&non statistically.........................oops:angel:
Cheers Dean.
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Maybe to put a different angle on things, cheap equipment concerns me not because of quality issues (they all need to meet specific standards to be sold anyway), but the fact that they become affordable to a market that ordinarily would not have purchased the item in question.
For example, a man who works white collar and lacks any practical/DIY sense* might have paid a tree removal business $300 to chainsaw fallen trees on his block rather than spend $500 on a chainsaw and do it himself. If the saw is $99, and sold at a store as generic as Bunnings, then it is likely to appeal to that consumer who then might purchase the product and attempt to use it without meeting appropriate safety pre-requisites.
*that is an example, not a generalisation. Be sure you know the difference.
In the entirely unlikely event a chain link should fail ( I have only seen it once and heard of it twice - in the 2 1/2 years I was a traveller with McCulloch chainsaws) the chain will throw off the bar forwards. Funny thing to see. Also most chainsaws since the late 70's have a mandatory chain catcher - its a lug usually on the lower part of the clutch cover.
Throw in "safety chain" usually on the smaller consumer saws and they are darn safer than a circular saw or angle grinder IMHO. ;)
I bought a 1800w no name electric chain saw for use around the house - sort of the equivalent of the cheap petrol one. I have used it for everything - trees, sleepers, dry and green - it is still on its first chain and because it is cheap I have no issues with cutting into a bit of dirt as well - just sharpen the chain.
Now I would never use this for major work - why? Not because it is cheap but because it was not designed for it - for what it is designed it works exceptionally well.
It is a matter of the right tool for the job - a Stil maybe great for a lumberjack but for around the house or for light firewood these cheapies are great.
I recently had three large trees removed in my backward by a tree surgeon - his main saw was a Stil but the one for cutting the smaller stuff was a cheapie - GMC I think. He was happy with it.
Garry
Regardless if they are fully made or assembled in the US, if you go to any store that has a few brands of these small saws you will notice all come from the US and are almost identical. All of the Poulan/Homelite/ Ryobi/ GMC etc saws are the same bar a few small differences in the plastics, same deal with whipper snippers of the same engine CC. This is just what i have noticed .
At $99 they'd be worth carrying off-road along with your handsaw. If it fails, you're no worse off than you were before you bought it.
I don't have one because they scare me.
Having said that. I found a small Ryobi electric chainsaw in my son's effects. Dunno what to do with it yet.