What was your favorite chainsaw of all time and why

[Timbercruiser]

Yep those were great saws . New ones are not as good. 262 had great anti vibe system too

[Glenn]

I like my p52 that i bought nos !  I like it cuz it is simple and old school.  Easy to fix and a very distinct sound !  Next would be a toss up between the 266 and jonsered 630, both great saws.  Then my tiny husky 141 just because its tiny and never lets me down - its a very underrated saw !

[Straightgrain]

Stihl MS 362; because it was a "quantum leap" from all my previous saws I had that were designed for occasional use. It's my daily saw; only a gummed-up spark arrestor and a warranty-replaced control module in 3 years of work.

All it asks of me is that I buy clear (non ethanol) fuel; no sweat, a burger joint (Burgerville) is right across the street from the gas station where I buy the fuel....

[motohed]

Man , if we could buy no ethanol fuel in RI , Thast why I run aviation fuel in all my saws . It's a hundred octane and remains so at 12,000 ft . ! Yes I have paid as much as 5.50 a gallon , but what is your saw worth to make money . You can leave one set for over a year and it will Start as good as the day you stopped using it , I know , I had back surgury just over a year ago and did'nt get the go ahead from the Dr for 15 monthes . Now they are talking 15% ethanol in the US . No saw will run for long on that . I know there are states that have no ethanol fuel , but not RI .

[Logger RK]

1 Homlite XL 12. My Brothers saw that I got to run. 2 Johnsred 70E. First new saw I could afford. 3 Stilh 044 second new saw I bought.

[John Mc]

Man , if we could buy no ethanol fuel in RI , Thast why I run aviation fuel in all my saws . It's a hundred octane and remains so at 12,000 ft . ! Yes I have paid as much as 5.50 a gallon , but what is your saw worth to make money . You can leave one set for over a year and it will Start as good as the day you stopped using it , I know , I had back surgury just over a year ago and did'nt get the go ahead from the Dr for 15 monthes . Now they are talking 15% ethanol in the US . No saw will run for long on that . I know there are states that have no ethanol fuel , but not RI .

Have you tried marinas in your area? They often have non-ethanol gas. You can also try pure-gas.org, though they don't show many options for non-ethanol gas in RI right now.

I'm a pilot, and have easy access to AvGas, but I won't burn it in my saws. It's a leaded gas, and the exhaust on a chainsaw is just a bit too close to where I'm breathing for me to feel comfortable using it.

[gspren]

  Back in the 80s-90s my wife's relatives were local Stihl dealers, and they recommended and gave me a good deal on my 044. So far after trying friends saws of all the major brands I've still never felt another saw that just felt "Right" like the 044 does.

[HolmenTree]

I still have my first original 1989 044AV  (10mm)
Next winter project doing a complete restoration on it.

[sandsawmill14]

i run the ethanol blend in all my saws and in the mill and everything else and i cant tell a difference other than a little better gas mileage in my truck when i tried the pure gas but not enough to justify the price difference only about 1 1/2 miles per gal more BUT my equipment DOES NOT SIT and i suspect my luck would change if i was letting it sit around without using for months at a time far as my saw goes some days i will burn 5 gallons of saw gas and some days i wont even burn a full tank but it will be run at least 6 out of 7 days year round

[Hermio]

Old thread, I know. But I just bought a new Stihl MS500i, so I was curious. I think hte 500i will be my favorite, based on performance (fast, but with a wide torque band so it has no problem in big wood). It is also light and narrow. Time will tell on reliability. Up till now, my favorite was my Stihl MS441C, which wore out. Prior to that, I had a Stihl 038 Super, some kind of little Echo saw for limbing, and before that, I had some model of Remington. I just do firewood, so usually I run a 20" bar, though I have a 25" in reserve if I need it. But I cannot lift stuff that big, so I would only need it to get a larger tree bucked for moving it out of the way.

[Real1shepherd]

Necrothread and subjective. Depends on the actual usage and even how you acquired it, price paid, provenance etc. Sometimes people inherit a saw and take it to heart, warts and all.

For me it's the Husky 2100, then the Jonsereds 80(bought one completely rebuilt and hopped up over 40yrs ago) and then the Jonsereds 90. And last but not least the Jonsered 2094. I don't have enough time in with the Jonsereds 910 to make a judgement call yet.

All pro saws and pro application. YMMV.

Kevin

[snobdds]

My first and favorite is the Stihl 361.  It's the perfect saw in power and weight.   My second is the Stihl 461.  I don't run it as often, but it's got to be one of Stihls best made saws ever. 

[JJinAK]

I actually think this is a good thread.  I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

I have a non-CM 362 that is my favorite.  It has the best power/weight feel of anything I've run, but in fairness to the Husky brand, I've really only run Stihl.  I would like to try a couple the Husky or even Jonsered models.

