Help choosing a between a 362 CM 400 CM or a 550 or... ?

[chainbrake]

I'm wondering which saw your doctor recommends, isn't this his fault anyway lol.
Never ran a 400, but from what the guys say, they seem to really like them. That being said, I remember the guys thinking the 261 was the best saw in the world, so I bought one thinking I'd sell my 550xp, I sold the stihl

I put it to everyone here before going to the local dealer, so that when I went to my neighbour and heard what he had to say, I would be more rounded in my thinking/questioning/responses. I'm looking for more of a consensus rather than getting an individual's (though the dealer is definitely an expert) bias. I'm 95% sold on the 400. My local dealer may have had bad luck with a saw he has only sold a few of. That said, everything I read tells me that if people were happy with the 362, they are happier with their 400.
My 034 rancher is getting tired and a little leaky; it runs good for what it has been: a decent firewood saw that's 20-some years into it's second sleeve and rings. It will be a good backup saw that I cand haul around in case the other one runs out of gas or gets pinched due to my trying to overcome the laws of physics - again. Being the same weight and having 1.3 to 1.5 times the power as the 034, I think it will probably serve me well till I die - hopefully not with the saw in my hands and a branch on my head!

 

[chainbrake]

I’m small, seventy-five years and own/run all the saws mentioned, including the Echo. I have CAD real bad.
IMHO -
MS400 is top of list if you don’t mind the price and you can get one.
MS362 good saw, but doggy stock. Adding a least a Bark Box helps, but why buy one and then have to spend more money to get performance you want.
550XP (old or new version) great saws but for trees that big you need more than 50cc. Suggest you look at Husky 555 instead.
Echo 620PW (W includes wrap bar) my new favorite saw to play with. I love the torque and price, but a bit heavy. If you look around you can find new 620PWs for $550. I just picked another new one up for $500. I strongly suggest you at least handle one Echo has a cult following.
My thoughts on Mtronic, Autotune vs standard carb - I saw a greatly differing altitude and temps, so I love Mtronic and Autotune. Don’t be afraid of them. OTOH if you are going to cut primarily at one place standard carb saws will save you money on purchase price.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, oldbuzzard.
CAD??? I don't know what that means.
Once I get through this little stand of 60-70 spruce trees, I'll have 3-4 years of selective thinning on 10 acres of mostly 6-12" mixed forest added to the mostly forest maintenance I will be doing on 10 acres of mostly 12-20" hardwoods (regular firewood for the most part) with a couple of bigger (easy-cutting red-pine and poplar) trees every now and then. Are you saying you think I should be hauling a saw bigger than the 400 to manage our 20 acres? The 555 is tempting.. It is about $400 CDN cheaper when I look online. I'm a fan of low-end torque that cuts smooth when I pull the trigger - on saws and motorcycles.
I realize that in 10-15 years many of my 20" trees will be closer to 30", but if they are healthy, I'm wanting to let them get big. By the time I'm in my late 70s, I don't think I will be sawing too much.
All of our trees live on 3 plots of land at elevations between 3 and 400 ft above sea level. The temps and the humidity can change hugely from one day to the next. This morning was -13C and dry, a couple of days from now it will be +13C and raining. That's a temp swing of 40F. If auto-tune makes life simpler, I am all for it. I have plenty of things to complicate my life. We have enough money for my wife and myself to be comfortable. Any money I make/save now is all about leaving more for our kids and grandkids. A few bucks for autotune would be nothing. I really like not having to rebuild the carburetors on our vehicles - they are essentially autotune with their computer chips.
I've never even seen an Echo in this part of Nova Scotia. They sometimes show up used on Kijiji or Marketplace. I see a 40 cc Echo online, but I would have to travel an hour to get to it. There are a few others that are even further away. I really have to buy what my neighbour is selling, even if it costs me twice as much. I will have made that money and more back by the time I burn through 2 cords of firewood. If the saw lasts me 10 years, then I have employed good-hearted local people that I care about.

 

[chainbrake]

To the OP. You don't mention if you work on your saws, or have the dealer do it.

I don't really have a what-to-buy suggestion. But, I do have a couple thoughts...especially, if you work on your own saws.

1. As far as your MS170, this guy seems to be the master of bullet-proofing those saws:

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/stihl-ms180-upgrades.365661/

2. I bet your 034 needs new rings, and maybe some other tweaks. I think getting that back into trim would be a wise thing.


