I would pay no attention to the fly-by-nighters. They come and go like the leaves dropping in the fall and reappearing in the spring. They're never around long term, just replaced by another sometime down the line. They think throwing low-ball bids is the way to go to get jobs and that works briefly, but eventually the business has to make money to advance. This is where they go off and try something else.
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I read through all the post twice and didn't see anyone saying that only hacks run poulans. I saw "a" reference to a guy who most likely sounds like a hack to me that had a chainsaw that was a poulan.
The reference has stuck around for a long while because it's the type of saw you can get at about anywhere for cheap as it's practically expendable, so to speak, because it's so cheap... price-wise. I knew of a local place here that had brand new poulans he bought on sale somewhere and had 7 of them. He sold them for $75 each. I think there were around 40cc saws. By the time I thought about getting one for a chipper saw, they were gone. People who are serious about tree service and similar, usually use the top equipment to do the job. Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsered, Dolmar, Makita and Echo are tops in my mind. Guys that are thinking short time aren't interested in investment, but cost.
StihlRockin'