Recommended reciprocating saw?

[Gagnante]

We're needing to tear down a rotting pergola over our patio, and I'm looking for recommendations for a reciprocating saw to make the job easier.  We don't want to spend more than necessary, but don't want to get a piece of cheap junk that will only last for half the job, either.  Anyone have any brands/models that they especially like?

[Gumption]

borrow one and save your money. I would almost guarantee you have a dozen neighbors who have a saw that they havent touched in years.

[J Boogie]

You can usually find a corded recip saw aka sawzall (that's what a lot of them will be called) on CL for $15-30.

Go with one of the big 4 if possible.  Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid.  Ryobi, Porter Cable and Hitachi are ok too.  Skil and Craftsman can be ok sometimes.  Avoid stuff like tool shop or whatever harbor freight sells unless it's like $5.

[Spork]

As has already been said: there are several name brands that will do fine.

I believe I have either this model (or an approximate equivalent from 10+ years ago):
http://www.dewalt.com/en-us/products/power-tools/saws/reciprocating-saws/130-amp-reciprocating-saw-kit/dw311k

I've had one and only one problem with it in 10 years or more.  I hit a hard knot in something and had some severe kickback.  It was enough that it shook a wire loose inside.  I originally thought I might have broken some of the drive mechanism and started pulling that end apart.  When that appeared all good, I pulled apart the handle and just found a wire that had popped off of its terminal.  Push it back on and ... all good again.

I would buy corded, not cordless.  I just don't see the need for cordless in this realm.  And a good recip saw will pull quite a lot of amps, so will use LOTS of battery.  A reasonably powered, corded name brand will last your lifetime.

[Bateaux]

Boughtmy Dewalt in the 90s.  Use it all the time.

[sequoia]

Whatever you do, invest in good blades for the reciprocating saw. It makes life easier.

How big is the pergola? And most importantly, how much cutting do you need to do? If only a few cuts - you mentioned rotting, which should be easier, ever thought about just getting a hand saw?

[Gagnante]

Thank you to everyone for your contributions!

Our neighbors are so not DIY types, I doubt that anyone has so much as a screwdriver let alone a reciprocating saw :)  Plus, I don't like borrowing stuff from people because I worry about something going wrong, and then having to replace it.

Craigslist was a great suggestion (I didn't think myself to look there -- doh!) and I am picking up a corded Dewalt saw Thursday morning for $35.  With the money saved, we'll be sure to get a good blade as suggested by sequoia. 

P.S. The pergola is definitely big enough to make a $35 reciprocating saw worth it.

[paddedhat]

You can usually find a corded recip saw aka sawzall (that's what a lot of them will be called) on CL for $15-30.

Go with one of the big 4 if possible.  Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid.  Ryobi, Porter Cable and Hitachi are ok too.  Skil and Craftsman can be ok sometimes.  Avoid stuff like tool shop or whatever harbor freight sells unless it's like $5.

This for the win. I was a pro for decades and my Makita corded sawzall was, by far, the least used construction tool in my collection. I've worn out many battery drills and a few circular saws, but the most wear the sawzall has is from where it spent 30 years rubbing the inside of the case. It's still around, worth $20,  and will still be working just fine long after I'm gone. IMHO, Ridgid and Ryobi are second tier, but if you find any of these, or a Bosch in good shape for a couple of bucks, grab it.

When it comes to doing the job, it's all about the blade.  You want to stick with a demolition blade, They feature aggressive teeth that eat through wood quickly, and can saw right through nails without damage. I'm a big fan of Lenox brand blades and hole saws. Here is their demo blade.

http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/demolition-bi-metal-reciprocating-saw-blades.aspx

[GuitarStv]

I regret buying a reciprocating saw.  It's not that there's anything wrong with the one that I bought . . . it's just that after using it to pull apart a deck I rarely use it any more.  Aside from trimming trees occasionally I just never seem to need it, or there are better tools for the job.

My vote also goes to renting.

[lthenderson]

I've owned a Bosch corded sawzall for more years than I can remember. Like others have mentioned, it is a beast and useful when needed but spends much of its time in its case, especially with the rising of the oscillating multi tools. Spend your money buying good quality blades to save yourself downtime and frustration.

[Spork]

With the money saved, we'll be sure to get a good blade as suggested by sequoia. 

