Who makes a decent chainsaw?

[Knight9]

<font color=blue>So am I the only pleased user of a small Mac saw? </font color=blue>

Nope. I have a 16" Mac, don't recall the model number. It has been an excellent little saw. As long as I keep the chain sharp there is nothing that has stopped her.....except when the owner lets its run out of gas /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.

Got a tree half down last night (guy lost control of his pickup on the front road, rolled it in my ditch, and took down a couple of my trees. Left a few standing wounded.) and ran out of gas. I hate it when that happens! /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Couldn't leave it up so I ended up using the tractor to pull it down the rest of the way.

Kevin

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya's
yep most mac's seem to have people throwing off at them others love them .same with stihls, husky ,dolmar, poulan etc etc end of the day it's realy dealer ,part's and back up ,ya get what ya pay for .myself i would not buy from anywhere where they don't fix them on the place (super market kinda place)to them it's just the point of sale that counts ,ask around freinds and see if you can try there saw see whay ya like feel ,way it's set out etc etc .
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[edgeman56]

I will add my 2 cents to this topic, becouse with all the post I have not seen anybody add Echo brand. I have there 20 inch bar unit, and it has been great, it is a strong and light saw that has an excellent feel to it. You might want to look at them, they are worth a look.

 

[gordon]

I've run a few different saws and overall I like Husky the best. That is my personal opinion so take it for what it's worth. At this time I own three Huskys and one Stihl and one Poulan.

Bottom line is it depends alot on what you will be cutting buy a good name brand and keep your chain sharp that is the key. I've seen junk saws out cut nice saws because of guess what. The chain.

But for me I'll take my huskys up against any stihl. I love my 288xp for the big stuff and my 272xp runs a close second. Then my 51 for limbing and small stuff. I do know that with the same chain on a husky and a stihl the husky vibrates less and thats a fact.

Above is a picture of a husky xp
Gordon

 

[gordon]

Oh and yes you can make a stihl run with a full skip chain.

See picture above.
Gordon

 

[ERNIEB]

When I bought this place in 92, I had a lot of mesquite and brush to cut down. I went to the local chain hardware store and bought a Macoulagh that lasted about a year. By then the stores were selling Poulan, so I bought one of those. After about a year, it still ran but the cog thing had broken and the bar was always coming loose. My brother had a couple of Poulan saws, so I gave it to him for parts or whatever.
About this time Paul Harvey was hawking Husqvarna. He said all the pro lumberjacks up North used them. That sounded good to me, and I was getting tired of buying chain saws every year. Alas, I couldn't even find anyone who ever heard of Husqvarna let alone a dealer. I did get a few recomendations for Echo, and a bunch for Sthil. I bought the Sthil 029. It has held up, and is worth every penny I paid for it.
My only question is what is with these names? Do you have to have an unusual name to make a chain saw? Smith or Jones won't do?

Ernie

 

[Boondox]

Oh, I simply MUST share that picture with my wife! Yet more ammunition for the purchase of a backhoe! Thanks! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[cowboydoc]

Richard,
The new Stihl's have the decompression switch, or even from the last five years which is when I got my newest one.

 

[dmccarty]

Ahh, another Brand Color Debate! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I have a Stihl 046. I've gotten a couple of hundred hours of use in it easy. And I do mean running hours. The only problem I have had with it is I had to change the spark plug a few months back and I fed it bad fuel. I thought the fuel was good but I think too much of the good stuff had evaporated and left me a bad fuel/oil mix. The saw tried to start and died. Had to replace the spark plug. I had put at least twice the number of hours than was recommended but it kept starting so why put in a new plug? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif After the bad fuel that plug was a gunky mess.

I have cut itty bitty little stuff with the 046 and trees up to 24-26 inches in diameter without a problem. Keep the thing fuel, oiled, and sharp chain is all the 046 asks... Its a heavy beast that can kick my butt but put it on a big oak log with a sharp chain and it just goes...

I looked at buying a second chainaw, one that was lighter than the 046 but I can go from cutting a 1 inch sapling that is in the way to working through a 24+ inch log. So I just figure I'm burning more calories and building up muscles! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
.
I also have a Stihl FS 80 or 85 edger/brush cutter. I have abused that thing. I have cut lots of trees up to 3-4 inches in diameter with this thing. In the last 16 months I have use the chain saw and brush cutter to cut the saplings from a road a good 1,600 feet long. Say six feet on both sides of the road for 1,600 feet. A minimum of 16,000 square feet of densly packed saplings. Course the FS gets used as a simple weed wacker at the house.

The logger that timbered my property used Stihl as well. I don't think you can go wrong with a Stihl or Husky. I personally don't like the cheaper saws. My neighbor had a Poulan or some such. He bought two of them new. What he has cut with two saws would be a very small percentage of what I have cut with one Stihl. And he has two of his adult boys to help him. His saws just are not as productive as the Stihl. His saws are falling apart and I think are just flat out dangerous.

I do wear safety chaps, boots, gloves, eye protect and a helmet with a face shield as well as ear protection. These things are cheap compared with even a little accident, if such a thing exsists with a chainsaw. The cost of a couple of stitches ain't gonna come close to what a good set of safety equipment costs. I think the helmet was about 50 dollars and the chaps 50-75. Pretty cheap insurance. Hot as all heck but I'll take the heat.

The difference between the professional and other Stihl chainsaws starts somewhere around 044 or 046 saws. Sthil makes the 046, I think an 048 and a monstrous other model which I can't remember. Its for cutting down huge redwood monster trees.

Hope this helps...
Dan WhoWillBeUsingThe046EarlySaturdayBeforeItGetsRealHot McCarty

 

[cowboydoc]

That's what model I have Dan except it's the 046 Pro. Pretty dang bulletproof.