I generally don’t recommend most home owners even bother owning a chain saw. They generally don’t see enough use and end up sitting so long they need service before they are usable. One per circle of friends or extended family is generally enough. Also renting them is reasonably cheap compared to the cost of owning and maintaining them.
I agree Stihl is a solid brand. I wouldn’t buy Husqavarna solely on brand name they are not what they used to be, check the reviews any any specific piece, Echo is another brand worth considering.
Buying from a real power equipment place has many advantages. Most will take the time to teach chain saw 101. They stand by what they sell and can repair it.
One of the main things you are paying more money for is less vibration transferred to the user. This isn’t that important if you aren’t planning on using it much. A day spent using a cheap chainsaw will leave you sore and wondering why your teeth keep chattering, not a lovely experience but once a year to save 500 bucks is IMHO a worthwhile sacrifice. Guys that use them all the time it’s definitely worth the extra money.
For general use I’d aim for a 18 inch bar. Many in that size can also support a 20 inch bar.
Price range will be from 100-900. You get what you pay for but if you are only using the saw every couple years you could be using a new cheap saw every time you need it for 8 years before you hit the cost of the expensive one. The ones 500 and over probably aren’t worth looking at unless you plan on going into business cutting trees or are rich enough not to care.
If you just want to start out without a heavy investment you could just pick up a 100 dollar Poulan and use it for a year or two. After that you’ll have a better idea of what you want in the next purchase. They are cheap and they work, but they aren’t that comfortable and starting on the first pull is a miracle.
Sitting around unused kills them. Make sure to pull it out every 6 months or so and run it for a bit even if you just spin it in place, but generally once you get it started you’ll find something that just needs cutting.
Having a chainsaw does not make you an instant lumberjack. There is still a lot of physical work involved and thought needs to be put into any project. Large trees, especially ones close to homes our power lines are still best left to professionals. One saw doesn’t cover every job. There are reasons for those 2000 dollar chainsaws, those jobs are not ones you want to take on yourself.
Safety glasses and hearing protection are a must. Chaps and a hard hat are a good idea. There are two schools of thoughts on gloves. Some say always, others say never.
The most common fatalities with chainsaws are people cutting above their heads and it kicking back into their skull or cutting through something and the weight of the saw carrying through and cutting the femoral artery. These things are easily avoided by stopping and thinking. Always visualize where it will travel to if you lose control and avoid being in that path. The hard hat and chaps are pretty helpful there too but it’s best not to do something stupid to begin with.
Chain saw manuals are generally pretty short. Read the freaking manual. They are very simple machines and understanding what the different screws and fluids are is important.