sbhooper
Addicted to ArboristSite
I just had a conversation with my fire fighter kid this evening. He has been fighting fires non-stop for the last several days. We had an interesting chainsaw conversation.
Here is the crux of what we talked about. Fire fighter crews, both private, federal and state, pretty much go by federal regulations on saws.
Most crews have tried Husqvarna, Stihl and this year, the saw of the month has been the Makitas. The Stihls have failed miserably, because of geysering issues. On a fire, they pop the fuel cap and fuel flies out and has caused saws and other fires to explode. They have been telling Stihl for several years, and Stihl has never been willing to fix the issue. They are done.
Husqvarna, overall, has held up pretty well and seems to be the good choice and they are going back to them.
The Makitas run well, but have an extremely flimsy chain brake setup and a real stupid cold/warm weather switch by the carburetor. They are not well-liked.
It looks like after several years of trial and error, that Husky is going to get the nod and the other companies are going to lose out, simply because they are not listening to the people that put the saws through the toughest test out there.
Loggers have given the same feedback on the geysering, with the Stihls.
It seems to me that any company that wants to piss away federal contracts, because they will not fix issues, is not destined to do well. This will be an interesting topic to follow, but as it stands now, I am becoming less of a Stihl fan. A company that does not want to listen to the people that truly test their product, is not going in the right direction.
Here is the crux of what we talked about. Fire fighter crews, both private, federal and state, pretty much go by federal regulations on saws.
Most crews have tried Husqvarna, Stihl and this year, the saw of the month has been the Makitas. The Stihls have failed miserably, because of geysering issues. On a fire, they pop the fuel cap and fuel flies out and has caused saws and other fires to explode. They have been telling Stihl for several years, and Stihl has never been willing to fix the issue. They are done.
Husqvarna, overall, has held up pretty well and seems to be the good choice and they are going back to them.
The Makitas run well, but have an extremely flimsy chain brake setup and a real stupid cold/warm weather switch by the carburetor. They are not well-liked.
It looks like after several years of trial and error, that Husky is going to get the nod and the other companies are going to lose out, simply because they are not listening to the people that put the saws through the toughest test out there.
Loggers have given the same feedback on the geysering, with the Stihls.
It seems to me that any company that wants to piss away federal contracts, because they will not fix issues, is not destined to do well. This will be an interesting topic to follow, but as it stands now, I am becoming less of a Stihl fan. A company that does not want to listen to the people that truly test their product, is not going in the right direction.