indiansprings
Firewood Purveyor
Since I actually own and run both a 346 and a 261 in a commercial setting, I can honestly say that four of my hired hands and I prefer the 261 hands down over the 346, don't get what I am saying wrong, the 346xpne is an excellent saw, you will be hard pressed to find anyone better. I am sick and tired of the individuals on here who continually bash a saw just over 9oz, and have yet to have ever operate one, to me it is nothing but a reflection on that individuals character. People who are asking for guidance spending their hard earned bucks deserve more than information read from a spec sheet. My saws will see over30-40 hours of operation a week in commercial conditions.
In our opinion ONLY, there is a reason the 261 weighs 9 ozs more.
The 346xpne has a die hard following on here, for good reason, it's benefits are it's light weight/ power to weight ratio. In stock form it is not the light saber so many unrealistically describe. It does have great throttle response, it is all the saw most do it your self wood cutters would ever need for cutting no more than 18" -20" We do not care for the outboard clutch, the tiny little chain adjustment screw, or having to carry a different sqrench for it's bar nuts. It's powerband is all on the top, keep it wound wide open or torque suffers.
The 261 in our opinion only has a more robust build, just feels more solid, heavier by 9 OZ, we feel like it has a much more useable powerband, the saw really wakes up after 10-12 tanks, it's air filter setup is the standard by which others can be judged, it is the best I've ever seen in over 30 years of sawing. We prefer the inboard clutch, not as much crap and gunk gets built up in under the cover, easier to change out chain when you do it as frequent as we do. The captive bar nuts are a nice feature, standard sized along with the chain adjustment screw. Stock saw to stock saw I'll pay more for a 261 any day of the week, taking nothing away from the 346, as it is a good saw, it really boils down what you are used to using. The 261 build quality reminds me of the legends, the 044's, the 038's, the little 028's, the 066's, of which I've had or ran all of them. The 261 is of that build quality, no shortcuts to cut the weight down nine ozs just so they could beat a husky spec. To each their own, ready for the flaming, but my crew just feels like the 261 is better suited to a commercial setting. It is a fact that the Stihl Pro saws hold their value better than any other saw on the market. There will be one less 346xp here by late Saturday afternoon and another brand new shiny 261, it has proven it's shelf to be a perfect companion saw to the 70cc saws. I like XP's they as good as saws made, I've got a unique situation with a dealer relationship, if I were buying a new saw, especially a pro saw, I'd buy from the brand dealer that would give me the best support, regardless of brand. But to get on here and give half assed/ biased/ information based on nothing but prejudice is doing the members wrong, a saw is a major lifetime investment for some, the least we can do is give accurate information. Truth is the 346/555/261 will do anything you need, just depends on your personal preferences. Want to support made in the USA and American workers go buy the 261, proudly made in Virginia Beach. VA by a company that chose to invest in America, decades ago.
Hell, if there were still 299.00 EFCO/John Deere/Cub Cadet CS 56/156 new on the market, for a do-it your self guy, I take it hands down over either the 346 or 261 for that purpose, they will out cut a stock 346 by a mile and are built every bit as good as far as build quality. The air filter set up is their on shortfall.
In our opinion ONLY, there is a reason the 261 weighs 9 ozs more.
The 346xpne has a die hard following on here, for good reason, it's benefits are it's light weight/ power to weight ratio. In stock form it is not the light saber so many unrealistically describe. It does have great throttle response, it is all the saw most do it your self wood cutters would ever need for cutting no more than 18" -20" We do not care for the outboard clutch, the tiny little chain adjustment screw, or having to carry a different sqrench for it's bar nuts. It's powerband is all on the top, keep it wound wide open or torque suffers.
The 261 in our opinion only has a more robust build, just feels more solid, heavier by 9 OZ, we feel like it has a much more useable powerband, the saw really wakes up after 10-12 tanks, it's air filter setup is the standard by which others can be judged, it is the best I've ever seen in over 30 years of sawing. We prefer the inboard clutch, not as much crap and gunk gets built up in under the cover, easier to change out chain when you do it as frequent as we do. The captive bar nuts are a nice feature, standard sized along with the chain adjustment screw. Stock saw to stock saw I'll pay more for a 261 any day of the week, taking nothing away from the 346, as it is a good saw, it really boils down what you are used to using. The 261 build quality reminds me of the legends, the 044's, the 038's, the little 028's, the 066's, of which I've had or ran all of them. The 261 is of that build quality, no shortcuts to cut the weight down nine ozs just so they could beat a husky spec. To each their own, ready for the flaming, but my crew just feels like the 261 is better suited to a commercial setting. It is a fact that the Stihl Pro saws hold their value better than any other saw on the market. There will be one less 346xp here by late Saturday afternoon and another brand new shiny 261, it has proven it's shelf to be a perfect companion saw to the 70cc saws. I like XP's they as good as saws made, I've got a unique situation with a dealer relationship, if I were buying a new saw, especially a pro saw, I'd buy from the brand dealer that would give me the best support, regardless of brand. But to get on here and give half assed/ biased/ information based on nothing but prejudice is doing the members wrong, a saw is a major lifetime investment for some, the least we can do is give accurate information. Truth is the 346/555/261 will do anything you need, just depends on your personal preferences. Want to support made in the USA and American workers go buy the 261, proudly made in Virginia Beach. VA by a company that chose to invest in America, decades ago.
Hell, if there were still 299.00 EFCO/John Deere/Cub Cadet CS 56/156 new on the market, for a do-it your self guy, I take it hands down over either the 346 or 261 for that purpose, they will out cut a stock 346 by a mile and are built every bit as good as far as build quality. The air filter set up is their on shortfall.
