On Mar 17, 12:59 am, Peter Huebner wrote:
However, lately I have heard from people whose judgement I trust (one of them a chainsaw shop employee whose wife is friends with mine) that Husky have become
"price-driven" - in other words, that they are now selling cheap junk that isn't even worth repairing when (not if) it craps out.

And this indeed points out the dangers of the international
conglomerate. The product sold in one country may be "made specially
for the XXX market" and might not be the same as another sold in the
YYY market. So the product we get (Husky is the largest outdoor
equipment manufacturer in the world so they could pull this off) we
get may or may not be the same as the one someone else gets. One
product might have more plastic parts, it may be assembled in a
different country to avoid tariffs and excise taxes, and that country
may not have the same quality as another.

It is another aspect of what is driving me nuts. I would bet the
Husky saw sold in Germany is not the same one made to go head to head
with Stihl.

Alternative: you could look for a Dolmar. They are a smaller company, but they are the guys who _invented_ chainsaws. They have been bought up by Makita a number of years back, but the saws are still made in Germany a.f.a.i.c.t.

Boy are you gonna love this. Dolmar failed in the US market several
months ago with their big introduction by Bailey's. They are now
following the Stihl business model, dealer sales only, no shipping.
On another venue the folks that used them extolled their virtues as
being at least as good as Stihl, and comparable in price. But they
never caught on, so it is now a boutique saw, one that will require
too much time and effort to maintain as we don't have an authorized
Dolmar repair center in the whole state, and I couldn't find one in
the country.

Frankly, I'd hesitate to buy a light Husky these days that is not explicitly one of the pro line of their production. I think if you can get a pro Husky at 2/3 the price of a Stihl and with a 2 year warranty it's probably worth the gamble ;-)
The 359 and the 570 are pro models around the same size as the 460 you looked at. I'd get a quote on those saws and see how the prices stack up then!

Actually, the guy I spoke with at Northwest told me the same thing.
He thought the smaller Huskys were probably "bang for the buck" the
best homeowner saw around. They are made for someone that will help
the neighbor dispose of a tree, light trimming, and the once a year
firewood cutting.

He advised that I spend the extra $$ to buy the 460 instead of the 455
for the extra power. He was good with the 455 up to the 20" bar, but
had heard reports of the saw bogging down with the 24".
The 460 has a 60cc engine on it, and I think a different plug, and it
comes with a more expensive non laminated roller bar, which is
something I like a lot.

Thanks for the reply, Pete.

Robert