Titan 2000w 40cm chainsaw. Anyone used one?

[Scifli]

Is this any good and is this a good price. I need one for cutting up branches for wood turning and general use.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttl758chn-2000w-230v-electric-40cm-chainsaw/719fg

 

[porker]

I have the slightly older version which I've had for years and it's been fine. I think for £50 they are pretty good value for money and more robust than other makes I have seen for more money. Much quieter in use than petrol but still as dangerous so take the usual precautions. I tend to use my petrol husky a lot more but close to the house I use it for firewood.

 

[imageel]

I have one of the older ones and it has served me well cutting down a lot of dreaded Leylandii - back in the day Screwfix never used to sell spare chains for them and after cutting one stump a little too low and running it through some soil the chain was knackered pretty quickly!
Fast forward 5 years and I pulled it out to cut down some remaining triffids and they now stock replacement chains and it worked fine - I also bought a saw file and with a little fiddling have successfully re-sharpened it a couple of times since.
So would recommend it

 

[Agent_zed]

Yep, my dad has had one and used it quite a lot over the past few years as he has a large garden and chops a lot of firewood after felling the ever growing trees.

I have seen it on sale for £35 in the past but I doubt it will get that cheap anymore, so not a bad price at £50

2kw is quite powerful and you have to go quite big for a comparable petrol one.

I did see a petrol one in Lidl the other day for £89.99 I think, which is quite amazing considering how many different parts it requires. Has a 3 yr warranty as well.

But for me, if you don't need to go further than an extension lead I'd go electric. so much easier than having to deal with mixing smelly 2 stroke and then dealing with the noise and smoke, assuming you can get the darn thing started.

 

[alex robinson]

Electric should be fine so long as you don't mind the extension lead.

Agree, just as lethal as petrol. If it is any good at cutting wood, it will be far better at cutting flesh. I would get the armoured trousers as well - people tend to treat electric saws with a lot less respect than petrol.

I would also think about the sharpening. Sharpening chains isn't something that needs to be done occasionally. I would guess the vast majority of domestic chainsaws have blunt chains on them. You will want a 4mm or 5/32 inch file for that. Filing freehand is a bit daunting, so get one of these and give it a quick go before every use:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/56057504303-Chainsaw-Sharpener-Replacement-Stihl/dp/B086MQ2Z52/
Only takes a couple of minutes and you will more than make them back by cutting so much faster!

 

[alex robinson]

Yep, my dad has had one and used it quite a lot over the past few years as he has a large garden and chops a lot of firewood after felling the ever growing trees.

I have seen it on sale for £35 in the past but I doubt it will get that cheap anymore, so not a bad price at £50

2kw is quite powerful and you have to go quite big for a comparable petrol one.

I did see a petrol one in Lidl the other day for £89.99 I think, which is quite amazing considering how many different parts it requires. Has a 3 yr warranty as well.

But for me, if you don't need to go further than an extension lead I'd go electric. so much easier than having to deal with mixing smelly 2 stroke and then dealing with the noise and smoke, assuming you can get the darn thing started.

I find for 2 strokes that don't get through vast amounts of fuel Aspen is amazing. Synthetic alkylate fuel that doesn't contain benzene or other nasties, so no headaches after using it all day, and never goes off so will start first time even if it has been left with fuel in for months.

 

[Rodpr]

I had a Ryobi petrol chainsaw that lost compression and gave up but I also have the Titan mains one. It was not cutting straight but since I put the Ryobi bar and chain on it cuts beautifully. I make a point of cleaning and sharpening the chain after every use - just a couple of passes with a file on each tooth. Makes a big difference!

 

[Andy's Shed]

I have an older petrol Stihl MS181 for cutting up wood when away from home and although I have used it at home a couple of times, I'm quite reluctant to use it more because of the noise. I'm toying with getting an electric chainsaw for home use, probably the Titan.

 

[Agent_zed]

Just thinking my dad did have a bosch one, which gave up the ghost, which must be an earlier version of this one UniversalChain 35 Chainsaw | Bosch DIY which was powerful enough etc but the problem i had with it was the chain tensioner is that hand wheel on the side which was hard to keep tight so it seemed I was forever having to tighten it back up. I can't quite remember what killed it, I think the motor went on it and was unfixable.

The titan bar uses nut/bolt and requires a spanner so although its a bit annoying to remember you need a spanner to adjust it, you can keep it tighter for longer.

 

[porker]

I had a Ryobi petrol chainsaw that lost compression and gave up but I also have the Titan mains one. It was not cutting straight but since I put the Ryobi bar and chain on it cuts beautifully. I make a point of cleaning and sharpening the chain after every use - just a couple of passes with a file on each tooth. Makes a big difference!

Often if it is not cutting straight the issue is a difference in teeth on each side of the chain. If they are not roughly the same length and sharpness the saw will cut a curve.

On the petrol side, I also use Motomix to avoid the fuel going stale which doesn't take long with the bioethanol in modern petrol.

 

[TRITON]

. I'm toying with getting an electric chainsaw for home use,

Probably better off with the makita 240v or even the stihl one. Admittedly the stihl isnt a top notch saw, but then it has to be better than the mass produced titan.
The makita 14" is about 100 quid, twice that for the Stihl

Split the difference - Husqvarna Chainsaw 120 II Petrol 14" £150

 

[TRITON]

I would also think about the sharpening.

