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Chain Saw Choices-Why Do You Buy

Started by Saw Man, August 19, 2002, 09:28:04 AM

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Saw Man

Quite frankly, there are a lot of good saws out there. Some so close it's splitting 'wild hairs'.

So, I'm wondering the,'who, what, where, when, and why' questions of why you buy, and use what you do.

These are your opinions, so there is no right or wrong answer.

Thanks!
Safe & Profitable Cutting

Tom

Firstly a dealer that won't rip me off, knows his stuff, inventories saw choices and parts and knows how to make the saw run without taking a week to do it.

Secondly is that it crank.  I don't want another saw that will give me a heart attack on a hot, humid day.

then an engine that will comfortably pull a 20" bar.  I seem to target 4 ci.

then i want it light and maintenance free. Ease of access to filter, sprocket and clutch.

I want it to last years, not months.  The price needs to be within my range.  I find it difficult to choose a saw that cost more than I make in a week.

It needs to be able to live on the back of my truck and withstand the elements.

I don't care if it is 2 stroke or 4 stroke, but it sure would be nice if it were made in the good old U.S. of A.




DanG

I chose an Echo 670, mainly because of the dealer. He offer's the things Tom mentioned, and he gave me a good price. When I walk in the door, he knows who I am, and what saw I have, what size bars and chains I have bought, and that I ain't made of money. It feels good to deal with someone like that.
I haven't run a late model Stihl or Husky, but I don't think they'll do much, if any, better than the Echo.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Bro. Noble

We live in the middle of four towns, the closest being 20 miles away.  I want to be able to get parts in any direction I go.  This limits my choice to Husky and  Stihl.  The first serious saw we bought, my son and I went together to a dealer that sold both.  We picked out the one we thought would fill our needs the best from both brands.  The Husky was a little cheaper but the Stihl felt a little more balanced to handle.  We bought the Stihl and 4 more since.

We now have 09, 034, 036, 044, and 066.  

Noble
milking and logging and sawing and milking

Kevin

The size of the saw depends on what purpose you have planned for it.
Is the saw easy to work on and make adjustments, does it have one piston ring or two,  will it last several seasons if taken care of,  what is the dealer like and how qualified is their mechanic,  what options do I have for bar and chain combos, what`s the track record of a specific saw?
These are some of the questions I would be asking.

ADfields

The first job I ever had was fire wood cuting in Arizona when I was 14.   That first summer I went and killed 2 saws and #3 was a lmbardi and it KILLED ME but stayed running even if I did need to pry my hands off it with a forck to eat for lunch and it took a crane to put it in the truck at the end of a day!!!!   A man I was working with had an old Stihl and all he ever did was keep the thing sharp.   So I went the big bucks and got a Farm Boss 041 and I still have the thing 25 years later!   It NEVER gave me a problum so I have used nothing but Stihls from then on and thay have never given me a reason to look at another brand of saw, so why quit a good thing!   The onley Stihl I ever kiled was when I had a tree kick off its stump and crush it befor it fell the wrong way, I dont think that was the saws falt.   I now have the 041 Farm Boss,  041 super, 2 newer 044's and 3 017's and it's the 017's that I now use the most.   The wife and I just got back from cutting 3 cords of birch this afternoon with the 017's and the stihl brand chain is still good and sharp!
Andy

Bro. Noble

Andy,

Those stihl's are hard to kill.  Dropped a tree on our 044, thought it was killed so bought the 066.  Dad does all our mechanical work------took the 044 apart, bought used parts and repaired it.

Ran over the 034 with a half-loaded log truck.  Knew it was killed so bought an 036 to replace it.  Dad took the 034 apart, bought used parts, and repaired it.

Noble
milking and logging and sawing and milking

ADfields

Yes thay are very hard to kill!   It was a 48" Alligator Juniper tree and it crushed the saw's crankcace and moste of the other castings.   It had weged in the cut when the tree started to go the wrong way :o, man I did not want to leave that saw but if you ever saw a 48" Alligator Juniper you know it's time to GO ;D   Thay wont let you cut them in Arizona now, USFS thinks thay are endangered or somthing. >:(   Boy do I miss the snap, pop and smell of Juniper and mesquite in my fire now that I live in Alaska!
Andy

Sawyerfortyish

I traded a wore out echo in on an 032 ran that saw 16 yrs cutting slabs 8 hrs a day 5 days a week. Took it to the dealer and had it rebuilt got 3 more yrs out of it took it back to the dealer and he told me I had got my moneys worth out of it stick it in a trash can. Well you know what brand I bought to replace it. Since I have a full line 024-(2) 036 -(2) 038 -044 -460-048-056-064-(2)066-084 The worst of all the models has been the 044 I think from talking to others stihl has a problem with that model. However I'm very pleased with Stihl and i'm not knocking other kinds I have no need to try any others I have a large Stihl dealer near me and parts are always there when I need them.

Sawyerfortyish

Hey Noble is your dad looking for work :D

Bro. Noble

Sawyer40,

Dad doesn't have to look very hard.  This summer he has done major repaire on our round baler, rebuilt the knotter stack on our square baler, replaced the head gasket and repaired the poney motor on a D13,000 Cat. and rebuilt a section of the dairybarn where we had to replace the bulk tank.  He does all of the routine maintaince on the machinery and marks trees to be cut.  He is painting his house right now.
He spreads sawdust and manure every Monday.

Dad's 79 and works so slow and is so particular that nobody can stand to work with him,  He goes from daylight to dark and gets more done than any of the rest of us.

My mom is a match for him.  They will have been married 60 years next week.

