deluxetwelve
ArboristSite Lurker
OK, let's get the formalities out of the way first. Hi there, and this is my first post, but have to admit to have been lurking for a while. I am definitely in the category of "enthusiast amateur" or whatever you want to call it, but really appreciate the comments of the pros here, which helped me understand better my needs, get reasonably educated and objective (??) comments. All of which led me to graduate to the MS361, which thus far I love. My chainsaw life started a couple of years ago with my first purchase of a MS250, having tooled around on an old small domestic McCulloch. I see this chainsaw thing as definitely addictive. I found the 250 was pretty good for most things, but was occasionally running out of grunt on some of the jobs I was doing. So I figured an upgrade was in order, so got good money on the MS250 from ebay before I had worn it out too much (made the upgrade less painful). The 361 is fantastic and eats through logs in a way that the 250 was sorely lacking....but.....
Now.....I reckon I require a smaller, lighter saw for the smaller cutting jobs, pruning and firewood etc, where the 361 is a bit unwieldy (something with a shorter bar than the 250 and lighter also would fill the gap, I think). I did dabble with the idea of a top handle pruner (192T or even Husky 334T) but hear some negative stuff about that from a safety perspective, esp. for out of tree stuff. The 200T is too much money for a part-time hack like me looking for a second saw.
So how about the MS180 or one of the smaller Huskys even?. I know, they are relative toys to some of you pros, but for a guy like me perhaps that would do the job. The smallest "pro" Stihl is a 260 which is overkill and too heavy for a second saw. Of course I would rather avoid the cash and carry junk from the mainstream stores - I might be an amateur but appreciate good engineering! I would not rule out a Husky but keeping it all Stihl would appeal to me (also run a FS90R brushcutter and a blower vac), given the local service and parts situation here and my familiarity with the marque.
Now.....I reckon I require a smaller, lighter saw for the smaller cutting jobs, pruning and firewood etc, where the 361 is a bit unwieldy (something with a shorter bar than the 250 and lighter also would fill the gap, I think). I did dabble with the idea of a top handle pruner (192T or even Husky 334T) but hear some negative stuff about that from a safety perspective, esp. for out of tree stuff. The 200T is too much money for a part-time hack like me looking for a second saw.
So how about the MS180 or one of the smaller Huskys even?. I know, they are relative toys to some of you pros, but for a guy like me perhaps that would do the job. The smallest "pro" Stihl is a 260 which is overkill and too heavy for a second saw. Of course I would rather avoid the cash and carry junk from the mainstream stores - I might be an amateur but appreciate good engineering! I would not rule out a Husky but keeping it all Stihl would appeal to me (also run a FS90R brushcutter and a blower vac), given the local service and parts situation here and my familiarity with the marque.
