Who thinks Stihl is the best??

I have to second the thought that Stihl is way over rated
Much better luck with a cheap Homelite from Kmart 20 years ago along w/ the three or four other saws. Yes I do have two purchased new Stihl chain saws all with problems including;
Very poor bar and chain oiling systems, plugs that foul quickly, etc.
 
I happen to love Echo. I worked in a cemetary when I was 16, and that's all we used for trimmers and saws. Day in, day out, for years on end.....not so much as a carb adjustment.

I have a 14" Echo for cutting up crap mother nature blows down/overweighs with nasty, wet snow.......never a problem. In it's fourth year of service here.......not even a spark plug.

Mind you, I could get a '78 McCulloch to run, and STAY running....but I like not HAVING to ever mess with it......:thumbsup: Not that I don't like Stihl.....just have exp. with Echo - and stuck with it. (as far as a saw....for a trimmer....I run Weed Eater.....no trimmer is worth $250 - with only the trimmer attachment!)
 
I won't say they are the best, but one of the best. The other one in the mix for best is Echo. There was a time when others were in the running but no longer because they sold thier sole for corporate greed and began using cheap overseas labor. Mac comes to mind , as does Poulan and Homelite.
 
Like I said earlier in post Stihl didn't work out for me I bought a husky 3 days ago I have use 4 tanks of gas so far I cut more wood in 3 days than my Stihl cut in a year. I hope it holds up ok.
 
Stihl chainsaws are good but they have their downside too. The have good power, are reliable, but when they do break down they are harder to work on than many other models and the parts prices are much higher than other saws. Some of the older Stihl saws are getting hard to find parts for because they are not available from Stihl any more.
 
not me. A few years ago I bought a new MS210C from the local dealer. I believed all the on-line reviews about how great Stihl is. Problems started the day I took it home. It has been very finicky all the time. I've rebuilt the carb about 7 times since. The air vent for the fuel pump diaphragm sucks saw dust in and jams up all too soon. Stihl has used many hundreds of different carb models in their chain saws. the MS210C model got a new carb every few months during production. I checked with a former dealer and his huge manual collection and it was just crazy how many. I'm positive some carbs are better than others, perhaps some are just lousy. I think If you have a great Stihl, 6 months later it will have a different carb and will behave quite differently. I also think the lack of a primer bulb is a big problem. I see most other brands have them now and they work just fine on my non-chainsaw power equipment. The only plus is you can change out the bar & chain without any tools.

Another oddity. The particular chain needed for my Stihl was not carried by any of the local box-marts or hardware stores for years on end. They weren't "out of stock", they just didn't have a spot for them on their shelves. It was like they all subscribed to the same inventory service and that service omitted the one model. They carried every other size for Stihl and every other brand in that size. So I learned to sharpen my chains. Not hard to do once you find the proper size file(s).

My ex-Stihl dealer friend laughs at me when I tell him my favorite chainsaw of all time is a McCullough Eager Beaver which I wore out. Small and under powered but nothing that could get me in trouble either. Yeah, it had a vapor lock issue but that's okay. Run a tank of fuel and I'm ready for a break anyhow while it cools down. I'd buy another if they were still making them. Another company bites the dust.

Thanks for letting me vent.
rick
 
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