Friend buying a Red Max G5300...opinions please

[Bingo]

Just looking for opinions here...might affect his decision. A friend I cut with, shoot with, drink with, hunt with, finally bought a splitter two days ago and now wants to get a bigger saw (min: 20" bar, 50cc). I recommended a 60cc saw but he's price shopping and is convinced 50cc will work. Not my call but I'd like to help him if I can. He has an opportunity to get a new Red Max G5300 for the great price of, well...under $350...true...from a Red Max dealer who's just now starting to carry their saws (has carried their other products for awhile), and wants to establish himself as a saw dealer too around here. I know this is a non-strato version on the Husky 353 which has been a very good saw over the years. He has an old Echo 3000 that he loves...it's been great for a long time but knows that's a small saw and is hot to trot here. Also, we have Echo, Stihl, Husky, Dolmar dealers w/in 20 miles of us...I told him to look at them all, get a demo out and start it, cut w/it, see how it feels....but...this price is really getting to him, and, to be honest, I might go for it myself. Never read anything bad about these saws and if this dealer wants to get his name out in this area my friend might get a good deal...But I don't want him to buy any saw on my say-so alone (he knows I have a MM'd Stihl 310 and Dolmar 510, both of which I like), so I told him I'd "ask around" here at AS. We only cut firewood for ourselves...between us maybe 15-16 cord/yr...don't sell anything, just personal use. Now I've not heard anything but good re Red Max/Husky so I don't have a strong opinion either way. I just wanna get some feedback from you guys about how much he'll like that saw? So far I've told him I can't find anything bad about RM saws. Just wondering if there's a consensus here regarding this purchase from those of you that have used/bought a RM saw?. I know I can't do it for him but want to make sure he's getting something he might like. He's as stubborn as I am sometimes and I'm hoping to steer him into something decent. Thanks all...

 

[Brian_NC]

I had a new one that belonged to my grandfather. I only ran a couple of tanks through it before I sold it to another member here. You are correct, it is a red and black Husky 353. I liked the saw, it had a nice powerband and it was real smooth. The only thing I didn't care for was the cat muffler, it got crazy hot and it took it forever to cool off. That is simple to fix though, non-cat mufflers are easy to be had and aren't real expensive. I don't know what size wood he's planning to cut, but a 20 inch bar buried on that saw would be a pretty slow go, IMO. It'll pull it, he'll just need a little patience. An 18 inch b&c would suit a 5300 alot better.

 

[Andyshine77]

350 is a great deal!!! I have a 353 and I used it as my only saw for about two years, it was flawless. Now it's not a 346, but it's enough for most any firewood. Yes a 20" bar is asking a lot from the saw, 18" with a MM and it will sing nicely.