I'm fed up with the ridiculous high price of Stihl, Husqvarna top handle saws

[heyduke]

In Ontario Canada 700.00 for the 201T But in business you have to spend money to make money. What's next ropes and harness from the slightly irregular dept?

Perhaps the next time you quote a job inquire if they have a power outlet outside near the tree and use a really long extension cord and a cheap electric saw? You can use the cord as a rope as well! ALSO use the cord to hold down the old bed sheet you use as a tarp when you are taking away the trees in your converted shopping cart trailer. Wired Monkey tree service!

Buy the best tools you can afford and they will pay for themselves many times over. Good tools aren't cheap and cheap tools aren't good. Take care of your tools and they will take care of you. To be the man you have to beat the man.. sorry Ric Flair was on the telly.

rock-

thanks for the inspirational sermon, but a stihl 200t isn't the only good climbing saw. and nyctreeman is right to question that assumption. the extension cord was a little over the top. that isn't what we're talking about here. also equating safety equipment with saws is bogus. your saw breaks you fix it. your climbing system fails, just hope your over 30 feet up. also, i've found that not many climbers are good business men. it's good to hear some of them asking questions based on economic values. myself, i've used, worked on and still own, stihl, husky and echo climbing saws. currently my favorite is echo but what you use is up to you and the beer's on me at 5:30.

 

[Rockjock]

rock-

thanks for the inspirational sermon, but a stihl 200t isn't the only good climbing saw. and nyctreeman is right to question that assumption. the extension cord was a little over the top. that isn't what we're talking about here. also equating safety equipment with saws is bogus. your saw breaks you fix it. your climbing system fails, just hope your over 30 feet up. also, i've found that not many climbers are good business men. it's good to hear some of them asking questions based on economic values. myself, i've used, worked on and still own, stihl, husky and echo climbing saws. currently my favorite is echo but what you use is up to you and the beer's on me at 5:30.

I was making a joke.. I totally understand his position I really do. I was merely pointing out that good tools are not cheap. Yes I know there are other saws but I tend to ask the pros what they use , if they can keep the saw running for a time with all the abuse they put them through then I have a pretty good idea of the quality. I hope the beer you are offering is German and not that swill.

 

[nyctreeman]

rock-

thanks for the inspirational sermon, but a stihl 200t isn't the only good climbing saw. and nyctreeman is right to question that assumption. the extension cord was a little over the top. that isn't what we're talking about here. also equating safety equipment with saws is bogus. your saw breaks you fix it. your climbing system fails, just hope your over 30 feet up. also, i've found that not many climbers are good business men. it's good to hear some of them asking questions based on economic values. myself, i've used, worked on and still own, stihl, husky and echo climbing saws. currently my favorite is echo but what you use is up to you and the beer's on me at 5:30.

I've been using the 200t a lot, it tends to lose the muffler, the cover warps and is hard to get on sometimes, and the power is not really any different than my old 020av super.

There is nothing magic about the MS200t or the 201t imho

 

[lone wolf]

I've been using the 200t a lot, it tends to lose the muffler, the cover warps and is hard to get on sometimes, and the power is not really any different than my old 020av super.

There is nothing magic about the MS200t or the 201t imho

I like them a lot , I find them easy to work on.

 

[olyman]

Seems to me that tools are the last thing you want to cheap out on when you make your living with them. How many trees do you have to cut to pay for a saw? Surely can't be that many. How long are you willing to mess with an inferior product over the few dollars you'll save and make back in a few days at most anyway? As a customer, I expect to pay a lot less for a "professional" that's using substandard equipment. I figure if they know what they're doing and they're worth my time, they sure as heck better be competent enough to afford a proper saw.

inferior product!!!!! muwhahahhahhahahhahhahahhaha..what a wasted post.

 

[Sagetown]

because I want a new one, and they're selling for $1100 !!
and I'm a butt hurt b*tch that I didn't get one when they were $600!!

Then; there's the EFCO at $300, but it is a 30cc also weighing in at 7.5 pounds, or as stated earlier, the Echo at $270 14" Bar, with a 32cc engine, and a little heavier at 8.1 pounds. But IMO , the MS192TC-E with the easy start stihl looks to be the best way to go.

 

[olyman]

The Efco saws are well built. They seem to be a bit heavier though I've never actually weighed them. Carl (guy that owns the saw shop i work out of) is a dealer so I've messed with them a fair amount.
Parts are sometimes hard to get, even as a dealer.

older, yes. not for the newer ones.......

 

[lone wolf]

I would get what i want period.

 

[Sagetown]

I would get what i want period.

That's what I would do. You throw good money down the tube, and then kick yourself for not going ahead and coughing up a lil extra to be a happy camper, or in this matter, a happy treetop cutter.

 

[lone wolf]

That's what I would do. You throw good money down the tube, and then kick yourself for not going ahead and coughing up a lil extra to be a happy camper, or in this matter, a happy treetop cutter.

That's what experience has taught me also .

 

[KenJax Tree]

It depends on how often its gonna be used. I paid around $500 for my 200T's a few years ago, and they've made me a few $100K so thats not a bad turn around if you ask me.

 

[lone wolf]

It depends on how often its gonna be used. I paid around $500 for my 200T's a few years ago, and they've made me a few $100K so thats not a bad turn around if you ask me.

And you can maybe get the 500.00 back or 400.00 depending on condition.

 

[Jed1124]

There are three saws that are worth using professionally in the trees 200t/201t, 540t, and from what I've heard but not used the 355t. Notice I said professionally. I mean 8 to 10 hours a day 5 days a week. With any of the others your just pissing into the wind.