Blades.  Plural.  Buy a 10 pack minimally.  Especially when you first start out, if you don't hold that sucker tight against the work surface, you'll catch it and it'll kick.  The blade will be toast.

Blades are cheap (even the better ones).  If you just get 2-3, you'll be going back for more.

[paddedhat]

I regret buying a reciprocating saw.  It's not that there's anything wrong with the one that I bought . . . it's just that after using it to pull apart a deck I rarely use it any more.  Aside from trimming trees occasionally I just never seem to need it, or there are better tools for the job.

My vote also goes to renting.

eh...... My local place get $20 to rent one for eight hours. The OP found one for $35, and most likely could of shopped a bit more aggressively, or patiently and scored one for $20-25. So you use it for a big demo job and stick it in the attic. five years from now a big branch falls off the tree out back and you dig the sawzall back out. Now you win, no second trip to the store for a rental, no wasted time, no additional costs. This week I will be renting a sod cutter and roto-tiller.  A total of $3-4K worth of equipment for a hundred bucks. I have no interest in owning either tool, so renting makes sense. Last year, while parked in the deep south for our annual migration, I got the urge to put a new floor in the motorhome. I needed a chop saw, and had a perfectly good one(1200 miles away) So, I bought a nice one, with a decent $30 blade, on CL for $40. It was cheaper than renting, 20% of what a new one costs, and I could of literally thrown it out at the end of the job, and came out ahead. Spending $20 to rent a tool that you can buy on CL for a similar amount is not the best use of funds, IMHO. Once you go past a day's rent on the same tool, the math really goes bad.

[sequoia]

You can usually find a corded recip saw aka sawzall (that's what a lot of them will be called) on CL for $15-30.

Go with one of the big 4 if possible.  Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid.  Ryobi, Porter Cable and Hitachi are ok too.  Skil and Craftsman can be ok sometimes.  Avoid stuff like tool shop or whatever harbor freight sells unless it's like $5.

This for the win. I was a pro for decades and my Makita corded sawzall was, by far, the least used construction tool in my collection. I've worn out many battery drills and a few circular saws, but the most wear the sawzall has is from where it spent 30 years rubbing the inside of the case. It's still around, worth $20,  and will still be working just fine long after I'm gone. IMHO, Ridgid and Ryobi are second tier, but if you find any of these, or a Bosch in good shape for a couple of bucks, grab it.

When it comes to doing the job, it's all about the blade.  You want to stick with a demolition blade, They feature aggressive teeth that eat through wood quickly, and can saw right through nails without damage. I'm a big fan of Lenox brand blades and hole saws. Here is their demo blade.

http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/demolition-bi-metal-reciprocating-saw-blades.aspx

I am pretty sure we used Lenox blades as well. I never use anything else for demo work, so I can not compare vs other brands, but I thought they did well. I was taking out a pretty good size shed, maybe 10 x 15 ft last year. Lots of cuttings of metal and wood into smaller pieces so we can drag them into a dumpster. I did not break any blades, but we did went thru maybe 5 or 6 of them.

[Gagnante]

Thanks to everyone for their input, it was all really helpful. 

I agree that perhaps patience would have turned up a cheaper option than my $35 CL purchase, but we are under a time constraint because our city's bulk pickup is coming up and we wanted to get rid of the old rotten bits asap.  As for shopping more aggressively, I am in a large metro area, and didn't see a lower price anywhere within a two+ hour round trip drive.  Saving 15 dollars isn't worth spending two or more hours in my car.  This one I was able to pick up on my way to somewhere I already needed to go, at a time that was convenient to me, so in my book it was an easy choice.

I must thank J Boogie for even mentioning CL.  As much time as I waste spend perusing this forum, it didn't occur to me to look there first, and I'm glad I did.  The saw we got served us very well, and by the time we were done, a new one would have looked about like this one did, so it was money well saved.

Paddedhat and Spork, I really appreciate the recommendation for blades.  I picked up a five pack of the Lenox demolition blades, and it was enough for our job.  We didn't break any, but it was nice to be able to replace them at a reasonable frequency to be sure we weren't courting trouble.

FWIW, I'm not sorry to have purchased over renting.  We have a lot of trees with very hard wood that require regular maintenance, and this baby will be able to slice through them in no time, so I think we'll be able to use it again in the future.