Ms 400 C am I going to be disappointed?

[Nazjaz]

My shop burned down taking along with it pretty much everything I oaned. I lost 5 Stihl saws and yesterday I went out to find a replacement for my 044. I mainly cut firewood and a lot of it. I had that 044 for almost 30 years and it was as good as it was the day I bought it. The only thing I ever did to it was replace the oil and gas caps a couple times, a couple spark plugs and chains and bars. That thing was rock solid and it really broke my heart to see it in the floor burned into a pile of ash.
I was told the ms 440 was about the same size and I went out looking for one. Nobody had one and the last place I went to sold me this ms400c. I could tell right off that it was not the same it just looked a little light. I haven't used it yet but will soon and I have heard a few bad tales about it. I asked the guy I got it from if this saw would last as long as the 044 did and he finally said probably not which was what I was thinking too. I probably should have put a little bit more thought into it before I went out to buy a saw but that is to late now. I'm just wondering what you guys thoughts are.
I also need to replace 2 of the ms261's, a 031 and a light weight ms 271. Maybe you can share some thought's there also. I'll probably only replace the 261's.

I'm sorry for your loss on many levels.

 

[Derrick Sawyer]

My 044s are mostly retired and in my garage museum now, I only have a few used cylinders and 10mm pistons left,, 400c is great so far esp with 20" bar, but I'd go for 462 if using 25" bar, we burn 12+ cords for outdoor boiler....but if u wanted a used 044 rebuilt still cheaper than these new ones

 

[olddude]

My 044s are mostly retired and in my garage museum now, I only have a few used cylinders and 10mm pistons left,, 400c is great so far esp with 20" bar, but I'd go for 462 if using 25" bar, we burn 12+ cords for outdoor boiler....but if u wanted a used 044 rebuilt still cheaper than these new ones

Amen brother, I paid right at $1100.00 for this saw which wasn't too bad I guess. When I bought the 051 I think I paid $750.00 for it and I remember as I was going out the door with it thinking, what the heck were you thinking, you could have bought a pickup truck for that. But as soon as I stuck the bar in a piece of big ol oak I knew I had something. I bought the 044 and paid right at the same thing as I did for the 051 but it was woryh every penny. About a year later a guy came by that just had to have that 051 and offered me $500 for it, and it was green cash so I let him have it. It was a little heavier and I do believe the 044 felt and cut better so it didn't hurt me none. I used that money to get me another 031 just as a backup saw.
I had been using Homelite, McCulloch, Poulan anything that would last more than a month on a wood pile. I had 3 Poulan 245's......you had to have at leaste 3 if you wanted to cut on any given day. One would start one day and not the next but with three of them you could almost count on at leaste one of them to start. I would haul around 8 or 10 saws in the back of my old pickup truck but after I bought that 051 and the 031 that was all I would haul around. I did have a little problem with the 031 at first by not wanting to starting and I carried it back and they said it had a bad coil and after that she would start like a champ. The 051 would always start on the second pull that is as long as you had a lockjaw grip on the pull cord. If you gave it any slack it would kick back and almost break a finger or two. The 044 had a thing where it would always start on the 4th pull. From day one until the day before the fire it was like that. No rime or reason to it just that was the way the old girl was.

 

[olddude]

Well I haven't been around much lately i've been getting ready to pour concrete and getting the building site ready. I did finally get the guy to stop by with his excavator and take out those trees that needed to be taken out. he took out two pines and 6 oak trees. I cut that big pine up in 12'4" lengths and its a shame to let them go to waste. I've asked several places that cut logs and everybody is sawing oak logs no one wants pine anymore. It seems most of the pine logs are run through a chipper and sold to the paper mill or power plants. Back in the day everybody wanted pine and I could sell every piece I could get my hands on. I made more off the logs we cut than what we got to clear the lots in the first place, most of the time. I hate to see them laying there going to waste and I really dont want them in the burn pile.
Well enough of that, I finally got to run the 400I. I used it to cut up all the limbs from the trees the excavator guy took out and so far I think it will do the job. Now we'll see if it will last as long as my old 044. It does seem to feel a little better balanced than my old saw and cuts pretty darn good. looks and feels a little puney compared to the old one but we'll see. I didn't cut anything but the pine logs and the limbs off the oak trees I'll know more once I start cutting up the oak. It really wont get a good work out until later in the late summer and fall when I start cutting for next years wood pile. Only time will tell.