Stihl vs Jonsered

[horselogger50]

I need to get a new saw and wondering which would be a better buy. A stihl or a Jonsered. I do a small amount of logging. Hoping that will change. Cutting firewood. I had someone telling me that all stihl products were cheap and to go with the jonsered.

[barbender]

They both make pro and homeowner/ranch models. Make sure to compare apple to apples. I've only ran Jred and Husky saws, I've had trouble enough from them. The only Stihl I ever got to run was a 440 or 460, don't remember and it was hust for a few minutes. It just struck me as very powerful and smooth.

[50 Acre Jim]

I own both and I like the Jonsered the best.  My Jonsered (CS 2172) is a heavy saw and I like it for felling the tree and cutting larger limbs/branches.   My Stihl is a smaller saw and a lot easier to handle if you're working all day.  Both saws run great but I'd give the edge to the Jonsered. 

[sawguy21]

Both are top quality brands, more important is dealer support. Who does the best job in your area?

[Ianab]

Usual complaint with Stihl gear is that's it's NOT cheap  :D

But like Barbender says, both make a range of saws for different  intended uses. Stihls "pro" range saws are generally some of the best, as are J-Reds. They both also make cheaper "home owner" saws, which to be fair, are a bit cheaply built , and nothing special. They "work", but they aren't going to last long if used heavily.

So a Stihl MS 362  or 461 are arguably some of the best saws you can buy. While a MS 170 is a "nothing special", you can buy a comparable saw from pretty much any company, often at a better price.

You will find the same across the J-Red range.

So find the "pro" model of either brand that suits your needs, then make your choice based on dealers, price, how the saw "feels" or even the colour  :D

[ZeroJunk]

I'm not sure the average Stihl dealer even stocks Pro saws. I know the John Deere dealers don't, and Apples in Reidsville doesn't. McKnight in Greensboro stocks them all up to the MS880.
Point being it is possible that a man could only have seen the consumer saws. Of course the other side of that coin is the Pro saws might cause a case of sticker shock.

[thecfarm]

Dealer support gets my vote everytime. I bought a Stihl,many years ago. Went to Husky because of dealer support,they got bought out.  :(  I found a Jonsered dealer to work on my Husky.  ;D  He is retiring this month.  :( I would of bought a Jonsered from him,if I needed a saw.
And there are some that should not give advice. I have trouble with my tractor and than some will say should of bought a whatever they have. Than I ask them how many hours they have on it, and they say 200 hours for a 5 year old tractor.  : I put that many hours on mine in 3 months.

[horselogger50]

Thank you, leaning towards the stihl dealer. Both dealers are small local businesses but the Jonsered dealer kept saying how bad stihl was and how bad the dealer was. I prefer to deal with someone who doesn't bad mouth the other business.

[barbender]

I'm with ya there, whenever someone goes off badmouthing another business, it's a real red flag to me.

[Jesper Jepsen]

We call the Jonsered the red Husky's. Jonsered saws are older models of Husqvarna saws, you can even find the Husky logo on the plastic parts. So your question is more Stihl vs older Husky model Got to mention that this is how it is in Europe, in the states I don't know.
I have both a older small Husky and a MS 362 and MS661 Stihl and the Husky are quicker to speed up but the Stihl have more power in the bottom to pull through the wood. I know that a lot of loggers here like the speed of Husky when cutting pine and spruce and get the big Stihl's out when logging hardwood.

[John Mc]

Thank you, leaning towards the stihl dealer. Both dealers are small local businesses but the Jonsered dealer kept saying how bad stihl was and how bad the dealer was. I prefer to deal with someone who doesn't bad mouth the other business.

Definitely not very professional of the Jonsered dealer. However, being unprofessional does not necessarily mean he is wrong. I'd prefer not to buy from someone like that, however, it would not by itself push me to the Stihl dealer. I'd be doing more investigation (and seeking independent sources of information) on both dealers.

[sawguy21]

I think that says more about the Jonsered dealer than anything, I would not want to deal with somebody like that. A strong, reputable dealer does not need to fear his competition.