I am pretty happy with my tiny Poland pro so far.....but let's say you had a $1000 limit to put into a new saw. Which would you get? Echo? Dolmar? Stihl? Which model?
Best chainsaw for 10 cord, $1000 budget. 25" diameter hard wood
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AmarilloSlim
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- Sep 11, 2013
- 151
Stihl. 50cc or more. Safety gear can also be obtained within your budget..... Is the poulan not cutting it for you anymore or have you fallen victim of cad?
Jon1270
Minister of Fire
$1000 will buy more saw than you need.
How often do you cut wood that's actually 25" across, and how big a hurry are you in when you're doing it?
The commonly available brands that offer professional-grade saws are Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo and Dolmar/Makita. You'll want a displacement somewhere in the range of 50-70cc, with bigger tending to be both heavier and more expensive. Unless you're cutting 25" hardwood all the time, I'd save both the money and the weight and go with a 50-60cc saw. I'm unfamiliar with the Echo product line and only slightly familiar with a few Dolmar / Makita models, but excellent choices would be the Stihl MS261, Husqvarna 555 or 562, or Stihl MS362.
How often do you cut wood that's actually 25" across, and how big a hurry are you in when you're doing it?
The commonly available brands that offer professional-grade saws are Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo and Dolmar/Makita. You'll want a displacement somewhere in the range of 50-70cc, with bigger tending to be both heavier and more expensive. Unless you're cutting 25" hardwood all the time, I'd save both the money and the weight and go with a 50-60cc saw. I'm unfamiliar with the Echo product line and only slightly familiar with a few Dolmar / Makita models, but excellent choices would be the Stihl MS261, Husqvarna 555 or 562, or Stihl MS362.
cityboy172
Feeling the Heat
Stihl ms362 or Husqvarna 562. Will cut everything your asking, like a boss.
1k price point will get you a lot of saw. For around $500 you have a few good options. I'm a echo chainsaw fan. I have a few saws from echo. I'm happy with the cost a reliability. I recently purchased echo 590 for $400 and used it to cut up a 36" oak with no issues. For your budget you can move up to the 600p or the 680. Those are more professional grade saws. If you are just a weekend warrior processing firewood the 590 is all you will need.
For half that you can get a quality pro-grade saw, a bar or two, and some chains if you're keeping your eyes out. I bought my 357xp and 288xp's that way, used but in good or better condition, and I can cut anything I would reasonably expect to come across. If you are truly regularly going to be cutting big stuff, I'd look at a Dolmar 7900; lightweight and powerful.
Turbo
Member
MS 362 C-M with a 16" full chisel and 25" full skip, that's what I run. That way you have one saw for it all, I'm not going to lie, if you limb and buck all day with the MS362, your going to feel like you've had a work out, but your also going to have a ton of wood ready for splitting. Or you can buy two saws; something like a MS 170 for limbing and a MS 391 for felling and bucking.
Go for a "pro" saw. It's all about power to weight ratio. MS391 is a powerful saw, but it weighs more then a MS 362, so at the end of the day, you'll feel the extra 1.3 lbs.
If you do buy a MS 362 C-M, don't be disappointed with it for the first 7 or so tanks, they take about 5-15 tanks to break in.
Go for a "pro" saw. It's all about power to weight ratio. MS391 is a powerful saw, but it weighs more then a MS 362, so at the end of the day, you'll feel the extra 1.3 lbs.
If you do buy a MS 362 C-M, don't be disappointed with it for the first 7 or so tanks, they take about 5-15 tanks to break in.
If you regularly cut 25" wood, then a 70cc saw is you tool. Stihl 441/460/461, Husqvarna 372XP (or Jonsered version), Dolmar 7900 (or Makita version). This would be with a 24" bar or maybe longer.
You can get by with a 60cc saw running a 24/25" bar in softwoods. Otherwise, it should wear a 20" bar for most cutting.
You can get by with a 60cc saw running a 24/25" bar in softwoods. Otherwise, it should wear a 20" bar for most cutting.
98kx1927
Member
I came to post this same question. What about rebuilt saws? I've been looking at something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STIHL-036-P...EAD-034-MS360-MS361-MS440-MS460-/251561279857
Is it worth the "risk" to get a rebuilt saw?
david
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STIHL-036-P...EAD-034-MS360-MS361-MS440-MS460-/251561279857
Is it worth the "risk" to get a rebuilt saw?
david
cityboy172
Feeling the Heat
Nothing wrong with a rebuilt, if it's done right.
His lack of what brand parts he rebuilt it with make me wonder.
If I were to buy a rebuilt off the internet, From someone I don't know, it would be from arboristsite.
I've bought rebuilts before but they've always been local where I could actually check out how it was done. Of those, they ran the range of professional work right down to scary. I won't pay more than parts cost for any online rebuilt unless it's a factory rebuilt; there is just too much risk and variables involved.
Jon1270
Minister of Fire
I've fixed and sold several saws online, via eBay and on another forum. I can tell you just from looking that the saw you linked to is a hack job and ridiculously overpriced. The orange covers are mismatched, the front handle is the wrong one for that saw, the entire recoil assembly is a cheap aftermarket knockoff. Take a look at the pic of the bottom of the saw. See how beat up the crankcase is? What he's done is to take a really rough saw and replace the totally broken parts with whatever he could get cheap or had lying around. I wouldn't give him half his asking price unless I needed to cut my way out of a leaking submarine.