 

[heyduke]

I was making a joke.. I totally understand his position I really do. I was merely pointing out that good tools are not cheap. Yes I know there are other saws but I tend to ask the pros what they use , if they can keep the saw running for a time with all the abuse they put them through then I have a pretty good idea of the quality. I hope the beer you are offering is German and not that swill.

lagunitas maximus ipa this afternoon. it's from my old stomping grounds, northern san francisco bay area, marin county.

 

[imagineero]

rock-

thanks for the inspirational sermon, but a stihl 200t isn't the only good climbing saw. and nyctreeman is right to question that assumption. the extension cord was a little over the top. that isn't what we're talking about here. also equating safety equipment with saws is bogus. your saw breaks you fix it. your climbing system fails, just hope your over 30 feet up. also, i've found that not many climbers are good business men. it's good to hear some of them asking questions based on economic values. myself, i've used, worked on and still own, stihl, husky and echo climbing saws. currently my favorite is echo but what you use is up to you and the beer's on me at 5:30.

That's just the kind of post I'd expect from a guy who sneaks around on horses draining the oil out of dozers. I don't see that you'd want any kind of chainsaw seeing as how you're so against forestry ;-)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you want to roll with the big boys you need big boys toys. If I had to scrimp somewhere (and I don't!) I'd gladly climb on a lesser quality harness rather than not use a 200T. We're not talking a lot of money here, and if we're talking the difference between that and any other saw, then it's really a very tiny amount of money spread out over, say, a year. Maybe $0.50c a day. The cost of the saw is one of the smallest costs of being in this business. I spend more on just about every other thing than I do on saws; chain, wages, insurance, fuel (ka-ching!), vehicle maintenance and repairs, beer, you name it. Nobody is going to argue that another saw is better than a 200T, that's a given. The argument that a lot of guys make is something along the lines of "but saw X is $100 cheaper and not much less powerful/almost as good/only a fraction of a second slower" etc etc.

I'd run any brand or model of saw on the ground. The differences between them aren't that big, and with a sharp chain on any, the difference isn't going to amount to much. But up in the tree, that fraction of a second makes all the difference. Having the absolute best top handle saw you can get means that you can make a whole bunch of cuts that you couldn't make with a lesser saw. You can then flat drop, spear, fold or pop branches in a very controlled way. That fraction of a second is a huge amount of time when a limb starts moving and you're in the wood. It's the difference between a job well done, and a smashed fence. It's the difference between being able to cut and drop vs having to rig things down. And that adds up to a whole lot more work done in a day and a whole lots more $ in the pocket. I find most of the guys that go for off brand saws just don't know many cuts, so they aren't aware of what they're missing out on. All they know how to do is cut and pray, and for such operators there is no value in getting a better saw.

 

[lone wolf]

That's just the kind of post I'd expect from a guy who sneaks around on horses draining the oil out of dozers. I don't see that you'd want any kind of chainsaw seeing as how you're so against forestry ;-)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you want to roll with the big boys you need big boys toys. If I had to scrimp somewhere (and I don't!) I'd gladly climb on a lesser quality harness rather than not use a 200T. We're not talking a lot of money here, and if we're talking the difference between that and any other saw, then it's really a very tiny amount of money spread out over, say, a year. Maybe $0.50c a day. The cost of the saw is one of the smallest costs of being in this business. I spend more on just about every other thing than I do on saws; chain, wages, insurance, fuel (ka-ching!), vehicle maintenance and repairs, beer, you name it. Nobody is going to argue that another saw is better than a 200T, that's a given. The argument that a lot of guys make is something along the lines of "but saw X is $100 cheaper and not much less powerful/almost as good/only a fraction of a second slower" etc etc.

I'd run any brand or model of saw on the ground. The differences between them aren't that big, and with a sharp chain on any, the difference isn't going to amount to much. But up in the tree, that fraction of a second makes all the difference. Having the absolute best top handle saw you can get means that you can make a whole bunch of cuts that you couldn't make with a lesser saw. You can then flat drop, spear, fold or pop branches in a very controlled way. That fraction of a second is a huge amount of time when a limb starts moving and you're in the wood. It's the difference between a job well done, and a smashed fence. It's the difference between being able to cut and drop vs having to rig things down. And that adds up to a whole lot more work done in a day and a whole lots more $ in the pocket. I find most of the guys that go for off brand saws just don't know many cuts, so they aren't aware of what they're missing out on. All they know how to do is cut and pray, and for such operators there is no value in getting a better saw.

 

[Stihl99]

That's what I would do. You throw good money down the tube, and then kick yourself for not going ahead and coughing up a lil extra to be a happy camper, or in this matter, a happy treetop cutter.

That's what experience has taught me also .

I agree
"Buy Once or Cry Once" is always the best practice when making any purchase.

 

[Rockjock]

That's just the kind of post I'd expect from a guy who sneaks around on horses draining the oil out of dozers. I don't see that you'd want any kind of chainsaw seeing as how you're so against forestry ;-)

.

WHAT! This coming from a man who thinks beer is fosters AND Paul Hogan is a serious actor. ;-) And I do not drain the oil out.. I top them up with my mares pee. I call it an eco friendly. Furthermore I am pro logging. As long as proper PPE is worn and real beer is on tap.

 

[Mike_C]

Use searchtempest.com
Enter your zip and search for whatever you want, too handle chainsaw, stihl 201t, etc.... It searches the local craigslist, ebay listing near you, etc.... There's a 201t in Ohio for $275
I should not have posted this, I'll never get another deal for myself again :-(

 

[bikemike]

Wow got some jerry springer drama starting up now