I bought the cheapest chainsaw, 6 month review

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g7g7g7g7

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This summer I purchased the cheapest chainsaw I could possibly find, sold on ebay as a Neilsen 58CC petrol chainsaw on ebay for £65.99 . This is actually imported from China as a Miller Tools MT-9999, a saw with such a bad reputation for unreliability and low build quality that I imagine it's impossible to sell under that name. ***Since then there has been a new cheapest chainsaw on the market at £50, the raptor38***

Having been used primarily as a beach/driftwood saw, something that I can subject to sand, bad weather, root balls that might contain stones, various assorted bits of detritus that I've taken from dumps and stuff that might have barbed wire and nails in it from the old industrial estate that I wouldn't touch with a more expensive saw, especially one with a chain that costs nearly the same as this saw under review. Today I dismantled it cleaned it and stowed it over the winter and I thought it a good a time as any to share my experience with this rather temperamental machine.

The good -
It's surprisingly good at cutting wood, I've put it through some horrific abuse and it has done exactly what I wanted every time. I have no complaints about it's ability to chew through big chunks of timber, as well as rocks, nails and random bits of wire.

The chain is remarkably durable, staying sharper for longer than I expected and the teeth are unusually hard considering the rest of the metal components seem so soft.

The bad -
The build quality is terrible, all the plastic fuel caps don't fit for starters so unless you seal them yourself they water fuel and oil constantly.

The plastic handle on the pull start snapped the second time I started the thing up, replaced with a wooden toggle instead so no real harm done.

The holding nuts keeping the bar on didn't fit well, were really badly machined, replaced with better nuts, the chain tensioner barely fits in the hole removing and fitting the bar is a bit of a faff.

The chain oil feed along with it's adjuster is also cheap, plastic and badly fitted, but a lot of oil probably isn't a bad thing with this saw.

The bars are wearing very quickly, probably related to the absolute nonsense I've put this thing through for a saw of it's size and price though.

It gets ridiculously hot, excessively so, I don't feel comfortable letting it idle or running it for more than absolutely neccessary, I'm slightly afraid that it's going to explode but that creates an exciting tension whilst it's being used.

It shouldn't come with an 18" bar and chain, it can't drive them properly and doesn't feel as solid using whilst them.

Overall -
I think the MT-9999 must have been improved over time, none of the reported underlying mechanical defects are present on mine, the castings are good, the core workings of the saw seem rock solid. However the outer shell, the plastic fittings almost every component external to that core is an accident waiting to happen.

Would I recommend this saw as a back up or stop gap measure?, lord no this thing is a massive liability and I want no responsibility for any injuries or deaths caused by this absolute monstrosity.

5/10 - For the sheer fact that it works for only £65 it's impossible to give it a lower score than 5, if I had to give it a score on safety or build quality it would be around the 2 or 3 / 10 mark though.

Keep your eyes peeled for the 12 month review, will it seize up and die after winter in storage or will it continue on from strength to strength until it tries to kill me.
 
Interesting review. I am puzzled why you would compromises safety so much to save a few quid though?

I have a cheap saw too (Screwfix brand electric) and a mid range Stihl petrol. 6 times price differential. For any serious work or volume, Stihl wins hands down: cuts better. The screw fix one works for what I mainly use for, which is logging for the burner, but the chain works loose really fast and the adjustment is badly designed.
 
interesting thread I'll add a little. My wife bought an electric chainsaw from Lidl to remove some trees in the garden. Initially it did very well but after about an hours intermittent use the blade kept coming loose and jumping off I put it aside and forgot about it until this thread started, so really must get it out and see if I can improve it somehow.
 
Interesting review. I probably should have gone with something like this when I needed a chainsaw a few years back. I was in a hurry though and having no experience of chainsaws or petrol tools I went for a cheap B&Q electric. Have to say for what I needed it does a sterling job.
 
Off topic but is it just me or is the chainsaw the scariest tool to use? Frightening the damage they can do...
 
Hi I bought a titan saw from screw fix for £50.00 and was unshaw how it would perform and I have to say it worked like horse I have given a lot of abuse cutting logs and taking a pine tree down and cutting it into slices around 14" across did not miss a beat was very very surprised what a great little saw well glad I bought it
Pip
 
I bought the oregon electric one from screwfix. Really impressed so far! On something as potentially dangerous as a chainsaw I don't mind spending a little extra for a decent make!
 
I was given my chainsaw, its a 1970 mcculloch from the 70's 75cc. When I got it it had no bar fitted and ran like a bag of spanners. New oregon bar from the US and chain to match, quick tune up and clean and she is a beauty.

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Matt
 

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Did you know that you cant rent a chainsaw? its considered too dangerous to let out unless you have a course certificate and also rent chain mail leggings and gloves.
But any one over 18 can go buy one. Work that out.
 
Not heard of chain mail leggings but have a pair of chainsaw trousers. Have a cheap titan electric which has and is great and a petrol husqvarna 135 which is great for felling small trees and cutting logs for my wood burner. You must treat both with respect and I make sure the chain is sharp .I was shown how to use by a mate who is a tree surgeon. Most useful probably was understanding how not to get the bar pinched when making cuts.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
I have CAD...Chainsaw Addiction Disorder. ... I have 6 saws currently spanning 32cc to 88cc, my newest saw is a husqvarna 560xp auto tune and its a beast of a 60cc saw :lol:
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Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk
 
I tried to hire one about 15 years ago and was told the requirements.
I only wanted one smallish tree down so I used handsaws and eventually a power drill with large wood bits to remove the stump.
It was a flowering cherry about 8" diameter and 20 foot to the top leaves. There were two roots going out horizontal just below ground level and they were wider than the trunk. Burnt out one drill and half way through the next before it was finally gone.
 
I have a small 12" Stihl and a 18" Husquvana, both are absolute workhorses. Both start first time, the Husquavana is around 10 years old now, a service once a year and it's as good as new. My dad bought a cheap chain saw from B&Q and has had nothing but trouble with it.
 
I've got a little Makita electric. Seems excellent though I haven't much experience of other makes to compare it with.
Can't help thinking it'd be better to have a little deisel/petrol generator and an electric saw rather than a petrol saw. Keep the saw and the power source separate. Is there a reason why not - is it just cost and portability?
 
To all these people buying cheap chainsaws - I hope you're spending the money that you're saving on decent PPE: trousers, boots, gloves and head protection. Particularly if you're not using the saw regularly and haven't been trained in the best/safest way to use one.

As for why not have a generator + saw - it's good to have the option to head out to the middle of nowhere with a saw without having to transport a generator. Also less to go wrong, less to store at home, and I'd rather not have to worry about cutting through the electric cable, or tripping over it.
 
duncanh":3v3invq9 said:
To all these people buying cheap chainsaws - I hope you're spending the money that you're saving on decent PPE: trousers, boots, gloves and head protection. Particularly if you're not using the saw regularly and haven't been trained in the best/safest way to use one.

As for why not have a generator + saw - it's good to have the option to head out to the middle of nowhere with a saw without having to transport a generator. Also less to go wrong, less to store at home, and I'd rather not have to worry about cutting through the electric cable, or tripping over it.

Of course, safety gear, I've already got all that stuff, and a bit of experience which is probably why I felt comfortable using such a dodgy saw.

My 18" Huskvarna did not respond well to all the rubbish I was feeding it and it's last service and repair was rather expensive as a result, that's why I bought this thing.

It's purpose is to chew up really dirty, sand, stone and metal filled pieces of detritis and driftwood, my real saw has better things to do.
 
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