# is the stihl power pole saw worth????



## ericjeeper (Aug 20, 2008)

Is it all its hyped up to be for the 599 bones?
We need one for barnlot cleanup and around the fields.. But if someone else makes a similar unit would I be better off? Echo? ?"


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## saxman (Aug 20, 2008)

Eric,
I have the HT131 Stihl and really like it. Is it worth the money? I guess it is up to you, I am sure it is overkill for my use but the 4-mix is very powerful and easy to start. As for competitive models, I have no experience with any of them so I can't say anything good or bad.


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## Trigger-Time (Aug 20, 2008)

ericjeeper said:


> Is it all its hyped up to be for the 599 bones?




I think so. 

We have HT101......and 600 acers of fences, field wood lines to take
care of. 160 is ours, rest is Mom & Dads  

You can put some limbs on the ground in a hurry!



Gary


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## Rookie1 (Aug 20, 2008)

We had an extendable Stihl at work, cant remember the model. It was a nice unit till somebody stole it.


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## stihl sawing (Aug 20, 2008)

It all depends on hard you wanna work, If your using a hand pole saw for a lot of limbing you are a bad dude. Mine is the HT131 and it will cut anything you got, I even run a 14 inch bar on mine. It will not bog down even when it's buried. I have cut some big limbs with mine. I even took a dead blackjack oak tree down with it. [except the trunk] I really like mine, If you figure what it would cost for someone to come and trim all your trees you would come out cheaper with the saw. I know that's what i did when all my big oaks needed trimming. I did trim them as far as i could reach and their was some big limbs. Stihl makes a 45 degree adapter for it, I was gonna get one but they are 200 bucks.


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## Frank Boyer (Aug 20, 2008)

I have the HT 101 and like it. I added the 30 degree adapter. I use the same 14 inch chain as on my 200T. The 131 was not out when I got mine. It won't buck logs, but it is good on branches.


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## stihl sawing (Aug 20, 2008)

Frank Boyer said:


> I added the 30 degree adapter.


OOPS, I said 45, It is a 30 degree.


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## tmurph (Aug 20, 2008)

Yes, worth it. 
I have the 131. Paid $650. for it.
Bent pole will cost you $350. No I haven't bent mine. I just happened to ask when I purchased mine. Makes you be real careful with it. Dealer said most poles are actually bent while in the pick up truck, stuck out a window, or driven over. 
Before I bought the pole pruner I helped my uncle 78 yr old farmer trim back the woods from his fields. Couple of pieces of plywood tied with twine string to the top of a hay wagon for staging. He'd drive the tractor along the woods while I would cling low to the staging. Then stop and cut. Lots of danger. Will never do it again. 
Told him I'll take care of it now with the pole pruner. It has worked very well. It is heavy and when I work it for 3 or 4 hours my arms and shoulders remind me the next day or so. 
I have found many uses for it.


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## 04ultra (Aug 20, 2008)

ericjeeper said:


> Is it all its hyped up to be for the 599 bones?
> We need one for barnlot cleanup and around the fields.. But if someone else makes a similar unit would I be better off? Echo? ?"



Check out Russo power equipment Schiller Park IL................they had the HT101 for 509.00 and HT131 for 549.00


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## tmurph (Aug 20, 2008)

Those are good prices. I priced 3 Stihl dealers around me, and they were all $650. I bought mine in June.


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## SAWITALL (Aug 20, 2008)

Yes it is worth it if you are going to use it often. I have the 131.

If you are going to use it occasionally then get the KM130 with the saw attachment and three ft extension then you will have a very versitle tool.


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## ericjeeper (Aug 20, 2008)

*The one I was looking at was a 2 stroke*

with a telescopic pole..
for 599. I saw the four stroke kombi type stuff.. But the salesman was saying the telescopic was better and has a longer reach, plus is adjustable without having to add or subtract pieces.


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## SAWITALL (Aug 20, 2008)

ericjeeper said:


> with a telescopic pole..
> for 599. I saw the four stroke kombi type stuff.. But the salesman was saying the telescopic was better and has a longer reach, plus is adjustable without having to add or subtract pieces.



