Chainsaw recommendations - Stihl vs. Husqvarna

G8trwood

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Those are all good brands. What is the best repair shop in your area service? I now buy the premix gas in the cans unless I am doing a lot of cutting then a small can with ethanol free gas. Bad gas is evil! Like you said, no E!

If you are older... the light weight pro stihls are expensive, but a joy to use. Look where they are made, sometimes the low end saws are rebranded. The Makita are also nice (they bought out a german/swed company but a little heavy. You don’t need a big saw for a 10” tree
 

BMF

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Thanks for all the input here. I think I'm going w/ the Stihl Farm Boss, they have it for $399 at a local Ace Hardware.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Thanks for all the input here. I think I'm going w/ the Stihl Farm Boss, they have it for $399 at a local Ace Hardware.
yeah bought mine from a locally owned ACE or True Value maybe also. They took it in the back assembled everything, sharpened, tested, added fluids, adjusted, make sure I knew how to you do everything, fired up ran it to make sure everything is fine. I have five acres but it does the job.

Now as for those that have had good luck with the Husqvarna, I'd love to know how long ago you bought it and where you bought it from.

it's perhaps the truth that may be only the Lowe's type Husqvarna, which is surely their low end Chinese crap, is garbage. However, EVERY Husqvarna anything I've ever bought was a total piece of shtt. And I bought ALOT of orange before I figured it out. At first I thought I was just getting bad gas. Then I thought I had a poor maintenance guy. By the time I went to three different Husqvarna service people, I just gave up.
 

Albert

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yeah bought mine from a locally owned ACE or True Value maybe also. They took it in the back assembled everything, sharpened, tested, added fluids, adjusted, make sure I knew how to you do everything, fired up ran it to make sure everything is fine. I have five acres but it does the job.

Now as for those that have had good luck with the Husqvarna, I'd love to know how long ago you bought it and where you bought it from.

it's perhaps the truth that may be only the Lowe's type Husqvarna, which is surely their low end Chinese crap, is garbage. However, EVERY Husqvarna anything I've ever bought was a total piece of shtt. And I bought ALOT of orange before I figured it out. At first I thought I was just getting bad gas. Then I thought I had a poor maintenance guy. By the time I went to three different Husqvarna service people, I just gave up.
I think your theory is correct. I’ve bought their string trimmers and saws, but only from my local farm supply store where I get all my stuff. Had them for several years now. I’m sure it’s probably a good bit more expensive- and likely better quality- but when there’s a problem I have someone I know that will handle it. Other than wrenches-and then only craftsman brand - I don’t get any tools from Lowe’s, Home Depot etc. for the same reason, it’s all garbage.
 

AlexDaGator

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iu



Alex.
 

bradgator2

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Thanks for all the input here. I think I'm going w/ the Stihl Farm Boss, they have it for $399 at a local Ace Hardware.

Nice.

Speaking of Ace... I try to do ALL my "home supply" shopping at my local store. ALWAYS friendly. ALWAYS someone at the door to greet you and point you in the right direction. They are a few extra bucks... but I'll happily pay it.
 
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G8trwood

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I take my chains to Ace to fix the problems of me sharpening them.... I touch them up at least every tank of gas.

I had good luck with an old husky, but it was a European saw bought at a saw shop. Guy said every saw smaller than the one I had was Chinese. This was many moons ago.
 

AuggieDosta

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yeah bought mine from a locally owned ACE or True Value maybe also. They took it in the back assembled everything, sharpened, tested, added fluids, adjusted, make sure I knew how to you do everything, fired up ran it to make sure everything is fine. I have five acres but it does the job.

Now as for those that have had good luck with the Husqvarna, I'd love to know how long ago you bought it and where you bought it from.

it's perhaps the truth that may be only the Lowe's type Husqvarna, which is surely their low end Chinese crap, is garbage. However, EVERY Husqvarna anything I've ever bought was a total piece of shtt. And I bought ALOT of orange before I figured it out. At first I thought I was just getting bad gas. Then I thought I had a poor maintenance guy. By the time I went to three different Husqvarna service people, I just gave up.
Hate to bust your theory but I bought mine, on sale, at Lowes and got mil discount on top that more than offset the tax.

Also, I do my own mx and so far that has meant very little.
 

Treebeard

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!. I have never seen a wildland fire crew with anything but Stihl.
2. I bought a Poulan for the house many years ago. I did not need anything fancy - I have a normal neighborhood lot. Did not use it a lot, put ethanol-free gas in it. Then the gas lines disintegrated. Managed to replace them myself but an absolute nightmare.
3. Bought an entry level Stihl (again, small lot) during Stihl Days for about $170, including a six pack of Stihl mix oil which automatically added an extra year to the warranty. Bough from an authorized dealer who gassed it, oiled it, ran it, before I left. Been great.
 

