Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chainsaws

Can you AI a chainsaw? Like maybe a Stihl 240 AI. Asking for a friend who doesn’t get out much…….

I have had 2 Stihls, a Jonsered(Husky), and 2 Echos in the last 40 years. Still running the latter two brands and 3 saws because the Stihls never started or ran worth my time.

They are called Stihls because after an hour you will Stihl be trying to start the damned things.

Others' milage seems to vary...

[quote=AKduck]I can’t think of a saw I’ve ever had that was bad. Currently using an echo 590 after years of Stihl.[/quote
I was looking at the Echo Timber Wolf 590-20 online a few minutes ago I like it can go up to a 24" bar gets better reviews than Husqvarna and Stihl.

I've got two, a Stihl MS211C that I inherited from my Dad and an MS 271 that I bought myself. Both have been excellent cutters. I did break the little pawls in the starter of the 211, it has the EZ start and I was pulling too hard on the rope instead of letting the spring do the work. Wore out the bearing on the clutch drum. Not bad for 15 years use. The 271 is much newer so no comments on durability but it's a much heavier duty saw than the 211. The 271 usually comes with a 18" bar but I opted for a 20". Some large trunks to cut up. Small stuff I can use the 211. Husqvarna makes excellent saws too.

Either a Husqvarna 455 Rancher or Stihl MS291 are both excellent saws that work perfectly with an 18" or 20". I've owned both.

I ran a Husky 455 Rancher, or whatever the older version of this saw was for years. It was a great saw until I started having problems with it. Probably Fuel related. (I had it before I was smart enough to keep Ethanol out of it) Our local Husky dealer was a joke. I replaced it with a new Stihl 440 Magnum because we had a great Stihl dealer. He has now retired. I still have the 440 Magnum for big stuff. My last saw purchase for smaller work was an Echo CS400. So far I am very happy with it. I use the Echo 90% of the time since I bought it.

Extremely good advice to keep Ethanol Fuel out of all small engines. Every thing on the place filled from a gas can to include my old John Deere Tractor runs on Ethanol FREE Premium. I normally put a shot of Stabil and a shot of Marvel Mystery oil in my 5 Gallon Fuel cans if they will be setting any time at all. I also run brand name 2-cycle Oil, mostly Stihl in the 2-Cycles.

Service is important. Make sure you can get whatever you buy serviced when it needs it.

Bob R

^IMO thats the one. It's borderline pro saw, runs great, and you can put the $$ you saved into better none eth-oh fuel.

Family friend tore a muscle in his side screwing with a saw. He just thought it was one of those things that would go away. Dead 5 days later with sepsis.

Use my method, hire somebody to pull that rope.

Well played Mr. Hunter, well played.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155007358326?epid=8032786759&hash=item2417289576:g:3IEAAOSwL5lii8W~&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4NBUj4%2FUEG03nBLs2KVvdjcSo%2BXLFPTERYrBawtyN4fQ8ZvxP%2FPBqPajj%2F%2BrwZ9dmoCCCpAMFHGXYxIbbhoyx4F6gP6tcgG8XA0yCSOXadKf%2F1hMni8PQ8HJ3FbXp%2FiTvvuZD6%2BdNntERpGbXI3Uy4VwQFnEPaW9FhZUSNJ5QE95P4G51Mt5kCvZpByhJaxPpUqNXnGTNmO0bsJ9WAQZy0%2BmCU8AcnFrT1yPC0P05H0BK38zENyNC%2FXgxrynyHHQ07EXTcNa0AgZfFP9NSnXZEvsvIkXDbcJLwWPS8LODi%2Bx%7Ctkp%3ABFBMhqKYlaJi

I got one of these last year and could not be more pleased. These may have a scuff or bad box that they cannot sell as new.

Huh? Gotta be more to that story. I’ve seen saw cuts and tree felling injuries. The recoil cord hazard is a new one on me. 🤔

If you don't run at least a Stihl 880... you need to turn in your man card for good.

I'm a Stihl guy, culling the herd down to only 4 saws a couple years ago. Love 'em.

That said I just came into an old Husqvarna 141 and after a days work in tearing it down, cleaning it up, and replacing parts, it seems to work pretty well. Reminds me of a Poulan though, as there seems to be some interchangeability of parts with Poulans. Anyway, I plan to use it to use it for rough work, like fencelines and clearing/digging out roots.

As to the Echo saws I had a number of 330's over the years and had little to complain about. Top handle saws. They were reliable and light, and easy to find parts for. But I sent them down the road in the interest of simplifying life.

"Running non-ethanol in small engines has been the best thing I have ever done." Amen to that! Using that 10% ethanol crap cost me $200 for a gummed-up carb.

Re. Stihls, they run great once you get them started, but the tiny little controls on my 20" require me to remove my gloves every time I want to start/fiddle with it, which is irritating. Perhaps the pro models are better, I don't know.

Don't have the last word yet, the above story came from his sister in law.

The guy was not an idiot, just retired pharmacist.

The local hospital he went to is not somewhere I'd go. Last resort only. I think it was a bad call on someone in that ER. They looked at him and just sent him home. I think that was his mistake, not going somewhere else sooner.

I thought sepsis was a easy call with blood labs?

My old Husqvarna 141 just keeps working. With decades of neglect and inadequate maintenance, I’m not sure why, but it does. I’ll be buying a slightly larger saw in the near future. Probably Stihl or Husky unless I’m convinced otherwise.

Very often it’s not easy at all. Sorry to hear about your friend though. Millions of people will recoil start engines today. Most will survive.

Along this line, what’s up with the newer “easy start” saws? I think Stihl has this. Is this a good thing?

Echo gives the most bang for buck in a homeowner grade saw. Husky is just an orange Poulan and Sthil is selling you a name only.

Echo CS 590 with 20 inch blade. This last winter especially, was used very hard. Zero issues over normal maintenance.

Only con is that it is a little heavier than its competitors. But I can handle that if it gives similar performance and a much better price point.

More on this saw.

https://www.techgearlab.com/reviews/tools/chainsaw/echo-cs-590

It ain’t bad once you figure out you have to pull the throttle trigger in order to turn the choke on. I still prefer the older versions with the primer bulb, but whatever. They’ll both crank fine.