Homeowner chainsaw rec.

[4570Man]

Maybe because Stihl's get used more? In other words... rack up more hours per saw vs. others? Not trying to argue, just curious and trying to be fair.

I think if you take the “professional” users out the hours used are pretty low on any brand of saw.

 

[dragoneggs]

I just got my new HF Insider Monthly. They have that Lynx 40V saw at 20 bucks off again so I just may take them up on one. I have two big trees close to the house we bought last spring to take down before they leaf out again. I have to tie off several branches to swing them away from the house. I had a third tree that I did that way with my ~20 year old 029. Minimal noise, no pull on the starter rope and ease of tying the saw off while I reposition sound pretty appealing.

I see it at $119.99 w/coupon now. Is that what you are seeing?

 

[Rock Crawler]

I think if you take the “professional” users out the hours used are pretty low on any brand of saw.

I don't know that I agree. I live in a rural area and just about everyone I know has a chainsaw, based just in my small view of the world, I see at least 4 out of 5 saws being Stihl. Most are not commercial grade, but they are at least it's and white saws. Hardware stores stock Stihl, tractor stores stock them, you can buy Stihl branded equipment just about everywhere but the gas station. So I'm guessing that there are a ton more of Stihl branded equipment out there being used, abused, neglected and worn out from both commercial and home owner users.

Maybe it's geographic and other places don't show the Stihl brand as strong, but around Western Pa., you see lots of Orange.

 

[RandyT]

Maybe because Stihl's get used more? In other words... rack up more hours per saw vs. others? Not trying to argue, just curious and trying to be fair.

Actually the opposite is true for me. Most of the problems I see with Stihl is due to not being used enough, So bad fuel, bad fuel lines, carb issues. And damaged cylinders, which happens to all brands. Most of the Stihls that I see have a lot less hours on them then the Dolmar saws that I have sold. Most of the Dolmar issues that I see are more major, but they tend to have 5-10 times the number of hours on them compared to the Stihl saws I work on.

My personal saw line up is actually another brand that I sold prior to Dolmar called Solo. I have a 650,662,667, and a 694 and one Dolmar ps-5105. the 5105 will out cut the 662 and 667 even though it is only 50 cc compared to the 62 and 67 cc of the other saws. the newest of the solo saws is 2004. My first saw that I purchased was a 1995 029 that I had taken to the woods to cut firewood, and then had to turn around and go a mile back through the woods to get a small screwdriver to adjust the carb, because the dealer had see it too rich, and was 4 stroking under load. Then I purchased the 017 which I had mentioned before which I owned about 3 years, Besides the carb issues, I had issues with it breaking the cutters off of the chain when cutting oak. That is a problem with the .043 narrow kerf chain used on those small saws. I won't even stock a saw on the shelf if it has that chain on it. .050 gauge or else.

 

[RandyT]

I think if you take the “professional” users out the hours used are pretty low on any brand of saw.

Actually the hardest people on saws are serious firewood cutters. Loggers will start a saw notch and drop a tree, shut off the saw, walk down the log, start the saw and buck off the log, and then shut off the saw, and continue to the next tree. Firewood cutters will start the saw and basically not let go of the trigger until the saw runs out of gas.

 

[4570Man]

Actually the hardest people on saws are serious firewood cutters. Loggers will start a saw notch and drop a tree, shut off the saw, walk down the log, start the saw and buck off the log, and then shut off the saw, and continue to the next tree. Firewood cutters will start the saw and basically not let go of the trigger until the saw runs out of gas.

But how many people that burn firewood use their saws more than a couple days a year. I can cut a years worth of firewood inside of week.

 

[Creamer]

Actually the opposite is true for me. Most of the problems I see with Stihl is due to not being used enough, So bad fuel, bad fuel lines, carb issues. And damaged cylinders, which happens to all brands. Most of the Stihls that I see have a lot less hours on them then the Dolmar saws that I have sold. Most of the Dolmar issues that I see are more major, but they tend to have 5-10 times the number of hours on them compared to the Stihl saws I work on.

