A good saw choice

[bluequill56]

Matt,

Sooo?? What'd ya get?

 

[Austin1]

Hello from East Central Illinois. How far are you from Champaign? I'll toss in a vote for the 310. I had one before the saw bug bit me, and it's a great saw. I cut a ton of wood with it, and the friend I sold it to still uses it heavily. Neither of us have had a lick of trouble with it. If you take care of it she'll last you a life time. I'm fortunate to be able to play with bigger toys, but if I was limited to one saw and was just out to cut fire wood and had to stay within your budget constraint I'd get another 310 in a heartbeat. Tough as nails, very reliable, lots of grunt. You can bury a 20" bar in Oak, and it will just chug right along. I never have understood why the 290/310 get such a bad rap around here. OK, maybe a little heavier and a tad slower than comparable pro saws, but for the money you can't beat 'em. And Stihl has built an empire selling them. But once you get it, I'll bet your curiosity/obsesion trait will eventually get the best of you, then your signature will start to get some larger and larger numbers in it....

Regards,
Shane

Saw snobs is the only way to explain it! I am also a saw snob, or Biased what ever you want to call it? as I do not like the 170/180 Stihls give me a poulan any day over one of those saws.I have seen a 390 Stihl used for 5 years at least 15 cords a year and never gave any trouble to the owner.Bottom line we all have opinions some like a certain saw some don't.

 

[johnj7l]

nothing like a good stihl.

 

[blackdoggy]

Whom ever spoke up about the lazer sharp chains I wish you had spoken up sooner:censored: . Next time I order a pair of chains its gonna cost me $46 before S&H(instead of $16 per pair :jawdrop, I am not getting any other chains now besides the lazer sharp ones due to that fantastic sales pitch. According to what the guy up in P.A. told me all of there chains are hard faced during production with carbide so they last 5X longer in dirty stuff and they last 10X longer in clean wood and there is no special tools required to sharpen them . So needless to say they are now the chains I will always order due to that carbide hard facing and the longevity especially since I am usually cutting up dirty wood.

 

[aandabooks]

Nothing yet bluequill. I wasn't that impressed with the Dolmar. It is fast for the weight but with a good sharp chain on my Poulan 16" I can cut just about as fast at the same weight. Reliability is another issue. So it is off to find a Stihl dealer that I like and see if I can find a deal on a used 360 in my budget or a new 310. I haven't had a chance yet with the wife dragging me all over Christmas shopping.

Blackdoggy, before you go spending $23 per chain take a look at Ebay. There is a seller on there that sells the genuine Stihl chain in the box for $13 per with no shipping if you buy five. He only carries a few sizes though.

Matt

 

[blackdoggy]

I am not going back after regular chains now that I know I can get hard faced chains that last longer and are harder than normal chains.

 

[Vibes]

Hey Black dog, that Poulan he has is a good little saw. If the Craftsmen is the copy of the 2775 or 2800 it is also good. I think they quit maken those saws 10 to 15 years ago and if he's still using them whats that tell you.

I have a Poulan 2800 and its Craftsmen copy and they are both reliable saws.

If all you got is Stihl dealers in your area, and they got something in your budget, and you like the guys there buy it. All these saws are good anymore and other than personal preferances, or nit picking weight issues they will all last you a long time if you take care of them. It always turns into a Chevy's better Fords better argument. Being your runnen an old Poulan I think you can take care of them.

 

[Tazman1602]

Hello All,

I posted this question quite a while ago over the chainsaw forum. I figured I'll post it here because there seems to be a slight difference in the type of people that populate this forum. Here is the question:

If you had $400 to spend on a good firewood saw, which one saw would you chose?


Thanks,
Matt

Hey Matt,
I"ve cut firewood for a lot of years. I had a ten year layoff because propane was affordable but it isn't practical anymore so back to the old wood furnace.

My 27 year old McCollough Pro-Mac 610 cut thousands of cords for me.......however...........and it still runs like a scalded cat........but I'm 50 years old now and it feels like it wieghs a million pounds these days. So I just bought a new Husky 353 e-Tec and I love that saw. Price was under $400 ($369 'cause I know the dealer....) Cuts like crazy and runs all day.

Art

 

[aandabooks]

Tazman,

The 353 is one of the Husky's that is on my list. About the same power and weight as the 350 but a few more dollars because of the magnesium case. The other two are the 346xp and the 359. The 359 is about the same power as the 460 without alot of the weight. A bit more money. If I could find a Husky dealer closer than 40 miles away it might move one of these saws ahead of a Stihl. Guy at work claims there is one in a small town right next to where I work but he is not listed on the Husqvarna website. Got to look further into that.