The HT101 and 131 are 4-Mix, which runs on 50:1 fuel mix. They are the only one's that Stihl makes. They extend to 11 1/2 feet and the Kombi with 3ft ext will reach a little over 10ft, plus it's lighter and has solid steel drive shafts, which are stronger.


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## ropensaddle (Aug 20, 2008)

I have the 101 and the kombi but to be honest I use my silky 
more that either. I like the light weight of the silky vrs the
motor pole but I use it enough to keep gas fresh!


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## Climbing Cutter (Aug 21, 2008)

I love our ht101. We have the angle head attachment, but it was only around $75-$80.


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## Lakeside53 (Aug 21, 2008)

04ultra said:


> Check out Russo power equipment Schiller Park IL................they had the HT101 for 509.00 and HT131 for 549.00



Russo.... one day Stihl will catch them selling mail order....



Unless you intend to use it a lot, I recommend the KM130 with the fixed extensions. Then you can use it as a weed eater, blower, hedge trimmer etc.. The carbon fiber extension make it real easy to add an extra one... . And you can break it down to a very small package.


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## rxe (Aug 21, 2008)

Second-hand HT75? Certainly in the UK they come up on eBay pretty cheap, and they usually have very low hours - most homeowners buy them for a job, then realise a 5m saw is not very useful. HT75 is a great tool, but has others have said, you'd not want to be working for hours with it.


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## 046 (Aug 21, 2008)

HT75 has been a handy tool to have around. 

depending upon situation... gets used a lot or sits. just another tool in the quiver. 

mine has come in real handy for storm work. where branches have fallen and ended up under extreme tension. one is able to do those super dangerous cuts at a safer distance. 



rxe said:


> HT75 is a great tool, but has others have said, you'd not want to be working for hours with it.


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## ZeroJunk (Aug 21, 2008)

I'll throw this in for the heck of it.

Years ago my father was trimming trees in the yard. He had put a scaffold on top of a trailer to reach the limbs. One of the limbs fell across the electrical wires in to the house, bounced back and hit him in the head knocking him off the trailer for a fall of about 10 feet. He was 70 years old at the time and a tough old man. He never really got over it.

We all get in a hurry and get careless sometimes.In the long run it pays to do the right thing with the right equipment.


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## ericjeeper (Aug 22, 2008)

*I am now a new stihl owner*

I shucked out the cash for a new HT131 today.Dealer threw in a spare chain all for 600.00 out the door. Tax exempt farm use.


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## stihl sawing (Aug 22, 2008)

Your gonna be amazed how much power and torque it has.


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## flxblx (Aug 22, 2008)

ericjeeper said:


> I shucked out the cash for a new HT131 today.Dealer threw in a spare chain all for 600.00 out the door. Tax exempt farm use.



Using an HT75 for same purpose. After 3 tanks of fuel I am ready to find something else to do for rest of day. I tend to spend tooo much time with the pole fully extended and the motor at chest height. Spent about week trimming limbs around fields this spring.

Combine windows are really expensive also.


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## d1hamby (Mar 8, 2015)

stihl sawing said:


> It all depends on hard you wanna work, If your using a hand pole saw for a lot of limbing you are a bad dude. Mine is the HT131 and it will cut anything you got, I even run a 14 inch bar on mine. It will not bog down even when it's buried. I have cut some big limbs with mine. I even took a dead blackjack oak tree down with it. [except the trunk] I really like mine, If you figure what it would cost for someone to come and trim all your trees you would come out cheaper with the saw. I know that's what i did when all my big oaks needed trimming. I did trim them as far as i could reach and their was some big limbs. Stihl makes a 45 degree adapter for it, I was gonna get one but they are 200 bucks.



I have the Kombi 130R with the extension, pole saw and 30 degree attachment. I use a 10" and 16" bar and the 12" with carbide chain, which I like the most.