My personal saw line up is actually another brand that I sold prior to Dolmar called Solo. I have a 650,662,667, and a 694 and one Dolmar ps-5105. the 5105 will out cut the 662 and 667 even though it is only 50 cc compared to the 62 and 67 cc of the other saws. the newest of the solo saws is 2004. My first saw that I purchased was a 1995 029 that I had taken to the woods to cut firewood, and then had to turn around and go a mile back through the woods to get a small screwdriver to adjust the carb, because the dealer had see it too rich, and was 4 stroking under load. Then I purchased the 017 which I had mentioned before which I owned about 3 years, Besides the carb issues, I had issues with it breaking the cutters off of the chain when cutting oak. That is a problem with the .043 narrow kerf chain used on those small saws. I won't even stock a saw on the shelf if it has that chain on it. .050 gauge or else.

Do you think the Dolmar owners are more professionals? They are a highly rated saw but not well known. Stihl on the other hand is very well known and, as somebody said, sold in lots of hardware and farm fleet type stores as well as Stihl dealers. i.e much more available. Husqavarna are the same - sold in lots of places just not as big a name as Stihl.

Actually you are not the first person to talk about the cutters coming off the chain with the Stihl pica chain when it gets into hard cutting. Is there not another brand of chain that does better in this regard?

 

[hosspuller]

Don't sell the Poulan saws short. I had a Poulan "wild thing" for 15 years. Trimming, felling and firewood. I worn it out. It would start but would gradually die as it warmed at the end. It served well... only replaced fuel lines, chain and a bar. I flipped the bar with every chain sharpening. The fuel lines and cap were done in by the gasohol. Only used oil with fuel stabilizer. Would use it at least once a month, through the years so never had carb issues. As previous poster said, when cutting firewood, saw ran until it was out of gas. A break for me and a fill for the saw.

 

[4570Man]

You’re not the only pro Poulan person here. How many of you have ever got your hands on a pro saw?

 

[hosspuller]

You’re not the only pro Poulan person here. How many of you have ever got your hands on a pro saw?

A pro saw is not just an expensive saw. Depends is certainly applicable. Full chisel vs semi. skip vs full ... Heavy vs light. 16 inch bar vs 18 inch vs 20 inch vs light saber length ...That "PRO" saw is not always the best for a user. Though many sales have been made on that premise.

 

[4570Man]

A pro saw is not just an expensive saw. Depends is certainly applicable. Full chisel vs semi. skip vs full ... Heavy vs light. 16 inch bar vs 18 inch vs 20 inch vs light saber length ...That "PRO" saw is not always the best for a user. Though many sales have been made on that premise.

So is that a yes or no? I can’t imagine cutting your yearly firewood with a poulan if you have.

 

[goeduck]

I had considered that since Stihl is about 33% of the market, so should amount to about 1 out of every three saws that I work on. In reality I see about 50-60% of my repairs to be Stihl.

Yeah right. Uh huh.

 

[dragoneggs]

I had considered that since Stihl is about 33% of the market, so should amount to about 1 out of every three saws that I work on. In reality I see about 50-60% of my repairs to be Stihl.

Curious, what is the typical repair you frequently see with the Stihl, and it is generally the same as other model repairs?

 

[RandyT]

Do you think the Dolmar owners are more professionals? They are a highly rated saw but not well known. Stihl on the other hand is very well known and, as somebody said, sold in lots of hardware and farm fleet type stores as well as Stihl dealers. i.e much more available. Husqavarna are the same - sold in lots of places just not as big a name as Stihl.

Actually you are not the first person to talk about the cutters coming off the chain with the Stihl pica chain when it gets into hard cutting. Is there not another brand of chain that does better in this regard?

Dolmar owners more professional no, but I will add that a lot of my customers have run saws for 30-40 years. Most of my sales are to farmers that use them to clear downed trees around fields, and and some of those farmers cut and sell firewood in the winter. One of my biggest saw customers runs an excavating company, and uses his saws to cut the root wad off of the tree after he digs them up, and also does some logging on the side. Those are the guys I see several times a year or winter, and usually have 4 or 5 chains per saw that need sharpened. Nothing like having a 13 year old kid walk in and plunk down the cash for a new $500 saw. That saw now has over 500 pickup loads of wood under its belt.

