EastoutWest
ArboristSite Lurker
I was sick of the vibration, stupid leaky filler caps, thin safety chains, terrible bar tensioner and general crappiness of my craftsman and my landlord's poulan pro (turns out they are exactly the same). Picked up a 45cc 16" "Power King" saw from the big box store for around $150 and have been very impressed with it over the past year.
The vibration dampening works great, its really simple; just a toggle switch and a choke knob. The fuel and bar oil compartments are large with good caps. The tensioner is like the ones found on most commercial-grade saws. Runs aggressive chains!
I did break a bar stud when I let it get too hot bucking a big dead locust with a dull chain... inspecting the broken stud tells me it would have happened eventually. cheap pot metal. So I swapped on some universal grade 8 studs and it's been great.
I've operated stihls, echos and husqvarnas, and this saw works as well as any I've used (with comparable size of course). If I had the dough, I'd probably buy a stihl, but compared to a comparably priced craftsman or poulan, this saw wins hands-down.
The vibration dampening works great, its really simple; just a toggle switch and a choke knob. The fuel and bar oil compartments are large with good caps. The tensioner is like the ones found on most commercial-grade saws. Runs aggressive chains!
I did break a bar stud when I let it get too hot bucking a big dead locust with a dull chain... inspecting the broken stud tells me it would have happened eventually. cheap pot metal. So I swapped on some universal grade 8 studs and it's been great.
I've operated stihls, echos and husqvarnas, and this saw works as well as any I've used (with comparable size of course). If I had the dough, I'd probably buy a stihl, but compared to a comparably priced craftsman or poulan, this saw wins hands-down.