New chain saw

Thinking about picking up a bigger saw. Menards has Jonsered or Poulan on their 11% off sale. Anybody have a preference between the 2. I haven't checked with my local echo dealer. My Echo saw sits for months at a time with e10 in it and no problems in the 20 years I've owned it. I have some huge cotton wood trees that are dying and 1 big old elm that died over 10 years ago. It finally fell down last fall. Need to clean them up.

Jonsered and poulan are both owned by Husqvarna now. If I had to pick between the 2 I would pick Jonsered. I own 2 Husqvarnas and a old 70E Jonsered and they never give me any problems. I looked at the poulans in the store and they look very cheap to me. I think Poulans would be ok if you cut the occasional tree and do some trimming but not for doing heavy cutting.

Ted longer bar maybe more hp. These trees I have to cut are 4'+ across.

I would stay away from the P... Picked up a box store poolon several years ago and it read something like 'life expectancy 15 hours.' in very small print on a tag. Seen that and decided that this manufactor of saws was only interested in making money , not lifelong customers.  Maybe look at the Echo...

Walmart sells Poulans….for me that's enough of reason to go a different direction;  unless of course, your wife is the one buying at Walmart so you can saw up that 3" diameter X 6' limb that fell

Check on an Echo. When I bought mine they had by far the best warranty. I think it was 5yrs. I run nonethanol gas and sythetic oil in all my 2 cycles seems to work good for me. Don't go under powered if you can help it. 

Sounds like my kind of trees! Stihl 880 will make seconds on those cuts instead of minutes. I like big HP for heavy cutting. I bought a 880 & 660 when they came out think about 15 years ago. Worth every penny. You can sell the big saw when finished if needed and will be further ahead in my opinion.

So inquiring minds want to know! What did you do?

I Havnt done anything yet. I had this stupid operation on the nose. Fought that for a week, now I gots a dang abscess tooth and a bottle of big old antibiotic pills. Gonna see the dang dentist tomorrow if I can get in and have this dang tooth pulled. I'm still freezing cold tonight. Echo dealer is closed on Monday and its snowing like crazy here tonight. So it looks like later in the week before I can get to feeling better

DaveKamp wrote: There's a basic rule of social policy that suggests the pathway to maintaining social dignity is to simply exclude from discussion anything regarding religion or politics. I think preference of chainsaws should be included... Okay, so a guy wants to get a new chainsaw, and wants something 'bigger'... And that is TOTALLY insufficient in description.  Bigger than WHAT? Bigger than a Stihl MS180E with a 14" full tooth 3/8x0.050" chain?  Bigger than an Efco 2500MTT with a 12" BAR?  OR A Stihl 036, or what? I'll agree that the Stihl MS-880 is certainly bigger, and with an 18" bar, it will out-cut ANY other saw that'll take an 18" blade, but that big engine will wear a guy out trimming branches from a ladder. It is most important to qualify what you WANT to do with it, and then, identify what kind of wood.  Trimming mulberry volunteers from around the house is one thing, felling a 30" diameter ash tree is another, and felling a 6' diameter soft maple is yet another.   Once felled, cutting the trees up, is an entirely different story. That's why I have oh...  I think there's ten saws in my shed... at least fifteen bars, sixty chains, and an electric sharpener...   not that I cut a lot of wood, but I cut enough to know what I need. Out of all the saws I've owned and used, the ones I DON'T recommend, are available at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc., with names on them that are NOT the same as the name of the guys that actually 'built' the saw... and as important... that the guys that BUILT the saw, have the same, or a similar saw, by three OTHER names... oftentimes competing at the SAME store. I only buy saws labeled with, and by the company that actually MANUFACTURED the saw, and they don't make saws for any OTHER company.  You won't find a STIHL re-branded for Lowe's.  You won't find a Husky re-branded for Wal-Mart... and you won't find an ECHO wearing the colors of SEARS.  Next... I don't buy saws that have plastic engine cases, cheezy fasteners, or poorly made bars.  IF you look at a saw, and it doesn't come with a bar and chain, it's a professional saw... because a pro is going to CHOOSE the chain and bar type he needs for what he will do most.  I may have some saws that are labeled 'homeowner', but they're all 'professional grade'.   That being the case, there are many brands out there that you will NEVER see being used by a professional, and that's why you won't see those brands in my hands... they aren't designed to last and work in a bona-fide work environment. So Stihl, Husky, Shindaiwa, Echo... Following close behind is Efco, and SOLO (apparently no longer in the chainsaw biz).  After that, it's all about what limitations you're currently experiencing with what you have, in the realm of what you're TRYING to do. Yes, there's guys that will fell a 40" tree with a 20" saw... it CAN be accomplished, but generally speaking, the SAFEST felling operation is the one that takes the tree from standing, to falling, in the least amount of operations, and shortest amount of time in which the saw operator is exposed to cutting a weakened tree.  If it's a 44" diameter tree, I'm going straight to the MS800 with a 50" bar and a skip-tooth chain.

Now Dave, what about those little electric Citibot plug in saws? Surely they’ll take down a 40” tree......

I like Stihl chainsaws.  They work GREAT!

I bought a HF 40 volt Lynxx chainsaw over a year ago.  It's not a Stihl but when I'm in my bucket truck, it's hard to beat.  Battery lasts about the same as a tank of fuel, which is usually enough for me and the job.  I bought a Lynxx 40 volt pole saw last summer at the HF tent sale, missing it's battery charger, for $30.  The battery alone is $60 so I got a deal.  I tried it out yesterday and it didn't cut once I put it against a branch.   Took it apart and discovered the two screws that hold the motor to the body were loose. Tightened them up and put it back together. works like a champ.  Trimmed a bunch of overhanging branches along a quarter mile of irrigation ditch today.  Battery still was strong.  Was happy to see the saw is pretty well made with steel gears and ball bearings.  Certinally not made for production work but it will do the job for me.


Edited by JohnCO - 15 Jan 2020 at 11:19pm