Bought a new Poulan Pro 5020 to see what there about

[piroguejoe]

New member first post. I just purchased one of these saws last week as my first saw. I have absolutely no experience with a saw but from what I had seen online I decided to go with the poulan 5020. So far I have cut up a 20' section of 17-19" red oak and a complete white oak both of which have been down about a year. I am very pleased with this saw so far. Starts on 2nd or 3rd pull from cold start and once warm it's a one pull type of thing. I plan on upgrading the chain to a lil more aggresive profile but will wear out the stock one first. I guess I just don't know any better but man this thing cuts good for me. With all the wood I've got cut so far and have two more good oaks down at my sisters to cut up I'm givin it a good workout. I could not be any more pleased with my purchase!

 

[barneyrb]

New member first post. I just purchased one of these saws last week as my first saw. I have absolutely no experience with a saw but from what I had seen online I decided to go with the poulan 5020. So far I have cut up a 20' section of 17-19" red oak and a complete white oak both of which have been down about a year. I am very pleased with this saw so far. Starts on 2nd or 3rd pull from cold start and once warm it's a one pull type of thing. I plan on upgrading the chain to a lil more aggresive profile but will wear out the stock one first. I guess I just don't know any better but man this thing cuts good for me. With all the wood I've got cut so far and have two more good oaks down at my sisters to cut up I'm givin it a good workout. I could not be any more pleased with my purchase!

Joe, the best thing you can do is to always keep the chains sharp and it should last for a while. BTW, what part of North LA are you in as I am in NE LA myself. Welcome to the site.

 

[piroguejoe]

Downsville La right outta farmerville.

 

[Brian G]

My friend and his son bought 2 4218 av from lowes and both do not run. 2months later

I was thinking about this anyway and was in the store where you "save big money" and stumbled across them walking to the hardware department. They were on sale till the 12th for $179. I didn't even know they carried this model there.

I was curious to see what these were about and why Poulan/Husqvarna decided to come out with a new and bigger then what they put out in a while 50cc saw.

Now before I go any farther, all you saw snobs and Poulan haters, read if you want to but I dont want to hear a bunch of BS about Pullons and such. These are low priced consumer saws, no more no less and I just wanted to see what there all about. I doubt if I keep it, I will test it out for a while and then probably move it along but who knows it might be decent and I may keep it around for a while.

It comes with a decent hard case, manuals and a bottle of Poulan synthetic 2 cycle oil. It also comes with a common K041 mount Oregon laminated 70DL sprocket nosed bar with a Oregon V72 Vanguard chain. Not pro stuff but not bad. The rear handle has a mount to keep the scrench underneath it. It is secured with a metal clip.

The air filter cover is large and is secured with one thumb screw and lets you get to the filter and plug very easily. The filter is fairly large and pleated and reminds me of the PP 330 style. The only thing that bothers me though is it is only secured at the bottom with a flip up wire clamp. Seems a little loose on the top when secured but a gasket between the filter and base may secure it up some.

The clutch cover is a metal cover and houses the Husqvarna style chain brake and a conventional front mounted chain adjuster. Not a bad setup. No its not a side adjuster but at least its cover mounted and not hard to get to.

Pulling all the covers to inspect its innerds only took a T25 torx driver for the recoil cover and a 4mm allan wrench for the top cover.

The muffler came off with a T27 torx and I was shocked to see a completly hollow tin can, not even a diffuser in it. The top mounted outlet is pretty small in dia though, maybe just a little over 1/2". It should be easy to mod this one.

It appears to be a chrome bore with a single ring piston.

The 3/8s sprocket is a spur and the clutch is a common looking Poulan style 2 shoe which appears small but this style has been around for many years with good service on up to 60cc models so the clutch dont concern me at all. I dont know at this point if the spur sprocket is model specific yet but I'm betting it might be the same as some other Poulan Pro models like the 330 and maybe a rim setup will fit it.

I put the empty power head on the scales right away and found its no super light weight as it tipped the scales at 12lbs 6oz and fully loaded with fuel, oil, bar and chain it was 16lbs 8oz. Again were talking a $200 clamshell, strato, consumer saw so I guess the weight isnt awfull.

