Stihl, husky, jred, dolmar (...). What personnal experience made you prefer one?

[Isna]

Not trying to start a new stihl vs husky vs ... Thread.
I'm talking about real personal experience that lead you to make a choice.
I love running husky saws, my favorite mid-size saw is probably my Jred 2163. Unfortunately, at work, we had plenty of problems with the huskies (probably a bad series since we managed to get 2 372's for free, as an apology). Spending a lot of time repairing our saws (we have 30 saws running at work), I ended up preferring the stihls. Also, their customer service is much better around here. A shame since I find Husky saws have more torque. (Need to get a modern Dolmar, I haven't tested them yet).
Again, I don't care witch one you prefer. I just want to know what personal experience led you to pick a brand.

 

[spike60]

Husky having Miss Sweden in their booth at the Louisville trade show. :biggrin:

 

[Big L]

For me, when I got around to buying my first new saw last year, hands down it was going to be a Stihl. for two simple reasons, 1. There's a reputable dealer within 5 miles, and 2. The only place to buy a Husky (nearby) was at Home Depot.

 

[Hugenpoet]

I like them all.

 

[cheeves]

First off I like chainsaws. No I love chainsaws ever since I first picked one up in the 50's!! Here int he East Husky had strong dealerships in the 70's. The Stihls were marvelous machines with the 041, 051, 056, and 075. It' what cemented there reputation here in the U.S. The Jreds were around and fine machines! A friend of mine has a bunch of them. Really well built. But I sorta took to the Huskys like the amazing 44 and the 162. A great firewood saw. I love my 032 and I don't think there's another saw ever that has cut more wood. Probably the best 50cc saw ever built. The Husky's to me just always felt right. It's an individual preference thing and I don't want to offend anyone. Right now I'm looking for an old 044 to fix up and port for firewood. Like I say I love chainsaws. I also bought an Efco, great runner, and a Makita 6401, which is now converted. But I don't know..... That 2156 J Red looks like a saw to die for. What can I say. Still dream of my old 056 Stihl. One incredible machine!! Would cut this old 200 year old house in half!

 

[Cantdog]

Husky having Miss Sweden in their booth at the Louisville trade show. :biggrin:

LOL you sure jumped on that quick Bob!!!!! As an old friends father (horse logger) used to say "Wouldn't be half so funny ..if it wasn't true!!!" LOL!!

 

[pioneerguy600]

I think it has a lot to do with how the saw feels in your hands at the end of an 8-10 hour day of running one.Then there is the reliability issue, if the saw starts and runs everyday, every time you want it to,idles down and does not have to be restarted every time you let off the trigger. Starts easy hot or cold and has good cutting speed with sharp hand filed chain. I started cutting with chainsaws in 1962 and owned my own by the time I was 13, it weighed over 30 lbs fueled, oil in tank,with bar and chain. It was a Pioneer 600, next came the Sach Dolmars, 116 and 120, same thing,reliable year in and out with great cutting speed and a fine area dealer. They went to heck in a handbasket when Makita became involved. Moved on to Stihls and have stayed there, have owned and run all manufacturers saws but always come back to Stihl, they just fit right and are dead reliable. I do all my own mechanical work and maintainence on my saws and they don`t let me down.

 

[CWME]

First pro saw I pulled the trigger on was a ms441 that an arborist let me try. I dropped my 455 rancher like a hot potato when I found my ms440. I couldn't get the power of that 441 out of my mind. If there is a better tool for the job I want it. Had I found a 372 I would have bought it. I just wanted the power.

 

[Cantdog]

I ran my first Jonsereds in 1976.....a close friends 80.....I had owned 2 big old Homelites...the 1-52 Mac (in my sig) and my first saw ever...a very old Lombard 3A Woodlot Wizard so when I grabbed that 80, I thought I had the power/ccs thing covered....LOLOLOL!!! Was I ever wrong!! The next spring I bought my first and only brand new saw......a shiny new 49sp....the most expensive Jonsereds I could afford...at the time ....I could have bought a new Mac 10-10 for $75.00 less...never even entered my mind...and unfortunately I gave up on the brand when they came out with 510/25/35 and a number of pitiful small under powered crap saws. This site finally brought me back to the brand..folks like Spike60 and PB got me straightened away even though I resisted......the really sweet thing is I now own that exact same 80 I first used..(along with 4 others)...my friend has since passed beyond and his sons gave it to me.....it is very, very used but is slated for a full tilt boogie resto with powder coating throughout and many NOS NLA parts!!! My name is Robin and I like Jonsereds!!!!LOL!!

