Best Chain saw brand

The poulan wild thing is actually a Husqvarna that is made in Japan like all of their "farm or ranch saws"
The Pro saws are made in Sweden and Austria.
Husqvarna did have a short period of troubled saws but has since fixed the issues. They are a very good saw (and have owned Jonsered since the early 80s).
They have gobs of grunt and start awesome ! I have worked on both Stihl and Husqvarna for many years and would take a Husqvarna over a Stihl every time.
Why you may ask? Parts availability and fuel consumption! All other factors are so close its not worth mentioning.
I have owned both and will say I loved how the Stihls would scream when bucking but did not like it for chopping, (felling and limbing) as it used too much fuel!
Husqys were always better on fuel and much more comfy to run out of position when limbing and notching big wood.
 
The only draw back I found with my newest Stihl is that easy starting system. Have to pull the cord out to far to make it work and my shoulders do not like that. Only way I can start it is to hold the saw in my right hand, grab the start rope with my left. Throw the saw to the right and pull with the left hand at the same time to get the saw and the pull handle far enough apart so it will spin the engine over. Just plain sucks in my opinion. Handle is just big enough to get a toe in. Not enough to hold the saw down.
 
My father just bought a new Stihl that had this easy start system, he said you pulled out the cord and it wound up a spring then when you returned the cord to the saw it would spin over the saw.. he took it straight back to the store and got a conventional start model of the same thing .
Is yours like that too Chieffan?
 
skyrydr2 said:
I have worked on both Stihl and Husqvarna for many years and would take a Husqvarna over a Stihl every time.
Why you may ask? Parts availability and fuel consumption!
I have owned both and will say I loved how the Stihls would scream when bucking but did not like it for chopping, (felling and limbing) as it used too much fuel!
Husqys were always better on fuel and much more comfy to run out of position when limbing and notching big wood.
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I have never run or been around a Husqy but you keep mentioning how the Stihl uses to much fuel. Have you ever compared the two cutting the same log, same chain size & condition with measured amount of fuel? If there even is a difference I doubt it would be so minute it should not be a factor. I have never had to wait for a part for any of the Stihl products I have oned over the years. That mainly depends on the dealer and how well stocked they are with parts. Go to a green tractor dealer and try to get a Stihl part. ) in stock but they have that big fancy sign on the outside of their building.
 
skyrydr2 said:
My father just bought a new Stihl that had this easy start system, he said you pulled out the cord and it wound up a spring then when you returned the cord to the saw it would spin over the saw.. he took it straight back to the store and got a conventional start model of the same thing .
Is yours like that too Chieffan?
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Never tried to pull it out part way and then let it return to see what happens. I pulled mine clear out till I get to resistance, then a good tug and it spins the engine over.
 
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skyrydr2 said:
Oh yeah, many hours on both Stihl and Husqvarna of exact same chain and bar length and CCs both were 70 cc saws!
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What about tank size ? ? I bet there isn't 20 seconds run time difference on exact same amount of fuel, if that much. Not enough to even mention. JMO>
 
Noooooo tank was bigger on Stihl by like 3 ounces and Husqy went 20 minutes longer per tank at least!
I would drop and limb 1 1500 BG tree per tank on Stihl and do 2500 BF with Husqy !
When you need to carry a 5 gallon can of saw gas around you will figure it out real fast that your saw is a guzzler! When the other guy with the Husqy only carries a 2 gallon jug for the day!
Oh don't get me wrong the Stihls F'n scream! Cut like crazy but burnt fuel crazier LOL. Oh and the Stihl would not run in zero weather without a special cold weather package , carb would ice up!
 
I have cut a lot of wood in all kinds of fall and winter weather. Never took more than a 2 gal can of mixed ethanol with Sta-bil and a qt of bar oil. Never ran out of gas in a short days (5 hr +)cutting. This is why I questioned the economy. Was cutting firewood for my own use so took everything from the ground up, blocked into 16" blocks so it involved a lot of cutting. Never heard of a cold weather package. A few times I did add diesel to the bar oil so it would flow better and make sure things got oiled. Now I stay closer to the fire, buy my firewood and the saws stay in their case in the garage.
 
I've never seen a wind up starter on a saw before. This new Stihl I just got has a regular pull cord on it.
I bought a gallon of their fuel because they said it would extend my warranty for another year if I did. I noticed that I used probably half of it just yesterday. At the price of 24.99 a gallon, I'm going to be using regular gasoline and add the oil myself as I have been doing all along with the Poulan saw.
That premixed fuel makes a cord of wood just a little bit too expensive to cut in my opinion. But damn! It does run great on it!
 
skyrydr2 said:
Noooooo tank was bigger on Stihl by like 3 ounces and Husqy went 20 minutes longer per tank at least!
I would drop and limb 1 1500 BG tree per tank on Stihl and do 2500 BF with Husqy !
When you need to carry a 5 gallon can of saw gas around you will figure it out real fast that your saw is a guzzler! When the other guy with the Husqy only carries a 2 gallon jug for the day!
Oh don't get me wrong the Stihls F'n scream! Cut like crazy but burnt fuel crazier LOL. Oh and the Stihl would not run in zero weather without a special cold weather package , carb would ice up!
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My Sthil MS210 will wear me out before I need to add fuel!
 
Isn't that crazy what they will charge a guy for their "special" gas. F&H stores selling Kerosene for $40 for 5 gal. Premixed anti freeze for $6 a gallon. and the list goes one. I took the oil offer for the extra year warranty.

It's not a wind up starter it is a recoil starter system.
 
Rural king sells those premix cans 6.99 for a half gallon. I use a 1/4 a gallon each season for the tiny bit of weed eater use. It last season to season.

7 dollars for 2 years worth of fuel. Works for me.

Would not be cost effective if I used more.
 
My Dad had a poulan that he replaced with a stihl 036 about 20 years ago
It's still running and probably our fastest saw.
The year before he passed away, he bought a steel 261. It was the latest chainsaw that had a compression release for easier starting.
As for buying a stihl or not, I wouldn't hesitate.
Be sure to ask how to turn up the blade oil. That's my one complaint, I burned up a blade and chain and they wouldn't cover it because they said the chain was dull. I disagree and did a little research to find out what happened.

As for models, I would not go below farm benchmark (compression release) as my FIL has a couple without and they're just saws.
 
Probably because he sells it. What is supposed to be so special about that pre mix gas? All comes out of the same pipeline.
 
MH81 said:
Be sure to ask how to turn up the blade oil. That's my one complaint, I burned up a blade and chain and they wouldn't cover it because they said the chain was dull. I disagree and did a little research to find out what happened.
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I didn't know the oil flow was adjustable on one. How do you go about increasing it?
The salesman when he tested it said that it had sufficient flow, but I noticed that it wasn't as much as the Poulan has. I personally think that the more the better. The oil is a lot cheaper than the parts, and a lot easier to install.
 
chieffan said:
Probably because he sells it. What is supposed to be so special about that pre mix gas? All comes out of the same pipeline.
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From what I was told, the premix is ethanol free. The salesman told me that if I was going to mix my own, to use ethanol free gas if I could find it. He said that if you used ethanol fuel, before you store your saw for the season, to run it completely out of the ethanol fuel, then run some of the premix stuff through it. It's ok to store it with the premix fuel because it doesn't hurt any of the rubber parts.
 
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