Thanks everyone for all the advice. I went ahead and picked up the
Milwaukee. The Hitachi seemed fairly solid too but the Milwaukee was
more comfortable to hold (Hitachi was rather bulbous where one holds it
near the blade end) and the Milwaukee had the added bonus of being the
consensus pick for best.

A chainsaw may be in my future as well but I decided the Sawzall was the
most versitile tool (and I thought of 3-4 immediate uses beyond the
initial pruning).

Again, thanks.
Eric



Eric wrote:
I'm looking to get a Sawzall type saw. My immediate use will be lots of
tree trimming and cutting branches into small pieces to go to the curb.
After that it will be diy around the house stuff. I'm not a
professional contractor but I do like to get decent tools that will last
and peform well.

So far I'm looking at:

1. Milwaukee 6509-22 http://tinyurl.com/akz3t which is the lowest
Milwaukee model. Locally I can get it for $119. This has a 3/4 inch
stroke

2. Hitachi CR13V http://tinyurl.com/82lrm which is Hitachi's lower end.
Local price is $89. this has a 1 1/8 inch stroke.

I've looked at a Bosch but didn't see the need for the rotating collar
(although the saw was comfortable to hold) The collar seems a gimmick
that is more likely to break than be useful.

I've also looked at the 6 amp Makita JR3000 which I think costs about
the same as the Milwaukee and thus didn't seem to be a good deal (I
could be wrong).

Any opinions on what I should get? Are there others I should consider?
Is the Milwaukee that much better than the Hitachi? Thanks in advance.

Eric