zogger
Tree Freak
Stihl 044 or 440, favorites of a lot of people, cause they last.
I have read that a *lot* here, uber reliable and functional.
Stihl 044 or 440, favorites of a lot of people, cause they last.
Great commentary ,Im suprised that the chine clones have invaded so severely and replicated closely enough inI'll base this answer on regular customers and their saws....
In the mid-range professional category it's hands down the Stihl 034 / 036 / MS360 series chainsaws, these seem to be one of the most reliable and robust saws ever built. My customers just refuse to part with them and would rather spend good money having these rebuilt when the saw gets tired, rather than go buy a new MS362. From a workshop perspective these are an absolute dream to work on, with simple, clean, and well thought out engineering. I think the fact these saws in good condition still fetch $500 up to $850 for a rebuilt saw here in Australia says it all. You will rarely see an old beat-up banger fetching less than $300 over here.
That said, the older Husqvarna 61 Hardwood, 266XP, 268XP are still very popular, super reliable, easy to work on, and still fetching reasonable dollars in good condition over here.
In the arborist saws there is only one contender, Stihl's MS200T. These are fetching $700 to $900 over here, and simply people refuse to part with them.
Moving up the range in pro end saws, the Husqvarna 372XP is as popular now as it was when released and always fetch good money. Again a saw that people would rather rebuilt than go buy a newer model. That said, the Stihl 044 / MS440 is on par with the Husky in the popularity stakes.
At the big boys end, the Husqvarna 288XP has a cult following over here as one of the most bullet proof 'old school work horses'. I must say I've got a real soft spot for these loud and powerful bone-shakers....sort of like the Harley Davidson of chainsaws
The Stihl 066 / MS660 has always been ultra popular over here, and once again a sound, solid and reliable machine. The popularity has dropped in recent years with the flood of Chinese counterfeits that's swamped Australia. Buyers are not really sure if they are buying the 'real deal' or just a rice muncher special, hence people seem to be steering clear of these second hand at least.
On the home owner end of the scales, The Husqvarna 36 / 136 / 41 / 141 and the Jonsered 2036 / 2041 type saws are still very popular even though they haven't been made in years. Solid and reliable little performers.
Two categories, old school, rigid frame, etc, then more modern with antivibe of some sort and/or including chainbrake. Just wondering what is *the* most cast iron bullet proof reliable model. Never fail, starts well, idles well, cuts and oils, just add mix and bar oil, year after decade, nuthin breaks, it just works. Either category doesn't have to be the most powerful or biggest, the criteria is absolutely reliable, a "timex" rating. TIA!
Great commentary ,Im suprised that the chine clones have invaded so severely and replicated closely enough in
appearance that the model is avoided .Nice to know that saws you listed perform so well running backwards
and upside down .From up and over in the northern hemisphere President
Some of the Chinese parts are very rough and easy to spot, in particular plastic moulded parts.
However, some alloy parts have been so well counterfeited they are very difficult to identify from genuine Stihl parts. They have gone to the point of using genuine Stihl production marks and part numbers on many of the castings, as well as genuine Stihl serial numbers on the crankcases.
The MS660 and MS380 appear to be the major targets, along with the Husqvarna 365. To the untrained eye it's easy to understand how people are being conned, and why now many people steer well clear of these models when buying secondhand.
One of the most recent example of high quality rice muncher parts I've seen were Stihl 20" Bars. They were almost perfect copies, and at first glance I was even fooled. It wasn't until you looked closely and compared the printing of the bar's tech info (gauge, pitch, DL and model number) against a genuine Stihl bar that it became evident these were fakes.
Best boat anchor i ever used very handy when used as one.wild thing
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