"Dane Brickman" wrote in message
...
Yo, my local power equipment shop tells me Husky is no longer a great
brand.... he's pushing shindaiwa products...


Now I'm looking for a chain saw that will last... is the dealer right
about
the Shindawia being top dog, or are the Stihls, Huskies and maybe Echo's
fine saws too?

I wouldn't classify a Shindaiwa as "top dog", but they seem to be good saws.
There is a local sawmill whose owner uses nothing but Shindaiwa saws; I have
no idea where he gets them, though.

The top two brands are Husqvarna and Stihl. Echo, Jonsereds, Makita and
Shindaiwa make good smaller saws, and I think the new John Deeres aren't too
bad. Just stay away from the department store junk - Poulan, McCullough and
Craftsman.

I am partial to Stihl because of reliability, availability of parts and a
good dealer network, and because they felt better in my hands than the
Jonsereds or Husky saws. I have a Stihl 025, 066 and I just bought a used
MS390. No problems here, and I don't use the saws professionally - the 066
is used with a sawmill, and I cut about 12-15 cord of firewood annually.
All the Stihls are good, but they do differentiate between "homeowner" and
"pro" saws pretty clearly. Having said that, my 025, which is what I use
for 98% of my cutting, gets beat to hell and back and runs as strong as the
day I bought it. The 066 is just too much of a monster for frequent use, so
I bought the MS390 to give me a good falling and heavy use saw.

Jon E