D&B Mack
Sawin Wit It!
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what is the best built saw?
- Thread starter Oroles
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Lots of good saws mentioned here thats for sure, and some I wouldnt agree with but everyone has there own ideas.
I would not argue the XL-12 saws I know there plenty tough for sure.
I would say the Poulan 245/306 fit right in there with that tough name as well. Stout and strong they are.
Seems that quite a few of the older saws seem to stack up better then the new ones when it comes to tough.
I would not argue the XL-12 saws I know there plenty tough for sure.
I would say the Poulan 245/306 fit right in there with that tough name as well. Stout and strong they are.
Seems that quite a few of the older saws seem to stack up better then the new ones when it comes to tough.
Some of the saws they make nowadays won't be around for 30-40 years like the old saws mentioned, XL12, Poulan 245,306 etc. My go to saw for big wood is still an old Homelite Super XL. Works when some of my others fail. I have a couple of great Poulan top handles for small limbs.
I must disagree. Having owned and worked on both, I see no weaknesses on the 362.
Do you have any specific problems with the 362 when it comes to the reliability, performance??
Yoopermike
ArboristSite Guru
whats the best built saw?? thats more of a loaded question around here! and as for the poulan wild thing comment... I bet more ppl have an xl or super xl 12 THAT RUN! unlike the many wild things that dont :rotfl:
Don't you down them WT's they are what they are, but they can and do cut wood if taken care of.:kiss:
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Eccentric
Mister Wizard
That WT ain't exactly stock.....
Here's an example of a saw from the series that I voted was "Best Built". Needs a bit of cleanup..............but it is pushing 50 years old afterall. Pics and text shamelessly taken without permission from Chris' "Finally got one! - The elusive Homelite 995G
" thread:
The mighty and magnificent Homelite 995G. It will pull a bar TWICE as long as what it's wearing right now........................with full comp 1/2" chain.
http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/163139.htm#post2738303
Here's an example of a saw from the series that I voted was "Best Built". Needs a bit of cleanup..............but it is pushing 50 years old afterall. Pics and text shamelessly taken without permission from Chris' "Finally got one! - The elusive Homelite 995G
" thread:
This fine old beast arrived the other day - a not so common Homelite 995G. This saw popped up on here a few months ago, and after a bit of negotiation it was mine.
The saw originally had a broken recoil starter cover - something which sets the 995 apart from its older brothers, but the owner was lucky enough to find a nice replacement one for me. The saw is fitted out with a 40" hardnose bar, and a nice loop of 1/2" chain. It has decent compression and spark, so hopefully will not take alot to get it going again.
Here are some pics of the saw:
Regards,
Chris.
The mighty and magnificent Homelite 995G. It will pull a bar TWICE as long as what it's wearing right now........................with full comp 1/2" chain.
http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/163139.htm#post2738303
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Yoopermike
ArboristSite Guru
ok ok I take that back.. you might be the only one I know whom has a working poulan BUT you did modd it out to make it run good
.... im not diggin em too much.. I just like to pick on em cause ive had a few 4-5 and known a few buddies whom they have all crapped out on.
ok ok I take that back.. you might be the only one I know whom has a working poulan BUT you did modd it out to make it run good
lol I know quite a few who have good running WT's I've even seen a few pics of one with a pipe, and let me tell you I ran that saw at a gtg without the pipe and it was twice as fast as my WT.
FATGUY
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ok ok I take that back.. you might be the only one I know whom has a working poulan BUT you did modd it out to make it run good
oh boy....
well, I'm going to go ahead and throw my hat in the ring and say the 3400-4000 Poulan CounterVibe series may just be the best built saws....
Yoopermike
ArboristSite Guru
IM only taking stabs at the "wild things"
I guess it represents some kind of corporate (especially for current saws) IP but I wonder if CS manufacturers have the data for more recent out of production saws on the following.
1) Recall rates;
2) Warranty records
3) % serviced 1, 2, and maybe 5 years later versus number solved.
The actual numbers won't mean much across brands, but comparing one model saw with another of the same brand would be possible. Then one could really see if the 08 was indeed better built than the 066?
My guess is that enough data is not available but maybe with the internet these records are now being kept?
1) Recall rates;
2) Warranty records
3) % serviced 1, 2, and maybe 5 years later versus number solved.
The actual numbers won't mean much across brands, but comparing one model saw with another of the same brand would be possible. Then one could really see if the 08 was indeed better built than the 066?
My guess is that enough data is not available but maybe with the internet these records are now being kept?
Justsaws
Addicted to ArboristSite
Fastners backing out, fastners wearing/hogging holes out and breaking in case , cranks breaking, bearing failure, cylinders cracking, intial assembly problems.
90-120 days out commercial service, HUGE disappointment. They like the power and the 361 is tough to follow for reliabilty but the newest Stihls have been a HUGE disappointment from a return on cost in commercial use. Been a run on having 1127s rebuilt as they were far more reliable saws.