CDGator

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Stihl for all the reasons stated. We’ve had ours about 20 years now for our 5 acre farm. It’s served us well through several wind and ice storms. It has cut through numerous locust, massive old maple and oak trees and has only needed new blades. Pay the extra if you plan on keeping it a while.
 

Concrete Helmet

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JFC....chainsaws for cutting trees....hunting Deer with guns.....next thing ya know you panty waisted geeks will be trading in your trucks on Priuses....if you even own trucks to begin with. A real man like myself uses a pick ax....the pick end too....:lol2:

In all seriousness when purchasing a chainsaw that you are going to be using even 4 or 5 times a year spend a little more and it's probably going to last a lot longer and perform better. A good friend of mine owns a tree company and over the last 8 years has taken out close to 30 large trees on our properties and it seems like his crews are mostly holding Stihl's.

I don't have a need for a chainsaw as I won't be doing any tree work myself, but in case of an emergency(storm cleanup) I bought a cheap ass 18" McCollough from Harbor Freight about 4 years ago and let me tell you that thing is a HUGE hunk of sh!t from the get go.
I've used it twice and start it once every 6 month's.

There is a time and place for Harbor Freight like with other tools you may only need once or twice but like I said if you're going to NEED a chainsaw buy a Stihl.....
 

G8trwood

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Going old school

Model Profile: 5-20

we had one of these on my Grandads farm growing up.. Nobody wanted to use it even back then. Only good for big trees that were already down. It was around 30lbs decked out. When men were men
 

Durty South Swamp

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I worked for a tree and stump service in college. All we had was Stihl and let me tell you. Those things freaking worked. In a given work day 2 or 3 saws would take down enough timber to fill 2 bucket trucks full of woodchip from the chipper. We did this mon-fri.

Once a month we'd do about 20-30 mins of pmcs on the saws and that was it. Worked there for 2 years. Never saw a single failure. Good oil, gas, sharpening or replacing the chains periodically and those things will run forever.

Full disclosure - I currently own a Chinese electric POS from harbor freight. But all I have in my yard are a couple of 8 foot crepe myrtles. :lol:
 

AlexDaGator

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I worked for a tree and stump service in college. All we had was Stihl and let me tell you. Those things freaking worked. In a given work day 2 or 3 saws would take down enough timber to fill 2 bucket trucks full of woodchip from the chipper. We did this mon-fri.

Once a month we'd do about 20-30 mins of pmcs on the saws and that was it. Worked there for 2 years. Never saw a single failure. Good oil, gas, sharpening or replacing the chains periodically and those things will run forever.

Full disclosure - I currently own a Chinese electric POS from harbor freight. But all I have in my yard are a couple of 8 foot crepe myrtles. :lol:
I have an electric pole saw from Harbor Freight I use to trim my palm trees a few times a year.


Alex.
 

Durty South Swamp

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I have an electric pole saw from Harbor Freight I use to trim my palm trees a few times a year.


Alex.
when all you have are a couple small trees or palms those things are great. And after 3 or 4 years if they crap out you just toss em and buy another one for 30 bucks.
 

BMF

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Just made the purchase. It's sales tax "holiday" weekend here in Virginia, so at least I saved that. Got the Farm Boss 271 model with the 20" blade, $399. I got an extra blade for $40 and a can of the fuel for $32, which added an extra year to the warranty.

Resized_20200809_110752%281%29.jpg
 

Durty South Swamp

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Just made the purchase. It's sales tax "holiday" weekend here in Virginia, so at least I saved that. Got the Farm Boss 271 model with the 20" blade, $399. I got an extra blade for $40 and a can of the fuel for $32, which added an extra year to the warranty.

View attachment 24278
it's a warranty you'll never need. Nice choice.
 

AlexDaGator

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when all you have are a couple small trees or palms those things are great. And after 3 or 4 years if they crap out you just toss em and buy another one for 30 bucks.

iu



It's corded electric, cost me about $65 on sale I think.

If you're only going to use them a couple times a year (and you don't need a lot of power to trim a few palm fronds) electric makes sense. No need to worry about fuel and the only regular maintenance is adding and draining the chain oil.

I think I've had it about 4 years now, maybe 5.

Alex.
 

Nalt

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It's corded electric, cost me about $65 on sale I think.

If you're only going to use them a couple times a year (and you don't need a lot of power to trim a few palm fronds) electric makes sense. No need to worry about fuel and the only regular maintenance is adding and draining the chain oil.

I think I've had it about 4 years now, maybe 5.

Alex.
While I use my chainsaws more than a couple of times each year, I have no idea why one would ever need to drain the bar oil. Please explain...
 

MJMGator

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While I use my chainsaws more than a couple of times each year, I have no idea why one would ever need to drain the bar oil. Please explain...
It’s really the only way to get it out.
 

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