Okay, I spent some time with the Ryobi today. I was not predisposed to like this saw. Perhaps the distinction between made in Japan and made in China is unnecessarily fine so far as the US economy is concerned, but I didn't want a saw from China, I'm sick of not being able to find anything to buy that isn't made in China. I went today to buy a glove to play catch with my daughter, and one after the other was made in China. Ball gloves! I think there was one for $179 that was made in the USA. Finally I bought one from Thailand. Sigh.
Anyway, the saw. It's easy to handle, works well. Lots of features for the price. Anti-vibe springs? Oooh, you're a big saw, yes you ARE. Chain brake check, push, nothing. Is it a dummy? Push harder. CLICK!!! Man, that's a stiff chain brake, not sure kickback could engage it. Coughed in three pulls, fired in one, straight out of the box. Tuning was quite good, great idle, throttle response, four-stroking coming out of a cut. I cut for almost a whole tank, cut up a bunch of limbs for the brush pile from a locust that came down yesterday. Bucked a pile of limbs about thigh size. Moved on to some logs that I'd planned to buck up with my MS660. With a 16" bar and Woodland Pro WPL chain, it cut very well. Lots of cuts with the bar buried, not particularly easy to stall. The fuel pickup was not an issue, saw ran with no hiccups until I stopped with very little fuel in the tank. Oiling was fine. Fuel and oil caps are small, but they didn't come off or leak.
Despite my prejudice, I can't find anything to complain about, especially considering the price. OK, I think the chain brake is probably too stiff to do any good, there are some tingly vibes despite the AV springs. But it started beyond easily, ran flawlessly, and pulled a 16" bar and low profile chain just fine, without mods. It's FAR less cheesy and FAR better equipped than a comparably priced Poulan. Durability? It's got Zenoah guts, and my Redmax has been reliable. Time will tell, I suppose it could stop running tomorrow. After all, these units that got reconditioned had to come from somewhere. But it occurred to me as I bucked a couple of logs that I had to chew from both sides and just barely met in the middle that if I absolutely had to, I could do the whole locust with this saw, and a typical homeowner, if he didn't run old mix or let it sit all year with fuel in it, might never need anything more. If everything were the same except it were made in the USA I'd be doing cartwheels over it instead of sitting here pondering.
Jack