Hand held file thing, how quaint.

Scheppach KS1000 Universal Chain Saw Sharpener 230V £39.99 from Scheppach UK on ebay.

Hand file is going to take so long you'll be put off doing it as often as you should. There will be groans about starting it and a blunt saw is a dangerous saw.

Powered saw sharpener above will make the job quick, easy, but also accurate and consistency in accuracy is the key.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394815292186?hash=item5becd3431a:g:Hv0AAOSwSu1k24sa

 

[alex robinson]

Hand held file thing, how quaint.

Scheppach KS1000 Universal Chain Saw Sharpener 230V £39.99 from Scheppach UK on ebay.

Hand file is going to take so long you'll be put off doing it as often as you should. There will be groans about starting it and a blunt saw is a dangerous saw.

Powered saw sharpener above will make the job quick, easy, but also accurate and consistency in accuracy is the key.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394815292186?hash=item5becd3431a:g:Hv0AAOSwSu1k24sa

I find having to take the chain off to sharpen it a right faff. I have one of these for sorting out really bad damage or doing long milling chains:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-Sharp-Electric-Chainsaw-Grinder/dp/B073XS9GWQ/
For a quick tickle I actually find the easyfile quicker. Does the rakers at the same time and makes keeping a constant angle and depth pretty much foolproof.

 

[TRITON]

Ahh, but a chain is a chain, and being a bike rider and builder over 3 decades allows me to say that although it is a pain, you have to look after it in other ways. Obviously not sharpen it as in a bike chain, that would be crazy and possibly interesting
But you do have to clean it, and for that you need to remove it. Though I would say its far easier to remove a chain off a saw than off a bike as with the bike you have to split it. removal off the saw is just a case of loosen and lift off.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I bought one a year or so ago and find it hugely effective for light work up to about 200mm diameter.

It is not a tool I enjoy using as it can do serious personal damage very quickly - make sure you have eye and head protection, the cable is out of the way and you are comfortably balanced and not stretching or over-reaching.

Electric suited me as a very occasional user - petrol may be more flexible but if left a year in the shed an electric tool tends to run, petrol often doesn't.

 

[Andy's Shed]

Probably better off with the makita 240v or even the stihl one. Admittedly the stihl isnt a top notch saw, but then it has to be better than the mass produced titan.
The makita 14" is about 100 quid, twice that for the Stihl

Split the difference - Husqvarna Chainsaw 120 II Petrol 14" £150

The electric Makitas look to be around the £140 mark, after reading some of the reviews, I'm not really convinced they're worth buying over the Titan?

If a sub £50 chainsaw gave up the ghost, I wouldn't be too concerned, but I'd be a bit miffed if I'd spent almost 3 times the price.

 

[TRITON]

The electric Makitas look to be around the £140 mark, after reading some of the reviews, I'm not really convinced they're worth buying over the Titan?

If a sub £50 chainsaw gave up the ghost, I wouldn't be too concerned, but I'd be a bit miffed if I'd spent almost 3 times the price.

About 120, usually a bit less. Maybe you should take a look at ebay, though even there ebay is usually a bit more expensive due to their fees than elsewhere online. Cheapest looks to be £111

As to it breaking, thats you putting the quality of a professional tool company like Makita into the same box as a cheapo tool company like titan. Sorry but that does not compute, in fact its more likely the titan will fail due to cost cutting methods.

I would really question the quality of the titan, overall i mean, from bar attachment to chain quality, motor quality, safety aspects etc etc, even the quality of the build and low quality plastic casing.

Hard to find even some decent reviews on the titan, by which i mean in the hands of a professional. Plenty of home users reviews, but then they arent the best judge of these things. Plenty in comparison of the makita, stihl and husky.

TBH the petrol is a better choice over electric, mainly as you can use it anywhere. Personal recommendation would be the husky 135 mk2, The Stihl is just as good really. Neither are 500 quid saws, but for general garden(or off camping) use they're very dependable.

 

[Andy's Shed]

As to it breaking, thats you putting the quality of a professional tool company like Makita into the same box as a cheapo tool company like titan. Sorry but that does not compute, in fact its more likely the titan will fail due to cost cutting methods.

Not at all, I bought a Makita Router over the cheaper Katsu version.

In fairness the reviews that I read were on the Screwfix site, someone mentioned that their Makita chainsaw had to be returned (twice I think) due to cheap plastic parts being used (I forget exactly what).

I think a couple of people also said that they couldn't find a replacement chain to fit? That does seem odd, perhaps they're more readily available now?

 

[pip1954]

Hi I have had two over the years and for £49- quid you could not beat it me and my son cut 18 forty five foot conifers down to the ground with the first one then my eldest son borrowed it and killed it cutting up old railway sleepers,so I bought a new one and used it to cut those conifers up to go in our wood stove so they both have had a lot of work over the years just keep them oiled and sharpen them and don't force them let the saw do the work.
Cheers phil.

 

[joncooper27]

I have one of these and my neighbour does to great saw and you can sharpen on the saw as it has a stone built int to saw
https://www.screwfix.com/p/oregon-c...self-sharpening-chainsaw/6285k?ref=SFAppShare