There absolutely are excellent saws available online at good prices, but that isn't one of them.
My Poulan does OK. Towards the end of my forth tree (about a week ago) it would stall. I would pull the cord and continue on. I do wish for a stronger saw. My job allows me all the overtime I can stand. I figure with two weeks of overtime I can take home an extra $1000 in my two check.
I don't often cut 25" hardwood but I do run into it from time to time.
I tend to favor an 18" bar as it cuts most of the stuff I run into and it will cut bigger wood with an extra pass.
When I cut wood I'm not in a big hurry. I put on my Deep Woods Off, carry a small radio, a jug of ice tea along with saw, file, bar lube and mixed gas. I make a day of it and it is less stressful that way.
Due to changes in job and such I had been out of the wood cutting business for a while but I'm back in it for home heating purposes in the upper NY area. This past winter was the 4th worst in the last 100 years. We has sub zero temps into May.
Things I value in a saw are:
1. Knowing the pull cord will not break
2. Knowing it will start and idle with out having to rev the motor to the point the chain moves
3. Light weight. Those old steel housed saws that seemed like they weighed 50 pounds are not for me.
4. I like teeth. The steel points between the bar and motor
5. It should have a wheel at the end of the bar
6. I prefer a high rev motor to a slower motor that is hard to stop. Personal preference.
7. The saws' gas tank should run out before the tank of bar lube
8. Vibration should be kept to a minimum
9. It should be easy to tighten the chain and to change the chain.
10. If the saw needs idle adjustment it should be easy to get to.
11. Everything should feel right. The hand position should feel comfy, I should be able to pull the choke with light gloves.
cityboy172
Feeling the Heat
Definitely a stihl 362 or husky 562. They are the work horses. I use a stihl ms460, and am wanting to step down to one of the two above saws (weight). Put a 20" bar on, and wait to get the 25". Bars add a lot of weight and money. You might just want to stick with a 20 and double cut when needed.
If you plan on keeping that saw, then a 60cc compliment to that saw makes sense. 60cc's will give you the ability run a 20" bar without the engine bogging down too much when fully buried in wood. It will also handle the larger bite of 3/8 pitch chain. (Note that I'm referring to regular 3/8 pitch chain and not the smaller 3/8 low profile pitch (Stihl Picco).
If you plan on retiring/selling your 42cc saw, then consider a two saw plan. Many firewooders like complementing a quality 50cc saw with a 70cc saw. The 50cc saw is great for limbing and smaller bucking. The 70+cc saw will excel in larger bucking, felling, stumping, and noodling. Buy one saw and then get the other when funds allow or a good used one comes along.
Get to your local chainsaw dealers to feel the weights in person.
roadiestar
Member
- Mar 24, 2014
- 9
My vote goes for the Husqvarna 562XP, just like my newest saw. Now that I'm on this site I'm afraid I've caught the pesky CAD....
PS, I got my new 562XP with a 20" bar and chain for $660 shipped and no tax charged.
PS, I got my new 562XP with a 20" bar and chain for $660 shipped and no tax charged.
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Been looking at the 562's of Husk and 362's from stihl.
Drool Drool Drool
They both have good reviews. I myself have always been a husky chaser (hehehe), but stihl dealers are everywhere which means parts are very available.
Ohhh I very much like these "Which chainsaw?" posts as I have been ponderin a new one for some time now.
Drool Drool Drool
They both have good reviews. I myself have always been a husky chaser (hehehe), but stihl dealers are everywhere which means parts are very available.
Ohhh I very much like these "Which chainsaw?" posts as I have been ponderin a new one for some time now.
Good points. I actually have two saws and will probably sell the poulan eventually. The other saw I have is a shindaiwa that use to be my Dads. The shindaiwa has some age on it but it is a good saw...light weight..strong...with compression release. It was 400 and that was 20 years ago.
I have decided on getting a Stihl. There were a lot of brands mentioned on this topic but Stihl seems to be the most mentioned. Now it is down to 50cc or 60cc. Time to go to a distributor and heft a couple of them. Tomorrow I will figure out what cc that shindaiwa is.
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Jon1270
Minister of Fire
In general, Stihl saws make it somewhat easier to change the chain than Husqvarna does, because Husky uses outboard clutches and Stihl uses inboard clutches.
Before you buy, do a little reading about the self-tuning feature now offered by Stihl and Husky on some models. They have a simple computer that watches the saw's performance and uses solenoids to adjust the carburetor needles to keep it running as it should, so there's less fiddling for the user to worry about. This has been available for a few years, and the reviews I've seen have almost all been very positive.
I got it on eBay from the store in the link. They have their own website too so it would be worth checking the price on there also. The listing has a "make an offer" option and I made an offer and they countered with $660 and I took their offer. CAD CAD CAD CAD
(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/Husqvarna-562xp-Chainsaw-with-20-Bar-FREE-SHIPPING-/161258034703?pt=US_Chainsaws&hash=item258bba560f)
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