Bushmans
Smoke Dragon Herder
I finally went out and got my new saw today. I spent way too much time deliberating on which one to get. I finally broke down and went with my gut. Sure the MS362 looked nice but I just didn't need it. It's a hard thing to overcome needs vs wants! (it's tough buying a saw when every saw ever made is a bad choice in someone's mind)
I got a brand new MS391 with a 20"bar.
Dealer said he couldn't really mess with the price as they are set by Stihl but he threw in a free chain and gave me half off a case. I picked up the 6 pack of ultra and extended the warranty.
View attachment 272895
I brought it home and headed out to the backyard to beat up the 14-16 inch cherry I dropped the other day before selling both my saws.
It will take some getting used to having the extra slot on the start toggle. I haven't ran any newer saws.
Decompression valve is nice. Never had one of those.
Idle seemed a little high.
Cut very nice. Brand new saftey chain came with the saw. Never cut with one of those. Seemed real grabby, almost like a chain with the rakers filed too low.
Was 4 stroking nice but in the cut with the "grabby" feeling of the chain it was hard to tell if it was two stroking properly. It was a bit odd. I'll switch chains to the yellow RSC tomorrow and check it out.
Powered right through the log, no bogging when I applied a little pressure. Still grabby or chatty though.
Noodled a round and was impressed with the torque, just kept on chewing away.
Weight is about at my limit. Not something I want to cross country with but while sawing is quite well balanced and you forget about the weight once your in the cut.
I really liked the AV on it. After running my 044 this one is pretty smooth!
The chain almost seems to have its own brake. I let off the throttle and the chain stops very quickly. Kinda like the feature on a circular saw. Is this normal? Chain is tensioned right in case your wondering.
One thing I noticed is the end of the bar wagging when in the cut at the hilt. The tip was sort of waggling back and forth. Never noticed this before on any of my other saws. This was in the log around 8-10 inch diameter. Kinda weird, didn't like that at all. Maybe long bar short wood syndrome?
Also getting to the air filter takes 3 screws to undo. I'm used to a one nut deal or a twist off. I like to blow off my ACs fequently during a cutting session. Don't like messing around with a bunch of screws. Air cleaner snaps on and off. I could see this being a problem if your not paying attention and don't seat it right. Maybe these are just built better and need cleaning less?
Oiler adjustment is easy to get to. My first set of flippy caps.
Everything else seems normal.
I'm pretty happy with the saw. I don't usually cut much over 18 inches on a regular basis and this saw will cut everything I need it to and some of the bigger stuff that I do run into occasionally.
If it doesn't rain tomorrow I will be headed to the woodlot for an extended run. The cherry I cut up today only took 10 minutes. LOL
I'm relieved to finally have my new saw. I loved my old 029 and that rebuilt 044 but it was time to say goodbye and get something new. My wife says I have chainsaw A.D.D.
Of course I still may be getting the 044 back as I haven't heard anything from paypal yet. Time will tell.
As long as it comes back the same way it went out I have a pretty good idea on how to fix it now. I will either be able to sell it for more or possibly talk momma into keeping it. That is gonna cost me!
So far so good. I'm content.......for now!
I got a brand new MS391 with a 20"bar.
Dealer said he couldn't really mess with the price as they are set by Stihl but he threw in a free chain and gave me half off a case. I picked up the 6 pack of ultra and extended the warranty.
View attachment 272895
I brought it home and headed out to the backyard to beat up the 14-16 inch cherry I dropped the other day before selling both my saws.
It will take some getting used to having the extra slot on the start toggle. I haven't ran any newer saws.
Decompression valve is nice. Never had one of those.
Idle seemed a little high.
Cut very nice. Brand new saftey chain came with the saw. Never cut with one of those. Seemed real grabby, almost like a chain with the rakers filed too low.
Was 4 stroking nice but in the cut with the "grabby" feeling of the chain it was hard to tell if it was two stroking properly. It was a bit odd. I'll switch chains to the yellow RSC tomorrow and check it out.
Powered right through the log, no bogging when I applied a little pressure. Still grabby or chatty though.
Noodled a round and was impressed with the torque, just kept on chewing away.
Weight is about at my limit. Not something I want to cross country with but while sawing is quite well balanced and you forget about the weight once your in the cut.
I really liked the AV on it. After running my 044 this one is pretty smooth!
The chain almost seems to have its own brake. I let off the throttle and the chain stops very quickly. Kinda like the feature on a circular saw. Is this normal? Chain is tensioned right in case your wondering.
One thing I noticed is the end of the bar wagging when in the cut at the hilt. The tip was sort of waggling back and forth. Never noticed this before on any of my other saws. This was in the log around 8-10 inch diameter. Kinda weird, didn't like that at all. Maybe long bar short wood syndrome?
Also getting to the air filter takes 3 screws to undo. I'm used to a one nut deal or a twist off. I like to blow off my ACs fequently during a cutting session. Don't like messing around with a bunch of screws. Air cleaner snaps on and off. I could see this being a problem if your not paying attention and don't seat it right. Maybe these are just built better and need cleaning less?
Oiler adjustment is easy to get to. My first set of flippy caps.
Everything else seems normal.
I'm pretty happy with the saw. I don't usually cut much over 18 inches on a regular basis and this saw will cut everything I need it to and some of the bigger stuff that I do run into occasionally.
If it doesn't rain tomorrow I will be headed to the woodlot for an extended run. The cherry I cut up today only took 10 minutes. LOL
I'm relieved to finally have my new saw. I loved my old 029 and that rebuilt 044 but it was time to say goodbye and get something new. My wife says I have chainsaw A.D.D.
Of course I still may be getting the 044 back as I haven't heard anything from paypal yet. Time will tell.
As long as it comes back the same way it went out I have a pretty good idea on how to fix it now. I will either be able to sell it for more or possibly talk momma into keeping it. That is gonna cost me!
So far so good. I'm content.......for now!
