BWalker , page back or so you said that Stihl is garbage at a premium price. I guess the next question is, what do you run in your chainsaws and why? I have run a lot of Stihl and Amsoil. I have also run quite a bit of cheap stuff . What is a good chainsaw oil?
IMO, Husqvarna & Stihl synthetic has preservatives & other additives to counter gasoline with ethanol.
The saw will run at peak performance, be protected, and the mix won't oxidize & go bad in a can of the carb months or over winter.
Buying top tier gasoline from Chevron, Mobile, Shell etc is even more important nowadays than the brand of 2-stroke. Ethanol increases the octane rating of poor quality, corrosive discount gasoline that will damage and destroy a 2-stroke fuel system quickly, even cause a saw to run lean & burn up. The damage will force down time, re-tuning, and repairs which will cost a great deal more than is saved at the pump. Running premium gas with synthetic oil will help ensure your saw will start and run right every time. Priceless.
- I got some bad gas yesrs ago that wiped out the fuel systems of every small engine I had as well as all my neighbor's. It even took out the fuel pump in my truck. We refer to it as The Year of the Silent Spring, because everyone's lawn mower, trimmer & blower was dead after sitting over winter with bad gas in them. The repair shop had a mountain of tools & several months back log. A lot of people just bought new & abandoned their downed equipment at the saw shop because they had work to do & couldn't wait months on repairs. The local landfill also had a mountain of discarded small engine equipment, much of it like new. What a waste. Last year the saw shop closed. But before he did, he recommended that everyone just buy the pre mixed two stroke fuel. It wasn't just his opinion, but also that of Husqvarna. The varying quality of fuel was costing them a fortune in warranty claims and in brand destruction. People just assumed the problem was the quality & design of the saw, regardless of brand, and would toss their perfectly good equipment & switch to a different brand. Search for 'reconditioned Husqvarna chainsaw' and you'll find many like-new consumer line saws at a discount. Professionals have figured out where to buy good gas. Home Depot shoppers will buy the cheapest gas they can find, and end up returning a badly running saw that often won't start as a result..