws available without the added risk of one handing the saw.

I was recently impressed by a husqy 543xp. the off switch is a little small to hit with a gloved hand but otherwise it packs a punch for its size/weight.

wild262

              Not a top handle, but check out the Echo 361P.  Its the 355 with a rear mounted handle.  Very light limbing saw.  I bought one and really like it. 

samandothers

I have a CS341 Echo and I like it.  I use it for limbing or to carry on the 4 wheeler.  I've used it to do a lot of sawing while building my pole barn versus using a generator to power other saws.  Handy size. I am cutting something large are real hard it may bog but it is 33 cc and I have a larger Stihl for the bigger stuff.  I assume it maybe for climbing as it has a snap ring.  It is not available now, I don't believe, but there are similar size Echos. The CS 355 maybe similar.


mike_belben

Ms200T.  I use a 192tc on the ground nearly every day and love it, except for being a bit low on power. 
Praise The Lord

Al_Smith

Well now a Stihl 200T is one dandy saw,I have two of them .However for what a decent one will fetch on the open market you could buy a fairly large rear handled saw ,maybe several .

John Mc

Curious why you'd go for a top handle saw for ground work?
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

slider

I am on my third 193t in 4 and one half years . They are great saws for bucket work but hard on crank seals . The repair parts are cheap but i don't have time to rebuild them myself. These saws are used every week so i am not knocking them . I just ordered a new echo to try out for a backup saw.
al glenn

ZeroJunk

I know there is some added danger with the top handles, especially ones that scream like a MS200T.  But, they are very convenient to set on the floor board of a tractor to go get trash out of the edge of fields, fence lines and such. If I just stick it in the bucket I have a tendency to forget it's there.  :(

Al_Smith

I've got a little 024 Stihl that rides around on my zero turn mower .Every so often a low hanging tree branch  knocks my hat off which rather annoys me .It will only do it once .

Tinbeers

I am going to look at the echo top handle Saturday, it will be between it and the sthil. I am leaning toward the echo saw. Thanks 

Tinbeers

Quote from: John Mc on April 24, 2018, 04:43:29 PM
Curious why you'd go for a top handle saw for ground work?
Weight and easy to use. Easier to run than a regular saw to me.

mike_belben

I have no shortage of saws but reach for tophandle in any work under 8 inch.  Love it.
Praise The Lord

Al_Smith

As it seems the older I get the more I've came to appreciate lighter smaller saws .I seem to refer to Stihl but that's not the only option .Fact in the last several months I've done work for others on Echo saws and for the money they do just fine .They aren't oak slayers but for small jobs they are hard to beat .

Greyman

Stihl tells dealers that their top-handle saws should only be sold to licensed arborists.  Some dealers follow that and some don't.  If they don't they are putting themselves in a bad legal situation.  I wouldn't be surprised if they keep them in the back so the average homeowner won't be tempted to buy one instead of a (much safer) rear handle saw.

woodsdog2015

My first ever chainsaw (which I still own and gladly use) I bought several years ago brand new from an Echo Dealer that is no longer around.  He was getting out of the business but not for lack of sales.  Anyway, at the time I needed/wanted a saw for minor yard work and for tree stand preparation so I picked up a CS-300.  It looks like the one pictured here but I just copied this picture off the internet.  It is a climbing saw, has a big loop on the back of it that you tether it to your belt while climbing a tree.  This saw cuts like a beast, starts like a dream and I never really do anything to it except change the spark plug and clean out the air filter and sharpen the little mini chain with a 5/32" file.   I don't know if the newer ones are this caliber now or not but if you can find one of these, they're great little saws.

 OFFSITE IMAGE DELETED BY ADMIN
I'd rather be in the woods.
MS362CM
MS251
CS-300
Homelite 8800
FiskarsX27

Al_Smith

Everybody has the misdirected
 idea you have to "one hand" a top handle .Nothing could be further from the truth .I have the first saw I ever bought which is a Poulan S-25 purchased around 1974 which I might add  runs as good or better today than it did brand new .It's all I had for years .I cut and sold firewood with that little thing for 8 or 9 years and never had a problem and didn't rebuild the carb until it was over 30 years old .It's classified as "top handle" and I never one handed it .

