chainsaw choices

[carbon neutral]

I don't want to start a chevy/ford type argument but I would like to know what people's thoughts are on the differences between a husky and stihl. I currently own a husky 359 and am very happy with it. I would like to buy a smaller saw for delimbing and am considering a stihl. Any thoughts on which brand would be better for a smaller sized saw?
Thanks,
Dave

 

[MrGriz]

You're right, that's as classic a battle as Ford / Chevy or tastes great / less filling.

Husky and Stihl both make some very good saws. I have always found Stihl to be higher priced than similar saws from Husky or other manufacturers. Sure, some of that is Stihl's quality, but you also pay a premium for the name.

 

[philaphire]

Personally I have my father in law's hand me down Stihl 028 which is 25+ years old and continues to do the job. One factor to consider is where to buy. Stihl is only through authorized dealers while Husky can be found at Sears and Lowe's which means using gift cards, 10% discounts, etc. Part of me thinks you start with finding a good dealer with great service and referrals and then going from there. If you find one who sells both, hopefully he can give you a better skinny.

Griz - don't forget all the relevant battles: cat vs. not cat, steel vs cast iron, insert vs free standing, convection vs. radiant, covering wood vs. not covering wood, what else am I missing?

 

[BurningIsLove]

I think you're gonna be happy w/ either in the end. ARe you going to be climbing trees w/ it (pruning/spikes)? The newer Huskies are a bit lighter than their models from just 2 years ago and they also added the vibration shocks which is a nice new features. Not sure if Stihl made the same updates, but maybe something to ask the dealer about.

 

[Jags]

NO - You must by a Stihl. Any further discussion is futile.

That is all.

:coolsmirk:

 

[BrotherBart]

Personally I have my father in law's hand me down Stihl 028 which is 25+ years old and continues to do the job. One factor to consider is where to buy. Stihl is only through authorized dealers while Husky can be found at Sears and Lowe's which means using gift cards, 10% discounts, etc. Part of me thinks you start with finding a good dealer with great service and referrals and then going from there. If you find one who sells both, hopefully he can give you a better skinny.

Griz - don't forget all the relevant battles: cat vs. not cat, steel vs cast iron, insert vs free standing, convection vs. radiant, covering wood vs. not covering wood, what else am I missing?

PE vs. anything else.

VC vs. anything else.

Blaze King vs. anything else.

Anything else vs. anything else.

 

[Bill]

For small stuff, I recently purchased an Echo cs346, it runs nice, starts easy, is very light, bought on EBay new, and very reasonable.

 

[GeeWizMan]

This past weekend I worked with 2 other guys in the woods (we trade off helping each other) they brought their big saws. One guy had 20 inch Husquvarna and the other guy had a similar length Stihl. I brought my new 14 inch Dolmar (PS-341). Now, I'm not bragging, well maybe a little, but we each took on similar size trees, all ashes, all about 12 inch diameter, all about 50 feet tall. I beat them felling the trees, limbing them, and bucking them. I had my rounds all stacked and ready for splitting before they were done bucking. You might want to give Dolmar chain saws a look see.

George

 

[elkimmeg]

Dolmar/ makita are top saws that should be considered so echo not bad either

 

[budman]

Dolmar/ makita are top saws that should be considered so echo not bad either

Elk, I have had my echo cs-500vl for 26 years now and it still kicks as#.All it takes is
a little t.l.c. :cheese:

 

[njtomatoguy]

:coolsmile: I got a 14"craftsman electric, which did the job for me. I have a small saw :red: , but know how to use it!

All kidding aside, I try to buy things that will do most of the job- keep it small scale. Do I have rounds that my Ryobi won't split- yes
Same with the saw- Is it the biggest, baddest out there? Far from it.


But,

I have a small house, and 1 shed, so I have "storage issues"

I don't think that a huge splitter that can go thru anything is a particularly good investment when I get all my wood off the curb.

Now that I am 2 yrs out, what am I going to do with the splitter? Stick it in the shed. If I had bought a huge,fancy splitter, it might bother me that I had a $1200 investment just doing nothing.

That was just a little bit of the way I THINK.

I have a friend that absolutely must have the biggest and baddest of everything.

I guess what I am trying to say is figure out what suits your needs. I just hate to see money go to waste. Don't get me wrong, if it's a tool that I will use every day, only the best!

Just my opinion

Bob

Got a little "windy " there, but meant to add that maybe a Husqvarna from lowes at around 2 to 3 hundred bucks might be a good "small " saw

 

[TMonter]

This past weekend I worked with 2 other guys in the woods (we trade off helping each other) they brought their big saws. One guy had 20 inch Husquvarna and the other guy had a similar length Stihl. I brought my new 14 inch Dolmar (PS-341). Now, I’m not bragging, well maybe a little, but we each took on similar size trees, all ashes, all about 12 inch diameter, all about 50 feet tall. I beat them felling the trees, limbing them, and bucking them. I had my rounds all stacked and ready for splitting before they were done bucking. You might want to give Dolmar chain saws a look see.

As well it should. The smaller bar for that application is going to give the saw a faster chain speed and more responsive power. However, throw some bigger timber at it and the 341 will fall behind.

I cut with a friend who uses a 346XP and in smaller timber and limbing he goes about 30-40% faster than me, but throw something big at us (which happens a lot) and my 372XP beats the pants off the 346XP.

Just goes to show you chose the right size saw for the job you plan to do.

Best of both worlds is a smaller lighter saw for limbing & small timber and a bigger saw for the big stuff.

 

[North of 60]

As well it should. The smaller bar for that application is going to give the saw a faster chain speed and more responsive power. However, throw some bigger timber at it and the 341 will fall behind.

I cut with a friend who uses a 346XP and in smaller timber and limbing he goes about 30-40% faster than me, but throw something big at us (which happens a lot) and my 372XP beats the pants off the 346XP.

Just goes to show you chose the right size saw for the job you plan to do.

Best of both worlds is a smaller lighter saw for limbing & small timber and a bigger saw for the big stuff.

Absolutely. I agree 100%. Even a cheap poulan (wild thing) Will out do my high end pedigree saws on small stuff.
shorter bar + smaller chain = less restriction. Smaller piston, shorter stroke= higher RPM . smaller wood little saw can maintain its RPM it will remove wood faster therefore cut faster. Put a 20 -32" bar on it. Cut a 20-30" round with it ,listen to it DIE.
A little Disposable saw can do a lota stuff. On the big stuff You will have to be patient. If its a Husky, Stihl, Johnsered,Dolmer or Echo @ least they can be or worth being repaired. Big or small. The others you may as well throw it in the garbage. That's a waist to me, so I wont support it. I don't care how cheap they are. :gulp:

 

[Gooserider]

This seemed like a more appropriate topic for "The Gear" as it has to do with equipment as opposed to burning, so I've moved the thread.

Gooserider

 

[carbon neutral]

Thanks for the input, I decided on the stihl 180. Biggest reason, I just wanted to try a Stihl and it has the easy tension system. It is replacing a McCalaugh which I hated. No power and lots of vibration. The only reason I kept it around is it would start, make noise, and smoke but that was about all.