Butch (hlw49),
It's quite simple to delete a duplicate post. Select the "edit post" link, check the box to delete it, and submit the change.
I remember you from TSF, and when you eventually started coming around here, so your Stihl-bashing history is not unknown to me.
For many of us who believe it's important to maintain mutual support within our local communities, the "most bang for the buck" is usually decidedly in favor of Stihl versus Husky. I currently carry only two saws on the truck and they both just happen to be Stihls. I might have bought Huskies had they not, in the first place, been <i>higher</i>-priced than comparable Stihl models locally; and had they not, through their "you must carry our entire line of outdoor products" mentality helped to drive the only local servicing dealer out of business. (I guess they have presence now in the new Home Depot, but I wouldn't know as I've yet to set foot in the place).
Any reasonable person knows that no manufacturer of anything for which there is any competition is able to make the "best" <i>whatever</i> in each category. Just the same as none makes the "worst" across the board. You're fairly correct in saying that whenever Husky is compared to Stihl it's the next-size-up Stihl, but you fail to notice it's always the Husky-lover making such comparison. You're markedly wrong in your characterization of what usually happens in a Husky/Stihl debate here. Virtually no Stihl proponent bashes Husky while the typical Husky proponent is quite ready to do the reverse.
Hell, you force me to be more pro-Stihl than I want to be simply because of your actions requiring me to address them. Granted, Stihl's product line seems to be following a downward trend, mainly by virtue of their decision to make certain changes to current models in an effort to address government mandates. Husky is, instead, evidently phasing models out and replacing them rather than choking them down. It seems to me that Stihl is also working in that direction now. How does the next-generation 036 perform? I haven't heard anything bad about it yet. How about some of the newer Huskies, like say, the 338? Are they up to the standards of the older models? I've heard not.
They're both good companies that make some good products and some bad business decisions. Why does it have to be a war? There's plenty of room for everyone. If they both survive another 5 years, I'll bet any performance advantage some of the current Huskies (which can still be sold because of a sufficient quantity of more compliant engines elsewhere in the line-up) might have will be a non-issue. We're in a transitional phase with the two top manufacturers taking different tacks but in the end they'll both be on the same page.
Glen
