It needs to start and run *every time,* and I need to be familiar with it. I’ve bent bars & rocked chains. No big deal, I can fix that. Preventative maintenance is exactly that. It also needs to be appropriate in size for the job at hand.
However, when I’m putting a hazard tree on the ground, or even just slashing brush along a fire line, it needs to get up and go, because it’s safety critical at that point. Antivibe, air filters, straight vs angled top handles, automatically tuning carburetors, all go out the window.
So I guess my go tos are 441s when I’m production cutting and my 044 comes out for fire season. There’s a good reason.