So, the OP has a Stihl. That means what ? And Your problem with OB clutches is what ? OBTW speak from experience , not what You've read . And the 372 xp is a great saw period . Do You own one ,or are You given to posting Hype ? You are apparently sold on one brand ,because You haven't experienced anything else ,and then going by Your Sig , You haven't experienced much at all .
Posting hype? Yah right. You do not know jack about me or what I have done in the world of chainsaws, or the fact that I have owned and run many Husky saws, including the 346xp, 372xpw, 395xpw, and some others. I have owned 2 tree service business, several large Brush Bandit chippers, and I have owned and logged several hundred acres of tree stands in Oregon and California. I have worked on logging crews and I have worked on arborist crews. I have a certificate in silviculture from OSU and I once was a certified arborist. I had a pretty good chainsaw business in Central Oregon at one time and I have restored, built and modified many saws. I was slated to be a Dolmar dealer at one time there as well, and I had part ownership in a small Stihl/Husky shop in a small town buried in logging country in the coast range. I have also exported many saws to Oz, NZ, and the EU over the years. But I digress... I guess I do not have any experience according to you, how knows absolutely nothing about me.
The problem with outboard clutches is that they are a PITA to swap rims on, as I change out bars and change rims depending on the size of the bar and the type of wood I am cutting. Simple. Every saw that I have had with an outboard clutch also tended to cake up the clutch with wood crud and oil. Simple. I do not like them, and my opinion based on my experience using them is that they suck. You do not like my opinion? Too bad. My current saws list is a small sample of what I have had over the years, and a rendering of a much larger collection at one time. I sold off my Huskies becasue I tended to use the Stihls. Huskies all have different starting methods on them. Stihls all start the same. I also wanted one brand of saws to work on and get parts for, and one type of bars and chain that I could swap between saws if needed. There are a million and one Stihl dealerships in the western US, and I have been in many of them. It is really easy to get Stihl parts and service out here. With Husky, that is not the case. With Dolmar, it is impossible. I have also been in most all of the Husky dealerships out here and I have bought saws from many of them, but there are far fewer of them.
I also sold my big old door stop Macs and Olympics, and my small climbing Echos... and a WildThing that I never put any gas in. I also sold off all my older Stihl AV saws, as parts for those are getting harder to get these days, and I sold all my top handle saws becasue I do not climb any more (bad back, of you
must know). I also sold all of my 1123 series Stihl saws becasue they are a PITA to work on. The fact is that I like and prefer Stihls. From my experience of owning and using a lot of saws, including Husky, MAC, Olympik, Dolmar, Poulan, Homelite, Stihl, Echo, and several other off brands and custom hot saws. There are some good Huskies, and some good Dolmars, and some good Echos. But I am a Stihl guy, like my name here says:
StihlHead (like the fish we have here). I mean, if you really
have to know... but with a name like Tricky Dick? What's your experience with saws there, bubba?