Now after a few years, looking back on the Aftermarket "saw" experience

[weimedog]

As usual kind of goes against the grain and will certainly aggravate some but hey, this was my experience:

"Several Subjects that need further explanations. I'll do follow on video's to drill down on some of this. Especially reviews where a few new or low hour saws are pitted against each other, usually the speed in a cookie cut race determines the winner and that is simply beyond ridiculous. Life with a saw or saw series can't be articulated in a 15 minute video especially with the distraction of cookie races. So now with a few years under my belt dealing with these aftermarket and also some of the favorite 2 me build concepts I can give my audience a view based on experiences on how these concepts last, backed with several years of documentation with the video history of these things."

 

[Thumper88]

I watched some of your review and look forward to finishing it after we put the kiddos to bed tonight. I agree 100%, there is very little to be learned about a saw in a short review, especially after just a few days or weeks with the saw. Work saws are a different animal than play saws and I own and appreciate both. While I love a good woods ported work saw, and most of my tree service work saws are ported, other factors come into play. Does the saw start reliably hot and cold? Is the saw prone to heat soak or flooding under certain conditions? If its not autotune/mtronic how well does the saw hold its tune in varying weather conditions? Is it ergonomic? Can it be beaten like a red headed step child and survive? All of those things matter far more than how fast the saw can cut a cookie, because in logging, tree work and firewood 1/10th of a second doesnt matter much if the bastard wont start when its hot.

 

[link]

As usual kind of goes against the grain and will certainly aggravate some but hey, this was my experience:

"Several Subjects that need further explanations. I'll do follow on video's to drill down on some of this. Especially reviews where a few new or low hour saws are pitted against each other, usually the speed in a cookie cut race determines the winner and that is simply beyond ridiculous. Life with a saw or saw series can't be articulated in a 15 minute video especially with the distraction of cookie races. So now with a few years under my belt dealing with these aftermarket and also some of the favorite 2 me build concepts I can give my audience a view based on experiences on how these concepts last, backed with several years of documentation with the video history of these things."

That s a long video. So if you are a man familiar with tools and logical thinking - would you consider building one from parts?

 

[weimedog]

Depends on skills and attention span

 

[link]

Depends on skills and attention span

I'd say just "yes".

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I believe that I have enough facts to support my point of view on this. Aftermarket saws out perform the OEM saw by 10:1. Saws manufactured with in the last ten years are pure junk. I need a saw that can be left out in the snow and have water and oil poured into the tanks and still run. No electronic tuning will suffice. If water gets into a tank I need to be able to rinse out debris change carburetors in a hour and go back to work. For some that want a automatic saw will not agree. I go to a remote area for several weeks with an assortment of saws to cut. If a saw will not perform it will likely be hammered into tiny fragments and poured into the scrap pile. Only once did I take a pile back to the dealer telling him I was not impressed with the Stihl line. He said maybe the carburetor could be salvaged. Thanks

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

I'd say just "yes".

You should do a video also. Might be a helpful, informative guide.

 

[J D]

Was it just the main bearings that failed on the 372’s or is the bottom end weak in other areas too? Cheers

 

[weimedog]

Was it just the main bearings that failed on the 372’s or is the bottom end weak in other areas too? Cheers

Nope the cases bearing pockets opened up, I suspect that happened before the bearings failed in retrospect

 

[9050lx]

Nope the cases bearing pockets opened up, I suspect that happened before the bearings failed in retrospect

pto side, or both sides?

 

[J D]

Might make for an interesting comparison to build one with some quality bearings & maybe a dab of retaining compound