No worries at all for bumping the thread, but sorry I’ve never used the Dewalt 12" saw so I can’t give a side-by-side comparison. That said, and as much as I like this 8" model, I have larger gas saws at my disposal when I need something bigger. And I do use my Stihl MS150 top-handle a lot. If I were to have only one saw I think I’d definitely look at the 12".
Funnily enough I was planning on updating this review soon. Since I wrote it I have swapped out the chain for a Milwaukee. The Milwaukee chain is a so-called “full house” design which has a cutter on every link whereas the standard chain Dewalt and most chainsaws use have a cutter every other link. I figure I’d give it a whirl. This should cut smoother, especially in smaller diameter material, but may bog the motor down in larger cuts. The tradeoff suits me fine as most of what I use this saw for is 2-3" material. I haven’t used it very much since installing it but the weather here has finally stopped being over 100 degrees every day so I will soon have plenty of work to give it, including another brush pile that needs to be chipped.
I can comment on oil leakage now: I’ve had the saw for about 10 months. For the first 8 or so I never saw a single drip under the saw. Sometime in the last month or two it has dripped a silver-dollar size spot on the floor. At first I was using Stihl oil cut with a little WD-40 to thin it down, I since switched to Echo. Not bad at all.
When I swapped chains the bar and the sprocket wear were both minimal.
I can now give a bit of a follow-up. Since I posted the original review I’ve had the chance to use this saw for a year’s worth of pruning tasks on multiple acres, plus being used to process another pile of wood similar to what I mentioned in my first post in this topic. As I mentioned in my most recent post, a few months ago I fitted a Milwaukee chain, which is a “full house” design compared to the standard chain. Thanks again to Big Richard for confirming the chain fitment.
The Milwaukee chain is a definite improvement when it comes to cutting relatively small diameter branches, I’d estimate about 3" and under. It cuts smoother and faster. Above that size depends a lot on the wood species. In relatively soft wood the saw cuts very fast. In harder wood larger than 4" it bogs the motor a little compared to the factory Dewalt chain. Overall, for my purposes, the tradeoff is well worth it. Like I posted originally I wanted this saw mainly for feeding my wood chipper where most of the material I’d be cutting was about 2" diameter or so, so I plan on continuing to use these Milwaukee chains in the future.
Otherwise there isn’t much else to report, the saw continues to perform well, I’ve been flipping the bar over every time I’ve sharpened or swapped a chain and it isn’t showing any kind of undue wear yet, though I did dress it with a file when I swapped chains.