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Reliable chainsaw?

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eatbeef

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I have a Stihl Farm Boss MS290 with 18" bar now. Always have trouble starting it and keeping it running. One day its fine then a week later it won't run. My dad has one also used it all day yesterday fixing fence because mine won't run then today his won't run. Frustrating. Any suggestions on other brands or solution to problem.
 
One word Husquevarna (sp)

Buy a size that is capable of handling a 24 inch bar and your problems will be less. The little saws are like building a big hot fire in an Airtight heater. The stove won't last.......
 
Often times in agriculture, our seasonal use small gas engines have a problem with gas going bad. It's a good practice to use stabilizer in seasonable use engines
 
Go with the Husky. I've had 2 Stihl saws. Didn't learn my lesson after the first one. Hard starting SOB's. Buddy of mine has a Husky and it's a great saw.
 
Stihl makes 3 types of saws. 1- Homeowner 2- Farm & Ranch 3- Forestry/Professional

Don't buy 1 or 2.

http://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/professional-saws/
 
All we use at the power company are Stihl's. We have probably 25 of them, a couple were there when I started 16yrs ago. We have tried them all and Stihl is without a doubt the best. Tried Huskies, Poulan, Jonsered, Dolmar and Stihl has always been the most reliable for us. I would say that bad gas causes the most trouble for the occasional user, don't keep more than you can use up right away because in 30 days it's damn near rotten. Like I said the only reason I have an opinion is because we rely heavily on chainsaws at the power company, I own 2 and cut a lot of firewood to heat my house.
 
We have always had crappy, frustrating saws around, and finally broke down and bought a proper model Stihl. We have started using Stihl premixed fuel in it and it is worth it. You can leave the saw sitting all winter with fuel in it, pull the cord and start it in the spring. I think the fuel combined with intermittent use create a lot of the starting problems in any small engine. The premixed stuff is guaranteed not to break down or leave deposits in the engine and the ratio of fuel to oil is maintained. Some of the new high Ethanol fuels are also not good for small engines.
 
Nothing wrong with the professional model Stihl saws. More trouble comes from using old, low-test fuel. Use only high-octane since the mid and lower grade likely contain ethanol, which is tough on small engines. And a new spark plug is a really cheap and easy place to do engine maintenance.

I used Stihl saws almost exclusively when I was in the logging business years ago. And I loved running and using them because of their reliability. And I still use them on the farm, even the cheaper models.
 
I always thought Husky and Stihl were both top of the line. I have a Husky Rancher and it's a good reliable saw, starts good when you learn that the primer is to be looked at but never used. Learning to tune a saw properly goes a long way towards improving your view of your saw, whatever the brand.
 
We have friends that were loggers. They all used Husky, Stihl and Jonsored's. They really knew the art of tuning a saw.
We were always amazed at the difference after they were sharpened by those fellas. The chainsaw we have now
is a Husky Rancher and it works great. We had a tornado in W. Montana and for that we had a 36" Husky. (500 cottonwood
trees on the ground). :shock: It was heavy so we sold it and bought a Jonsored, but Mr. FH squashed that one :)
....so now we have the Husky Rancher.
 
Thanks for the replies might have to look into the premixed gas. Never heard of that. We had 10 inches of rain in 6 hours and its one of them times the saw needs to run.
 
Husqvarna and Johnsrud are made in the same factory and alot of parts interchange Those two brands are all my family has had between my dad and my brother we've had 4 saws in 35 years 3 johnseruds and 1 husky 2 of the Johnseruds still cutting wood. I have my brothers old 630 and my newer one is a cs2171 both have seen alot of wood. I just mix the gas from any station 2 gallons at a time but I cut alot of wood so stale gas I don't get. In my opinion when it comes to buying a saw a $1000 is'nt out of line.
 
Yeah look at the stamp plate on jonsred, made in husqvarna Sweden I believe. We run huskys here with no complaints.
 
When it comes to saws, the blood runs orange around here. That being said, gcreek is right about the bigger saws being able to displace heat better. Very few problems with our 365 saw, but the 345 needs work every couple years. Just got it back from the shop 2 weeks ago where it got completely torn down to replace the cylinder gasket. It gets heavy use all year round as I love the light weight for fencing, yard work and limbing.
 

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