Customer Reviews

Remington RM1640W 16-Inch 12-Amp Electric Chain Saw

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently bought one of these at Home Depot for my father. He decided that he wanted to try going to an electric saw because of all the problems with keeping a gas one running. I tried it out by cutting all the dead out of a large 35 year old Globe Willow Tree in the front yard. At first I was impressed with the power of the saw verses how light it was compared with the gas ones. Keeping the power cord from getting tangled with the cut off limbs was kind of a hassle.
Then after less than an hour of run time on the saw it started throwing the chain off. After the second time it threw the chain off I examined the chain cover with the "easy tension adjustment knob". The plastic that held the nut on the tension screw had broken and the nut on the tension screw had split into two pieces and the threads on the tension screw had stripped. Apparently the pressure of the chain pulling against the tension adjustment set-up was too much for the cheap material that it was made out of.
As a machinist with over 20 years experience I was surprised to see a part that would be under a lot of pressure and vibration being made out of cheap light plastic. And the tension screw was only 3/16 dia. mild steel. The side cover should be made of cast aluminum and the tension screw should be at least a 1/4-20 hardened screw.
Even tho I didn't have any problem getting Home Depot to replace the saw I'm still very disappointed with the cheap materials that it is made out of. I'm sure that it will happen again and I'm just wondering how many times I can get it replaced.
This is another example of the trend of us American consumers having to settle for items either made in 3rd world countries and imported or made out of parts made in 3rd world countries and assembled here in the states. We used to take pride in our quality and craftsmanship in our American made products. Now its make it as cheap as possible to get more profits out of it. And so what if it breaks, people will just throw it away and buy another one.

I agree with most of what the other reviewer said about this chainsaw, even the semi-political stuff. This is a fairly cheap saw (both in price and in quality). But I have to say, it's taken everything that I could throw at it. I took down a few big trees, and cut up dozens of railroad ties. I figured the latter project would destroy the saw, and I didn't really care if it did. But the darned thing cut right through everything. I just keep it full of oil when I'm using it, and clean it up when the project is done. Easier than messing with a gas chainsaw, and quieter.

I would say that if you see one of these priced low, and don't need to cut down a whole forest, it might be all that you need.

By the way, the replacement chain for this saw is supposed to be hard to get. But an Oregon S56 16-Inch Semi Chisel Chain Saw Chain Fits Craftsman, Echo, Homelite, Poulan, Remington works just fine.

Broken/cracked plastic around the two bolt-heads that hold the guide bar in place: trying to tighten them results in only one getting partly tight (and the other just moves a bit within the plastic hex-shaped well), so it cuts for a few minutes then the chain loosens up again. Mine is not a 16-inch but a bit smaller Remington.