3. The MS400 which everyone wants you to buy has both an electronically-adjusted carb (Mtronic) and a magnesium piston. If you are fine with that, fine. If not: MS362 non-Mtronic.

Roy

I used to race motocross, so I'm fine with doing most of my own chainsaw work. Every 4-5 years I might take a saw to the neighbourhood shop (which I can see from my property) when I have lots of other building contractor work on the go and I don't want to take time for tearing into it. My 034 was re-ringed and got a new sleeve about 20 years ago. It has never really had the power I would like to have - especially with 20"-30" hardwoods.
I've only run the 170 for 3 years. It still runs like new. I mostly use it for limbing softwoods (especially the really limby white spruce and fir that we have around here). It is very light, and it is very easy to keep it moving to the next cut. I'm sure I'll wear it out someday. It was so cheap when I bought it on sale that I'd feel fine just buying a new one and giving this away to my son. He has about 10 acres that he is just starting to figure out what he is going to do with.

 

[chainbrake]

MS400.

I'll keep the 034 as a backup. It still runs pretty good. If it quits running, I'll let the guy next door rebuild it for me as long as there are parts for it. I have 2 years of other work ahead of me, I don't have time to rebuild a saw in my shop as I have a tractor and some woodshop equipment for me to rebuild as it is.

 

[Andrew15]

I've run Stihls for most of my life. I cut 10-20 chords of firewood and I sometimes clear laneways and building/septic sites for houses. I'm semi-retired and currently build houses in rural Atlantic Canada.
I'm 68 years, not a big man, still quite lean for someone my age. Not as powerful as I used to be, but can still cut wood for 5-6 hrs a day when I pace myself right - generally generally fell, limb and buck about 1.5 chords one day and haul and split it the next. My lungs are damaged, I have a battery-powered, forced-air respirator that I wear as a backpack when I use a chainsaw or any dusty/smoky equipment. It weighs 11 pounds.
We have about 20 acres of mixed forest. 10 acres of small wood needs to be thinned with about half of the trees in that plot needing to be removed and turned into firewood over the next 3-4 years. Another 5 acres is fairly mature. I need to remove a stand of 60-70 spruce that are 50-70 years old, 60-70 feet tall 16-30" at the stump (most are 20-25"). I'm turning those trees into lumber. I want to begin falling them in a week or two. Once they are down, 24-30" trees are going to be a rarity on this property. We also have another 5 acres that is very mixed with small and big wood. I do take down the odd 20-30" hardwood (mostly maple and birch), but most trees I deal with are smaller and are either blowdowns or just weak/dying trees.
I have an old 034 that I generally use a 16" bar in, but have a 20" for felling bigger trees. My backup saw is an ms170 that I use for limbing and pruning. I used to have a 261 that I really liked, but I gave that away to the young apprentice that I let go when COVID hit (as per my doctor's orders). I'm looking for a saw that will let me manage the trees on my land for the next ten years. My 034 just doesn't have enough guts to do the work I am asking of it. I want my new saw to be stronger than the 261 used to be because I want firewood to go faster. I'm not cutting really big wood, so I don't need to haul a big bar around. We have a good stihl/husky dealer in my neighbourhood. I will buy either of those saws, but no other. I really like working with the trees in our forest/woods. I don't want to give it up before I absolutely have to.
Many thanks to all knowledgeable pros with good advice.

Ok Mr. so you are old but since you say your still doing good for you i would recommend either a Husqvarna 562 xp or the Stihl MS 362.You didn't say anything about the buget so id say that if you got the money you should even buy a Stihl MS 462.With a light bar it should feel comfortable to you.Now i will like to give some pros and cons of these saws.
Husqvarna 562 xp:Its a 59 cc saw,pretty powerful and can handle 24" bars regulary as the 562 is the same as the 560 except that husqvarna gave it a bigger air filter capacity and a larger bar mount but its quite heavy.The powerhead weight is 6,1 kq(13,4lbs)
Stihl MS 362: Have one myself and from the 2 times i use it i can tell its a total beast.Can handle 20" bars and even 24" ocasionally even thought i mainly run a 16" bar on it as i have the skill to fell trees bigger than my bar im im sure you do too.The Stihl MS 362 with a 20" Light 06 bar should be one of your choices.
Stihl MS 462:72 cc saw and able to handle 24" bars with ease.The powehead weight its pretty much the same as the ms 362 except its much more powerful.Yeat,with everything i wrote for you here i think you should first confront your dealers and find the saw that fits you the best.