It started right up in 3 pulls but like most strato saws I have run it was plenty cold blooded and took a few seconds to warm up some. I was surprised that the carb settings were pretty much right on it seemed and while I attempted to fool with the L screw I ended up returningt it to about the original position. Now this could change when it sees wood, but after warming it up I held it wide open and it seemed to have a little 4 stroking going on and the tach read 13196 RPM.

The fit and finish of the plastics seem pretty good with everything lining up well and the parts seemed to fit together pretty well.

I like the fact that the spring mounted antivibe handles seem to be seperate from the engine cradle and it seemed pretty smooth in my hands. The oil and fuel tanks seemed pretty large and had the nice large caps on them. The controls are the common two lever choke and stop lever kinda combined like the Husky 350 etc...

Now I'm just relaying my first impressions and am trying to be objective here with it. If I see something bad I will point it out but first impressions are not too bad especially if you keep in mind the original price paid for it.

I'll post a few pictures of it and will try to get it out to the wood pile soon but that probaly wont happen till the weekend as I dont get home before dark most nights.

They did not take the extended warranty out either.

 

[Chris-PA]

My friend and his son bought 2 4218 av from lowes and both do not run. 2months later

They did not take the extended warranty out either.

Wonder what they did to them? Yes, I'm being a bit of a prick, but there are many possible causes for a saw that does not run, including both defects and operator error - the latter being very common with low end Poulans. There is nothing inherently strange about a Poulan Pro. I've got old cheap Poulan's I run all the time with no issues, and a new PoulanPro pole saw that's box stock and runs like a champ.

Lastly, this thread was about a different saw - you might want to start another thread about it.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Wonder what they did to them? Yes, I'm being a bit of a prick, but there are many possible causes for a saw that does not run, including both defects and operator error - the latter being very common with low end Poulans. There is nothing inherently strange about a Poulan Pro. I've got old cheap Poulan's I run all the time with no issues, and a new PoulanPro pole saw that's box stock and runs like a champ.

Lastly, this thread was about a different saw - you might want to start another thread about it.

Exactly what I was thinking, what was that post for or even about? For the record, I got a $900 or so six month old Stihl here that wont didnt run either.

If there only 2 months old, no extended warranty needed either, take em to a Poulan servicing dealer.

 

[barneyrb]

I PMd the gent, & he hasn't forgotten about porting the 5020. Sometimes some things take priority over other things.

I am finally getting to building the 5020 as soon as I get this 064 off my bench (4th time there and none are my fault, can't blame me for a tree falling on it). I have purchased the Heli-Coil kit to repair the stripped spark plug, piston will be leaving here headed towards Indiana for a pop-up, and I should be on it by the end of Feburary.

I do hope to achieve around 190psi and have a decent runner. More to come just bear with me on this one.

Thanks......

 

[taskswap]

This thread is ripe for hangers-on, so I'll post my experience.

I'm a homeowner not an arborist, but maybe what one might call an "aggressive" homeowner, meaning I heat with wood and cut a lot more than just some storm-damaged limbs. That said, as nice as a Stihl or Husky would be, that's in the future not the present. The math is simple. I burn what I cut and I can get split/seasoned for $175/cord delivered if I time the purchases well. I have to be pretty aggressive on cutting (buying log or cutting on my property) to make the math keep working. Between gas, bar oil, chain maintenance, etc. plus the cost of the saw itself I just can't justify anything else right now.

For <$200 this is a great little saw. It has just enough power "above the line" (50cc? opinions vary) to get me through some challenging cuts like hard, frozen oak - it takes patience but I'm not paid by the hour. And so far it's been pretty reliable - I probably have all of 35 or so hours of run time on it but it's still running like new and plenty of cheap homeowner-specials are dying at around that mark. (Interesting trivia, recently I learned that a lot of small/cheap 2-stroke engines are only rated for 30-40 hours, since for something like a weed whacker or leaf blower that's what a homeowner is likely to do in 3 years or so.)

