Tophandles: Poulan XXV vs. Homelite Super 2 vs. Mini Mac

[a. palmer jr.]

It always seemed like working on a mini-mac was a waste of time because I usually had other saws, Poulan and Homelite. When you worked on one of them you knew when you had it fixed. With the Macs you might have to take them apart 5 times before you get them right. The Macs sure are pretty though!

 

[Isna]

The poulan S25 was my first chainsaw (I was still a forestry student at the time). Bought it used and cut so much wood with it. For work, I now use ms200T but I still think my poulan is more reliable. When I go for a tree climbing job, I have to take 2 or 3 ms200T with me, just in case. At home, I just use my poulan and never had any problems (just modded it to fit a ms200T clutch, rim, bar and chain). Those saws are less well balanced but much more reliable...

 

[alex matthew]

To be honest, the Super25's shouldn't really even be used for a comparison here against the XL's and Mini Macs.

There so much superior in almost every catagory, were never really meant to be a entry level homeowner saw, and they were not priced like it either.

The Poulan Micro XXV is what Poulan had in there line that was a direct competitor to the others mentioned.

Now everyone knows I'm a Poulan guy, at least the older ones, but I don't really care for any of those older homeowner top handles, the Micros included.

That said I still like the construction of the Micros over the others . At least you can get to the carb on them in like a minute or less. The oilers worked well when fed only clean oil and in general there so much eaiser to maintain then the others.

The drawbacks were that they did require a few extra pulls to start when they had been setting for some time as they have a very long fuel line on them to fill up first. It is mandatory for the fuel filters and carb pump side diaphragms to be kept in good shape on them. Once started the first time, it was pretty much a non issue the rest of the day and they would start well with just a pull or two.

The other is the pressure style oiler would like to keep leaking for sometime after the saw was shut off. Cracking the oil tank cap after use to relieve the pressure after use did help.

Like the XL and the Minis there a cheap saw to begin with. Poulan must have done something right with them though as they sold millions of them.

When you get into the 2300 series of Micros, the extra power that came with them cannot be ignored when comparing to the others as well. The 2300 will pull a 16" bar with relative ease.

 

[alex matthew]

Hi having a problem setting the carb screws on my poulan super deluxe micro,how much turns do i need to get me started?then i can fine tune it from there,any help would great,cheers

 

[Eccentric]

You should start out at around one turn out from lightly seated for the H and L needles. If you're having to run it much farther than 1.25 turns out then you likely have an air leak. Crank seals (530019059 from Poulan AND Husqvarna parts outlets, including your local Husky dealer) are easy to change. Carb base gasket and the gasket under the carb box often leak as well.