Good topic, let's talk about size and see exactly where it matters. People go to a larger chainsaw for basically two reasons: 1. Faster cut 2.Thicker wood . Size also matters in maneuverability and ease of handling. This is all not as objective as it sounds however as much has to do with the operator , operators budget, amount of wood to be cut each year and size of the wood. All of this needs to be taken into account before recommending "get the largest chainsaw" This decision lies in the realm of the operator and not necessarily how the rest of us use chainsaws and what our individual needs are as it relates to "production". Some people are perfectly content to buy a lighter saw that does everything they ask in the amount of time they desire to use. Others (such as myself) have been weaned on "production" and what others are perfectly happy with speed wise would make me nuts but I, in all fairness cannot recommend a saw that fits my needs. I try to take a middle of the road stance as having come from both a professional and homeowner scenario chainsaw user. Based on that, I like sizing a saw to its bar length. Very few homeowners need anything more than an 18" bar and for that, there are plenty of saws that would pull that size with alacrity. Heck, I cut wood professionally and 95% of the time I walked into the woods with nothing bigger than a 20" bar. The rest is all subjective and its like building performance engines "how fast do you want to go and how much money do you wanna spend and are you comfortable handling a 9 second car". As I do not know the physical prowess and stamina of the op, I stand by my recommendation of the 550 with 18" bar as a do all, catch just about everybody saw. As far as Dolmar is concerned. I think they are the biggest bang for the buck and would be my first recommendation but for one fact, they have the lousiest marketing and distribution presentation I have ever seen for such a high quality product. I know how difficult it is here to track them and cannot imagine what their spread is in Canada. My first idea would be the 5105 Dolmar (or whatever they're calling their 5000 series saw these days) as I think the 357 has gotten wildly expensive for what it is.
