Fundamental reasons pro chainsaws are better than less expensive saws?

[Robert P]

Recently got a Remington saw, mostly because I've seen miserable reviews of Poulans though they're everywhere, and I have a Remington electric that's run like a champ for years. I have some stuff to do that's going to be too much for the electric.

So far the Remington has run like a champ - often starts on the first pull, runs smooth, don't feel a lot of vibration. I'll see what happens as it gets more hours on it.

Obviously you can spend a lot more on a saw, though they seem to have essentially the same parts - and if I'm wrong on that please correct me. So what are fundamental hard-parts (or other parts) reasons a pro saw is considered a pro saw? What makes it tougher, more dependable, whatever parameters make it "better" than a Home Depot saw?

Would it be accurate to say that a lot of problems people have with Boxmart saws could be remedied if they took the time to learn to do their own maintenance/repair? I.e. - a saw might be basically good but came out of the factory with a misadjusted carb or the like - resulting in a 1-star "this thing is a POS" review, that with a few minutes of fiddling might have been a great saw. Or are there congenital, unfixable flaws with how some saws are made?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've never heard of a Remington saw.

Cool that it runs like a champ!

 

[Cut4fun]

I think your last paragraph sums up alot of folks.

I wouldnt want one of the remingtons for free myself. JMO

I bought one of those new poulan 5020 to test out when thay came out. 50cc for $165 to my door. Wasnt tuned right out of the box. Guy not knowing would have been pizzed. Start not idle and not take throttle. Open L up and set Idle. Plus you needed the spline carb toll or redneck made tool.
Turned out to be one of the easiest starting saws I had seen.
Comes with 20" 3/8 which IMO is to much bar and I dropped it down to 16" for hardwoods. But it could pull 20" just not fast.

 

[treetx]

It is not just home depot vs Stihl, etc.

You really get what you pay for. I don't know why. I have an 020T I got in 1999 that has probably done over $250,000 worth of work for me. I no longer work as a pro and if I leave it for 8-10 mos between use, one pull and its ripping. Same with my 460 mag, 044, and 026.

I don't see how people can afford to buy cheap saws. I like the buy it once mentality.

 

[Mick!]

When I buy diy tools like chop saws or drills I don't buy pro stuff, I get just above the cheapest crap. Serves me well for occasional use.

Same goes for chainsaws for very occasional users.

 

[stig]

It all depends on who you ask.
Joe homeowner/firewood cutter who puts maybe 60 hours on a saw a year at most will be thrilled with your Remington.

A production faller like me, who puts over 2000 hours on a saw a year less so!

Darned thng wouldn't last a week with me.

 

[Robert P]

It all depends on who you ask.
Joe homeowner/firewood cutter who puts maybe 60 hours on a saw a year at most will be thrilled with your Remington.

A production faller like me, who puts over 2000 hours on a saw a year less so!

Darned thng wouldn't last a week with me.

What I'm trying to get at is why? What about your saw is fundamentally different than the Boxmart saw?

 

[Grendel]

There are other reasons. Service life, longevity, ease of service. The quality of almost every component. I've got am MS441 that I've been running for 7 years without issue. We've got a half dozen lower grade homeowner saws in our lineup that have all had dissolved fuel lines, broken oil lines, air leaks, bolts that won't stay tight, carbs that wont stay adjusted, weak mounts, weak recoils, it goes on and on. . . Different grades of polymer, different grades or rubber, generally lazy engineering, bearings and rings and gaskets from third party manufacturers, lower grades of materials in general, lack of proper plating and/or coating of the cylinder, sloppy castings, underpaid assembly workers, ext. ext.

I like this.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v6GAssS-v2k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Altissimus]

What I'm trying to get at is why? What about your saw is fundamentally different than the Boxmart saw?

...design and build really , Box store saw is 25 hours. Even in the Husky line I never buy anything not marked "XP" which is a heavy duty piston and cylinder. Echo makes good Saws but none w such build probably Poylan as well.

 

[Al Smith]

I often use the example of one of my Stihl 038 Magnums that spent twenty plus years of extremely hard service for a tree service company .After about 18 it literaly grenaded it's piston .I rebuilt it with just a new piston bearings and seals and it served another 3 before it was replaced with Sthil 440 .It was given to me and then had to come out of retirement because of the theft of his saws and did another few months on the job .A lesser quality box store saw would have never stood up to the rigors this saw endured .

 

[sotc]

I just like the color combos of Stihl

 

[Altissimus]

Twenty-five hours , homeowner might run that saw five hours per year ... Five years later that same Saw goes to the landfill. Designed and Built for this.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I work on saws. Some of the cheaper ones like Ryobi are decent. Even with reasonable durability though, they are lacking in power. Some of the very cheap ones that I recognize, I explain that their production has a very poor basic premise about wanting to make anything of quality, little to be gained in working on them, maybe a temporary fix at best.

