I'm a Stihl guy but...

[DT86]

You got a nice saw, for sure. Good cutting!

Thank you good Sir. No more than it will be used I expect it to last me a lifetime...

No ethanol, of course!!

 

[tylertown]

Thank you good Sir. No more than it will be used I expect it to last me a lifetime...

No ethanol, of course!!

husky all the way. I have the 455 rancher and I love it. its a little to heavy for climbing and toping off trees but for just laying them down and chopping them up I don't know if it can be beat with a 20in bar its a man of a saw. cranks right up and runs till I run it out of fuel. btw the way the love that gasoline stuff. mine wont last more than 30min on a gallon of straight cutting

 

[dragoneggs]

I have cut professionally and always have had top handle saws, but they are dangerous, so be careful if you get one. The distance between your hands is so close that the tip can kick back on you easily. There is even worse kickback possibility if you single hand it. They are made for in tree professionals where only one hand is available many times. So if you are a weekend warrior, be careful with them.

Well said and important info. If someone is specifically looking for a top handle, they probably know what they are doing. The problem/accident waiting to happen IS a 'weekend warrior' purchasing one without much understanding.

 

[TomSeller]

husky all the way. I have the 455 rancher and I love it. its a little to heavy for climbing and toping off trees but for just laying them down and chopping them up I don't know if it can be beat with a 20in bar its a man of a saw. cranks right up and runs till I run it out of fuel. btw the way the love that gasoline stuff. mine wont last more than 30min on a gallon of straight cutting

Huskys are nice saws for sure. I am a true blue Stihl man and will never change, but have respect for Huskys as well.

 

[tylertown]

Huskys are nice saws for sure. I am a tue blue Stihl man and will never change, but have respect for Huskys as well.

I almost bought a stihl chain saw but I decided on the husky. everything else I own is stihl very top notch machines. run very well no problems just spark plugs once a year or so! that will beat putting other brands in the shop any day haha

 

[Red Horse]

Your husky is really a red redmax 3500 in orange drag. Not a real husky, just name and color.

RedMax GZ3500T - Chain Saws

So what is a RedMax and who makes it and in what country??

No doubt, Husky makes a good product-myself, my 036 Stihl is 20 years old and still going strong-came across the receipt in a file the other day-almost 600 bucks 20 years ago-hate to think what the comp is today-but as always, you get what you pay for.

On the other hand I have a 14" Craftsman (Poulan) that must be 30 years old-no complaints about that "throw away" saw either.

 

[bp fick]

RedMax, Poulan, Jonsered, etc, are all divisions of Husquarna. Each share tons of parts. How does Husquarna "rank" these divisions as Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC? Who knows. Welcome to the global world of both design, parts, engineering, build, marketing and all the rest. Yawn.

 

[Red Horse]

RedMax, Poulan, Jonsered, etc, are all divisions of Husquarna. Each share tons of parts. How does Husquarna "rank" these divisions as Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC? Who knows. Welcome to the global world of both design, parts, engineering, build, marketing and all the rest. Yawn.

Thx-and they are built where?

 

[TomSeller]

RedMax, Poulan, Jonsered, etc, are all divisions of Husquarna. Each share tons of parts. How does Husquarna "rank" these divisions as Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC? Who knows. Welcome to the global world of both design, parts, engineering, build, marketing and all the rest. Yawn.

Yeah, I am not crazy about companies buying up a bunch of competitors. The "global world of design, parts, engineering, build and marketing" where they share resources would seem to me to reduce creativity.

 

[RobertN]

Bleh. I have both. I always reach for my Stihl's first; feels better balanced. I do have a Husky top handle 335xp; it works really nice. Mostly I have two Husky, because one was a smoking deal on an old saw in good shape 25 years ago(2100CD) and a 335XP because the dealer down the street had a good service dept, and had the saw on the shelf.

Same on the fire engine; I always like to grab the Stihl's first. And, all the circular rescue saws in our District are Stihl.

husky all the way. I have

 

[RobertN]

So what was the deal with bow saws? I see one now and then on CL, but have heard they are dangerous to use.

Well said and important info. If someone is specifically looking for a top handle, they probably know what they are doing. The problem/accident waiting to happen IS a 'weekend warrior' purchasing one without much understanding.

 

[two_bit_score]

So what was the deal with bow saws? I see one now and then on CL, but have heard they are dangerous to use.

Good question!

 

[JKR]

I like my Husky 371 sp 24" much better than my 440 Stihi.It just feel better balance. Both have good power.

 

[Piston]

How many shades of orange (Kubota, Allis Chalmers, Stihl, Echo and now Husky) can I own before it starts getting tacky?

Well, for starters, you could add Woodmizer and KTM to your color wheel, that would give you two more

 

[kenmac]

I bought a Redmax 8000 commercial backpack blower several yrs ago. at that time Redmax was by Komatsu. About 2 yrs ? ago Husky bought the Redmax brand. I would say if it's a Redmax , it's on the high end instead of the low end. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of Poulan I've never owned a poulan anything that lasted more than 2-3 yrs

 

[Bluegill2]

I bought a Redmax 8000 commercial backpack blower several yrs ago. at that time Redmax was by Komatsu. About 2 yrs ? ago Husky bought the Redmax brand. I would say if it's a Redmax , it's on the high end instead of the low end. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of Poulan I've never owned a poulan anything that lasted more than 2-3 yrs

Wasn't always that way. I ran Poulan saws commercially from 1977 to 2001 and never had any problems. I run Husky XP saws now and don't miss the good old days though.

 

[kenmac]

Wasn't always that way. I ran Poulan saws commercially from 1977 to 2001 and never had any problems. I run Husky XP saws now and don't miss the good old days though.

O' I totally agree. I can remember back in the day. I knew many loggers and their go to saws were poulan and homelite

 

[Bota4me]

O' I totally agree. I can remember back in the day. I knew many loggers and their go to saws were poulan and homelite

your right poulan was top of food chain many years ago! Now ill take my stihl ms180/361 combo. But ive got to tell ya i drool everytime i see that 585 xp

 

[two_bit_score]

Back in the '60's and '70's in East Texas all the loggers used McCullough and Poulan was a second choice, less in demand saw.

Aso saw a lot of saws with bow blades hanging on log trucks. Never see those anymore. I think someone in this thread earlier asked why and I've not seen an answer.

Here is some info I found on the availability of bow blades: looks like they are consider dangerous for kickback:
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=22304.0

 

[Bota4me]

your right poulan was top of food chain many years ago! Now ill take my stihl ms180/361 combo. But ive got to tell ya i drool everytime i see that 585 xp

i meant 562 xp