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[computerboy345]

i am thinking of getting a new saw. it is between a john deere, jonsered, sthil, or echo. i have heard many good things about deere. according so some guys in my area i live in the sw us and logging companies say that jonsered are superior. they claim they put on 1,000 hr a year and they have their saws for 20 yrs and i know they are hard on their saws.. i dont know if they were telling the truth or blowing smoke......i havent heard much about echo.....sthil there are guys who will swear by them and i think an equal amout of guys that wont walk across the road to pick a brand new one up....which would you guys recommend...ps price isnt the decideing factor also i am not talking about the little model of these manufactors.........i am figuring on buying 2 new saws and investing about 1200 bucks so i am talking about the big saws of their respective brand names......machullah were good saws tooo bad they went out of busness...

 

[treeclimber165]

While i was at Davey Tree we had a mid-size Echo. POS! It finally got replaced when nobody would use it. No power. Was less than a year old too. 2 saws for $1200, I would go Stihl 044. Jonsered are good too but the ones I used had problems dying out when they got hot. Dunno who is making John Deere saws now. They just relabel other brands on their saws and other small equipment.

 

[Mouse trap Engineer]

Hi Treeclimber,
It is my understanding that John Deere has bought Homelite. Now i has been rumoured that several different Manufacturers make the JD saw line. I bet under that green paint you will find a Homelite, that is just my opinion. If i wanted a good saw in the range spoken above, it would either be the Stihl 046 or the Husky 372xpg. Also i would have it reworked by either Walkers saw shop ( Walkerized) or Madsen's ( Powertuned ).






Good Luck,
Johnny

 

[computerboy345]

jd does own homelite.....i dont know if the green jds are just homelites w/different paint or not if any of you know please tell me........i do know though the jd name (green ones) make a bigger model and cc rating then homelite..so i dont know if they are different or if the homelite company figures that homlites are cheap products and they wont sell big ones or what..........i wouldnt want a homelite so should i stay away from homlite and go w/the jonsered or not.......the only complaint i have heard about the jonsered is that they are load but oh well............i dont care i wear hearing protection anyway........i am seriously thinking about at least trying the jonsered because i can try it out for 14 days and take it back for any reason at all if i dont like it and they will give my money back..............i was just wondering thought everything is nice when it is new and was wondering if any of you know how these saws perform when they are old?

 

[computerboy345]

ps i dont have a husky dealer around here and dont want to ship a saw so that puts husky out of the picture

 

[treeclimber165]

See above comment on Jonsered. Stihl 044 or 046 will hold up better over time, and they have easier access to the air cleaner. Jonsered requires a torx driver, Stihl is either a flat screwdriver or by hand. Also, Stihl has a 3 stage air filter, much better protection. There are lots of reasons Stihl is the best selling saw in the world.

 

[computerboy345]

so brian you have had experience w/all of the brand names you mentioned which would you recommend? i am interested in the acceleration, durability,power and how comfortable it is...most saws today from my understnding are about the same for vibration and the motors are isolated from the handle for the most part.......so if you were buying one cost and noise aside would you buy the biggest sthil or the biggest jonsered or the biggest deere(which isnt really that big)..................thanx for the advice

 

[treeclimber165]

So which do you want? Do you want 2 saws for $1200 or do you want the biggest saw? My choice for BIGGEST saw is Husky 3120XP, but you won't buy 2 for $1200- I think it is more like $1400-$1500. EACH.
In answer to your other question, YES I have had experience with each brand I mentioned. Never touched a saw with a 'john deere' brand though.

 

[Mike Jones]

For whats its worth, I own two stihls and 1 echo. The echo is a 330EVL and has been the best purchase I have ever made. Its small but has the power to do quite a bit of work. The stihls, 029 and 066M have been fantastic saws but I have not owned them as long as the echo. I've had the 066m Walkerized and it makes one heck of a difference! I've been real happy with both, I guess its more of a personal decision and a good local dealer.

Mike

 

[HUSKYMAN]

For the record John Deere's are not Homelites in green, they are made by Oleo-Mac in Italy and are supposed to be pretty good. However, go with a Husky Husky 55 and a 372XP or if you get a great deal you might be able to get a 394XP and the 55. you will never look back then.

 

[wradman]

saws

i am a husky man all the way but if that is not an option for you my next pic would be an 066 stihl , the dealer support is great , the only few problems i have with stihls is that the fuel tanks are very fragile i've had employees have them fall off the tailgate of my truck in the winter time and bam there goes $300. they don't seem to run as well as a 288 in the winter time , which is probably not your problem. The older stihls had problems with oilers and muffler bolts but i'm sure theyve over come those problems. The 066 is a very strong running smoothe and reliable saw , i wouldn't recomend you buy any thing other than Husky, Stihl or jonsered . At one time i think Husky and jonsered were both made by electrolux if you can buy that lol
if you do buy a jonsered just keep your chain sharp,air filter clean and your fuel in the shade and that will stop any vapour locking with heat .

 

[Lakeside53]

2001? you sure have been digging in old threads... I bet the guy has bought his saws a while ago...

 

[Freakingstang]

a lot of bad information in here too.... but maybe some was applicable at the time.

 

[JohnL]

John Deere no longer owns Homelite. They sold them to a firm in Hong Kong called TTI in 2001.