Pole Pole saw

[professor]

I have been using a John Deere pole saw for about 10 years and it needs some repairs. Mitsubishi made the saw for Deere and they do not support parts or repair for the saw any longer. I am thinking about a new saw. I can get a Poulan, Troy-bilt for approx. $180 or I can get a Stihl or Echo for approx. $380. I have a two acre orchard and a lot of fence row limbs to trim. I would appreciate your opinions. Thank yo

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I recently had to purchase a pole saw, went with the Stihl HT131. Expensive - yes, but I suspect it will last for years. Also picked up an excellent harness by EasyLift. Home

 

[JimRB]

You can probably get parts and service for Stihl and Echo. Not so sure about those other two brands you mentioned. Where I live there are Stihl dealers everywhere and a few good service dealers. Not as many Echo service dealers but they are around
.

 

[HCJtractor]

Stihl Kombi. Choose a motor (I have the next to largest) and then the pole saw attachment . It allows reach up to about 10 feet. It's breaks down into shorter length, is light and powerful. And you can buy other attachments using the same motor. It's way more manageable and lighter than the other pole saws. I use it to clear miles of roads and trails.

 

[s219]

Don't bother with the Poulan.

I run Stihl, Husky, and Echo chainsaws regularly. Based on that experience, I started buying all Echo for my other equipment. The Echos just start easier and more consistently in my experience, and are less finicky about fuel. Every one of my Echos starts in 2 pulls cold and 1 pull warm. Every darn time. I love my Stihl saws because of the rugged build quality (they are both pro saws), but they have random starting behavior and can be fussy sometimes. For the record, I have two Stihl saws, two Echo saws, one Husky saw, one Echo leaf blower, and one Echo powerhead with trimmer/brush cutter attachments. All four Echos start easy and reliably, to the point where it's one of the few products I can really recommend without hesitation.

I bought the Echo blower last year and been real happy with it. Use it about twice a week during the fall to keep leaves off our driveway and the 35' steps down to my pier. Over the summer I bought an Echo PAS-266 25cc powerhead ($299) along with string trimmer and brush cutter attachments. They make a real nice PAS pole saw attachment for $199 that gives an 8' reach, and a 3' extension (for total of 11') is another $49. I will be getting that next time I need to do some pruning and don't want to get on a ladder.

Anyway, it would cost $500-550 for that PAS-266 pole saw setup, and you'd be able to add other attachments in the future. You can go with a less powerful 21cc powerhead and only spend $380, but I think it makes more sense to go higher power if you can afford it. The dedicated pole saws may or may not save you $, depending on the model, and then of course you can't use the powerhead for anything else.

 

[xyz123]

I went Echo. I like real 2 strokes and despise 4mix and all the extra parts. JMO

 

[Beltzington]

I was going to buy one several months ago and did allot of research. The $600 Echo Pro pole-saw seemed to be the preferred model based on reliability and features. You can rent this saw at Home Depot for $45 a day to try it out or in my case instead of buying one as I don't use one very often. Good Luck

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I bought the Stihl Kombi KM130 power head and the pole saw attachment. It has tons of power and I've been very pleased with it.

I debated between the KM130 and KM110 power heads, but the KM130 is only about $50 more and weighs about 1 ounce more, so it was really a no brainer after thinking about it. Nobody ever bought a tool like this and later wished it had less power.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a Poulan pole saw/string trimmer combo.... its a great string trimmer! :laughing: It is a very weak pole saw. :thumbdown:

I got it on sale and only use the pole saw occasionally, so its fine for small stuff, but it can't cut much over half the bar length without bogging the engine down. If you're looking for a good pole saw, I'd say look at something other than the Poulan. It starts and runs fine as a string trimmer. Just doesn't have the guts for the saw attachment. Hope that helps.

 

[yomax4]

I bought the large stihl pole saw. Nice yes but if you run a tank of gas through it your arms will fall off. Man she is a heavy beast. I'm a big dude and I work a lot of wood but this pole saw kicks my Azz.