Looking for a little advice here on which saw I should get. In a perfect world I would get a 372xp and a 346xp.
I have a 55 rancher I bought new 9 years ago - replaced the muffler and recoil - broke the cap to the bar oil - otherwise problem free. It's a little underpowered for some of the cutting I do (3.4 hp at 11.0 lbs.) I have only really used husky's and I like the local dealer. So all you stihl guys don't try to sway me on this one.
I cut mostly hardwood, usually dead standing - beech, maple, birch and some red oak for firewood. I would guess about 20 cord a year. Most of the trees are between 12 and 24 inches on the stump - a LOT of limbing and rarely anything over 30 inches.
I also am part of clearing fields to be put back into use for organic farming. Some of which involves limbing trees around the outside of the fields. I have a 12 foot pole saw - but some of the oaks have massive branches. Sometimes my old man lifts me up on the forks of an old M international and I use the 55 to cut the big branches off - the 55 can get a little heavy reaching.
I perfer the lighter saw but, I don't know if the 346 has enough umpf not to bind up or if it can handle some of the bigger jobs. The new 2008 346 has 3.7 hp at 10.6 lbs while the 357 has 4.4 hp at 12.1 lbs. The money is an issue but not a huge one - I imagine the saw is going to last me a long time. The difference is about $110.
At this point I am leaning towards the 346 - opinions?
I have a 55 rancher I bought new 9 years ago - replaced the muffler and recoil - broke the cap to the bar oil - otherwise problem free. It's a little underpowered for some of the cutting I do (3.4 hp at 11.0 lbs.) I have only really used husky's and I like the local dealer. So all you stihl guys don't try to sway me on this one.
I cut mostly hardwood, usually dead standing - beech, maple, birch and some red oak for firewood. I would guess about 20 cord a year. Most of the trees are between 12 and 24 inches on the stump - a LOT of limbing and rarely anything over 30 inches.
I also am part of clearing fields to be put back into use for organic farming. Some of which involves limbing trees around the outside of the fields. I have a 12 foot pole saw - but some of the oaks have massive branches. Sometimes my old man lifts me up on the forks of an old M international and I use the 55 to cut the big branches off - the 55 can get a little heavy reaching.
I perfer the lighter saw but, I don't know if the 346 has enough umpf not to bind up or if it can handle some of the bigger jobs. The new 2008 346 has 3.7 hp at 10.6 lbs while the 357 has 4.4 hp at 12.1 lbs. The money is an issue but not a huge one - I imagine the saw is going to last me a long time. The difference is about $110.
At this point I am leaning towards the 346 - opinions?