Soooo, I know I know I been saying I'm getting a 5100 for like 6 months now. I even bought a 510 to hold me over till I pulled the trigger. Like the other 2 babys, my 7900 and the 510, I owe them both to Scott and Steve up the road from me at the Cutting Edge in NY (site sponsors). Still, almost 2 yrs later I still can't believe the service I get from these guys. Great guys in general as people go also in my opinion. I really dont' think you could ask for nicer guys anywhere. Always willing to go out of the way for me. Heck, I've called them at 11pm and they were still there working on stuff to help people out with issues... Can't beat that. Anyhoot, here I am rambling.... Now the Review!!!! And so you know, they took it out and ran the heck out of it for about 1/2 hour I'd guess to make sure it was running right.
So you know, I only got to run the saw for about 30 min or so tonight... This is my impression.
I got the saw fresh in the box, they packaged it up for me to pick up at their store, so it'd look brand stinking new. The drive to get there isn't really too far, so I figger'd, wooooohooooo a little trip to get away for a bit. I drove over to their store and I yanked it out as quick as I could, like a kid at christmas, hehehehehehehe. Ya'll know how it is when you get a new saw, the anticipation of gettin' it goin' and just dying to get your hands on some logs to let it eat. Sooooooo, I get home from the drive and have a nice stack of hard maple just begging to be cut, and wouldn't you know it's pouring rain here if you can believe... Does this stop me? H E(double hockey sticks) NO!!!!!!! I've got about a full cord of hard maple blocks already cut that I usually have to rip to get'em to split anyways(anybody that's ever split northern hard rock maple know what I mean) and under cover on my back deck sooooooo... Need I say more???
I filled it up with fresh 93Oct and the Dolmar winter Grade oil. Gave it 1/2/3rd pull and it started to fire. Switched the unilever down to middle position, thought, wow, this is smooth, even when firing I thought, "oh man, this baby sounds quite a bit meaner than my 510..." 4th pull and away it went. I idle'd her down and let it sit for about 30 seconds or so then went to work on a bunch of the hard maple with the 5100 set up with a GB 18" and 3/8 LGX. Blocks are around 30" in diameter, cut in 1/2 one time already so I could move them so figger I'm cutting 15-16" blocks in 1/2 ripping the 16" blocks. I make one cut, then another cut then a third cut and think to myself, eh, I guess this is ok, (yes you read that right, not too god aweful enthusiastic) Then I cut 4/5/and now we're on 6, HOLY SH17!!!!! It was like someone just flipped a switch on this little saw and said "here ya go, have some fun" I started putting an easy 5-10lbs of pressure on it and this little sucker roared right through the big hard maple like I wasn't even touching it. Like it was a hungry little beast just waiting to rip that stuff in 2. OMG, I could definitely see the difference now. Did I say "HOLY SH17!!!" already??? I was having some fun now... I went at it like this, saw workin' like a fiend for the next 1/2 hour I'd say and it just seems to get stronger and stronger with each cut I'm making. This is the funnest little saw I've run since the little 036/034's I used to run. The 5100 has a little less torque, but can you really compare a 4.5hp saw to a 3.8. I will say in wood say up to 12" or so the little 5100 would eat those saws up, hands down. It's quite a bit lighter than those older ones, and feels more balanced to me. On the PS-510 of mine a 16" bar is about as big as I'd go for the torque that I myself prefer. On the 036/034 I don't like going any bigger than a 16" also. The 5100 seems to feel really good with the 18" on it. I generally prefer an all around saw in the 4.5+hp range. For small limbing and whatnot like when I'm just cutting pine logs going to the mill I like the little PS-510 or those older 36/34's. The 5100S, even though a little smaller in hp/cc's definitely keeps up and can be used in place of these older models I've always been so fond of... Anyhoot, the only drawback I've yet to see in the first 1/2 of my use is the usual I have with all new saws. YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR CHAIN TIGHT AT ALL TIMES!!!! Or it will fly off. This is because of the rpm's these new saws turn though and I understand it... It's been something I've been fighting since day one when I started running newer saws, same thing with my 440 and my 288XP... Anyways, as you can see from the pic, I've got some big smiles going and am happy as all get out. Saw seems built well. Great power band. I hate to tell ya, the 5100 would eat up a little 346XP w/out a question. I know because I tried one out about 2 weeks ago. It's not even close. The torque and general feel of the 5100 is much more pleasant. I said it before, I'll say it again. Dolmar is the best combination of the best saws out there. All the torque of the Stihls and all the speed of Husky. The combination can't be beat in my opinion.
:biggrinbounce2:
, hehehehehehe...
I'll be having a video for you guys soon enough... Of the saw in action pervs, lmfao...
I don't use it as much but it's a real screamer.
