"Bad" saws that became "good" over time

[ham]

It's really interesting to me how many so saws, when they first come out, are total junk according to internet folks. Then give them 15-20 years and all the sudden they're solid workhorse dependable saws worth buying.

I noticed this a lot when rebuilding an MS290, reading older threads, at the time they came out, total plastic rebadged 029 junk, barely worthy for a yuppy homeowner and impossible to work on yourself. Throwaways. Now they're considered totally workhorse reliable, still have the image (incorrect imo) of being difficult to work on, heavy for their power (correct) but otherwise a good saw if you can snag a decent condition one for cheap.

Husqvarna 55 Rancher, you should read some of the posts from early 2000's. Total garbage, get a 346 instead. Nothing but home depot homeowner throwaway. Nowadays, it's a magnesium case well-built reliable saw, worth grabbing up for a decent price

What other saws were shunned in their day that is now considered a "good" saw?

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Craftsman 3.3 , poulan 3450 or whatever it was after the 3400 and 4000, I mean there decent but I don't think I would hike 10 miles to rely on one.
I think the 290s really increased in popularity since the inception of the cheap 390 kit.

 

[TBS]

It's really interesting to me how many so saws, when they first come out, are total junk according to internet folks. Then give them 15-20 years and all the sudden they're solid workhorse dependable saws worth buying.

I noticed this a lot when rebuilding an MS290, reading older threads, at the time they came out, total plastic rebadged 029 junk, barely worthy for a yuppy homeowner and impossible to work on yourself. Throwaways. Now they're considered totally workhorse reliable, still have the image (incorrect imo) of being difficult to work on, heavy for their power (correct) but otherwise a good saw if you can snag a decent condition one for cheap.

Husqvarna 55 Rancher, you should read some of the posts from early 2000's. Total garbage, get a 346 instead. Nothing but home depot homeowner throwaway. Nowadays, it's a magnesium case well-built reliable saw, worth grabbing up for a decent price

What other saws were shunned in their day that is now considered a "good" saw?

The ryobi ry10532 comes to my mind Because it got hate for being cheap depot chinese crap, running like crap, plasticy, and not a husqy or stihl until people started buying them cheap on ebay and fixing them and finding out they do pretty good cutting theb finding out that it was a japanese zenoah engine under chinese plastic. Now they are viewed as the best 40cc saw made from 2003-2007 for under 300$.

The stihl 017/ms170 was shunned but now it's seen as a nice light weight saw.

 

[Bango Skank]

Guilty pleasure of mine. The ms170 and ms180 are a hoot to use. Just a fun little saw.

 

[LogSawyer74]

Stihl 260 always seemed like it took a backseat to the 346xp. But my 260 has been reliable year after year after year.... fantastic little saw

 

[rupedoggy]

I think there are more saws that start off good and then turn bad.