 

[o8f150]

i have run them all and owned most,, i perfer the huskies best

 

[Dvegas]

Stihl is my first choice + theres a good dealer here and then husky also at the same dealer, have'nt run dolmar or jred would like to get my hands on a dolmar some day though



*Edit: and i don't run any fancy stihl's either and have never had a problem, so there up level models are real nice

 

[garyischofield]

They are all great

Since buying my first saw in '72( Homelite 360),I've owned/run over 100 saws.Jonsereds 52E,621,70E,80.90.Huskys since the days of the plastic rear handles 185,380(1976)Partners,Pioneers,Sachs-Dolmar.Partner,Solo"Stihl's.I'm of the opinion that more gains were found in filing proficiency than saw productivity from saw brand to saw brand.Bigger was not always better.80/ 90 Jonsereds were built like tanks.I love the new saws in the 50-70 cc.range.Power to weight ratio was always big for me.Sachs Dolmar 119/120 still being some of my favorites.The saws productivity/durability has always amazed me over the years.Gary

 

[russhd1997]

My first saw was a Stihl and I have always been partial to them. Along the way I purchased a siezed Dolmar. I repaired it and it turned out to be a nice saw too. I own 7 saws now, 3 Stihls, 2 Dolmars, 1 Jonsered and a Wild Thing. I like them all. The one that I have had the longest is my Stihl 031. A strong running saw with a lot of power for it's size. My favorite saws are my Dolmar 116si and Jonsered 2036 Turbo with a muffler mod. I don't own a Husky yet with the emphasis on Yet.

 

[mowoodchopper]

Well I hate to admit it but I would have to say, Husqvarna is my favorite. I started out on macs, and while I like to think about running them as a kid , the saws arent fun to run. Then my dad bought our first stihl, 024, since then its been all stihls for my dad and brother, untill one got the husqvarna bug. I also thought stihls were it untill I bought my first 2 saws, a husqvarna 61 used and then a new 350. Then I got into dolmars and still like them, but over the last 5 yrs , 3 yrs having a bucket truck and doing tree work plus heating our home which we have always heated with wood, I have had maybe 50 saws and out of all of them Husqvarna is my favorite, why I have never had a new husky that did not impress me. Dolmars I like the grunt but they dont sound like a husky or feel like one. Stihls , I have had alot of stihls, 024,025,026,034,038mag, 044,046,064,084, 041, to name a few , but the only 2 stihls that I have ever been impressed by, are the 026 and 084 which i still have one of each. Huskys ive had, 61,350,345,450,455,372,357,346,385,390,372xpw and have liked every dang one of them.

 

[mt.stalker]

Orange , Red , Green , Yellow , it's all good as long as their svveeeeedish :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[garyischofield]

so many saws ,so little time.

Oh ya,Husky is still, when all is said and done, my go to saw brand.Durable ,user friendly/good balance,very decent power to weight ratio, few if any blaring weak links (air cleaner /handling problems,etc.).Which reminds me of a few saws that weren't the whole package.Poulan 4200/5200's.Big power but what were they thinking about how imbalanced they were?No offense intended to Poulan lovers.Gary

 

[Smittysrepair]

I have owned or mainly just ran about anything from an old Eager Beaver to the high end saws. I have to say I prefer just judging by feel and balance the way a Stihl saw feels in my hands. Power is a toss up between Stihl and Husky though. And to all they naysayers about the Stihl's vibrating. I run mainly a MS460 that Tlandrum ported and I have no problems. And this is coming from a guy that has been refusing to go through Carpel Tunnel surgery for six years. I can run any brand weed eater around for fifteen minutes and my hands will be numb but I can run this MS460 all day with no problems. Of course I can run a Husky all day with no problems either. Of course I may just really hate weed eating that bad. lol

 

[jbighump]

i am partial to the stihls,, i have never owned any other brand but i have handled them all but dolmar and the stihls just fit me..... oooh and even with neglect these things are stone relaible even the low end ones

i am extremly partial to the 70cc stihls 440,460 and the like,,no firewood operation should be without one:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Aussie Dave]

First time experience played a big part for me.Walked into the Husky dealer,he was helpfull and had a lot to choose from.
Then to the stihl dealer,he was rude,ignored me for the most part and when he did pay me some attention just put rubbish on all the other makes instead of telling me about the saw he was trying to sell me.
So back to the husky dealer and grabbed a 55.Never had a problem with the saw or the dealer so have stuck with them.
I would happily buy a stihl now we have a good dealer,i have just stayed with the saws, and guy that has looked after me.

Cheers Dave

 

[Jtheo]

I ran Dolmar for years until all the dealers around here went out of business.

I ran Stihl's for a while and then ended up with Husqvarna.

I bought a beat up faded out Pawn Shop 365 that would just not die, and that got me to looking at the local Husqvarna dealer.

I have since bought 3 XP saws from them. I found that they had a good shop, and were very easy to deal with.

Another thing, the Husqvarna's seemed to fit my needs better.

The anti vibe is great and the balance of all my Husqvarnas just seem to feel right in my hands, and that is a big plus when running a saw for several hours.