Chainsaw Thoughts?

[Jim Becker]

Stihl is sold here at Ace Hardware and some True Value Hardware stores, and I don't believe they service anything on site at the ones I go to - maybe a central location.

Ace and True Value are franchises, so the individual franchise owners very well could be meeting the service requirement to be able to carry Stihl products. The owners may have more than one "business" residing in the same location.

[William Fretwell]

Have two Husky's both pro versions. I needed a lesson at the dealer to start the big one and the oil pump died in week two but they fixed it free and been fine for years now. The big one runs my lumber mill beautifully and the smaller one can run up to a 24" bar just fine for felling. I doubt it matters what brand you buy as each brand makes a range of quality. Both will provide you with plenty of exercise!
The sound my big one makes is awesome!

[Brian Henderson]

I've been stuck using a crappy 16" electric chain saw for a year now. I've got a really nice 30" Stihl but it's in a storage unit that I still have to clear out one of these days and it's been more trouble than it's worth to drive 100 miles to the storage unit to get it than to struggle with the electric. Hopefully, I'm done with needing to cut down trees for a while.

[Bill Orbine]

In general, just like many types of equipment sales, including tractors, MSRP is most often the rule, and any "sale" is a rare exception. It just seems to be the industry convention when it comes to things like that. While the primary reason that Stihl controls distribution is service, that essentially insures that their dealers are able to maintain full margin on the product. Stihl also has requirements on advertising, I believe. I've not seen any deviation in pricing between multiple Stihl dealers in my area and one of them would try to charge more if they could... ...but they do that with Kubota parts, too. I don't shop there very often...

Festool rang the bell........

[Bob Bouis]

I like Stihls but the new ones with the electronic mixture control don't hot start well. It's really obnoxious.

[Jerry Olexa]

STIHL.....Exceptional machines

[Keith Outten]

Stihl's manufacturing plant is in Virginia Beach Virginia.

I have a local dealer that sells both John Deere and Stihl. They won't service any products that they didn't sell, the reason is that they only sell commercial quality machines. The homeowner models, especially the John Deere mowers sold by the local big box stores are definitely lower quality machines. Everything I have purchased from my local dealer has been excellent but the price reflected the quality of each machine I purchased.
.

[Jerry Olexa]

Yes, Keith..I have an older Deere and my neighbor, a newer "box store" Deere model with roughly same stated HP and spec...He admits mine is far superior in power, uphill torque etc.
Of course, I paid several years more than double his current purchase price...Seems there's an lesson/axiom in there...

[Stan Calow]

Stihl MS 261 is one that I had rented a couple of times and was impressed with it enough to plan on buying one if I ever decide to buy a new saw. My garage sale Poulan is enough for now.

[Jared Sankovich]

Dolmar/makita.. but any pro model from Husqvarna or stihl will work very well.IMG_20161104_174838.jpg
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[John TenEyck]

Husky, Stihl, Echo, Makita/Dolmar are all good. Recognize the pro models are in another class from the homeowner level saws. That said, the average homeowner will never wear out any saw with just a little maintenance. Why a homeowner would need a 24" bar escapes me unless you live in the west but if that's what you want then the Stihl 390 or 361 or Husky 372XP would be excellent choices. I own both Stihl and Husky saws, both homeowner and pro quality. My favorite all round saw is an old Husky 55 Rancher. Must be 25 years old and just runs and runs w/o complaint. Starts w/o issue, light, great balance, and enough power to run an 18" bar. Perfect homeowner saw. My 385XP is similarly dependable on my chainsaw mill with a 42" bar. With a 24" bar it's a monster bucking logs but you better have strong arms and a good back to do it for very long. My advise is to go with the lightest saw that meets your needs.

John

[Jared Sankovich]

Why a homeowner would need a 24" bar escapes me

John

Its surprising how much use you can get out of a 28-36" bar as a homeowner once you have one and a saw or three that can pull it. I gave my father a 7900 to replace some cheap Blue something or other eastern import saw he bought. He put a 28 bar on it and ended up soon after with a few 36-48" dbh trees that either came down or needed to come down soon after he got the saw.

Do you need a 60 or 80 or 95cc saw, where a 45cc will get by, no but they sure are a lot faster.

[daryl moses]

I have two Husky's. A 455 Rancher and a 51 I use for trimming.
I've owned both saws for a number of years and both have been relatively trouble free. I purchased both at a dealership that sells Stihl and Husquvarna, I asked the owner which one he preferred and he said "flip a coin" they are both great saws.
I probably use my saws more in a week than most use in a year or two, after all, I do live and work on a tree farm.
I always chuckle when I see someone with a huge saw with an equally long bar. I use the shortest bar I can get away with. Why?? Because of weight and ease of handling, I have gone the long bar route but find them unwieldy plus a shorter bar and chain will have more RPM's, less weight and less friction and in my experience will cut quicker. I've not found any trees that I can't fell on my property by using a 20" bar. And i've cut down some massive ones.
Most of the time my 455 wears an 18" bar but on some occasions I will switch over to the 20 especially if I am cutting larger bowl blanks. I get a smoother cut if I can cut through on one side versus cutting on both sides. Felling a tree it doesn't matter how smooth the cut is.

[Brian Lefort]

Husqvarna rancher or stihl farm boss. anything around an 045 size is good for general purpose work. not too big, nor too small.

[Jared Sankovich]

I probably use my saws more in a week than most use in a year or two, after all, I do live and work on a tree farm.
I always chuckle when I see someone with a huge saw with an equally long bar. I use the shortest bar I can get away with. Why?? Because of weight and ease of handling, I have gone the long bar route but find them unwieldy plus a shorter bar and chain will have more RPM's, less weight and less friction and in my experience will cut quicker. I've not found any trees that I can't fell on my property by using a 20" bar. And i've cut down some massive ones.

And sometimes you need a big bar, and it helps if you have a big saw bolted to it. The silver maple in the last picture was too large for the 32" bar, it was a bit over 6'

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