After Campanula recommended the Silky Saws, I bought a Silky Zubat 300. Best buy I have made. Thank-you Suzy. It is a dream to use. Very quick at getting through anything up to 8" in diameter. ( I don't have anything with a larger diameter than around 8").

However, If you are cutting mainly green wood. a Silky with larger teeth would be better.

Daisy

I know what you are saying. I scream at Corona's choice of forest green all the time. Where is that d@mn thing. I want a fluorescent fuchsia saw. My job today is to paint the metal on the loppers. I waste hours looking for it on the forest floor and in the tall grass..

I have a 16" Stihl easy start chainsaw. Not too big . A lady like saw. I recommend the size. The smaller ones shake too much and don't have anti vibration bars built into them. I had a small Poulane "land shark" that tore up my carpal tunnel bad. It was months to get my body back to normal. If you go smaller than that , you are having to do a lot more work compared to letting the weight of the tool do the work. My husband use to call me Madame Poulane. That was a waste of money but I liked the name. We were a two chainsaw marriage.

Daisy, I have mostly small trees. it is classic brush. semi arid Juniper brush with small "Spanish" Oaks , redbud, Escarpement cherries, toothache trees. The grade is intense. It is a rugged little gorge. Beautiful Wild orchids. I love it back there. But it is a scramble.

Mmmm - the Stihl/Huskie conundrum. We are solidly in the Husquevarna camp for chainsaws but like Stihl for brushcutting...although some nitwit blew the Stihl last summer with the wrong oil/petrol ratio - costs me $600 to fix (£460)...and it was in the shop for weeks - had to haul out my austrian scythe!

Hills...and gradients don't exist in the Norfolk or Fen flatlands. The totally flat topography was a major selling point in our woods. The gentlest terrain for this unathletic gardener is perfect, if slightly dull...although I grew up in hilly limestone country - Pennines - where tarns, becks, waterfalls and dales were part of the landscape. East Anglia, where I live now, is akin to Olklahoma or Kansas - drained peat cuttings in a grass-scape, broken up by river valley willows, alders and poplar.

Wild orchids sigh. Every year, I dutifully fling the dustlike seed around in the hope of starting my own collection of purple spotted natives.

Did I mention rattlesnake, mountain lions, large boars.. The chainsaws does keep them far away from me. I have never seen one with my smelly noisy saw in hand. They are awakened and on the move away from me. I have never had a problem with the oil ratio. I buy the oil containers that are just right for a gallon tank of petrol. MY son did poor som gas in it that had no oil but we stopped him before he started it. Once I poured diesel in it but , again, I caught myself.

There are so many great saws on this site,I can't make up my mind. Tonight I will do thew eenie meanie many moe.

Campanula - here is my foolproof technique for growing Common Spotted Orchids. Gather fresh seed, sow very carefully in pots and over winter, making sure to protect from pests. Wait three years. Give up and throw away the contents of the pots.

The next year they'll germinate in a completely different pot containing a Fuchsia.

LOL. The orchids that grow on my hillside are 20 years from seed to first bloom. They are interesting, not beautiful. I will have them in a spot and then they do not return every year. I they are pretty rare natural hybrid.

Oh God, the guys on the tree forum got me to buy a cordless sawmill instead. I still want the saw , but the money is gone now. I have to wait till I get paid again.

Of course, felling trees is an illegal business. Unless of course this is not your garden. I have my own garden, and if necessary, I cut down trees there. Now I'm looking for a good saw. Tell me what to choose

Felling trees is not illegal on my land. the best saw depends

on how big and stronger g you are, how big your trees are. What you sent to do with all the slash and how much you want to spend.. I like an easy start 16" (bar) Styhl for cutting cedar trees in Texas. They range about 20' maybe a bit bigger. I use a cordless sawzall and silky pole saw to trim my oaks.

LIbby, did you bother to read the previous posts/comments? Several excellent saw suggestions were made.

I don't bother to fell any trees....if necessary, I will hire that done.......but for all other large pruning chores, I use a Felco 600 folding pruning saw. Very sharp teeth, able to cut through 4" diameter limbs easily and 100% replaceable parts (and a lifetime guarantee). Easy to use, highly portable and a screaming red handle to identify when tossed inadvertently into a pile of brush :-)

If my trees were as big as Garden gal's trees in the PNW, I would.ld hire out but I have scrawny little things that proliferate with abandon. It is wholesale wacking in the brush.