Shawn39
ArboristSite Member
Looking at saws and a couple old times told me they ran stihl and husky in there company and they found husky lasted the best with way less repairs,
What do you loggers find?
What do you loggers find?
What brand outlast?
- Thread starter Shawn39
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Seachaser about hit it spot on. I have both, among some other brands. I may skip out on some specific models from one or the other, but neither make bad saws.
I’m not a logger, but I would expect, how You take Care of your saws, will have more to do with their Reliability and Lifespans than Brand, especially between those two choices
As my username suggests, I run all Huskies, but when I was researching saws, back in the early 90’s, I decided that both made Excellent tools, and that I just got more saw for my money with Husky. I still have that 266XP, that was my first Quality saw, it’s still a Helluva Good Saw, and I have never regretted that choice
I bought Husky based on price, and stuck with Husky because of quality and commonality, made sense for me, but if someone else prefers Stihl, or a mixed roster, I can see how that could make sense for them
Many suggest going with whichever has the best dealer support, and there is some logic in that, but honestly by far the vast majority of my 15 Huskies, have never been back to a dealer since I bought them. Probably about half were bought online, and a few used, and the rest off the shelf at a dealer, been Happy with them all, regardless of the source
Maintenance is the biggest factor that will affect what you’re concerned about, IMO
Doug
As my username suggests, I run all Huskies, but when I was researching saws, back in the early 90’s, I decided that both made Excellent tools, and that I just got more saw for my money with Husky. I still have that 266XP, that was my first Quality saw, it’s still a Helluva Good Saw, and I have never regretted that choice
I bought Husky based on price, and stuck with Husky because of quality and commonality, made sense for me, but if someone else prefers Stihl, or a mixed roster, I can see how that could make sense for them
Many suggest going with whichever has the best dealer support, and there is some logic in that, but honestly by far the vast majority of my 15 Huskies, have never been back to a dealer since I bought them. Probably about half were bought online, and a few used, and the rest off the shelf at a dealer, been Happy with them all, regardless of the source
Maintenance is the biggest factor that will affect what you’re concerned about, IMO
Doug
way back when was a Dolmar dealer so that is what i have. well, we know how that has played out. if and when i need a replacement likely will be Husky if they are still viable, mostly because I can get parts more readily and at lessor cost than Stilh as I don't have deal with a stealership. Which is on Stilh not the dealers so much.
neither company will put their stickers on a junk saw, keep this in mind, go to whichever dealer treats you better, I think stihl are a little easier to work on but I run both, I really like running huskies although I almost exclusively buy stihl, my local dealer sells both tho
Shawn39
ArboristSite Member
my dealer won't service husky, and they have VERY limited stock, mostly homeowner saws, vs the stihl selection of hundreds of saws
also, parts interchange on the stihls, so try and keep all stihl saws, I have a 395XP that doesnt run, and a T540Ixp battery tophandle that we use daily, I gotta rebuild the 395 at some point in the future
the husky autotune stuff is kinda crap tho, I know 2 people with them and both of them blew themselves up because it wouldn't tune correctly and ran lean, I've never had a stihl do that, also the older husky tophandles kinda sucked from my understanding, the new T540Mk3 seems pretty dang sweet tho
at the end of the day, its a preference thing mainly, I prefer stihl but I will run anything you hand me as long as it has a sharp chain
Shawn39
ArboristSite Member
There is none in my local area but in the city there is some smaller Shaw shops I buy from.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Check stihl.ca there are many listed in Edmonton.
Here is one
https://www.stihldealers.ca/Search.aspx/Edmonton/Alberta/ab/T6E_0G2/Power_Equipment_Centre/?Lang=en
Shawn39
ArboristSite Member
The stihl shop I go to in Edmonton is stihl and husky and they are a saw shop where they port saws and stuff. It’s on the west end as well as I come in from the west side of the city
The real loggers where I used to live--in an area where logging was a major employer, used Stihls. That's mainly because there are two big dealers in the area and both give wonderful service. A "small family" business does not ensure quality work and the two Chehalis, WA dealers have a reputation for good service. I was loyal to one of those, sometimes they'd diagnose my saw's problem over the phone for free. I lived a good hour away. When I'd bring it in, they realized that I drove a bit to get there and would work on my saw while I would be shopping, and then would phone me when it was ready to pick up. That's what you should be looking for. People who make their living using saws don't want to wait a week to get a saw looked at. I'd run into fallers that I knew in both businesses.
You won't run into this, but another factor was how do they treat women who work in the woods. Yes, there were a few of us. I'd had problems getting taken seriously in other shops but did not have that happen in either of the two Chehalis places. One even carried men's size 6 rubber calks which fit me. Both stores carried socks and gloves in smaller sizes. I recommended going to those dealers to a woman who needed a chainsaw and her local dealer wouldn't sell her the saw she wanted because it was, in his words, too powerful for a woman. It was smaller than the saw that my friends and I used for work. We weren't loggers, but we did forestry work and would be called upon to buck blowdown out of roads after storms.
There was a guy who was falling timber with a husky. That was because he was from Oregon and had a Husky dealer nearby. In fact, the dealer loaned him a saw for a week to try out. However, the faller did other business with that dealer, like getting his processor parts at the same place.
Buy either saw from a place where they'll fix things without delay and fix them right. Dealer support is everything.
You won't run into this, but another factor was how do they treat women who work in the woods. Yes, there were a few of us. I'd had problems getting taken seriously in other shops but did not have that happen in either of the two Chehalis places. One even carried men's size 6 rubber calks which fit me. Both stores carried socks and gloves in smaller sizes. I recommended going to those dealers to a woman who needed a chainsaw and her local dealer wouldn't sell her the saw she wanted because it was, in his words, too powerful for a woman. It was smaller than the saw that my friends and I used for work. We weren't loggers, but we did forestry work and would be called upon to buck blowdown out of roads after storms.
There was a guy who was falling timber with a husky. That was because he was from Oregon and had a Husky dealer nearby. In fact, the dealer loaned him a saw for a week to try out. However, the faller did other business with that dealer, like getting his processor parts at the same place.
Buy either saw from a place where they'll fix things without delay and fix them right. Dealer support is everything.
no saw dealer in my area will let you demo anything whatsoever
We don't have any dealers that will let you demo a saw anymore either. The last one got bought out about a year ago by power pro, and the other had to stop for liability reasons.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Could it be you copped an attitude with them and pissed them off
Bill G
ArboristSite King
I assume they are a box store and do not do repair work.
could it be you need to go **** yourself? asking for a friendCould it be you copped an attitude with them and pissed them off
mines a saw shop with a full repair facility, service techs, sells stihl everything including mowers, husky, ferris mowers, climbing gear (almost every brand minus petzl)
not a box store
