chain saws

[g0rd0]

Well,
for the past 7 years I have been babysitting a husky rancher 55.
right from the start it has been a thorn in my side, when it works IT WORKS. When it dos'nt it dos'nt. Right from the start it has chewed muffler gaskets! Husky's fix was to toss me a new muffler, still chewing gaskets. For the tune of 1 gasket =2 days work. I kid you not. Husky's reply was to toss me yet another muffler.
Well I kept it going, by keeping a supply of at least 3 gaskets on hand, (hey since I mentioned this any of you rancher owners out there need muffler gaskets I still have 3 left just send me your snail mail address and I will send them to you) and today the familiair roar that told me time for a gasket change. Ya I wish.
When I took off the muffler the cylinder head was split. Time for a new saw, never another husky. Not to say that their saws are no good BUT around here the husky support is all for naught.
You might say 7 years are not been reasonable?
My saw before that was a still 038 mag lasted 15 years. And remember that I mentioned that right from the start I was haveing that saw in at the dealer for "warentee work"
Enough of my rant thanks for listening, time to go shopping

[Craig Clayton]

I am curios as how the saw went through so many muffler gaskets. As they kept tossing you another muffler how is that repair related to the muffler gasket.

I own a Husky saw from new but I am not sure of the model # without looking at the saw.

Craig Clayton

[kenmac]

Must have gotten a bad1. I'm sure every co. makes a bad probuct from time to time. I've had my 55 rancher for about 10 yrs & never had a problem

[toddbailey]

I agree you have gotten a bad one and some terrible customer from the dealer.

[firedog]

I have a Husqvarna 257 with a 20" bar. It's 20 years old and still kicks butt. So 7 or 8 years ago I bought a Husq. weed trimmer; it ran about 15 min and quit. I took it back and got another, and the same thing. Could be the product quality has gone down in the last several years. Hard to say if I'd buy another.

[Pete Judd]

Around here the Stihl seems to be the the standby, I have two, but the Husqvarna have been gaining. Sounds like the surface that the gasket on the head is not flat. Might be able to fix it with a file, and get rid of the "bump" that is not letting the gasket to fit tight.

[Jstpssng]

I have a Husqvarna 257 with a 20" bar. It's 20 years old and still kicks butt. So 7 or 8 years ago I bought a Husq. weed trimmer; it ran about 15 min and quit. I took it back and got another, and the same thing. Could be the product quality has gone down in the last several years. Hard to say if I'd buy another.

I tend to agree. I ran Huskies for years. My 254 was almost imortal, even survived being rolled out of and over by my tractor bucket. My last chainsaw and brush saw both lost the crankshafts prematurely but were too pricey to fix. $1200 worth of saws didn't last 3 years... I'm now buying Stihl.

[johnk]

I have a Husky 55 Rancher and it never skips a beat. Punished it for about 7 years now and never had a problem. Also have a Husky 385 XP and never a problem. I'd buy another in a heartbeat but can't break either of the 2 I have and use regularly..

[Tollster]

I have a 51 i got in 93 for 359.00, still ripping. Something was wrong with is from the get go, I would not be surprised if it was cracked for a long time,weeping at the gasket base, till it finally let go,perhaps a casting impurity during the solidification process. It sounds non typical for a husky of that era.

[dstig1]

Ford/Chevy Apple/Microsoft R1s/R4s....you get the idea. This is the same type of thing....

But...

Frankly it is hard to argue with Stihl. People can complain about certain models not having the best power to weight ratio out there (and we are talking splitting hairs in many cases) but the one thing I find with my Stihl vs my Ryobi/Redmax saw is that the Stihl never fails to run and run well and cut hard. And I have used it hard. Granted mine is a pro model 362 but it is reliable as all get out and my go-to saw. The Stihls always start, and within a couple pulls. I can't say that about the other saw I have (the Ryobi mini limbing saw).

Downsides? Mainly cost. You can find used ones, and if you know what to look for you can do well there. I would recommend the chainsaw forum at Arboristsite for learning about that. If you can handle the abuse... You can always just read and search and learn, too.