Stihl MS440 Mag or Husq??

[Fireaxman]

Litefoot, your deal beat the heck out of mine. I paid $800 for my 460 with a 28" bar and no accessories. I had worked all day on storm damage and did not get a chance to pick it up until about 4:30 this afternoon, but I sure didn't have to sit in a hotel room and wish for a chance to use it. My 11 acres here in Madisonville is (was) heavily wooded, and it looks like ..... well, a hurricane hit it. So, I fired the saw up for a couple of hours as soon as I got home.

It's actually a little disappointing right out of the box. But I know not to expect too much until I get it broken in. And, I had to order the dual ported exhaust, so I expect it will do fine once I get that installed and really get rolling with it. It does sound kinda like it's having a little trouble breathing with that stock muffler.

Glad I took the advice on the 460 instead of the 440. By the way, saw with 28" bar fueled and ready for work is 21.4 pounds, exactly the same as the Husq 570 I had borrowed from my neighbor. The 570 is advertised at 4.9 hp, the MS-460 at 6 hp. More than 15% more horsepower at the same weight for $100 still seems like the right choice, even if I did have to pay full price for it.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Husky's are made for racing, Stihls are made for working.

I vote for the 046 over both the 044 and 372, but any one of the three are great saws.

Only a 20 year pro, so take my statments with a grain of salt...

 

[jokers]

Husky's are made for racing through your work, Stihls are made for unnecessarily working your arse off.

huh?

Only a 20 year pro, so take my statments with a grain of salt...

Usually the only people who make statements like that Mike, are those who are trying to inflate their perceived credibility, wouldn`t you agree? It`s ok though, I`m here to vouch for you.

I counter that your 20 years of experience have given you a subjective opinion regarding what saw works best for you, just like the rest of us nimrods.

Russ

 

[Ryan Willock]

Rich, I got to handle a 575 this weekend and the balance sucks, its heavy and cumbersom feeling (to me anyway) it looks like I'll be slowly switching back over to stihls since husky has discontinued the 372's. 460's it is then!!

 

[jokers]

Ryan,

I can`t argue that the 575 may never impress most people, but just handling one without actually using it can`t tell you much more about the saw than reading the specs will. I`ll bet that handling one didn`t give you any idea how smooth they are in the cut.

Russ

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Rich, I got to handle a 575 this weekend and the balance sucks, its heavy and cumbersom feeling (to me anyway) it looks like I'll be slowly switching back over to stihls since husky has discontinued the 372's. 460's it is then!!

When I ran Russ's 575 at his GTG I felt the saw was OK. But then that was a 575 that EHP had done work on. I can't comment on a stock 575!


We will have to see what lies ahead for Stihl. Their new versions of the 440 and 460 may gain heft too!!!

 

[Fireaxman]

First Real Day for the 460

First full day on the job for the 460, and it done real good. A 36 dbh blown down at the roots and a 32 dbh with a 36" base (before it was shattered by Katrina). Lets see if I can put some picts in this thread. The first is of the 2 largest trees we worked on today (the 36" and the 32").

The second pict is a house just across the street from the one I was working on. A tornado apparently came down that side of the steet. Tops were snapped off of about 50% of the pines on that side of the street, about 20% of the pines on the side of the street I was working on. At the house where I was working all the tops fell away from the house. On the other side of the street, seems like they all fell toward the house.

They say Katrina spawned about 200 tornadoes as she sheared off to the Northeast between Plaquemines Parish, La. and Southwest Mississippi.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

You need to hit "Manage Attachments", after you press reply. Then upload the pics from the Browse button.

 

[pallis]

I have to agree with Tony M. I gave the 372 its first real workout yesterday, while my son used the 7900. There were a few times when I just had to stop and watch that 7900 work. What a saw! ...Meanwhile, have fun with the 460.

 

[Simonizer]

I believe that the 460 is Stihl`s most popular Pro saw, it is around here.

The 575s cut pretty near the way a stock 372 does but I don`t think that the 575 mods as well as the 372. One thing that the 575 has going for it is it`s buttery smoothness in the cut. They feel pretty d@mned good as long as the weight is being supported in the kerf. The 575s truly are more fuel efficient, so that has to factor in as atleast a minor plus from a few angles.

It might be premature to write the obit on the 372 given the number that keep turning up for sale new.

Russ

I have 2 modded 575's out right now. I have just had feed-back recently from a faller running it in cedar with a 32" bar. (75 ga) He loves it. Fuel consumption went up to 5 liters per day from 4.5. (His 385 burns about 10.) This is a VERY smooth saw in the cut like you say. The modifications on this saw are very simple but also deliberate. This is not a polishing job, it is a metal removal job. Cheers.