Chainsaw RECS

Sthil

Sthil

I have the Echo Timberwolf. It's been fantastic. It can sit for a year or two and start right up.

Yep. Echo CS 590 Timberwolf is the best bang for your buck all around chainsaw there is. Great saw.

ETA--if all things are fairly equal, I always choose Echo over Stihl these days. I used to own a lot of Stihl products but they aren't what they used to be. And I hate having to deal with dealers to get parts when I do all of the maintenance myself. Echo parts are much more accessible, while Stihl is stuck on their stealer network, I mean dealer network.

We have a fuels management company and do a lot of tree thinning in NW nebraska and south dakota.

The company owns 8 chain saws, all Stihl some as old as 15 years to newly purchased a couple years ago.

If you want something that will last forever, Stihl is what you want.

If you want something to use once or twice a year, any of the cheaper options would probably work.

Stihl MS251 is a great all-around saw, MS 261 is a pro-grade with more power but also several hundred dollars more. They weigh nearly the same so the MS261 will have better power/weight ratio. The MS271 Farmboss is also a good choice, little heavier than the other two, little more power than the 251 but less than $100 more.

I'm not a fan of Husqvarna's home owner products, never had good luck with any of them as far as not having starting problems eventually. Think Tractor Supply now sells their smaller professional saws though. Echo is a pretty solid buy, pretty much the best deal for big-box store availability. CS-490 would be a good option and still stay in the $400 range.

I was going through my step-dad's stuff after he passed away in 2019. Found a Stihl MS440 Magnum in a shed that looked like it hadn't been used in years. It was dirty and I could tell it had been put through the ringer, but decided to give it a try. Took it out to the camp, dumped the fuel, and added fresh tru-fuel. It started on the first pull!

I was shocked. It made a believer out of me.

We basically live in a forest. Every few years I hire a big tree service company in our town to cut down any large dead trees or dangerous dead limbs near the house. They have contracts with the city and county as well.

Those guys only use Stihl chainsaws for the majority of their limb and smaller tree work as they are the best quality, lightweight, manuverable combination available. For their biggest tree cuts they use a Husqvarna chainsaw as it is the most powerful.

Their polesaws on bucket trucks are super light electric corded saws. For all other polesaw work they use Husqvarna pole saws because they are top quality saws with the best lightweight and balance combination.

Stihl