Stihl 362 C-M

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Medic21

Medic21

Minister of Fire
Feb 26, 2017
1,163
Northern Indiana
Planning on picking up a new saw tomorrow. I have Husqvarna and Dolmar saws but, in the spirit of doing my due diligence I demo'd the 362 C-M tonight. Ran a tank through it and all I can say is. HOLY chit it's a beast.

Buried a 25" bar, full chisel chain, in a white oak log that is 36" diameter. That thing did not skip a beat or slow down, just hogged through it and just as with the Autotune the M-tronic added power when needed.

Now I have a dilemma. Both dealers are located within 2 miles of the house and I can't come up with one thing better with the 562XP or the 362CM over the other. Price is so close on each of them too.

I plan on following it up next year with the 261 from Stihl to upgrade the PS-510 as I think Stihl has Husky beat on the small pro saws with power and weight. But these two are so close to each other.

Decisions decision....
 
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Medic21 said:
Planning on picking up a new saw tomorrow. I have Husqvarna and Dolmar saws but, in the spirit of doing my due diligence I demo'd the 362 C-M tonight. Ran a tank through it and all I can say is. HOLY chit it's a beast.

Buried a 25" bar, full chisel chain, in a white oak log that is 36" diameter. That thing did not skip a beat or slow down, just hogged through it and just as with the Autotune the M-tronic added power when needed.

Now I have a dilemma. Both dealers are located within 2 miles of the house and I can't come up with one thing better with the 562XP or the 362CM over the other. Price is so close on each of them too.

I plan on following it up next year with the 261 from Stihl to upgrade the PS-510 as I think Stihl has Husky beat on the small pro saws with power and weight. But these two are so close to each other.

Decisions decision....
Click to expand...
I think you have already made up your mind...I love my Stihls and full chisel chain..they flat produce!
 
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Medic21 said:
Planning on picking up a new saw tomorrow. I have Husqvarna and Dolmar saws but, in the spirit of doing my due diligence I demo'd the 362 C-M tonight. Ran a tank through it and all I can say is. HOLY chit it's a beast.

Buried a 25" bar, full chisel chain, in a white oak log that is 36" diameter. That thing did not skip a beat or slow down, just hogged through it and just as with the Autotune the M-tronic added power when needed.

Now I have a dilemma. Both dealers are located within 2 miles of the house and I can't come up with one thing better with the 562XP or the 362CM over the other. Price is so close on each of them too.

I plan on following it up next year with the 261 from Stihl to upgrade the PS-510 as I think Stihl has Husky beat on the small pro saws with power and weight. But these two are so close to each other.

Decisions decision....
Click to expand...

Have you tried the Husqvarna 365 or 372XP? I'd try those before making the purchase just to have the full spectrum of comparison.
 
Tar12 said:
I think you have already made up your mind...I love my Stihls and full chisel chain..they flat produce!
Click to expand...

I had an 029 for about 10 years that I loved. Wore it out and replaced it with the Dolmar which has been an exceptional saw. I bought a MS250 as a lightweight saw to clean brush up with and was VERY disappointed in it and the quality. Rebuilt it at 1 year old and dumped it. I got two Huskys and loved there quality for a farm saw. Never owned a pro saw before. That is why I can't decide.
 
Zack R said:
Have you tried the Husqvarna 365 or 372XP? I'd try those before making the purchase just to have the full spectrum of comparison.
Click to expand...

For what I'm doing they are way too heavy and bulky. If I was bucking big wood all day it would be hands down. Most of what I cut are 30" or smaller dead ash and tops after logging.
 
Medic21 said:
Both dealers are located within 2 miles of the house and I can't come up with one thing better with the 562XP or the 362CM over the other
Click to expand...

You might want to consider the respective dealers then, which one has better service and will take care of a problem without any hassles should one arise. I really like my local Stihl dealer and he treats me well, so I buy Stihl.
 
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redktmrider said:
You might want to consider the respective dealers then, which one has better service and will take care of a problem without any hassles should one arise. I really like my local Stihl dealer and he treats me well, so I buy Stihl.
Click to expand...

Both are local small town dealers with 30+ years in business. This is more Stihl country with multiple dealers. The Stihl dealer is a John Deere dealer so they were out when I bought the last saws as I worked for New Holland as a tech. Now that I work as a Paramedic I can do buisiness with them or I would have never looked.
 
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Sodbuster said:
All I can say is I hope I'm not on your run when your on that 90th hour. ;)
Click to expand...

lol wasn't that bad one 48hr shift and a couple 36 hour shifts with the long week on a 24/48 schedule. Not as easy as it was 20 years ago. The hard part is climbing into the semi to haul grain on the days off. Glad harvest is slowing down.
 
Medic21 said:
lol wasn't that bad one 48hr shift and a couple 36 hour shifts with the long week on a 24/48 schedule. Not as easy as it was 20 years ago. The hard part is climbing into the semi to haul grain on the days off. Glad harvest is slowing down.
Click to expand...

That's the truth, last of the corn and soybeans were cut over the weekend around here.
 
Medic21 said:
For what I'm doing they are way too heavy and bulky. If I was bucking big wood all day it would be hands down. Most of what I cut are 30" or smaller dead ash and tops after logging.
Click to expand...

I've found that having two saws is a game changer. The 365 Special for bucking work and a small MS211 for limbing and around the house trimming. Having used a 365 for a while now I wouldn't say its that heavy of a saw unless you were doing a lot of limbing work (and I'm not a big buy, 6'1 150lbs).

Back to the two saw thing... its really handy to have a second one available specific for the purpose. I looked at the 362 and you are definitely in the right zone for a single do everything saw. I thought about it some more and wanted something bigger for bucking work and already had the MS211 so it just worked out that way for me. I ended up going with an older 365 Special and once the need for more power comes along I can easily upgrade it to a 372XP. I also thought the 365 Special was a beast at first but soon acclimated to the power and found situations where I wanted more (albeit not often).

You mentioned adding a smaller saw to the fleet later on, possibly a 261. I would argue that the 261 and 362 are close enough together in size and power that you would really have two middleweights that would be more similar than different. If you wanted a second saw to compliment the 362 I'd lean toward something smaller so you can have the best of both worlds.

Whichever way you go congrats on stepping up to the pro league, you'll really enjoy the saw for years to come.
 
It came home with me. Just jumped in the back of the truck... [Hearth.com] Stihl 362 C-M
 
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Medic21 said:
I had an 029 for about 10 years that I loved. Wore it out and replaced it with the Dolmar which has been an exceptional saw. I bought a MS250 as a lightweight saw to clean brush up with and was VERY disappointed in it and the quality. Rebuilt it at 1 year old and dumped it. I got two Huskys and loved there quality for a farm saw. Never owned a pro saw before. That is why I can't decide.
Click to expand...
I had just the opposite experience with a pair 250s....ran them hard for 7 years and sold them to fund a pair of 260 Pros.
 
Nice saw.

Glad to see they put something on those stupid tooless oil caps to let you know where the close position is. I have a five year old MS211 that doesn't have that and it is a pain trying to get those caps back on sometimes.
 
Last edited:
sloeffle said:
Nice saw.

Glad to see they put something on those stupid tooless oil caps to let you know where the close position is. I have a five year old MS211 that doesn't have that that and it is a pain trying to get those caps back on sometimes.
Click to expand...

I noticed that too. My MS250 was a guessing game all the time.
 
I just went with the 18 on my 361, it will do way bigger but you really don't need the weight. it can get tough to control when you are tired, I had a near miss that way
 
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