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## Franny K (Mar 8, 2015)

That is certainly an impressive unit, I have stuck shims in the pole part as some place wouldn't tighten up enough. Has enough torque to twist the extension, took me a while to figure out that it could be repositioned back. It is really too long in the short position and of course in the long position it often seems not quite long enough. It is quite tiring to use, be careful as the branches you cut off can slide down the pole right at you.

Unfortunately after a couple of years many more little branches appear where you cut off one.


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## syrupmaker70 (Mar 8, 2015)

Yeah these pole pruners can make a pile of brush in no time. They also can be hazardous when you are reaching high, the stuff will sometimes want to come right at you. It's the most dangerous piece of equipment I have.IMO. Echo ppt-288 with 4' extension. Good Luck .


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## 1Alpha1 (Mar 8, 2015)

I have the Stihl HT-131. It's all you'll ever need in a pole saw.

In anticipation of buying mine, I opened up a (insert name here) credit card account. They had a promotion going that if you made a purchase of at least $500.00 within the first three months of opening the account, you got $200.00 cash back.

I bought my HT-131 from an ACE Hardware. They gave me 10% off of MSRP. I used my new credit card to purchase the HT-131. I actually got almost $207.00 back for whatever reason.

The final cost to me was right about $345.00 for my HT-131.

In regards to the angle drive unit, I haven't found the need for one.......yet. But, Ii I happen across one at a good price, chances are, I'll get it anyways.


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## ZeroJunk (Mar 8, 2015)

A problem with the angle drive is that it is almost impossible to cut a kerf size notch in the bottom of a large limb. It kicks out as soon as you touch it. Whereas with the angle of the straight blade you can by just starting on the far side and keeping the tip in the wood. And, if you can't notch a large limb you can get hung up easily.


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## CTYank (Mar 8, 2015)

Main negative IMHO to Stihl polesaws is the weight of the steel tube. Much prefer the aluminum tube of Tanaka, has let me run it most all day, in Aug. even. Got one for ~$250 on Bailey's closeout- priceless.


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## 1Alpha1 (Mar 8, 2015)

Quick story. When I ordered mine from ACE Hardware, they'd never carried one in-stock before, because of it's price. 

When it came in, two guys from the service dept. prepped it for delivery to me. Both were rather amazed at how much power (torque) it made. One guy said it almost twisted right out of his hands. The other guy asked his co-worker if it was supposed to make that much power?

Anyways, both guys were very impressed with it. Before I left, they asked if it was okay for potential HT-131 customers to call me and ask me about it and how I liked it. I said fine, and they said that they'd make it worth my while, if someone came in to buy one and mentioned having called me. 

So far, I've received one free extra bar for it.


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## Franny K (Mar 8, 2015)

2123 said:


> Quick story. snip One guy said it almost twisted right out of his hands. snip


This is true, it is also true for the similar displacement Efco 4 cycle Honda powered trimmer with the pole pruner attachment. The twisting is on change in rpm of the engine and adds to the tiring (fatigue of muscles) effect. Strange thing is the Stihl one reminds me of a 50cc Honda mini bike made into a pit bike for adults and the Honda/Efco one sounds mild mannered.


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## CTYank (Mar 8, 2015)

Franny K said:


> This is true, it is also true for the similar displacement Efco 4 cycle Honda powered trimmer with the pole pruner attachment. The twisting is on change in rpm of the engine and adds to the tiring (fatigue of muscles) effect. Strange thing is the Stihl one reminds me of a 50cc Honda mini bike made into a pit bike for adults and the Honda/Efco one sounds mild mannered.



Stihls are prone to twisting in your hands on accelerating the engine, relative to Tanaka ferinstance, because the left-hand grip is just a rubber coating applied to the tube. The Tanaka has a left-hand grip that stands off the tube for ~8", that you can position as desired. Much preferable, IMO. I really like intelligent designs, FWIW.


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## Gypo Logger (Mar 8, 2015)

I shouldn't have sold my Stihl polesaw.


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## ZeroJunk (Mar 8, 2015)

At least you weren't naked.


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