As a first time writer, please let me share some thoughts. My son in law has a 359 which I have been using. This may sound silly, but I found when I forgot to depress the compression release (cold and hot), the saw required several pulls with me holding the trigger full open to fire it up. Seems when I remember it starts right up. I have been using it hard on a tough piece of downed white oak, close to four feet in diameter, both cross cutting and ripping with an old Oregon 72 LP chain (kept sharp). This old tree has enough fuel for a whole winter here in Jersey so I nibble away at it whenever my back is up to it. Basically I'm saying this heavily knotted hardwood tree offers a stiff test for this motor and it has done well. Would it be faster and easier with a larger saw? I'd answer that this way... if I were younger and stronger... probably. The one thing that impressed me was fuel consumption seemed very good.
To sum up... you need to identify your needs, personal strengths, and available funds. Heck, if you don't like the first one sell it on ebay and try another. I believe how the saw is operated and maintained has more to do with performance than allot of users want to admit. Let's face it, who wants to stop work to sharpen a chain that's only cutting 50%? Or to clean the air filter when it won't quite idle right in the middle of a job? Or clean out the bar groove and tighten the chain? There are so many variables that only the user can address in the field. Hope that helps? God bless
