Which pole saw??

[Coyote machine]

I forgot to mention the somewhat better starting on Echo equipment. I too have found it to be the case. Stihl equipment is more like a race car vs. a street car- it's just more demanding, and sometimes a pain.

I don't do anything but one mix of E free high test gas and Stihl's Ultra premix oil for all my equipment that takes a mix, regardless of brand and age.
It is more important to have the best premix oil and best non-E gas present in the tank for all these tools.
Yes, ten years ago they still had various mixture ratios for gas/oil, but now, IMHO, one and done. I've had no issues doing this one mix in saws from the 1980's right up to present day ones, plus weed eaters, etc. YMMV, but not likely....

 

[jeff9366]

For older two-stroke equipment the ratio was 40:1.

I am pretty sure all new equipment specs a ratio of 50:1.

Some Stihl equipment specs 89 octane gasoline, rather than 87 octane.

Absolutely no problems associated with starting a PP800.

 

[prs]

I have the 7' Professional Stihl with the 40cc power head and 14" bar. Weighs a tad under 15#, I guess and has great power. Easy to start. I've used it a lot over the past 5 or 6 years with no trouble. I have the harness, but have never used that Its only flaw that I see is the low kick-back chain which slows the cutting rate a little, I would prefer professional grade chain and its not like kick back is going to be problem with a 7' pole between operator and blade. I find that Husqvarna equipment is very good too as long as you stick with their premium or professional grade; which is what I do with Stihl too.

prs

 

[corl]

I have the Husqvarna professional adjustable pole saw. It works great and I got it to raise the canopy around our house. We have 30 + big trees and the saw makes short work of the cutting. Still have to carry the limbs away which takes much longer. The only trouble I have had is when a squirrel chewed through the gas tank. Epoxy fixed that problem. i wear the sling to hold it and it works fine for me. Turned out to be much cheaper than the local tree service which we did once. I use Startron in the oil-gas mixture and have used a Husqvarna 450 chain saw as well for yearly firewood and tree cleanup. Good equipment!

 

[bcp]

I have saws needing 16:1, 32:1, 40:1, and 50:1.

Bruce

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

For those of you who like Echo, they liked Shindaiwa so much, they bought the company a few years back.
Really good stuff.

 

[dfkrug]

I have saws needing 16:1, 32:1, 40:1, and 50:1.

They can all run on the latest 50:1 semi-synthetic JASO-FD oil, which has been
the standard for nearly 20y. You will have to retune them a bit. The newest
oils have the latest anti-friction anti-smoke technology, which was unknown (or not
commonly available) in the old days of 32:1 mixes. As far back as the 60s, you could use
16:1 ratio with motor oil, or buy special oil from the manufacturer to go as much as 40:1.

As for the pole saws, I have used them from Stihl and Echo, but I found them too heavy,
and now use a cheapo B&D 18V electric. I wonder if the big brands have Li-ion electric?
That would be even better, IMO.

I just got a reciprocating pole saw attachment to try out. No oil required. Need to get
a new blade before I try it.

 

[om21braz]

If you don't need quite the reach or a dedicated pole saw, the Stihl Kombi is a good alternative. I wouldn't go less than the 110 though.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I opted for the Stihl Ht-131.

I recently trimmed a few thousand feet of treeline at maximum pole extension. The saw never missed a beat - but it does get heavy. The Stihl harness was not impressive, so I bought this one instead.

Home

 

[coolnature]

I bought the Stihl HT131 last year mainly because I have a good Stihl dealer about 5 miles away. It is heavy but it is very easy to start and the power / performance is excellent. It has proven to be an invaluable tool for me.