I have always wanted
to have a decent “name” chainsaw, but I never could afford one, so I made do with my crappy old Craftsman (Poulan). I lost a ring in it last fall but was able to repair it, and I managed to get quite a few more hours out of it last winter cutting firewood.
I went out last night hoping to get to work on the fallen trees in the yard, and the Craftsman seems to have finally given up the ghost.
So, against my better judgement, being the cheap bastard I am, I went out today and bought a spanking new Husqvarna. It was expensive, but I expect that it shold be the last damned saw I ever have to buy. Plus, as I’m supplementing my heating with wood it makes sense to have a reliable saw.
Still. I wish it had been a purchase I’d had some time to plan for. Thank God I have friends with log splitters etc.
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When I was in Idaho, most of the trucks that the logger used had stihl saws. I don’t know why a Husky would be any worse, but I think back then stihl was the only one with a 36″ bar. I guess you needed that to harverst lodge pole pines on a daily basis.
Take the husky back. Srsly.
I have blown up 3 of them in the time that I have had my big Stihl. One was replaced twice under warranty. And they generally cost more in parts to fix than they can be replaced for.
for $50-$75 bucks more you can have that saw that will last for the rest of your life. I have gone exclusively Stihl.
Husky used to be a good saw. Not so anymore.
Let me know when you want to cut that tree up.
It’s a crap shoot with Poulan (Sears) I bought the demonstator off the floor of my local Fred Meyer store over 35 years ago, and it’s still funning strong. It quit once and upon taking it apart I learned the fuel line was some kind of plastic that is fuel intolerant. (ethano intolerant, actually) so I went to a chainsaw repair and talked to the owner. He gave me ten inches of fuel line, a lifetime supply so I bought some spark plugs and chain saw files from him. That was in the early 90’s and my saw is still running.
Yes, I use it quite frequently. It is light duty, but then so am I. It lives under the settee in my camper where it’s handy for rustling up firewood when I’m set up for fishing or whatever.
The same Stihl saw is over twice the cost, and I can’t really afford the Husky. And this has a four year warranty. If it dies, I’ll get a new one, and keep getting new ones until the four years is up. Then maybe I’ll look at a stihl, when I no longer have a kid to put through school.
Gerry: I have just done the same thing with this Sears last winter, and the fuel lines may already be hosed. Maybe I need to find a non-ethanol gas station- though I don’t know if there is such a thing here.
Aren’t they the people that make the riding mower that comes with its own mortgage. That ought to take care of ANY tree!
It is a very nice saw indeed.
I have been very pleased wit it’s performanc so far.
I have a Husqvarna 61cc that I bought around 1977 and it is still going. Replaced the bar a few times, the chain brake twice, several recoil ropes, many chains, filters and plugs.
But in the last few years it has been relegated to the back up saw as the chain brake system is on it’s last legs and parts are almost imposable to find.
Now using my nephews Stihl and it seems to be just as good as the Husky, will see in twenty years. If I make it that long.
Yeah, this was a good deal for an 18″ saw, came with a case, and by buying some oil at the same time I got a four yeart warranty.
RE: non-ethanol gas station: Look at where they park small airplanes, they usually sell av gas there. Same method as for car gas: take your gas can out there and use your credit card (pay at the pump). My buddy uses av gas in his model engines, and I know folks who use it in their chainsaws. No ethanol and it has stabilizers so it’ll “keep”.
JD: that is all great news to me.
I have run Jonsered (before it was a re badged Husky), Husky, Dolmar and Stihl for years. Hands down Stihl makes the best saw for serious use. For occasional use it is a bit pricey for the average guy.
My Dolamar 7900 and Husky 350 both have multiple hundreds of hours on them. Other than stupidity on my part they have both been great performers.
I do some side work on saws and the #1 reason I have found for saw failure is cheap gas and mix. Ethanol raises the combustion point. Get the highest octane at the pump and run a full synthetic mix. The newer saws resist ethanol damage better than the old ones do. If you have a gas station that sells racing fuel it is usually cheaper than av gas and ethanol free.
When you get ready to buy chains and such check out baileysonline.com. The Woodland Pro chain line is private label Carlton chain. Fantastic chain for the money.
Roger
Thanks, Rog. I will be lookiing at the Craftsman when I can get the time. Might be that good plumbing and good gas will help.
When I bought my Stihl, I guess I didn’t shop around. Just bought what my tree trimming friends said.
Second pull every time even with stale (not AVgas) gas for years now
I suppose any other saw could be as good and any would be better than my old McCulloch which was once the top dog.
See, now if you were like Sailor V and had a huge stack of old car batteries behind your garage, you could do what he did.
See, Farm & Fleet had a promotion not too long ago where you could bring in an old car battery and get $10 off the price of a chain saw.
So what did Sailor V do? Why, he and his ma took 19 of their old car batteries, and traded them for a new chain saw.
$5 says that on future promotions, F&F will stipulate that it’s limited to a certain small number of batteries. You always wanted to know what kind of person prompted stores to post those disclaimers? Now you know!
oy.
My dad bought a Stihl when we moved to the woods back in 1984. We heat that house exclusively with wood stoves. He still has that very same saw, and it still works just fine. Should you ever have the ability to get one, do it.
I also just bought a new husky. Out of the box it was broke. The cchain was malformed so the links were too wide for the bar. And the wheel at the end of the bar was pinched. I replaced bar and chain and now everything works fine. It made short work of a couple trees and started right up when I wanted it to.
Isn’t aviation fuel = kerosene?
It was back when I worked for Gulf Oil, but that was a long time ago.
You could also look for places that sell racing fuel — that is wicked expensive but you’re not using a lot of it at any one time, right? I work events at Road Atlanta and there’s regular ol’ stations in easy driving range that I do believe have at least 110 octane racing gas; there’s like one pump next to all the unleaded. Road Atlanta also has 98 octane unleaded and 110/112 racing fuel on site but pricey. All Sunoco there. Georgia is fighting gasahol, which I think is a great idea.
Ethanol-free gasoline?
Check out Pure-Gas.Org
http://pure-gas.org/
Their database works for my neck of the woods. USA and Canada too…
With any consumer grade chainsaw, do plan to get rid of the “safety chain”, just as soon as possible. Opt instead for a “Pro-Grade” chain, sans the wee bumps in the links just ahead of the cutting teefs.
What those bumps purport to be is an “anti-kickback” device. What they really are is a “makes like dull saw” device. One that you didn’t plan on buying.
Besides, what’s a bit of saw kickback anyway? Get a peg-leg, and everyday is “Talk Like a Pirate Day!”
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
After half a dozen cheapos, my husband finally bought a Stihl a few years ago. It’s one of the five best tools he has ever owned. Then last year we moved to a house with ONE small tree in a small yard. *sigh*
Isn’t aviation fuel = kerosene?
No, that’s jet fuel. Most light aircraft still use gasoline.
Jim: the reason I bought this one is it came without the nerf chain.
My dad has the same Farm Boss that he bought in 1979. I toted a lot of logs cut w that saw. Me, I got a jap made Echo 20 years ago and it’s been a great saw. My back up saw is a poulan w a new pro bar and chains. Kind of a POS but cheap.
FYI-the higher end Poulans are built by Husqvarna. Says so right in the book.