Ms 390

[omegajim]

at the risk of piling on, if you are a professional, use a professional grade saw.

That limits it to the ms361 and ms440/441 (a whole 'nother discussion there). The ms390 is wonderful, for the home user. As a businessman, it won't quite cut it., but this is long term thinking. I've read here and there, the pro grad models are rated for 1200 hrs, and the "home user" models are rated for 600 hrs (whoa, 600 hours, so for Mr. home user that will be what 5 -6 years?). The 390 will show signs of wear and start to break down before the 351 and 440. If you are in the business, it will work as a backup saw.

From the other posts, the general trend is this 1) buy a new saw and use it for a year, or two 2) use the old saw as a backup and repeat step 1. 3) When you have a third set of saws (that's one set too many) you sell them to somebody, letting them know what the saws have gone through. People will (and have) 2 - 3 bills for a pro saw that goes for 8 bills new, even pretty wore out. It's weird.

 

[emr]

If you already have a 361 and looking for another big saw I would step on up.I can definately understand being on a budget,but I would go ahead and lay down a little extra money and buy a 440.The 361 is a great saw,and Stihl does call it a "pro" saw,but they just don't hold up as well in the long run as a 440 or 460.The bottom line is if you are cutting trees for a living and using your saws every day you really NEED a 440 or bigger.It will hold up longer and be more productive by far which will payoff big in the end.

I totally agree with this statement, but the boss thinks that if we dont have big saws, we dont have to do big trees. Its a long story, but the reality of it is that our shop doesnt allow us to remove big trees, but we do sometimes. If the boss sees the saw sitting there 4 days a week, he thinks it is just wasting money. I would love a 44 or larger, but it will never happen here. :bang: