Plastic saws!

[el-john-o]

Why the H*ll are all of the newer saws going to so much plastic is it because of cost? My dad is getting up there in years and decided he needed a smaller and lighter saw then his 1966 Stihl 040. He went down to the local farm store and bought a husky 137, brought it home cut some wood with it then started complaining about how cheap and ratty it feels when you use it. I wasn't sure what he meant by ratty so I grabbed it and started it up, hit the gas acouple of times and sure enough it has that strange cheap ratty rattle when you rev it, hard to explain but it is there. I went down to the locale stihl shop and talked to the owner that has ran it for years and he said he agreed with my father that the newer saws that have went to extreme use of plastics have that ratty feel! Long story short my dad went back to his 040 for awhile then came over to my house and took my 1980's vintage 011avt when i wasn't home and left me the Husky 137 and the 040 so I at least got a cool old saw out of it!
El-John-O

 

[tbst]

I had picked up a 137 as a ground saw at lowes ffor 85, until some ahole stole it. But yeah there is a lot of plastic...

 

[sawinredneck]

"O mighty Dollar!!!" It's all about money, it's cheaper and faster to produce! The trend now is one crankcase, several size piston and cylinders, modular saws, it will only get worse!
Andy

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I think the reed cages on a few of my saws are plastic.

 

[TimberPig]

It doesn't exactly help that he bought the lowest end Husky saw currently produced. And a cheap Husky design assembled in the Poulan factory, with many design similarities to the Poulan designs.

If he were to try a new saw that is of a more advanced design, one designed to be more smoothly finished and refined, rather than simply cheap, he might think differently.

 

[hoss]

We are talking about logging, arbourculture and firewood gathering with these tools, not picking friggin dazies. If I have to haul around a couple more pounds or spend a few more bucks(or buy something older) so that I don't have a piece of equipment that I can squeeze the case on or dig a hole in with a sharp stick, then so be it!
Ok. I'm done venting, but maybe you guys can guess how I feel about plastic.

Of course I hear those plastic cases argreat for storing food in the fridge.

 

[musch]

I have heard the plastic complaint a lot, and...
Actually, the impression that a lot of people get is wrong.
Some of the crankcase and clutch cover finishes are SO NICE, they look like plastic, even though they are otherwise.
It really doesn't matter much in my opinion. Plastic breaks less often than you'd think, especially the polymers, etc.
It is also one of the reasons that saws today don't weigh fifty pounds.
If you drop a tree on any saw, it'll get wrecked.
If the plastic parts break, its cheaper to fix.
You gotta really abuse a well made saw to break stuff.
But the all plastic cheap grade saws are just that.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Yeah, it's the difference between professional grade saws, and el cheapo saws. There's always been cheap saws, just now they're made out of plastic.

Get what you pay for. Sorry for your dad's experience though...

Jeff

 

[sawinredneck]

I have heard the plastic complaint a lot, and...
Actually, the impression that a lot of people get is wrong.
Some of the crankcase and clutch cover finishes are SO NICE, they look like plastic, even though they are otherwise.
It really doesn't matter much in my opinion. Plastic breaks less often than you'd think, especially the polymers, etc.
It is also one of the reasons that saws today don't weigh fifty pounds.
If you drop a tree on any saw, it'll get wrecked.
If the plastic parts break, its cheaper to fix.
You gotta really abuse a well made saw to break stuff.
But the all plastic cheap grade saws are just that.

I spent some time in the plastics industry, mold builder. I also have no problem with a lot of the uses of platics. My problem comes when you have a saw, with more power, that weighs LESS done in Mag!! How does that work?
Andy

 

[musch]

I spent some time in the plastics industry, mold builder. I also have no problem with a lot of the uses of platics. My problem comes when you have a saw, with more power, that weighs LESS done in Mag!! How does that work?
Andy

what?

Hey if it aint broke!! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Gearhead1]

El-John-O, the use of plastics in new saws isn't anything that should surprise you much. Have you noticed the same trend in trucks, cars, tractors, and many other goods? If for example, we look over your typical 1966 pickup truck, we would find steel doorpanels, a steel dashboard (with maybe a foam pad on the very top), a steel grille...in short, steel used extensively and very little plastics of any kind. Do you know that even the new farm tractors are made with plastic hoods and things like that? I don't agree with the situation, but then agin, that's why I run older equipment.

 

[fubar2]

I was thinking along the same lines Gearhead. Steel dashes made great skull smashers if ya had an unruley passenger. Swing out vent windows were the worlds best ashtrays. Pionty steel radio knobs worked really well for smashing a windshield if somebody was following too close. Good God, Look what they've done to my ride Ma.

 

[SmokinDodge]

. Swing out vent windows were the worlds best ashtrays.

And worlds best Bumble Bee catcher/diverter right to the lap of the driver.

 

[el-john-o]

El-John-O, the use of plastics in new saws isn't anything that should surprise you much. Have you noticed the same trend in trucks, cars, tractors, and many other goods? If for example, we look over your typical 1966 pickup truck, we would find steel doorpanels, a steel dashboard (with maybe a foam pad on the very top), a steel grille...in short, steel used extensively and very little plastics of any kind. Do you know that even the new farm tractors are made with plastic hoods and things like that? I don't agree with the situation, but then agin, that's why I run older equipment.