Thanks for the recommendation of the 353. Glad to hear your happy with your new saw.

Matt

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I was just about to say that there was no way a 359 has the power of a 460, but then realized that Husky makes a 460 too and that it is comparable.... LOL

Ian

 

[Tazman1602]

Tazman,

If I could find a Husky dealer closer than 40 miles away ....................
Matt

Yup. I hear that. Gasoline is still in the $3.20/gallon range up here in Michigan. Live close to the Mackinaw Bridge so we're WAY away from the cities........

Taz

 

[stonykill]

bigger is better

If I only could have 1 saw.....hmmmn, can't imagine. I'm not a saw snob, they all make good saws, they all make bad saws. It's really that simple. For years all I had to cut with was an 026. It was a great saw and never , and I mean never let me down and cut much bigger wood than it was designed to at times.
Now, I would never have a saw that small if I could only have 1. More often than not, I grab my p40, 66cc's. It gets the job done fast. You just can't beat power.
So, If I were in your shoes, with stihl dealers everywhere, I'd stop at all of them, and get the biggest saw I could afford. Maybe one of them will have a used 60 to 70 cc saw in your price range. If they did, and the saw was good, thats what I'd buy.
As for new, a ms290 will work. My 65 year old step dad has had one for 10 years, cuts at least 8 cord a year with it, and he loves it. Personally, I don't , but he and litterally thousands of other people do. The left over money could buy you ppe and maybe even an inexpensive chain sharpener.
In a nutshel, get the biggest saw oyu can afford, with the best dealer support. The only exception to this would be if oyu like to work on saws, but it doesn't sound like you do.

 

[allthegross]

husqvarna

ok i will admit it 6 years ago i built a new house and had a fireplace installed. the first year i went to home depot and bought a wild thing . i cut a tree down on the property cut it to length and then split it by hand this probably took me a total of 48 hours of work. the next year i installed a wood insert with 3 zone heating and started to burn 4 to five cord of wood per year. the wild thing no longer cut it and my splitting maul gave me a splitting back. as they say live and learn. Now i get most of my wood from the local tree company's four to five cord delivered in 8 to 10 ft lenghts. i have now purchased a husky 359 WOW what a difference. i used to sharpen both chain saws and just switch when one was dull the wild thing is a joke i wont even use it anymore if the husky gets dull i go to the garage and brake out the dremmel to and sharpen it on the spot. a friend of mine shares in the wood and cutting he ownes a stihl that i have used and i still prefer the 359 husky it has huge power cut through oak like butter...so my vote goes to husqvarna

 

[aandabooks]

Blackdoggy,

What Stihl chain are you buying? I would be interested in anything that would hold up that well. The carbide chains are more than $100 per chain and have to be sharpened with special tools.

Matt

 

[Tazman1602]

Blackdoggy,

What Stihl chain are you buying? I would be interested in anything that would hold up that well. The carbide chains are more than $100 per chain and have to be sharpened with special tools.

Matt

Hey Matt did you buy a saw yet? Thought I'd ask if you had a link to the hard faced or carbide chains you guys are referring to. Haven't been able to find any yet and I have searched. Geez theres a wealth of information here.

Man this site is something. Wife is gonna kill me if I start collecting chainsaws........

Art
1980 Pro-Mac 610, 2006 Husky 353

 

[stihlaficionado]

If you're within 200 miles of Urbana, Il I'll sell you my MS280 and drive it to you: less then 10 hours on powerhead, new air filter, extra chain(I think, will have to look). 20" bar.
Price negotiable. I rarely use it now...the 361/440/046 are the saws of choice

mark

PM if interested

 

[abohac]

Jonsered or Husky

If you can save a little more money, buy a Jonsered 2171. It is going to cost you about $625 but you won't be sorry. It just screams. I use it mostly on dead elm about 10-12 inches. You can really make wood with this saw.

 

[aandabooks]

abohac,

At that price I would buy a Stihl MS361. Not because I have anything against Jonsered but because there is no dealer support for them in my area. I just can't see myself spending that much on a saw.

Matt

 

[abohac]

Matt

Do the specs on the stihl 361 compare with the 2171? Because I agree with you that 624 is a lot but I always found Stihl to be a little more?

 

[aandabooks]

If I'm not mistaken, the Jonsered 2171 is the same as the Husky 372xp. That puts it at a 70cc class saw. More weight but more CCs. Not sure on HP.

Matt