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How did your chainsaw line up evolve?

fearofpavement

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Curious as to how you got to the present lineup from where you started?
My first saw was a small Skilsaw. I think it was a model 1616 or something like that. I eventually gave it to a friend after having it many years and he gave it to a friend subsequent to that. It may still be out there somewhere.

We had a large willow down in our yard and the Skilsaw was no match for it. My dad went with me to a hardware store and we came away with a Stihl 026 wearing an 18" bar. This model had just come out and it was my "big" saw for a number of years. I later added a Stihl 009L I picked up as a non runner from a yard sale. I had that saw for many years and it was part of my three saw lineup which was the 009L, the 026 and a Stihl 039.

I still have the 026 and probably always will. I also still use the 039 model regularly but not the same one. (I cycle through them). I sold the 009L several years ago and now use the 018c as my small saw.

My chainsaw accumulation got to the point of ridiculousness but it's been a fun hobby for me. I regularly sell saws so don't keep them all but I've tried nearly every brand and many models within those brands. I don't "collect" saws, just accumulate them but have been thinning them out. I have a spreadsheet I keep track of all my acquisitions and sales on as it's fun to look back on what was. I currently have about 65 saws in various states of disassembly and have about a 10 saw lineup we use in our tree service. I've had lots more in the past but sold off more than 100 of them...
What about you guys?
 

Carbine

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I started cutting with a Stihl 031 (still have it)... and Ive had just about everything under the sun at one time, but it all came back to a 10mm 044. I bought it needing repaired, figured I would toss it on Ebay... but once I made a couple cuts with it, I knew it wasnt going anywhere.
 
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NCFarmboy

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Started w/Poulan 4200 bow bar bought new in 1978. Inherited my Dad' grey top Husky 44. Then went to thrift store pawn shop donated bunch of saws and THEN!!!
Have 60 or so runners and probably 50-60 to build/repair.
Shep
 

dahmer

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As @Chainsaw Jim ssid, when I started burning wood for heat I knew I needed more than a bow saw and the second hand Pullon I had was junk, part my fault. Went the local Home Depot and bought my first new saw, Echo 400. After 10 months it broke a piston, found this and the other website and my REAL education began. Then “met” the crazy Canadian @CJ Brown who turned me on to Makita and it’s been down hill ever since.
 

Frank bierce

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Didn’t burn firewood until about 5 years ago. Started with a 455 rancher..then came my first 2100. Was hooked on the big saw power then!! I have continued buying, and not selling. Lol.
Have waaay too many saws, but always looking to pick up more.
 

Bigmac

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My fisrt saw was an ms250, a Christmas gift, it’s been a good saw, then I wanted a bigger saw...I wanted an 044-046-066, not even knowing what I was doing...found a nice flat top 066 for $400 and I had to have a 36” bar! Lol wasn’t to happy with that saw even though it ran fine, was on the lower side of compression 150-ish. So then is when it snowballed...I wanted to know what I was missing in the stihl lineup, so I got an ms310, then ms260 and 034, then an ms361, then sold the 034 and ms310. Then I started with base gasket delete and port widening and muffler mods. Then I wanted to find the hidden gems in other brands, but the saw that made me love vintage saws was a sp125 I got thrown in for free when I bought 2 090g’s that saw help me deversify and go a little out of control-ish, then homelites and husky’s...

Good question!
 

Terry Syd

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I needed a chainsaw to cut firewood. The local Husky dealer recommended the homeowner, clamshell 450 for my needs. It worked, but I used to build racing bikes, so I had to start fiddling with it. The thing is still my most impressive saw for the weight and displacement, but I don't suggest anyone do that much work to get a saw up to power.

I then needed a bigger saw for some work on a 40" log I had access to, so I got a cheap Chinese 365 and put a BB on it and then discovered I needed to understand diaphragm carbs to get the power I needed (the 450 would out-cut it in certain conditions). OK, now I had a 77cc saw with balls and never thought I'd need another saw.

Then a bloke in town was down on his luck, so I bought a $50 029 to fix up for him. He left town under a cloud and I still had the POS 029, so I spent a fair bit of time figuring out how to make a pig's ear into a silk (nylon) purse. That POS is now my go-to saw as it sits neatly between the 50 and 77cc saws at 64cc.

I really don't need any more saws and at 70 years old, cutting big wood is getting too much effort to wrestle with. I'll probably just end up with the 50cc 450 in the end.
 

Al Smith

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I've been around the noisey things since I was a kid .The first saw I ever bought was a Poulan S-25 because it was cheap and I still have it .
The one that got me interested in collecting was a Lombard Comango .It had sat unused for twenty years and I had it running in 20 minutes after I bought it .-----I have the "gift ".
 

Onan18

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My grandfather had a small McCulloch of unknown vintage, biggest P.O.S. I have ever seen. He also had a bigger Craftsman for his main saw, I don't recall but I believe it was a 3.2 or something to that effect. Dad was a Homelite guy, grew up with Super XLs and Super 2s. He bought an 045 AV in a yard sale for $20.00 when I was 12 and that was his big saw from that point on. I was working at a Stihl dealer and bought an 026 used, was my only saw for a long time. Then I met you guys...
 

kingOFgEEEks

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I grew up helping dad and grandpa cut firewood and fence posts. They had a Homelite XL101 and a Poulan 3400. Then, my uncle brought home a McCulloch PM610 from work for them to test (he worked in a plastic molding plant that was making injection molded parts for the Macs). Eventually, the Mac had to go back, and dad wasn't happy with his older saws after having had that to use. He went to the dealer and bought a 029 Super to use, which was a 'big saw', and he used it the rest of his life.