As far as the pica chain, basically there really isn't any chain options. You have the occasional china import chain, and you have Oregon, and Carlton which is made by Oregon, and then everybody likes to talk about their Stihl brand chain, which is actually made by Oregon also. Actually the best chain that I have ever found, which went out of business a few years back was made by Excel.

 

[RandyT]

Curious, what is the typical repair you frequently see with the Stihl, and it is generally the same as other model repairs?

With Stihl I see carb and fuel line issues which either cause the saw to not run, or in some cases if the owner pushes their luck, scored cylinders. Husqvarna/poulan is dirty carb issues and scored cylinders from running too lean, especially Poulan, The Husqvarna brand is too lean scored cylinders on the lower end saws, and pitting of the cylinder lining on the pro saws.

Most of the Stihl saws that I see are in the 30-50 cc range. Most of the Husqvarna saws are the 42-60 cc range, and the Dolmar are the 42-80 cc range. So I see more small Stihls than other brands. My customers don't run big Stihls. I see several of my customers that own Stihl for their small saw actually run either Husqvarna, Echo or Dolmar for their big saw.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I use my fathers old Echo CS4600 when needed here on the farm.

Stihl has the most market penetration due to sales and support. My personal choice would be Dolmar but the nearest servicing dealer is 30 miles away.

Nothing at all wrong with home owner saws if you are not going to run them often. I may get chastised but those factory refurbished units from Northern Tool may be an option.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I went on Facebook last night to verify what I suspected, that Stihl just flat out out-sells any other brand by an extremely huge margin, at least in the Eastern Ohio / Western Pa area.

In just over 12 hours:
23 on Stihl, 2 on Husqvarna, and 0 on echo.

Stihl has pretty hard core market saturation over here.

 

[RandyT]

There are other brands that are just as good or better than Stihl, but their in your face advertising is what makes them move.

 

[MossRoad]

Youæ±*e not the only pro Poulan person here. How many of you have ever got your hands on a pro saw?

My in-laws bought a very nice large Stihl many years ago. They paid close to $500 for it. I operated it a few days with them, and yes, it was very nice. And heavy. It was way too much saw for firewood cutting. And my brother-in-law borrowed it for a day and it never returned to their home again. So, I had my hands on it... shortly. :laughing:

In all seriousness, almost to a T, everything I cut is telephone-pole-sized locust trees or smaller. That's what I heat my house with, about 6 cords per year. The little 42cc Poulan Pro starts easily, is light to carry, and works just fine for limbing the tops of these trees. And it was factory reconditioned for about $99. It's fine for my needs. When it comes time to replace it, I'll consider a larger more professional brand saw, but I'm not going to pay 3X the price just to have a name.

 

[MossRoad]

So is that a yes or no? I can’t imagine cutting your yearly firewood with a poulan if you have.

Again, it ain't that hard. I spend a day selecting, dropping, and limbing 40-50 locust trees in my woods. Then another day dragging them all out with the machine and stacking them at the landing. Then I go back and cut off the 16" pieces and toss them onto my trailer and drive them home. One trailer load per day is about all my aching back can take of locust wood.

Yes, a larger saw with a different chain would cut faster. And that might save me some time. But if I damage that saw by dropping a log on it, or running it over, or it gets stolen, etc... I'm out way more money than my $99 recon Poulan. It's reverse insurance. It does the job I need it to do satisfactorily. I also have an old Craftman 18" saw that I got for free from a neighbor. It uses the same bars and chains as the Poulan. No chain brake, though. So it's only used if I might pinch the Poulan in a cut. And I have my father's 18" Craftsman that also had no chain brake. I used the bar and chains from that, too.

I guess its all in how you look at it. In the end, if we both go out into my woods, and you use a pro grade saw and I use my little Poulan, I'm still gonna end up with 50-60 telephone poles on the ground that day. It might take you less time, but I'm fine with that.