What is the best chainsaw?

[greenwillowherefords]

I've used a Homelite for 10 years or more. What have you had luck with?

 

[bwranch]

Stihl. Just like everything else these days (self included) they don't seem to be as good as they used to be but they're still pretty rugged. On the other hand, I don't have a lot of experience with other brands...

 

[Campground Cattle]

Stihl. Just like everything else these days (self included) they don't seem to be as good as they used to be but they're still pretty rugged. On the other hand, I don't have a lot of experience with other brands...

Stihl number one in the piney woods, Homelite still makes a good saw also.

 

[TheBullLady]

Stihl for sure. We've got a couple of the older ones laying around here, and when the last big storm came through, they fired right up. We cut firewood in Illinois as a "side job" for years, and they were always the most dependable.

 

[CattleAnnie]

We heat our home with wood (which means a fair bit of chainsaw work every year). We've been very pleased with the good old Husqvarna(sp?) saw that we've had for years.

Take care.

 

[dun]

Been using Stihl for something around 25 years. Tried Huskys, Jonselrud and several others. I now have 3 Stihls and have no desire to try anything else. The Husky was too heavy for the power, the Jonsuelrun couldn't get serviced. One advantage to Stihl is that to be a licensed Stihl dealer you have to provide service.
Goes back to service availability. The Jonselrun sure didn't cut much wood when all I could do was set the chain brake, scrape it back and forth across the wood and make vroom noises.

dun

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I've gone through a Stihl, a Homelite and am now working on my 2nd Husqvarna. Of the three, I liked the Husky the best. I found the Stihl I had was a bit heavy. The Homelite wasn't bad but it just didn't run as good as the Huskies. I traded off the first Husky on the 2nd Husky mostly because I bought it used and it was starting to get a little worn out after a few years.

 

[txshowmom]

The best king id chainsaw isone that someone else is using. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[eric]

I use a Husky Model 44, about 10 yrs old, with a 20" blade. Still runs great! I also have a couple of Stihls use them for most of the trimming work. bought the wife a small Craftsman last yr, seems to run just fine. The best purchase was the Stihl pole pruner! No more climbing trees, getting up in the tractor bucket and such. This thing extends like 14' tall or something, and it gets almost every limb I need cut for mowing under.

All in all, all of my purchases in the future will be Stilhs. I have a really good relationship with the local dealer in town, and I prefer to deal with him. I recently bought my father in law a Stihl backpack blower for fathers day, and he is now hooked on Stihl products also.

 

[sidney411]

We cut and sell BBQ wood on the side to several restraunts. We have a big stihl that I wouldn't trade for and we have 2 of the 'Wild Thing' saws from wal-mart (not sure of the maker) but those are pretty good, cheap, and light weight saws. I can start them a lot easier then the stihl - but - the stihl will chew through trunks twice as fast.

 

[eric]

I think "wild thing" is the lower model Poulans. I also have a neighbor who bought one, they are less than $100 arent they? I never heard him complain about it, so it must still be running.

 

[sillco]

I've used a Homelite for 10 years or more. What have you had luck with?

I have used a Poulan saw for over 30 years. During that time I have owned only two of them. In fact I am going out right now to cut up a tree. The old Poulan never fales me.

 

[J Baxter]

I've got a big Stihl and one of those small wild thing poulans. I like the poulan. If it breaks I'll just chunk it in the dumpster and buy another, but the stihl will just handle those big oaks better.

 

[frenchie]

CattleAnnie.........We've been very pleased with the good old Husqvarna(sp?) saw that we've had for years.


We have had great luck with our Husk as well.My dad gave it to me in the early 80,s and its still going.That poor old saw has had a rough life.

Not very happy with the new Jonsered ,I bought though.The oiler has Quit twice on it in the 1st yr

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Do I buy a new saw or work on the carburator and replace the rope on my 10yr old Homelite? I can't decide.... but I will next time it quits me! It has been pretty good all in all. My Dad cut 10 rick a year for 10 years with his Homelite. Before that he had a Pioneer that lasted 14 years, but it took as much time to start it as it did to cut the wood! The Homelite was a huge improvement in the starting department, but the clutches/sprockets were weaker.

 

[Dave]

I will start sounding like Blackpower but here in Western Washington where we have real trees the saw of choice amoungst timber fallers is either Stihl or Huskies. We refer to Homelites and "house heavy". I fell timber for years and would wear out a saw (Stihl 066 with a 36 inch bar) a year. At one time or another I have fell timber with every brand made and I prefer the balance and feel of a Stihl over a Husky. That and there is less vibration. None of the ohter brand are even in the same ball game. Also the Stihl seem to be easier to work on althought that might just be familarity with them.
Dave

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

I've also had very good results from my Stihl -- cut a heck of a lot of wood the last 8 or 9 years and have had virtually no problems. Plus, at least in my area, there are many more dealers than there are for the "Husky".

Dave, I'm glad you posted. Some years ago I spent 2 weeks in August backpacking all around Mt. Baker, Ranier, the Olympics, etc. and have always wondered what brand of saw you guys in "real timber country" used for that big timber. (great scenery and fantastic weather --- when I left Houston it was in the 100's coupled with pretty high humidity, and I don't think it hardly got above 80 degrees in Wash.)

Speaking of big timber, I always liked the Paul Newman movie "Sometimes a Great Notion", about a timber cutting family (out in Oregon I think). Sure looks like hard work, but at least the temperature and humidity out there are pretty tolerable all year long, right?

 

[Dave]

Arnold,
Yes, it was hard work but like every thing else once you learn what to do and how to do it the work is easier. The real bad part was the danger. Back in the 70's and 80's the statistics had it listed as the most dangerous job in America. As for the temperature... the summer is certainly better than your part of the world but about March when it is 36 degrees and raining, and you had been soaked to the skin every day for four months those sunny southlands would be looking real good. But it was fun to lay those big ones down. One of these days I will convert a picture or two into digital and post a picture of me cutting some real trees.
Dave

 

[TLCfromARK]

I've had a Shindaiwa for about 5 years, no problems. When I was looking for a saw the dealer handled all the brands listed by the other posters. How he sold me on this brand was the fact that my dear old Dad had one and it was still running after several years. Dad is very hard on any kind of equiptment. They used to say around home if you wanted to see how good anything was, tractor, truck, chainsaw, etc. let Dad use it for a couple of weeks. If it was still running it was a good one.

;-)

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

STIHL 044, and I used to be in the loggin' business