Eventually, out on my own, I got a house with a wood furnace, and needed a firewood saw. I picked up a used MS310 off of ebay, and used it as my only saw for a few years.

Fast forward to 4 winters ago. I was struggling to cut wood fast enough to burn it. I was reading arboristsite, and realized I needed a better saw, and better filing technique. I picked up my 2188 on a whim - I had gone into the Stihl dealer to look at MS441's and 461's, to see what I liked better, and he had the 2188 there as a trade in.

That got me started, and it's been a steady increase since then.
 

Cut4fun

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Had a little top handle poulan I bought new to do trim work around the house.
Had a big willow go down in a storm. So bought a 60cc poulan badboy tim allen on ebay that said ran perfect = NOT!. Took to the local dolmar echo poulan dealer and he told me it would be around 200 est to fix. Told them I didnt even have that in the saw. Thanked him for the lesson.
But anyhow I read and learned and bought $8 in parts (ring and gasket) and $8 in shipping and cleaned it all back up. Saw is still running till this day cutting firewood for a friend of mine.

Then I went to a gtg with my poulans and caught the ported work saw racing bug.
Still wasnt enough so went real racing. Got into that full blown with alky/nitro saws. Being a *s-wordty operator you wake up soon when you watch the john forces of the real racing world.
Once I stopped racing I sold all the race and woods ported stuff and went back to just working on folks saws.

Have no clue on how many saws are in shop but I am always buying and selling and mainly back to running the poulans again. Other brands just bring more $$$ to sell. ;)

Just a few smaller saws that dont make it to the shelves and 2 of them are sold now.

Went from this to this 2000 to stroked 31?0 Cliff Helsel built

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Blackgreyhounds

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When I moved from the suburbs to the woods I picked up an MS260 (non-pro). Since then, I've picked up bigger saws as I have needed them. Mostly for cleaning up storm damage of trees 30+" dbh. Then, of course, one time when I was out of town a small 4-6" diameter tree fell over our lane an my poor wife didn't want to use "my" chainsaws, so she took care of it with a manual bow-saw. When I got home, she made me buy an emergency saw for her, so I picked up an MS251 small clamshell with the "easy start." Then, I've shuffled around saws here and there on a whim, like picking up a top handle saw just because the price was right, etc. Definitely, no rhyme or reason to my current stock of saws.
 

Jon1212

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How did your chainsaw line up evolve?

Well, I started with a McCulloch 3816, and a Poulan 2900 Farmhand, when we bought our first house in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Then I got into bigger stuff to cut, and got my MS390 in 2002. I found the internet Forums in 2011, and that led to some serious lack of self control.
 

merc_man

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It started when i was 12. My grandpa stuck a saw in my hand and asked me to help cut the tree while he did something else. That staryed the obsession of cutting firewood.

I got.my first saw when i was 19. Poulan wild thing. Good little cheap saw. Used it for the sbowmobile club clearing trees off trails.

Then decided i had to start burning wood to fix this urge to always run a saw lol.

I gave that saw to a friend. He still has it. I now have about 13 saws or so and have probly had 75 or so come and go.
I have sertain saws i will never sell. My dads dolmar 420. Still 038 x2 and my echo 520.


Sent from my SM-J320W8 using Tapatalk
 

XP_Slinger

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My first saw, a 346XP/NE, was bought just for property maintenance of 10 acres. Wasn’t burning wood at the time so it filled the need. I have since moved and heat solely with wood and that led to grabbing a 372 in 2014, all I NEEDED....riiiiiiiiight. Started tinkering with saws with my brother and every one I brought back to life found a spot on my keeper shelf. I don’t have nearly as many saws as most of you guys but I just can’t bring myself to sell any of them. Currently scheming on breaking into the orange and white world.
 

smokey7

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For me it started with a poulan vi super 2. Needed to fix the duckbill oiler.found AS then got a 3400 out of the Dad's barn that hadnt ran in 10 or so years. Leaned on the pros for parts and help. Got it and another "parts saw" fixed then i was hooked. I thought about how many saws were called junk or parts saws and sold cheap i could buy fix and collect or sell. All downhill from there. Now i have bout 30 runners 6 or so pretty complete parts/builder saws. I honestly only cut for dad a few word of mouth friend of friend or family. Ive got a neighbor that needs 2 giant stumps cut to save a bit of money i made her a offer that buys me a new bar&chain pays for most of the needed saws rebuild and puts a few bucks in my pocket. Bonus i get to use my saws right next door. After all said and done she saves 325 from the whole job. By doing it this way.
 

Huskygasaxe

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I started cutting wood with my dad, xl 12 homelites with foam pipe insulation taped to the handles (anti vibe) lol. A friends dad had an old Husqvarna he helped me rebuild when I was maybe 18. He said it was a 61. What A step up it was. I got sick for a period of about 10 years and sold firewood for cash around our cottage. It cut a huge amount of wood. Chain and sprocket, one after another. I leaned it out when the intake block bolts backed off. Was a sad day. I found out it was a 162se on the forums lol. Buying parts at the jonsered dealer here put me into the saw addiction. He is a hoarder and now so am I. The garage might be full but oh well. We all no if it comes down to it and they have to go, they sure seem to sell quick if you are reasonable. Great hobby. Easy to store compared to classic cars. No insurance to buy either.
 
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