 

[pantheraba]

My Stihl dealer/saw mechanic told me the Stihl HO saws were designed to last 20 hours...that is a lot for most home owners. 2-3 hours use per year is probably common.

I took my 192-T in to get some work done once and he quoted the price to fix it then told me the above.

I bought a 200T instead of investing in fixing my 192T.

The HO saws are basically throw-away saws is how he put it.

 

[stig]

We have a MS260 apprentice saw that illustrates the longevity thing pretty well.

It started out as my saw, I ran it for 2 seasons.
Then, as eventually happens to most of our saws, it became an apprentice saw. That is usually the step before they are tossed out or sold to a homeowner ( Most go to woodturners, actually)
No reason to give an apprentice a new saw, they are REALLY hard on them at first.

That saw has lasted through 2 full apprenticeships ( They apprentice for 3 years, here) and is currently in it's first year of a third.

Seals have been renewed and carb has been renovated once, apart from that, the thing just runs.

Starts at first pull and still has decent torque.

It has of course never run on anything but alkylate fuel, which may be a contributing factor.

Divide the price of the saw as new with the hours it has run, and you'll find that $ for hours it is a WAY better deal than a 20 hour homeowner saw.

 

[Cobleskill]

I bought an Echo top handle (3400) back in the 90's. I read up on the subject on A Site before making the purchase. It did a ton of work with very little trouble. It was about 1\2 the price of an 020 or 200 T, whatever was on the market at the time.

I did get tired of its lack of guts and bought a 200T a few years back. The Echo is still around as a back up. I got it out and fueled it up the other day and it fired right up and ran fine. Been sitting for a year or two. I should give it some exercise.

They say Echo has solved the lack of power problem-merged with Makita? Are they still cheap compared to Husky , Stihl? Might be a good alternative to full blown professional. I think Steven is a fan.

 

[Tim_B.]

My Stihl dealer/saw mechanic told me the Stihl HO saws were designed to last 20 hours...that is a lot for most home owners. 2-3 hours use per year is probably common.

I took my 192-T in to get some work done once and he quoted the price to fix it then told me the above.

I bought a 200T instead of investing in fixing my 192T.

The HO saws are basically throw-away saws is how he put it.

Gary, are you saying that the Stihl 192T is a home owner/amature level of chainsaw? How about the 150T? I thought pro level had more to do with the quality of the component parts of the saw, rather than its size. Does Stihl use or have any particular designation for all of its pro saws, to differentiate them from their casual use/home owner level of quality, that you know of?

The way people rave about the 150T had me thinking that it was built to professional standards. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can provide on this issue. Maybe the only way to know the pro level saws from the home owner saws is to dig into the specifications?

Tim

 

[Cobleskill]

Easy way to tell is look at the price. If you say holy crap, that much? it is a pro model.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Exactly!

 

[stig]

Gary, are you saying that the Stihl 192T is a home owner/amature level of chainsaw? How about the 150T? I thought pro level had more to do with the quality of the component parts of the saw, rather than its size. Does Stihl use or have any particular designation for all of its pro saws, to differentiate them from their casual use/home owner level of quality, that you know of?

The way people rave about the 150T had me thinking that it was built to professional standards. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can provide on this issue. Maybe the only way to know the pro level saws from the home owner saws is to dig into the specifications?




Tim

Of course the T150 is a pro saw.

As the above post suggests, check the price.

 

[Cut4fun]

Open one up and look inside sometime you will see a BIG difference. Look at the crankshaft, rod how made, piston, cylinder build. Look at the crankcase, plastic, aluminum, magnesium, build.

 

[Cut4fun]

They say Echo has solved the lack of power problem-merged with Makita?

Merged with Shindaiwa. Lot of the new echos folks like are shins in echo dress.

 

[stig]

Open one up and look inside sometime you will see a BIG difference. Look at the crankshaft, rod how made, piston, cylinder build. Look at the crankcase, plastic, aluminum, magnesium, build.

What the frig?
Look inside a chainsaw to see how they function.................Blasphemy!

 

[Cut4fun]

Merged with Shindaiwa. Lot of the new echos folks like are shins in echo dress.

Merged around 2009

YAMABIKO Corporation, Parent Company of ECHO Inc., Recently Celebrated the Production of 60 Million Engines

Chicago, IL (5/31/2013) - Almost three and one-half years after the merger of the Kioritz/ECHO and Shindaiwa Companies into YAMABIKO Corporation, the company recently celebrated landmark engine production at its two primary Japanese factories.

 

[Cut4fun]

What the frig?
Look inside a chainsaw to see how they function.................Blasphemy!

Yeah right!

Forgot where I was at.