Now, I will also add that my favorite saw to hate was also a Stihl.  I was an 18 year old greenhorn working in the early 80's, and my boss had an old Stihl 051.  I've driven Buicks that were lighter.  Took about a 1/2 hour to start.  It was an absolute horse.  I was using it for bucking and limbing, and it was our backup falling saw.  Our main faller guy got a brand new 056 Super, and I remember thinking that saw was the bomb.  It only weighed as much as a Ford Pinto.

[421Altered]

My second, but favorite saw is my Stihl 024 that I bought new.  I still use it almost weekly.  It's compact with a 16' bar, so it fits neatly in my cross span tool box in my truck.  So, it's always ready to use.  If it hasn't been cranked for a while, maybe a month or more, it will need 3 to 4 pulls to fire it up.  I use it for about 95 percent of what I do.  

[John Mc]

I actually think this is a good thread. I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

 

Well, liking it or not is pretty much the definition of subjective:
"subjective adjective - based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions."

[sawguy21]

I actually think this is a good thread.  I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

I have a non-CM 362 that is my favorite.  It has the best power/weight feel of anything I've run, but in fairness to the Husky brand, I've really only run Stihl.  I would like to try a couple the Husky or even Jonsered models.

Now, I will also add that my favorite saw to hate was also a Stihl.  I was an 18 year old greenhorn working in the early 80's, and my boss had an old Stihl 051.  I've driven Buicks that were lighter.  Took about a 1/2 hour to start.  It was an absolute horse.  I was using it for bucking and limbing, and it was our backup falling saw.  Our main faller guy got a brand new 056 Super, and I remember thinking that saw was the bomb.  It only weighed as much as a Ford Pinto.

I had to laugh. I started working in a Stihl shop in 1975 and probably saw more 051's than any other model because that is what most of the loggers ran. You are right, they weighed almost as much as a small car and like the last girlfriend were high maintenance. The 075 was worse, I hated them.

[Real1shepherd]

I actually think this is a good thread. I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

Well, liking it or not is pretty much the definition of subjective:
"subjective adjective - based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions."

^^^This!

Kevin

[Real1shepherd]

I actually think this is a good thread.  I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

I have a non-CM 362 that is my favorite.  It has the best power/weight feel of anything I've run, but in fairness to the Husky brand, I've really only run Stihl.  I would like to try a couple the Husky or even Jonsered models.

Now, I will also add that my favorite saw to hate was also a Stihl.  I was an 18 year old greenhorn working in the early 80's, and my boss had an old Stihl 051.  I've driven Buicks that were lighter.  Took about a 1/2 hour to start.  It was an absolute horse.  I was using it for bucking and limbing, and it was our backup falling saw.  Our main faller guy got a brand new 056 Super, and I remember thinking that saw was the bomb.  It only weighed as much as a Ford Pinto.

I had to laugh. I started working in a Stihl shop in 1975 and probably saw more 051's than any other model because that is what most of the loggers ran. You are right, they weighed almost as much as a small car and like the last girlfriend were high maintenance. The 075 was worse, I hated them.

I started out with an 075. Then an old faller who was teaching me, put an early production Husky 2100 in my hands. I wanted to throw the 075 in a deep lake.

Kevin

[lxskllr]

My 2511t, cause it's always there. It lives in my truck, and gets pulled out to modify stakes or make some quick cuts. It'll hang fairly comfortably off my pistol belt, or go up a tree on my saddle. Starts easily, and runs reliably. If it disappeared right now, I'd have another one before I got home from work today.

[donbj]

I actually think this is a good thread.  I'm not 100% sure how liking something can be subjective- you either like it or you don't....

I have a non-CM 362 that is my favorite.  It has the best power/weight feel of anything I've run, but in fairness to the Husky brand, I've really only run Stihl.  I would like to try a couple the Husky or even Jonsered models.

Now, I will also add that my favorite saw to hate was also a Stihl.  I was an 18 year old greenhorn working in the early 80's, and my boss had an old Stihl 051.  I've driven Buicks that were lighter.  Took about a 1/2 hour to start.  It was an absolute horse.  I was using it for bucking and limbing, and it was our backup falling saw.  Our main faller guy got a brand new 056 Super, and I remember thinking that saw was the bomb.  It only weighed as much as a Ford Pinto.

I had to laugh. I started working in a Stihl shop in 1975 and probably saw more 051's than any other model because that is what most of the loggers ran. You are right, they weighed almost as much as a small car and like the last girlfriend were high maintenance. The 075 was worse, I hated them.

I started out with an 075. Then an old faller who was teaching me, put an early production Husky 2100 in my hands. I wanted to throw the 075 in a deep lake.

Kevin

I don't have the hands on experience with a lot of saws But I had a bad experience with a new 034 Stihl back in 95 and ended up trading it for a new Husky 262XP in 96. Gotta say that thing has been a rock star and still is to this day. That said, since starting my collecting hobby the big cube saws are the ones that have taken the focus and desire. 394's, 2100's 185, 181SE etc. Top shelf stuff and once fired up, just nice to listen too!