nextgap.com

Once upon a time, there were the old chainsaws. They would rattle and shake so much , putting your dental work in jeopardy. The new craftsman chain saw is smooth, easy to start, and has a few nice features:

• Automatic oiling makes continuous cutting easy and prolongs chain life
• “EZ Adjust” mechanism for chain tension quick adjustment

Other features include a hand actuated brake, that is intended to stop chain from moving if the chainsaw is unexpectedly turns upwards for any reason (chain kickback,  loosing your bounce, etc).

Clear gas chamber/pump,allows you to quickly pump gas in, and actually see when it gets in the carburetor.

Comes with a nice hard case

With the protective plastic off, you can see the different parts, including the air filter

PROS:

• easy to start gas pump
• automatic chain oiler
• safety brake
• easy to operate quick STOP switch
• minimum vibrations
• relatively quiet
• comes with a hard case

CONS:

• weird ON switch. It works , but none the less, I would of designed it differently.
• special tool needed to adjust carburetor – easy to find on ebay or home & garden stores (note that it’s named Husqvarna which is identical to the Craftsman,  and I think also made by the same company too) . None the less, I would expect Craftsman to add this tool. I assume the reason it doesn’t come with it, is that they don’t really want you to mess with the carburetor. Anyway, you probably don’t have to, but it’s good to have it around just in case, assuming you know what you’re doing.

Working with it:

The choke pull button could of been designed better, same for the ON switch. As I turn on both , and pump 4 to 5 times it’s fairly easy to start. Craftsman recommend you warm up the engine for a few minutes. I started to work on it immediately and the engine stalled a few times. I haven’t had that problem since, and I have no explanation to why it stalled a few times when I first used it. I don’t think it has to do with temperatures cause after that it worked fine right away. Maybe there was trapped air in the system at first use? could be.

Ergonomically the chainsaw is great. Handle is the right width to give you a nice grip. OFF button is finger away, so you can turn it off without releasing your grip from it. It’s relatively quiet and vibration is at comfortable level.

Power wise, the 36 cc engine supplies enough power for any home wood cutting work. You can see in the video (below) it didn’t have any problems handling a thick branch.

A few tips to keep your chainsaw, any chainsaw, in shape:

• If you use your chainsaw once in a long while (long while is a few months and more), you should use a fuel stabilizer. It will prevent the fuel from forming a sticky residue in the carburetor, clogging it. If you do not use fuel stabilizer, you can just empty the gas tank and start the chainsaw in full throttle until you run out of fuel completely and the engine stalls. This procedure makes sure there is no gas left in the carburetor.
• Avoid chain contact with metal.
• Warm it up. It’s good for the engine.
• Use good quality 2 cycle oil (better if it contains fuel stabilizer). How do you know if it’s good? you don’t,  but you can at least buy a known brand and look for the word synthetic. Try to use semi synthetic and up.
• use any 30 grade motor oil, or 80/90 gear oil for the chain oiler. If you run out, don’t panic – any regular car engine oil will do the work.
• Chain sharpness will dull in time (that is natural), so if you tend to work more than a few times in a season, get a few replacement chains.

Craftsman chainsaw in SEARS.COM

Auto lube - oil reservoir. Use any 30 grade engine oil or 90 grade gear oil.

Chain brake is intended to stop chain from moving in a case when a kickback will cause the chainsaw to want to flip or turn upwards (all chainsaws can kickback). This craftsman is equipped with a low kickback chain to reduce risk even more.

Craftsman chainsaw in SEARS.COM