chain saw help

[deerefan]

Well, my 15 year old McCullough (I think that's spelled right) is near the end of it's life. I was looking to buy a husky or stihl but can't really see spending a ton of money for a saw I'll use only once a month for and hour or two. I noticed the box stores sell Poulan, Homelite, Echo etc. , out of these, which is best? I would like an 18'' bar minimum. Does stihl or husky have a lower priced saw that I am not aware of? I would like to keep the price around $250 or less.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

My experiance with Poulan chainsaws isn't that great, I am sure others have had better luck. I spent more time trying to start mine than using it. I bought a Sthil MS 250 and do not recall it being more than $250

 

[nolefan]

I'm a big believer in you get what you paid for so I personally would stay away from the Poulan and Homelite saws. I have both a Stihl MS290 and an Echo CS340 and they have both been excellent saws. If you shop around you may be able to find a Stihl, Husky, or Echo around your price point but more than likely it will be a little north of $250.

 

[drssg]

I bought a Homelite, and it worked great for a few years, and then it broke. I took it apart, and there was a main shaft that connects the engine to the pull start mechanism, and it was broken in two! There was nothing unusual prior to the breakdown. I was just cutting, and it came to a dead stop.

I bought a Stihl, and I've never been sorry.

 

[bigdeer2000]

my sthil 028 is close to 20 years,old still runs great.

 

[slowrev]

I have a poulan cs that I paid $150 for and have used for 5 years, about 20 pickup loads of firewood per winter. Still working fine. On about the 15th chain and 3rd bar. Starts and runs great. Other than bars and chains, all I have done is replace the chain sprocket/clutch housing that wore out.

 

[billbill1]

Northern Tool sells reconditioned Poulins for $99. A friend buys them and likes them. I'm a Stihl man myself. Brand new Wild things at Walmart are under $150 with 18" bars. Lowes (around here anyway) sell Husky's for $200 and up. But I think all of their saws are under $300.

 

[jk96]

Trend seems to be to go Sthil. I've got a sthil 026. 8 years of neglect, abuse, even ran over it with my pickup, luckily I've got big tires and soft ground (big oops and 1 broken handle), and it starts everytime on the first or second pull.

 

[BrianW]

A 50:1 oil mixture generally denotes a better engine. Echo, Stihl, and Husky use 50:1. I have two Stihl and one Echo and they all seem like great saws. I would recommend to make sure all of your 2-stroke engines (weedwackers, blowers, etc.) take the same oil mixture. Got rid of a Poulan for just that reason. I beleive it was a 35:1.

 

[om21braz]

my sthil 028 is close to 20 years,old still runs great.

028 - excellent saw ! If you can find a nice used Stihl 028 in that price range you'll be ahead of what you could buy for that amount of money new IMHO.