There are a few spots on the block that seem to get gunked up more than other saws I've run so I'm careful about cleaning it. I haven't changed the air filter yet - in spring I'll see how that goes. And yes, it bogs down in some cuts other saws would tear right through. Fine, I just slow down a bit and ... more firewood. Overall I'm very happy with this saw for the price, and I think even when some day I upgrade I'll keep this as my backup.

Only complaint is the carrying case - it's a little light on "fit and finish" and I struggle to get it closed properly. Most times I don't bother with it.

You know, I don't understand why these lower-end units don't sell with a quart of bar oil. It'd fit in the case pretty nice, would be super cheap for them in their volume, and would be a nice selling factor. They always throw in the premix oil now - why not round out the picture?

 

[Chris-PA]

This thread is ripe for hangers-on, so I'll post my experience.

I'm a homeowner not an arborist, but maybe what one might call an "aggressive" homeowner, meaning I heat with wood and cut a lot more than just some storm-damaged limbs. That said, as nice as a Stihl or Husky would be, that's in the future not the present. The math is simple. I burn what I cut and I can get split/seasoned for $175/cord delivered if I time the purchases well. I have to be pretty aggressive on cutting (buying log or cutting on my property) to make the math keep working. Between gas, bar oil, chain maintenance, etc. plus the cost of the saw itself I just can't justify anything else right now.

For <$200 this is a great little saw. It has just enough power "above the line" (50cc? opinions vary) to get me through some challenging cuts like hard, frozen oak - it takes patience but I'm not paid by the hour. And so far it's been pretty reliable - I probably have all of 35 or so hours of run time on it but it's still running like new and plenty of cheap homeowner-specials are dying at around that mark. (Interesting trivia, recently I learned that a lot of small/cheap 2-stroke engines are only rated for 30-40 hours, since for something like a weed whacker or leaf blower that's what a homeowner is likely to do in 3 years or so.)

There are a few spots on the block that seem to get gunked up more than other saws I've run so I'm careful about cleaning it. I haven't changed the air filter yet - in spring I'll see how that goes. And yes, it bogs down in some cuts other saws would tear right through. Fine, I just slow down a bit and ... more firewood. Overall I'm very happy with this saw for the price, and I think even when some day I upgrade I'll keep this as my backup.

Only complaint is the carrying case - it's a little light on "fit and finish" and I struggle to get it closed properly. Most times I don't bother with it.

You know, I don't understand why these lower-end units don't sell with a quart of bar oil. It'd fit in the case pretty nice, would be super cheap for them in their volume, and would be a nice selling factor. They always throw in the premix oil now - why not round out the picture?

I believe the hour rating is just the testing category for emissions, not a rating of durability.

 

[piroguejoe]

Put a stihl chisel chain on mine and ditched the old safety chain. Really wakes up the saw! Cut up some more red oak up to a smudge over 20" and saw never skips a beat. Got about 3 chords cut up so far.

 

[taskswap]

Put a stihl chisel chain on mine and ditched the old safety chain. Really wakes up the saw! Cut up some more red oak up to a smudge over 20" and saw never skips a beat. Got about 3 chords cut up so far.

Maybe I shouldn't complain about speed, then. I'm cutting 26" ash. =D

Can you share which exact chain you went with? Did you use a semi-skip? I'm in the market, as it were. I'll admit that I've never been #1 hand-sharpening. I can manage, but every few times I like to get it done "pro" because no matter what I do I'm always heavy-handed on one side, and after a few sharpening rounds, it ends up pulling to the side. It would be nice to have an extra loop or two handy for those times.

 

[7sleeper]

Maybe I shouldn't complain about speed, then. I'm cutting 26" ash. =D

Can you share which exact chain you went with? Did you use a semi-skip? I'm in the market, as it were. I'll admit that I've never been #1 hand-sharpening. I can manage, but every few times I like to get it done "pro" because no matter what I do I'm always heavy-handed on one side, and after a few sharpening rounds, it ends up pulling to the side. It would be nice to have an extra loop or two handy for those times.

