MS 390, buy or save for a different saw?

[madman39]

I just bought a new 390 and I love it but I wish I would have bought the 361 now!

 

[tomtrees58]

like this one

 

[tomtrees58]

here you go tom trees

 

[angelo c]

Thanks Tom,
That shed is starting to rival tommy hall's patch of paradise...

A

 

[angelo c]

Tom,
Yup who needs a purty 361 when a 84 and a 90 can do the trick.

To the OP, yup I'ld go with a 440. I've never run mine and said "boy I wish I had a less powerful saw". Nothing wrong with a 390 except it leaves you wanting a 440/460.

( But if someone put a gun to my head and said you can only have "ONE" saw. it would be a 7900.)

 

[TreeClimber57]

http://stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS361.html

I called dealer.

He says we can not get 362, but our 361 is 4.6hp.. weird.

He says we have the 341, which he does not believe is available in the U.S. (it is same displacement and is 4.2hp and 12.1lbs vs 12.6lbs)

Gee.. I thought they were all the same.. dumb on me! :monkey:

Guess best be careful when I open my mouth.. as may not be talking quite same saw in all cases.

Looking at the U.S. website the 362 looks to be a fairly new saw - how long has it been available?

 

[tomtrees58]

the 361 is a great saw get that one you wont be sorry tom:rockn:

 

[gallegosmike]

Argg, it kills me to say this being a husky guy, But if you only going to cut on the weekends and 24" or less trees. By all means get MS-390 and might be happy with it for along time. Stay around this site and youll will go out but the biggest saw that you can or can not afford... Call it CAD! LOL

If you have a husky dealer in your neck of the woods, take a look at a husky 359. If you are cutting a sea level and softwoods. A husky 359 would pull a 24" bar pretty good. It has the benefit having a split case and really easy to work on vs. a sthil 290/210/390 clam shell style saw.

Good luck and have fun sawing safely!

 

[nmurph]

the 361 is a great saw get that one you wont be sorry tom:rockn:

yes, but he said $600 max and he can't do that in HI. if he is looking for a used saw, then he has many choices, but don't know what the CS market is there. its not like you can just jump in your car and drive from island to island.

 

[tomtrees58]

yes, but he said $600 max and he can't do that in HI. if he is looking for a used saw, then he has many choices, but don't know what the CS market is there. its not like you can just jump in your car and drive from island to island.

well bermuda is my island but i payed $530 out the door tom trees ps i live in st pete beach fla to

 

[voxac30dude]

well to give you guys some idea of how much saws are here. i bought my husky 435 for about $350 new. thats how much they are here. the echo CS-360 tree saws are like $300

oh and here is an interesting little vid i found. not much difference in speed between the 361 and 460 in this vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQaVIys23WE

 

[Slamm]

oh and here is an interesting little vid i found. not much difference in speed between the 361 and 460 in this vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQaVIys23WE

Times for the 361:
11.49 seconds
10.77 seconds
11.03 seconds

Times for the 460:
9.94 seconds
9.43 seconds

That has been what I'm talking about with the smaller saws, especially ones that get great gas mileage like the 361 when compared to the gas hogs like the 460.

The greatest gap in times is 2.06 seconds, whoop de-do.
The smallest gap in times is .83 of a second, so not even a second, LOL.

You will get more wood cut at the end of the day with a fuel effecient saw than you will a faster saw that is a gas hog. You can't cut enough in one day to make up the seconds add up to one extra gas fill-up.

I'm not saying that running a faster saw isn't more fun, and that alone may be worth an extra fill-up or two or 5, but you aren't going to cut more wood in a full day of cutting.

This of course is in moderation, I'm not talking about larger than 28" bars or bigger wood, but few people cut these sizes with a lot of regularity, and certainly this Island cutter will not be cutting major wood with a 24" tree being about max, so a big saw won't do him much good effeciencywise, funwise, might be another story.

My opinion,

Sam

 

[voxac30dude]

i just called the stihl dealer on maui. it's gonna be $640 + $30-40 shipping. $680. about a hundred over my budget. but im willing to work with it if what you guys are saying that the 361 is better then the 390.

 

[TreeClimber57]

i just called the stihl dealer on maui. it's gonna be $640 + $30-40 shipping. $680. about a hundred over my budget. but im willing to work with it if what you guys are saying that the 361 is better then the 390.

If you can squeeze it in you won't regret it.

 

[nanuk]

044

I think it's like the domestic versus import!

two completely different designs.

most guys here like the idea of the pro style split case over the clam shell design. and that's due to the ease of modifying it.

but if you are not thinking of that yet, then don't let that bother you. talk to your dealer about how YOU will use the saw!

As a stock saw, and a non pro cutter using it occasionally, I'm not sure you'll tell much difference, unless you get a side by side comparison. even then...

when I've gone out and cut wood, the most I got was 3 cords at a time, to stove length, and smaller stuff, so lots of moving, bending, etc... (all my truck could hold) I doubt I'd notice the difference after using my 029 vs 635 vs 365 vs 044.

but there is something to be said about using the bigger saws for pure speed and permagrin factor.

at least you are looking at buying a quality saw!

 

[nmurph]

the biggest difference in these two saws is the weight (about 1lb) and the cost (about $100). if you can squeeze the 361 into you budget, i would go that way. but if you can't, don't lose any sleep over buying the 390.

 

[haveawoody]

I have used both.

390 in my opinion is a better cold cutting saw, seems to start and cut better in cold weather.
361 is a tiny bit faster but general use very difficult to notice much of a difference.

390 uses les bar oil in my opinion and maxed out at with good performance with 20" bar.
The same can be said for the 361 being maxed at around 20" bar.
Sure you can put a bigger bar on either model but they both show in performance.

If you are cutting rock elm and ironwood all day then get the 361 and save 15 minutes a day for coffee breaks.
Other than that buy the 390 and save 100$ for coffee and carry less bar oil for the job.

All depends on what you are doing with what model.

For me 361 is not a great cold weather starting and cutting saw.
and the 390 likes to pull the start cord back on you when starting sometimes.

Who said life was perfect anyway

 

[Fish]

Can you still find a new ms390? All gone around here..

 

[Nitro-Fish]

Wow, someone dug up an old thread huh?