Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best chainsaw?

Unless a nasty ol' cotton wood crashes over a road or fence about the only chain sawin' I do is ash wood for my parent's cook stove out in the porch. Maybe a cord or two per year, not much.

That said I like this little 550XP.

husky 353 18" bar (have a 16 and a 20 for it also)

always starts, runs strong, 10 years old.

make my own fuel mix with cheap 2 stroke oil and cheap gas.

2 cords a year, mostly oak, just enough aspen and pinon to keep it interesting.

A keeper ^ xp be the 'pro' line. Never used to be a pro line they were all built right.

I live in a timber town here in NZ and all the local forestry contactors use large Stihl pro models.

My Husky 55 has been a fantastic chain saw. Starts quick and will run all day.

Stihl.. They run great and there is a servicing dealer in every small town around here. I have 4 of their gas engine power tools I use regularly and have for years. Nothing has needed any service or repairs yet. I use real gas and stihl oil. Leave them full all the time and they run when I need them. The ones I haven't used I crank up every 3 months or so.

Exactly.


We have a 25 year old 51 or 55(?), it has been used and abused. Awesome saw.

Husky/ Stihl/ Jonsered/ Dolmar. Buy a pro model in the 65-75cc range in whatever feels good and whatever offers good service / parts in your area. Don't listen to the fanboys. I've run them all professionally falling timber, doing utility line clearance, climbing, fighting fire, etc. All will do the job in the hands of a good operator. Learn how to use a file and maintain your chain. All brands make gems and lemons. That said I am partial to Huskys. Have a 266 I bought in 85 that still runs. Looks like hammered dog [bleep] but runs. Bought a 372 last year that I really like and will probably buy another. Avoid the [bleep] at the big box stores. My last saw was bought from Madsens saw shop in Centralia Wash. Great folks, offer great tech advice, and get parts to you fast.

I`ve had my Husky 55 Rancher for over 10 years, starts up fast , runs as long as I can . Mainly for personal firewood. 12-15 cords a year only .
I remember dad having (late 60`s early 70`s Sears/Roebuck chainsaw not sure of the model , it was blue n white . Cut alot of firewood with it. Wasnt real dependable though .

That's the one I was considering replacing my 266SE with - similar or better power in a smaller package and 1/3 less weight.

Love the old Huskys but the weight savings on the new ones is soooooo nice. The 372xp I've got is about a 2012 model. Its not a little saw it makes an honest 5 horsepower and the entire saw all up only weighs 13 lbs

I hear you - my 266SE is 16 lbs as compared to less than 12 lbs on the 550XP...

I cut around 300 cords a year, I do it with a 395 husqvarna. I have had lots of different saws, Stihls are good too but if your using a saw for a living you need to be able to go to your parts shelf once in awhile, I find that huskys parts are more interchangable than Stihls. I only like and use big saws.

I guessed this would go 8 pages.

After buying my first Echo, bought another, then another. Soon I plan on buying a Timberwolf. I’ll never buy another Stihl or Husky.

Guys I'm NOT a Husky hater, honestly.

My son worked for a ROW clearer company, they had both. They were slowly replacing Huskys with Stihls.

I was a member of 3 diff deer leases -- ON paper co. lands. Stihls were the predominate brand.

** all that was before I ever heard of Echo, I have no opinion on those.

The echo gets great reviews on the bigger saw sites. I was set on a husqvarna 562xp or stihl 362cm until I read about the echo. Have service dealers for all three in my town. Not sure which is best though when it comes to service

I am needing to either totally redo a husqvarna 51( will change top end to 55) plus new clutch cover muffler and muffler mount etc. Probably 200$ in parts when it said and done

Or could buy the echo for 399 with 20% off on dealer days discount.

Being I cut firewood for heating and not any kind of professional use kinda seems like replacing is best choice with the echo at 1/2 the price of husqvarna or stihl

I read a ton of reviews before I bought and that 550XP is one cuttin sumbitch! All said and done and when I considered that I would probably only use the saw 3-4 times a year, I went with the Husky 435 to save a few bucks. It's been a good saw but if I had to cut a lot of wood, I'd buy that 550XP.

My answer to the Best New Chainsaw is "None of them". Most people don't know that the EPA has phased in emissions regulations on chainsaws and other small handheld engines starting in 2000 and with stricter steps up to 2010. Essentially all of the advertised "improvements" noted by the manufacturers have been developed to meet the emissions standards, at the expense of power and reliability. X-Torq stratified charge, Lean Burn, restricted muffler openings, catalysts in mufflers, locked or restricted carb mixture screws, Auto-Tune fuel injection, etc., etc.

The best saw for me is a pre-2000 pro saw with low hours homeowner use, or one with a fresh rebuild from a reputable shop. Also check out independent non-dealer saw shops that modify post 2000 saws to delete the worst of the EPA features. Talk to local loggers for referrals.

My bigger saw is a1998 Husky 272XP with a recent rebuild, and a 1999 Husky 350 bought new and still running great after building a log cabin and major amounts of firewood.