Get a filling guide like this from Husqvarna

View attachment 274710
View attachment 274709

They have kits with round and flat file (for the rakers). Equal amount of strokes on both sides should get you very close to an excellent result.

You won't need skip chain for that saw. If you have the original 20 inch bar on it regular semi chisel or full chisel is totally ok. Just let the saw do the cutting, no reason to be pushy! I like the Stihl stuff but Oregon is also ok. You don't sound very experienced so I would stay with the safety stuff for a while. Equaly I believe that you will be more happy at the moment with the semi chisel chain because it is easier to file by hand with a file guide like above and it is a little less prone to damage after unintended contact with non wood material.

7

 

[piroguejoe]

I went with the full chisel stihl. Not sure the series. Guy had to make it for me so was in a plain stihl box. There is a definite difference in cutting but I don't lean on her hard either I just let her eat. Also I have the husqvarna file guide kit as well. Haven't had to use it yet but seems simple enough.

 

[piroguejoe]

Can get a pic if it'll help

 

[7sleeper]

Can get a pic if it'll help

pics always help

7

 

[piroguejoe]

View attachment 274721View attachment 274722

Sorry for crappy cell pics.

 

[Modifiedmark]

This thread is ripe for hangers-on, so I'll post my experience.

I'm a homeowner not an arborist, but maybe what one might call an "aggressive" homeowner, meaning I heat with wood and cut a lot more than just some storm-damaged limbs. That said, as nice as a Stihl or Husky would be, that's in the future not the present. The math is simple. I burn what I cut and I can get split/seasoned for $175/cord delivered if I time the purchases well. I have to be pretty aggressive on cutting (buying log or cutting on my property) to make the math keep working. Between gas, bar oil, chain maintenance, etc. plus the cost of the saw itself I just can't justify anything else right now.

For <$200 this is a great little saw. It has just enough power "above the line" (50cc? opinions vary) to get me through some challenging cuts like hard, frozen oak - it takes patience but I'm not paid by the hour. And so far it's been pretty reliable - I probably have all of 35 or so hours of run time on it but it's still running like new and plenty of cheap homeowner-specials are dying at around that mark. (Interesting trivia, recently I learned that a lot of small/cheap 2-stroke engines are only rated for 30-40 hours, since for something like a weed whacker or leaf blower that's what a homeowner is likely to do in 3 years or so.)

There are a few spots on the block that seem to get gunked up more than other saws I've run so I'm careful about cleaning it. I haven't changed the air filter yet - in spring I'll see how that goes. And yes, it bogs down in some cuts other saws would tear right through. Fine, I just slow down a bit and ... more firewood. Overall I'm very happy with this saw for the price, and I think even when some day I upgrade I'll keep this as my backup.

Only complaint is the carrying case - it's a little light on "fit and finish" and I struggle to get it closed properly. Most times I don't bother with it.

You know, I don't understand why these lower-end units don't sell with a quart of bar oil. It'd fit in the case pretty nice, would be super cheap for them in their volume, and would be a nice selling factor. They always throw in the premix oil now - why not round out the picture?

Sounds like your giving it all it was intended for and then some, glad to hear your doing ok with it.

Now for not giving away bar oil with it? Seems there giving you a pretty decent saw for $199 plus a case, you really think you need bar oil with it as well?? :msp_rolleyes:

 

[taskswap]

No, that's great, thanks for posting. Looks like full comp.

 

[Modifiedmark]

No, that's great, thanks for posting. Looks like full comp.

Full comp and it looks to be semi chisel and would be a good all around chain. The Oregon equivelant would be 72DP and is quite good as well.

 

[taskswap]

Sounds like your giving it all it was intended for and then some, glad to hear your doing ok with it.

Now for not giving away bar oil with it? Seems there giving you a pretty decent saw for $199 plus a case, you really think you need bar oil with it as well?? :msp_rolleyes:

Yeah, I think I'm the target user for this thing.

I'm not whining about the oil - I buy the stuff by the gallon. I was just musing on sales tactics. Seems like it'd be a good move business-wise, wouldn't it?