 

[chainbrake]

Thank you

Ok Mr. so you are old but since you say your still doing good for you i would recommend either a Husqvarna 562 xp or the Stihl MS 362.You didn't say anything about the buget so id say that if you got the money you should even buy a Stihl MS 462.With a light bar it should feel comfortable to you.Now i will like to give some pros and cons of these saws.
Husqvarna 562 xp:Its a 59 cc saw,pretty powerful and can handle 24" bars regulary as the 562 is the same as the 560 except that husqvarna gave it a bigger air filter capacity and a larger bar mount but its quite heavy.The powerhead weight is 6,1 kq(13,4lbs)
Stihl MS 362: Have one myself and from the 2 times i use it i can tell its a total beast.Can handle 20" bars and even 24" ocasionally even thought i mainly run a 16" bar on it as i have the skill to fell trees bigger than my bar im im sure you do too.The Stihl MS 362 with a 20" Light 06 bar should be one of your choices.
Stihl MS 462:72 cc saw and able to handle 24" bars with ease.The powehead weight its pretty much the same as the ms 362 except its much more powerful.Yeat,with everything i wrote for you here i think you should first confront your dealers and find the saw that fits you the best.

Thank you, Andrew. I'll be going to the dealer soon. Have you ever tried a 400? People here who like the 362 are saying they like the 400 even better - same weight more power.

It is Christmas tree season around here, and the dealer's best help is part of the show that is cutting, wrapping and shipping of trees till Christmas. He's always got a couple of people minding the store, but it is hit and miss to find the mechanics and the people on the logging contracting side of things till after New Year. I wouldn't want to be pushy about getting much time with their best guys till after the new year.

The thing is, I want to get started on dropping the trees for the mill within a week as the snow can get deep and cold through January and February. And it would be good to get the trees out off the clay soil before the spring thaw. My old tractor is busted, and it will take some time to collect the parts I need, so I'll be using my 4x4, a winch, extension cables and snatch blocks to haul the trees out to a bit of a roadway I built for a logging truck. to do it's work.
https://www.christmastreeproducers.com/

 

[oldbuzzard]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, oldbuzzard.
CAD??? I don't know what that means.
Once I get through this little stand of 60-70 spruce trees, I'll have 3-4 years of selective thinning on 10 acres of mostly 6-12" mixed forest added to the mostly forest maintenance I will be doing on 10 acres of mostly 12-20" hardwoods (regular firewood for the most part) with a couple of bigger (easy-cutting red-pine and poplar) trees every now and then. Are you saying you think I should be hauling a saw bigger than the 400 to manage our 20 acres? The 555 is tempting.. It is about $400 CDN cheaper when I look online. I'm a fan of low-end torque that cuts smooth when I pull the trigger - on saws and motorcycles.
I realize that in 10-15 years many of my 20" trees will be closer to 30", but if they are healthy, I'm wanting to let them get big. By the time I'm in my late 70s, I don't think I will be sawing too much.
All of our trees live on 3 plots of land at elevations between 3 and 400 ft above sea level. The temps and the humidity can change hugely from one day to the next. This morning was -13C and dry, a couple of days from now it will be +13C and raining. That's a temp swing of 40F. If auto-tune makes life simpler, I am all for it. I have plenty of things to complicate my life. We have enough money for my wife and myself to be comfortable. Any money I make/save now is all about leaving more for our kids and grandkids. A few bucks for autotune would be nothing. I really like not having to rebuild the carburetors on our vehicles - they are essentially autotune with their computer chips.
I've never even seen an Echo in this part of Nova Scotia. They sometimes show up used on Kijiji or Marketplace. I see a 40 cc Echo online, but I would have to travel an hour to get to it. There are a few others that are even further away. I really have to buy what my neighbour is selling, even if it costs me twice as much. I will have made that money and more back by the time I burn through 2 cords of firewood. If the saw lasts me 10 years, then I have employed good-hearted local people that I care about.

CAD - Chainsaw Addiction Disease

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

CAD - Chainsaw Addiction Disease

You could call it a disease. I call it a disorder because it doesn’t sound as bad lol.

 

[NYresq]

I've had a 362 mtronic with the full wrap handle For a few years. Its an awesome saw for the size and weight. I have used a 24" bar with standard stihl yellow chain and it will pull it in fresh oak with no problem. A skip chain would probably pull even better.

with that said, if I had to replace it tomorrow, I would buy the 400. Its almost the same size and weight and has more power on tap. It wasn't available when I bought the 362... I think it came out a year or two after I made my purchase...

