Farmtec too good to be true?

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I sent word to my youngest daughter that's on vacation in Asheville North Carolina to see if she would go by and see about getting a Poulan 3400 I saw a fs ad on CL. Saw looks to be in good shape and for $35 asking price its hard to go wrong.

Steve Sidwell
Wish we could fwd all the huztl folks to the "you suck" thread...
 
I sent word to my youngest daughter that's on vacation in Asheville North Carolina to see if she would go by and see about getting a Poulan 3400 I saw a fs ad on CL. Saw looks to be in good shape and for $35 asking price its hard to go wrong.

Steve Sidwell
I would buy it. The only poulans I've found are wild things. A guy gave me one but the oil tank is cracked and the clutch is bad. Looks like it had a rough life. Not worth fooling with.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 
Tom, you will probably have the genuine Stihl parts in your hand that day, or at most within a week- the Farmertec parts you might see in a month.
If your $25 180 was missing the original parts, or they are broken, the Farmertec stuff will get it complete again- will be nowhere near as good as OEM (just like supercheap compression gauges versus more expensive gauges), but will still work.
If you just want plastics to complete a saw back to whole, for your own use, go for it. After all, they are cheap to replace if they do not last long.
The 180 is hardly a collectors item, you want to keep costs low and plastics are not a high stress mechanical part- you are trying to build a functioning own use saw, not some work of are rare breed every nut and bolt collector piece.
Really well said Bob thanks mate. It’s nice to be reminded of perspective, it’s easy to forget and get so lost in the project! Thanks again mate!
 
Really well said Bob thanks mate. It’s nice to be reminded of perspective, it’s easy to forget and get so lost in the project! Thanks again mate!
Thing is, over here in the wee Island Nations (you live on our West Island), we are not tripping over broken, wrecked, fixer upper, older chainsaw powerheads, nor can we pop in to one of a dozen Stihl or Husqvarna agents to see what they have in the scrap bin.
We live in areas of fairly low populations of saw users and both live in countries where most anyone capable of using a saw was bought up using one, knows what they are doing with one, knows they cost them an arm and a leg to buy new here and so knows how to maintain and repair them themselves, not just drop them to the shop only to hear "sorry, uneconomic to repair", so drop a few hundred on the shop counter for a new one.
 
Thing is, over here in the wee Island Nations (you live on our West Island), we are not tripping over broken, wrecked, fixer upper, older chainsaw powerheads, nor can we pop in to one of a dozen Stihl or Husqvarna agents to see what they have in the scrap bin.
We live in areas of fairly low populations of saw users and both live in countries where most anyone capable of using a saw was bought up using one, knows what they are doing with one, knows they cost them an arm and a leg to buy new here and so knows how to maintain and repair them themselves, not just drop them to the shop only to hear "sorry, uneconomic to repair", so drop a few hundred on the shop counter for a new one.
So true, the Americans are tripping over saws out their front gardens or on street corners!! I’m just rebuilding for fun as a hobby so don’t mind spending a little to get them running, but without question sometimes buying a new saw is far more economical than OEM parts to fix really, but I just enjoy learning how to repair them! So all in (working in Aussi dollars) the first of two saws cost 40 Aussi dollars (ms 180) and the parts to fix it cost me 110 Aussi. New it’s 300 so less than half price isn’t terrible and I also see it as I have a whole set of spare parts now for my ms 180 too and i’ll Practise tuning it with the new adjustable carb and may try things I wouldn’t do on my new 180 haha. Not to mention I have a back up (soon to be two when I get around to fixing the 025 :)
 
Hard to put a price on experience & knowledge too, after building a few junkers you'll have a new skill set, some saw specific tools, basic parts and be ready to take advantage of a good non running pro saw when the right opportunity arises. Starting off making homeowner saws run is better than forking up a high dollar saw.
 

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