Hi Lucky. I would agree with you that I wouldn't likely rate the Poulans a "production" saw, at least their consumer lines. And whatever on that.
Reason I bought the "monster" 14" Woodshark was I hit a KMart closeout in early '02 and got it for 1/2 price. I think it was like $60 for the saw. I picked up the electric the same day for 1/2 off as well. So, partially it was because it was a steal. Even on sale at other places they didn't get down that far, so I scooped one up. I will be honest on another angle.....I was considering another Poulan/saw anyway. I was very happy with the 2375 and was sort of considering another one. But I hadn't justified another $130-140 for one by then. $60 was a no brainer to me for a smaller saw. I do a variety of cutting. Usually I am cutting up dead, down, or whole trees. Not just logs in a pile. And with a lot of the smaller wood, a 14" will more than suffice. In fact, I now normally grab the woodshark most the time.....unless I get into wood that requires a larger bar. I figure it's cheaper to replace than the 2375, and the bars/chains are cheaper to replace as well, so chew this one up if that's what happens. I had been wanting a 2nd saw to carry with out in the woods anyway. I don't mind carrying an extra bar/chain/etc. with, but an extra saw doesn't hurt. Even if I wore a chain down to needing sharpening in the woods, I could just grab the other saw and finish up. Shapen the other saw on the grinder when I get back, but not have to mess with changing chains or sharpening in the woods itself. Plus, just in case....I realize the day may come a saw could die, and I thought it'd be good insurance to a 2nd saw with at all times. Could finish what I needed at least. Have not had to worry about that yet. But it's nice to have both saws with all the time now. I have that backup insurance, and I can use whichever is more fitting. Smaller saw for limbing or small trees, and the bigger saw for larger wood. So, I got the extra saw partially because I wanted a 2nd saw with all the time, but also because I got a steal on the woodshark at the time. If I hadn't gotten that deal, I'd have likely picked up another wildthing later on. But that made my decision for me that day. So, combined I have aroudn $200 into both those saws....at least purchase price. I found an extra case for the 14" at a thrift store some months later(proper poulan case!) cheap too. The electric saw I won't brag about...it's their low end manual oiler and is not that comfy to use. It does work though. But that's why I have the 18 and 14 and not some other combination at this point. Both still run as good as ever too.
I think you may well have a point about the bar size vs. engine displacement. I haven't sat down and done hard comparisons on all that, but generally the Poulans tend to list that they can go up and down one size from what they come as. Going down would likely be best, but I have tried to stick with stock sizes for these two. I've heard it said elsewhere that a sharp chain is worth a fair amount of HP too. I'll admit I'm not the best at hand sharpening, so I got the dremel attachment and get far more life out of my chains nowadays. And hopefully out of my saws as well. After 6 years of consistent use of the wildthing and 4 seasons of use of the woodshark, with many loads of wood each year, I certainly can't complain. Like I said, if you look at the "value" factor, the Poulans can be a very good argument!
As for gallons or hours, I can't even begin to guess on that. LOTS in the least. I've got around 14 oversized facecords out back of the house right now....all from this year. And I'm not done cutting for this fall yet! Last year was real hard on the saws....lots of larger hardwood.....and had probably had total cut of around 18-20 facecords. The couple years before that were more hardwood and lots of it. Probably similar amounts of wood cut each year. 4 seasons now on the woodshark and going on 7 for the wildthing. They are pretty good on gallons of gas/mixture. I think I'm on maybe my 2nd or 3rd gallon for this year so far. But I use the same gas mixture in the weedeater too, so not really certain on that. They are much better on chains since I got the dremel sharpening thing too. Only two problems so far....one of the muffler screws fell out of the 18 a couple years into having it. Never did find it. Put in another screw to replace. That finally fell out this year....never found that either. Got a proper replacement from someone else who had a parts saw and just put that in a couple weeks ago. Had to pop off the recoil cover once and redo the cord, but haven't a problem with that in a few years. The gas cap on the 14 got notably tighter this summer, but that was after sitting in a hot pickup cab during a long hot spell Still works fine, just need pliers to tighten/loosen that cap now. Other than that, nothing other than bar/chain changes. I'm on my 2nd bar on the 14 and either 2nd or 3rd on the 18....but I was really hard on the first bar/chain combo on the 14. Have been through a few chains on each, but I always stay one ahead in stock. Very affordable saws to run, and have been reliable for me so far. And 4-7 seasons in for use, I don't think that's much to complain about.