Really?? I simply don't see anything all that different between the new and old saw, fasteners and so on. The bottom end issues have been around since 50:1 and ethanol IMHO. Do you think it has anything to do with the help theses days? I know of a few tree guys that can kill a good saw in a few days, or less. Honestly I see no real difference between the old and new saw, - the cylinder and intake design. If I had to guess it has more to do with the illegal slave help these days, as one local tree guy said, sometimes they mix too much oil sometimes not enough mang lol.
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Justsaws
Addicted to ArboristSite
Really?? I simply don't see anything all that different between the new and old saw, fasteners and so on. The bottom end issues have been around since 50:1 and ethanol IMHO. Do you think it has anything to do with the help theses days? I know of a few tree guys that can kill a good saw in a few days, or less. Honestly I see no real difference between the old and new saw,
Typing "carefully".
Fastners=The fastners in question are different than the ones used on the previous saws. SOME of them are very soft and some are very brittle. Holding one from a specifically bad saw in a pair of vise grips and twisting it with a Wila, it snapped, easily. One from a different saw, no. Fastner issues seemed to be the most prevalent in combination with the part being held by the fastner damage.
Bottom end issue are not "typical". Cranks that have been broken seem to have been made from fairly crappy metal and poorly compared to a older model cranks. The breakage is not one point specific.
Bearing failure, pick a bearing and 120 days in service a larger number than what was previously model typical have failed. No burned, not straight gassed, just fell apart.
The issues do not seem to be fuel related failures but rather quality failures. Cylinders cracking around the base but not by the screw holes. Spark plug holes failing during use, etc. etc. etc.
I do not have a dog in the arguement beyond having seen what I have seen I could not recommend the purchasing of the 362 or 391. Most of 361s are at the end of their days in terms of needing major overhauls(cranks/cases/PC) and were to be replaced with 362s, not any more.
These are saws being used commercially 7 days a week. They are being used by the mostly the same people as before doing the same type of work. Not anywhere near the same reliabilty.
Like I said, seen enough to convince me to stay away and not recommend them to others from a reliabilty stand point.
I might own a lot of Fords, but I do not own any 6L deisels.
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Thinks for the input, you're one of the few on here that tells it as it is, you always have.
The 441, 362's have been on the market for some time now, I simply think we would hear more about these issues if they were that common, not to say your info is incorrect. The few 362's and 441's I know of in commercial use have done well, but this is only a few saws.
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grim1pisces
ArboristSite Lurker
Any tough old profesional Stihl, tough old being the key words here!!
I used to log and I don't know one logger who used and trusted anything less than an 066 Stihl to go into the woods each day, perform relentlessly, and be ready to do some final log correction cuts and triming. As a matter of fact, I had a day from hell one time, and the 066 Stihl saw got all three of us a half day in the freezing mud until a tornado came and beat us back to the truck! It saved two of us from under a huge Missouri oak, a log skidder and driver, pinned and almost off a 100' bluff, and the 4x4 Dodge truck that almost got airborn, but it did pull it halfway across a field and pinned between two trees that kept it on the ground. Now, I can think of maybe a dozen times that my body had that much adrenaline pumping through my veins, that was one of them! We all had little cuts and marks, even through our clothes, from debris and the rain hitting so hard from the tornado's wind that actually made little slices in all our skin. It was so chaotic that I could only describe it as similar to movie footage you see about WWI, and WWII battlefields. It did about as much damage to the property as well! As a matter of fact we spent the next four months trying to save mangled timber already paid for!!!
Sorry, damn flashbacks! In any case, I would go with a Stihl if you want a chainsaw that a hardwood tree can land on, dig out, brush off and fire back up to seek revenge on the tree that did it and all it's family!!:flag::flag:
I used to log and I don't know one logger who used and trusted anything less than an 066 Stihl to go into the woods each day, perform relentlessly, and be ready to do some final log correction cuts and triming. As a matter of fact, I had a day from hell one time, and the 066 Stihl saw got all three of us a half day in the freezing mud until a tornado came and beat us back to the truck! It saved two of us from under a huge Missouri oak, a log skidder and driver, pinned and almost off a 100' bluff, and the 4x4 Dodge truck that almost got airborn, but it did pull it halfway across a field and pinned between two trees that kept it on the ground. Now, I can think of maybe a dozen times that my body had that much adrenaline pumping through my veins, that was one of them! We all had little cuts and marks, even through our clothes, from debris and the rain hitting so hard from the tornado's wind that actually made little slices in all our skin. It was so chaotic that I could only describe it as similar to movie footage you see about WWI, and WWII battlefields. It did about as much damage to the property as well! As a matter of fact we spent the next four months trying to save mangled timber already paid for!!!
Sorry, damn flashbacks! In any case, I would go with a Stihl if you want a chainsaw that a hardwood tree can land on, dig out, brush off and fire back up to seek revenge on the tree that did it and all it's family!!:flag::flag:
