Just a final thought about chain saw durability.

Today I removed 3 trees that were making it difficult to get my new
motorhome into the driveway to the barn. Height of the trees was 40',
35' and maybe 25'. Total sawing time was less than 1 hour to fell the
trees, cut off branches, and buck the useable firewood.

So, for the average homeowner that probably has less than 20 trees on
his property a durability of 50 hours is way more than he will ever need
in a lifetime.

I bought a Stihl when I was heating with wood and was doing a fair
amount of sawing, it has performed well for almost 20 years. We
replaced our wood stove with a gas model a few years ago so the Stihl
hasn't seen much service recently, but it started on the third pull and
ran strong for the little time I needed it today.

Fresh gas in a 2 stroke is more inportant than with a 4 stroke, if the
saw sits for a few months and you have starting problems or lack of
power replace the gas in the tank and the can of premix and you will
probably cure the problem.

Denis Marier wrote:

I wish to thanks everyone that contributed to this thread. I appreciate the
information.
Denis
Rothesay, New Brunswick
"Tony Manella" wrote in message
...

Like I said, had I wanted to spend that much on something that gets

limited

use I would have waited and saved. At $130 the Poulan was significantly
cheaper and I haven't spent a dime on it since. I only use it once a

month

or so. If I was using one every week I would definitely spend the extra

for

a Stihl. This is a hobby for me so every tool doesn't have to be "The
Best". If that were the case I wouldn't have a lathe yet, I'd still be
saving for that 96" Nichol's. ;-)
Tony Manella
http://home.ptd.net/~ndd1/
Lehigh Valley Woodturners
http://www.lehighvalleywoodturners.org/

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Tony Manella" wrote:


Hi Denis,
Like everyone says, if you spend $400 to $600 on a chainsaw you will

be

happy for a long time. I am way to cheap to spend that much money on
something I only use once a month

But you can get a Stihl (MS290) for only $300, or could last year,
anyway. The $600 pro saws were a bit much for my blood for what I do,
while the low-end saws are a lot too low end for me to waste time on.
I've gotten tired of wasting the forst $100 on a tool that I should have
spent $300 on so it ends up costing $400 or $500 by the time I get it
right (buying the second or third one). DWYL. My dad is as happy as a
clam with his Craftsman.

I was upgrading from a Homelite XL, which actually gave pretty good
service and happened to be free (my MIL moved into a condo and was
getting rid of it). I would not have bought the thing (tiny), but it did
very well considering the uses I put it to - better than I expected when
my wife brought it home. However, I would have saved myself some time
and effort by getting the Stihl earlier and relegating the Homelite to
limbing, etc. sooner.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by