"Homeowner" chainsaw opinions

I agree with everything that has been said here and want to add that the Easy Start on the MS saws has been a real help at our property. We own two Homelite's (great saws that just keep on running!) and a MS-250. We had a Husky, but traded it for the Stihl when the Husky seized up after 20 minutes of use the first time.

Go to the arboristsite and check out what they have to say about saws. If you are truly looking for an occasional use saw and money is a factor, then I'd go with Stihl. But, if you're lucky, you'll only have to purchase ONE saw in your lifetime, so as with all things, try to spend the most money and make the investment into something that will last. Most 'lower-end' saws made now are pretty much junk...unfortunately. Which is why DH keeps hanging onto those two Homelites from the 80's. When the Husky died, he used the Homelite. When the Stihl needed an adjustment from the dealer, he used the Homelite. The only reason he doesn't like to use the Homelite with regularity is because it is heavy with a large bar.

Buy the best you can afford...you won't be disappointed.

RVcook

For light work, I like my 8 inch battery powered saw. I have noticed that a lot of a tree is onlt 6 inches thick or less, and that needs to be cut up also. Not to mention the odd weed tree or whatever

Oh, yes. Thank you for letting me know that I am not the only one who has trouble starting a Stihl! I have been known to let my husband start it and hand it to me.....

If you'll be doing anything more than occasional yard clean up you should consider spending more than the $200 you mentioned. $350-400 will get you a much heavier duty saw with lots more power. The Stihl Farm Boss falls in this category but husqvarna, jonesered, dolmar all make very good saws in this range. These are saws you could rely on to cut firewood for heating every year for many years. Go above that in price to the $500-600 level and you get into the professional saws meant to be used every day all day. More than most homeowner/farmer would need but excellent saws.

I have a Stihl MS361 which was a bit of a splurge but it's a very nice saw. I will agree that all of the Stihls are a bit tricky to start, but once you get the hang of it they start every time. They just seem to be really easy to flood out for some reason. Not sure how the other brands are on this.

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Thank you for all the replies.

Deep down I knew that a larger saw would be the best option. Guess I just needed some moral support on spending the extra dollars.

HOW DO THEY STAY IN BUSINESS?

My dad had a Poulan, he just used it to clear limbs and stuff, nothing serious like cutting cords of wood, just dead limb cutting, he had that thing for twenty years, what a POS.

Never, ever started right, well he found a chainsaw in the local dumpster, a homelite or somthing like that, fixed it up and now the Poulan has been idle for a while....

How Poulan stays in business is beyond me, everyone I've talked, had starting problems with Poulans, and now Poulans has their own "brand" of riding mowers, ---!

I've also noticed Orscheln's Farm and Home pushes Poulans as their sole brand, notice they don't service them, good thing!

Service is important with Chainsaws, a good dealer can be a BIG help, should your saw go down during the mist of woodcutting season.

Also remember SAFETY FIRST, I ALWAYS wear my chaps! No matter how good and how careful you are... stuff happens. My Grandpa cut wood for many years without them. Last summer he was cutting a tree bent over by an ice storm. He was VERY glad I had them on. I won't even start my chainsaw without them on.

You may want to look at the Protective pants also. They give you protection in the back of the leg. I bought mine from my Stihl dealer, for around $85.

After owning a poulan pro, I pulled the trigger and purchased a Stihl 361. So glad i did. thing cuts great and I have a great local dealer....as others have said that makes a big difference.

With that said the Stihl Farmboss is probably what you need in that price range....I went in for that one on the recomendation of a few professional arborists. They were out, so the dealer upped me to the pro series at a discount.

Poulan used to make a very decent line of saw, then they were bought by Electrolux. Electrolux also bought Husky, thus the Husky consumer line of crap saws. Electrolux has since spun off their outdoor equipment lines into a separate company with name Husqvarna, but still run like it was as part of Electrolux conglomerate playing the same games.

As to current poulan, they arent that bad IF you can work on them. Had two friends bring $100 saw to me asking if I could do anything. Brand new out of box saw, started hard and hard to keep running. After removing huge amount plastic I got down to the carburetor screws where I could get needle nose pliers on them since they otherwise required some special nut driver to adjust. Set mix bit richer and made all difference in the world. Starts ok though choke auto opens almost immediately so you have to hold choke in position until engine warms up a bit. Or I didnt do it, but suppose you could find and disable whatever gizmo they have that opens choke so fast. It is unfortunately what happens when you try and sell a $100 saw yet meet EPA requirements at same time. And no even if you found a shop that will work on one of these reasonable, they arent going to risk fines un-EPAing a cheapo saw. They will just set to factory specs even if that means the saw remains a useless door stop.

As I said before IF you can work on one of these yourself and only need it for occasional limbing, then you will do ok. I wouldnt recommend one of these for firewood unless you are desperate. If you keep chain meticulously sharp, I suppose you could cut firewood but my guess not a pleasant experience in long haul. For firewood cutting I maintain that you really need a 3.5 cubic inch engine on chainsaw or larger. The consumer saws arent anywhere close. They make small saw, stick a way too long blade on it for the size engine to make it look macho and sell it to suckers that want to trim a limb once in a while that know nothing about chainsaws or woodcutting and arent probably going to use it more than once or twice since they most likely will leave gas setting in it for long periods unused and it will quickly gum up the fuel system.

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I have a 14" inch poulan that I bought about 7 years ago, used for $50 bucks. I havent even had to change the spark plug on it. It starts with one pull on the rope, everytime as long as I follow the "procedure". When its been setting a while I push the lil pump twice, choke it, set the throttle at the first notch and pull. It fires every time on the first pull. If I have been using it and its warmed up all I do is set the throttle at the first notch and pull the rope. Its been a good saw for me, and have cut some pretty large trees (one was 30 inches diameter) with it. I have had homelites, jonsereds, macs, stihls, and huskys over the years and this little saw has outperformed them all. The stihls were absolute junk, couldnt keep the screws in them, macs were always a pain to start but ran good once I got them going, husky and the jonsered were problematic to buy parts for in my area.

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Thanks again for all the input.
I went to buy the Stihl MS 290 Farm Boss today. Salesman said starting Monday they will be giving a voucher for the case (a $45 value). He also stated there will be a couple other saws that will include the voucher. Therefore, anyone thinking of buying a new Stihl saw may want to wait until Monday.

I have a Stihl farm boss.... And I have a Poulan Pro 18".... Both saws perform on a fairly equal basis... The Poulan Pro hangs right in and I have never had trouble starting the saw... Now years ago I had a little green Poulan that I wouldn't hit a dog in the (explitive removed) with.

If you aren't cutting 20 cords of wood a year I would recommend the Poulan Pro... Less money, good saw. Most local hardware shops work on any brand of saw and can make professional repairs on any brand. They also sell a good high quality chain for a fraction of what dealers ask.