Well, I'm a DIY firewood type, but only 4 cord/yr or so. Still, we have land and I help others. I've owned a little of everything, but my 029 is by far the most reliable and easiest to deal with saw. I got it in excellent shape, used, for $150. You gotta watch Craigslist, bulletin boards, etc, for the right deal. Try for a homeowner who is moving to the city or some such. With your experience, you should be able to smell the saws that have seen reasonably light duty. If the case is scarred and beaten up, the saw has probably seen hard service and may or may not be OK. At your price, there may not be anything new that fills the bill. I have an MS250 that I bought new for $300, but it's a little light for your use. The used 029 is heavier, but much more satisfactory for 16" wood. I bury the 20" bar occasionally and it keeps going.
Now, IF you find a Mac Timberbear in GOOD shape and IF you can make it hold together and IF you can handle its incredible weight, then it may be a bargain at $75 or so. I bought one from Harbor Freight for $175 and have worked on it continuously for years. The oiltank screw was loose and I had to take the tank apart to fix it. The brake ratchet is a poor fit on its pin and the slop makes the brake fall on all the time. Nevertheless, it's fairly powerful, has a slow torquey power curve and a decomp valve and is really great too start, even after months of layup. This is just to show you the other side of the coin.
I bought my son a 254XP, used, for $150. It's a good runner, more powerful than the MS250, but has eaten two pistons! The original owner got several yrs out of it, but we seem to have gotten it just as the cylinder started to score. If it didn't eat pistons, it would be our favorite, except that we had to build an exhaust deflector to keep it from frying out right hand. I don't know how the other guy stood it. I expect we'll put a port on the front of the muffler if we get a good piston.
Speaking of getting things, the 254 is a rare saw and almost no one has used parts. New OEM parts are wildly expensive.
There's no question that getting a new saw and babying it is the best value, but buying used wisely can get you by until the budget improves. And anything you buy used and keep in good shape will return a lot of its price when you can trade up.
With care, you can get several years out of a little Poulan, which can keep you from having to use the heavy saw for everything.
You can't afford an Ebay mistake, so stick with people someone can recommend from direct experience.
Hang tough, take your time, watch for deals, trades, chances to work off a purchase for someone who is unable to handle their saw due to age, health, etc. A couple of days of cutting, clearing, etc, might buy you a decent saw!
Wow, that was windy,