 

[oldbuzzard]

You could call it a disease. I call it a disorder because it doesn’t sound as bad lol.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

CAD does that equal chainsaw acquisition/attachment disorder?

I would say yes. It gets bad when you come up with any and all reasons under the sun to “acquire” a saw. Not that I would know anything about it.

 

[Andrew15]

Thank you

Thank you, Andrew. I'll be going to the dealer soon. Have you ever tried a 400? People here who like the 362 are saying they like the 400 even better - same weight more power.

It is Christmas tree season around here, and the dealer's best help is part of the show that is cutting, wrapping and shipping of trees till Christmas. He's always got a couple of people minding the store, but it is hit and miss to find the mechanics and the people on the logging contracting side of things till after New Year. I wouldn't want to be pushy about getting much time with their best guys till after the new year.

The thing is, I want to get started on dropping the trees for the mill within a week as the snow can get deep and cold through January and February. And it would be good to get the trees out off the clay soil before the spring thaw. My old tractor is busted, and it will take some time to collect the parts I need, so I'll be using my 4x4, a winch, extension cables and snatch blocks to haul the trees out to a bit of a roadway I built for a logging truck. to do it's work.
https://www.christmastreeproducers.com/

I did not tried rhe 400c but my uncle has a 362 so do i.Except that mine is like 2 weeks old and his is 5 years.He is a loggger and from what he told me,in five years of duty his Stihl Ms 362 still has all the original parts,besides the spark plug nothing was changed.(except the bar and chain obiovsly)

 

[sean donato]

I did not tried rhe 400c but my uncle has a 362 so do i.Except that mine is like 2 weeks old and his is 5 years.He is a loggger and from what he told me,in five years of duty his Stihl Ms 362 still has all the original parts,besides the spark plug nothing was changed.(except the bar and chain obiovsly)

Go run a 400, I can quite assure you you wouldn't go back to a 362 if you had the choice.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Go run a 400, I can quite assure you you wouldn't go back to a 362 if you had the choice.

Yeah I don’t see how anyone can justify price difference as a selling point for the 362. The 400 is a far more capable saw in comparison, you get quite a bit more for an extra $120 dollars.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

The 362 should be tossed since 400 came out. We just talked about this and not close stock.

Takes the 400 to run with the 562 stock for stock. 562 also had the new MKII out since last Tues at dealers. Around 750 depending on dealer.

Now look at these weights PHO dry like they do oem. Also a good case for 462.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

Ok Mr. so you are old but since you say your still doing good for you i would recommend either a Husqvarna 562 xp or the Stihl MS 362.You didn't say anything about the buget so id say that if you got the money you should even buy a Stihl MS 462.With a light bar it should feel comfortable to you.Now i will like to give some pros and cons of these saws.
Husqvarna 562 xp:Its a 59 cc saw,pretty powerful and can handle 24" bars regulary as the 562 is the same as the 560 except that husqvarna gave it a bigger air filter capacity and a larger bar mount but its quite heavy.The powerhead weight is 6,1 kq(13,4lbs)
Stihl MS 362: Have one myself and from the 2 times i use it i can tell its a total beast.Can handle 20" bars and even 24" ocasionally even thought i mainly run a 16" bar on it as i have the skill to fell trees bigger than my bar im im sure you do too.The Stihl MS 362 with a 20" Light 06 bar should be one of your choices.
Stihl MS 462:72 cc saw and able to handle 24" bars with ease.The powehead weight its pretty much the same as the ms 362 except its much more powerful.Yeat,with everything i wrote for you here i think you should first confront your dealers and find the saw that fits you the best.

Why a light 06 bar ? That's just marketing, they aren't any lighter than the rollomatic e they are replacing.

A stihl ES light would be the better choice.

 

[chainbrake]

They were sold out at the store, so I ordered one in. a Stihl 400 is going to be in for me within the week. The guy ordered 2 more for the shelf when he ordered mine. They have sold 4 of them over the last 2 years, and have never had one come back in the shop for repairs. Many thanks for all the input from everyone.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

They were sold out at the store, so I ordered one in. a Stihl 400 is going to be in for me within the week. The guy ordered 2 more for the shelf when he ordered mine. They have sold 4 of them over the last 2 years, and have never had one come back in the shop for repairs. Many thanks for all the input from everyone.

I’m confident you’ll be happy with the MS400. Let us know how it works out when you get the time.

 

[stihl sawing]

The 400 is a strong saw, works well for me. i run a 25 inch bar.

 

[stihl sawing]