I had planned to do an article about the successful resuscitation of my 14 year old McCulloch chainsaw. The bad news is that the operation was not successful and the patient is mostly dead. I asked my friend and former neighbor Doug if he had any ideas. Doug restores antique small engines and knows a lot about these things. His advice was throw away the McCulloch and get a Homelite.
So that is what I did. Hurricane Ida blew through here with a bit of wind and a lot of rain.
A dead pine tree blew over.
And an Austree that had previously been laid low by ice apparently became waterlogged at the top because it fell down after the rain had stopped. They needed to be cleaned up. And with a clear direction on the chainsaw front, I went looking for a Homelite.
Lowe’s did not have them. They had Paulen (budget) and Husqvarna (pricey). I had used a neighbor’s Paulen while my saw was waiting repair and with the Homelite recommended, decided to keep looking. WalMart does not appear to carry chainsaws. Home Depot had Homelite and Echo. The price to replace the 14″ saw was $99. The 18″ saw was on sale at $130. A $20 savings. Since the saws now have a nose guard that must be removed if you are cutting through wood longer than the blade, and I had sometimes been frustrated by the 14″ blade, I went with the 18″.
The end result was I was able to clean up the mess and spend two days carrying stuff to the brush pile.