The use of plastic on some things doesn't bother me much as in side cases airfilter covers and such but crankcases are another! Yea my dad should have known better then to buy the cheapest saw but he justs cuts a little firewood for himself and doesn't want to spend on or need a pro saw! Maybe there is something wrong with the 137, but if that cheap ratty buzzy feeling is what you get with a saw with a plastic crankcase then no thanks! I bought a new Jonsered 2159 in the fall of 2005 and I never looked at what the crankcase was made out of but I'm betting on metal as it seems as solid as my dads 1966 040!

 

[TimberPig]

The use of plastic on some things doesn't bother me much as in side cases airfilter covers and such but crankcases are another! Yea my dad should have known better then to buy the cheapest saw but he justs cuts a little firewood for himself and doesn't want to spend on or need a pro saw! Maybe there is something wrong with the 137, but if that cheap ratty buzzy feeling is what you get with a saw with a plastic crankcase then no thanks! I bought a new Jonsered 2159 in the fall of 2005 and I never looked at what the crankcase was made out of but I'm betting on metal as it seems as solid as my dads 1966 040!

That cheap, ratty, buzzy feeling is not due to the plastic case, it's due to a poor design in the name of cheapness and crappy vibration damping. A 350 Husky has a plastic case, and is a very smooth saw, due to superior design and antivibe. You wouldn't be knocking plastic cases if he'd have bought one instead of the 137.

Your 2159 is indeed a magnesium cased model, owing to it's pro saw design, intended for ease of service and durability, instead of the lowest possible price.

 

[el-john-o]

That cheap, ratty, buzzy feeling is not due to the plastic case, it's due to a poor design in the name of cheapness and crappy vibration damping. A 350 Husky has a plastic case, and is a very smooth saw, due to superior design and antivibe. You wouldn't be knocking plastic cases if he'd have bought one instead of the 137.

Your 2159 is indeed a magnesium cased model, owing to it's pro saw design, intended for ease of service and durability, instead of the lowest possible price.

So your saying the use of magnesium on the 2159 is intended for ease of service and durability, then metal crankcases are better then plastic in this instant. I think I will go down to the local shop tomorrow and try another one of these plastic saws out to see what I'm missing.

 

[TimberPig]

So your saying the use of magnesium on the 2159 is intended for ease of service and durability, then metal crankcases are better then plastic in this instant. I think I will go down to the local shop tomorrow and try another one of these plastic saws out to see what I'm missing.

It is mostly that the vertically split crankcase of the 2159 (and other pro saws) is designed to be serviced more easily than the horizontally split case of the cheap Poulan built 137.

There is also a big difference between the really low end consumer model plastic cased saws (limb and trim saws, that see little use in most cases), and ones intended for a more frequent homeowner/firewood cutter.

 

[reifsnyderb]

This whole excessive use of plastic is why I bought an old Stihl off of e-bay. I was going to spend somewhere around $500 on a brand new Stihl. So, I started looking at them and thought that the new saws would look better in my son's toy box than out in the woods. Ok, so I figured a better question would be "what does it feel like?" The handguard was made out of flimsy plastic and the controls felt like they were toys. I strongly feel that if I am going to be dropping that sort of cash on a tool it should look and feel like a tool.

So, I went on e-bay and bought an old 041 Farm Boss (that runs) and I am fixing it up.

I realize that the use of plastic is to save money; but, I would gladly pay extra for something that is made out of quality metal. If a 30-year old abused chainsaw still runs, I wonder what some of the current plastic chainsaws will be doing after 30 years of use and abuse?

In my mind, this excessive use of plastic cost Stihl a sale. Now, if everybody would vote with their wallets, maybe we would see a return to metal.

Brian

 

[computeruser]

This whole excessive use of plastic is why I bought an old Stihl off of e-bay. I was going to spend somewhere around $500 on a brand new Stihl. So, I started looking at them and thought that the new saws would look better in my son's toy box than out in the woods. Ok, so I figured a better question would be "what does it feel like?" The handguard was made out of flimsy plastic and the controls felt like they were toys. I strongly feel that if I am going to be dropping that sort of cash on a tool it should look and feel like a tool.

So, I went on e-bay and bought an old 041 Farm Boss (that runs) and I am fixing it up.

I realize that the use of plastic is to save money; but, I would gladly pay extra for something that is made out of quality metal. If a 30-year old abused chainsaw still runs, I wonder what some of the current plastic chainsaws will be doing after 30 years of use and abuse?

In my mind, this excessive use of plastic cost Stihl a sale. Now, if everybody would vote with their wallets, maybe we would see a return to metal.

Brian

Which Stihl models were you handling?

The pro models are still metal (magnesium) cased with plastic handles and covers and feel pretty solid to me. Sure, the plastic homeowner saws are a different matter, but the mag cased pro saws are designed for and have proven trackrecords for durability and longevity.

 

[Locoweed]

"If a 30-year old abused chainsaw still runs, I wonder what some of the current plastic chainsaws will be doing after 30 years of use and abuse?"

I doubt they want something to last that long. More profit for them if they sell a bunch of the plastic jobs.