Noble
milking and logging and sawing and milking

whitepe

Noble,

What does your dad do in his spare time?   ;D
Wow...
Of course you did know that once you get that
yellow blood in you it will add an extra 20 years
to your life span.  You probably will get an extra
five working summers in the foundry.   :D :D :D

Oh yea,  I guess this topic is about chain saws
I got,  in chronological purchase order an 011AV,  029 Farm Boss, an 009 and an 044.  Wouldn't have anything else.
It doesn't hurt to have the Mississippi Valley regional parts
depot about a mile down the road from the dealer though.
If I need a part, I'll call the dealer in the morning, if he doesn'
have it the parts depot almost always does and they
pick it up on their daily depot run. The only thing they
had to special order is my kevlar boots.
I've also got one of those Stihl-on-a-stick things.
 
whitepe
blue by day, orange by night and green in between

TJACK

I have 2 Husky saws 372xp & a 359 and 1 Stihl 025.  They all serve the purpose just fine although, I have always had better luck starting the Husky saws cold or hot.  The Stihl just takes at least twice as many pulls.  The dealer said the saw was fine, so I didn't push the issue as it does run good once started.  Both the Husky and Stihl dealers are top notch in my area.  My choice is Husky saws, for the reason of they start within 3 to 4 pulls cold or hot.

TJACK  

Sawyerfortyish

Tjack
Rarely do I have to pull any one of my saws more than 3 or 4 times to start them if so something is wrong. If you run certain saws everyday you know how each starts.Never thought much about it but each starts a little differant

ADfields

All my Stihl's start in 3 or 4 pulls and thats in Arizona at 115 in the shade and Alaska at -40 in the sun!   I did find a guy needs some cold flowing bar oil up hear in the cold parts, had to go home and thaw them out so I could dump the Arizona stuff out.   ;D a day off 8)

TJACK

Since my post, I ran my Stihl 025 and my Husky 359.  Here are the results.  Cold Stihl 5 pulls, Husky 4 pulls.  After about 10 minutes of run time cutting firewood I shut the saws off.  I let the saw cool for  10 to 15 minutes and tried to start it, Stihl 6 pulls, Husky 1.  Maybe it is just learning how to start the Stihl, as I have only had it since last fall.  I had an old 014 with a 14" bar for cutting small stuff some years back and it never started that great although, once running was a good little saw that lasted many years.  


TJACK

JD_Kid

Hi ya's
well like tom said dealer back up is a big thing ,but i think people do stick to what they know ..in my case i have always had dolmars had a good run with them if the dealer can't fix them :( i find another dealer ,i have owned a husky but did not like the feel of it, good saw but just did not suit me ..most of the saws now are almost the same ..bottom line realy comes down to dealer ,parts &back up ,how eazy to work on yaself,and how the saw suits your body size and sawing style ...
catch ya
JD Kid
I used to smoke camels but found them hard to light and kicked to much

Corley5

I grew up with a 65 Husky meat eater.  I was introduced to Jonsereds by a logger that I worked for a while and really liked them.  The 670 Super wasn't worth a crap but the 930 Super was good.  I bought a 2094 when they first came out and still have it.  It'll run but needs a carb kit and maybe crank seals.  I needed a saw to finish up a logging project a couple winters ago and couldn't get the 2094 fixed as fast I wanted/needed it and they didn't have a 2095 in stock.  I did the next best thing and bought a 395 Husky from the dealer up the road and have been extremely satisfied both with the saw and the service at the dealership.  I ran an 031 Stihl for the same logger for a while and thought it was a pretty good saw.  Always started good but you had to carry an assortment of bolts, screws and allen wrenches to keep it from falling apart.  I really like the Air Injection/Turbo on the Huskys and J-Reds.  Saves a lot in keeping the air filter clean.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

L. Wakefield

   Hey TJACK- I agree with you on the husky's- mine starts in 1-2 pulls usually unless I have old gas in it. But the other side of the coin is; how do they do when they drop back to idle? I haven't fiddled with mine yet but I notice that better than half the time if I let it idle more than 30secs it stalls. That is, unless I'm done- then it'll run forever till I give up and use the kill switch ;D  again I think it goes better if the gas is fresh.
                 lw
L. Wakefield, owner and operator of the beastly truck Heretik, that refuses to stay between the lines when parking

SawBilly

Ah the choices of what to buy and how much money to spend..How much do you have? :D
When I bought my one and only saw (a Stihl), I did not have any knowledge of who was better. So I went to the local farmers co-op and asked what is the most sold saw, and how often does it come back for service. They steered me to the Stihls. I said I have this much money what is the biggest saw I can get for it. I bought an 025, only has a 16" blade at this time, but it cuts great, lasts until I hit the dirt or a nail, dosen't weigh much, and I am comfortable with it. That last one is a key issue.

Oh did I mention it can fly? Really it can. I'm standing on top of a 12 foot ladder, triming limbs to get better TV reception  ;D, ladder moves, limbs start falling, ladder falling, me falling, everyone screaming  :o, I am not worried about me, the ladder, the limbs, but the SAW is still running so I try out for the Olympic shot putt team and CHUNK the saw thru the air. 50 feet of cutting nothing but a breeze  :-X, I do believe it made a three point landing, not a scratch, oh the saw is fine too!

God blessed me even though I deserved to leave this fine world, and for as long as I am here, I will have my Stihl with me.

Now I wonder if I could use it to duck hunt?


Kevin

LW,
Sounds like it`s time to put the revolution counter on your saw.

Kevin

Most newer Stihl owners manuals have cold and warm starting instructions.
Check your manual and follow the instructions ... it really does work!

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