DelawhereJoe

I've got a old homelite xl that looks alot like your saw. I'm trying to retire it because parts locally are unavailable. Theres only 1 store that I can get chains for it and no one except the Internet has bars and air filters for it. Plus the carb needs to be rebuilt/replaced.
WD-40, DUCT TAPE, 024, 026, 362c-m, 041, homelite xl, JD 2510

mike_belben

Im with AL.  They have a top handle and a side handle.  If i dont need my spare hand, it goes on the saw during cuts.

I didnt want to argue it earlier but my reason for suggesting tophandles is my feeling of MORE safe.  Not less.  When i whittle up a top thats down, and stumble over the mess of branches im tromping over, i actually CAN control the tophandle with just one hand as im going down.  If i trip with a 2 handle and my front hand shoots out subconsciously, the saw is going to fling uncontrolled down at my leg or foot, i cant hold a rear handle with one hand.  Its all luck then.  The top handle does NOT want to nosedive like the rear handle when you take your left hand off.



If you find yourself constantly putting down a conventional saw to do a little this and that.. Picking it up, putting it down.. And just get tired of bending down for it in your ground tasks.. Then try a tophandle.  Youll rarely need to set it down at all.  I cut tops on the ground at almost every node, as if i were in a bucket truck.  So the spare hand in that operation is more valuable than the extra power.  Now If i were only making a few cuts and snatching logs then i wouldnt even bring it along.  
Praise The Lord

chet

Many folks have the mistaken impression that a tiny little top handle saw can't do the great bodily damage as a bigger full size saw is capable of. 'I can control dat tiny little thing one handed no problem'. After a long and pain filled healing process my younger brother no longer has that attitude.
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

John Mc

Quote from: chet on April 28, 2018, 09:51:03 AM
Many folks have the mistaken impression that a tiny little top handle saw can't do the great bodily damage as a bigger full size saw is capable of. 'I can control dat tiny little thing one handed no problem'. After a long and pain filled healing process my younger brother no longer has that attitude.
Even when operating two handed, it's harder to control than a similarly sized rear-handle saw. You just don't get the leverage when your hands are that close together... which is why they are not recommended for inexperienced users. My bias against top handled saws is not that they are bad tools. There is a reason they exist. Like a lot of tools, they are great for their intended use when in the hands of someone who knows how to use it properly. It's not something I would recommend for an occasional or inexperienced user.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

mike_belben

I see chainsaws like guns.  Casual and inexperienced users have a duty to become competent operators, period.  

A small, cheap gun and small cheap saw serve a PRICE point, not a safety point.   I dont care if its a ms170 or an MS880. it is only as safe as its operator.  The machinery is never to blame for the operators short comings.

Praise The Lord

Tinbeers

Quote from: chet on April 28, 2018, 09:51:03 AM
Many folks have the mistaken impression that a tiny little top handle saw can't do the great bodily damage as a bigger full size saw is capable of. 'I can control dat tiny little thing one handed no problem'. After a long and pain filled healing process my younger brother no longer has that attitude.
He must have been a weak little todler. I am 55 and have been running saws since I was 12.

sawguy21

We don't know hyow it occurred. I don't want to get into a war here but imho running any saw one handed is an accident waiting to happen, the free hand can't operate the chain brake quickly. What happens if the operator falls on a moving chain or it hits the ground and kicks back? We get complacent it's only a matter of time before we get bitten.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

mike_belben

You cant be an arborist without running one handed pretty often.  Being a fireman or a soldier is an accident waiting to happen.  But the job still needs done.  

And i mean that only as a conversational anecdite sawguy, not any sort of snide rebuttal or anything, just to be clear. 
Praise The Lord

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