The First Saw You Bought

[Mastermind]

The first saw I ever bought was a Sand Cast Poulan. I was working at a sawmill and heating with slabs I got from work. I had been cutting them with a circular saw, but some were too thick for that.

One night Glenda and I were at an auction, and they sat the big ugly Poulan up on the block. Nobody bid on it. So they sat a few hand tools up with it....still no bids. Then they sat a tool box up there. I bid 15.00 and was the only bidder.

Hell, the tool box was worth more than that.....

Anyhow, I fought with that damn saw thru that first winter.....probably had the carb off 20 times. But, I cut my wood that year with it.

Next summer I bought a used 028 from the Stihl dealer in Allardt. 125.00 for the saw, with a fresh tune, and a new bar and chain. He gave me a 6 pack of orange bottle mixing oil, a gallon of bar oil, and a file too.

I used that saw for the next 20 years.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

My first was a Stihl ms180c that I bought in 07. I bought an echo 590 after moving to the new house in 17 and needing something bigger. Sold the 180 and bought an echo 303t top handle. Sold the 590 when my wife bought my Stihl ms462c. I bought the echo at the dealer days sales event for $320, sold it for $300 3 years and 20-30 cords of wood later. I then sold the top handle because I wanted a ms261, Got lucky and bought a used mastermind 261 from here.

Looking at pole saws now, Not sure yet. I’ve had a corona manual one for 15 years now.

 

[highland_hunter]

My first I bought was my 5105, had a few hand me downs before that. Plenty more after too...

 

[Woodslasher]

My first saw was a MS250 I got as a gift I still run it and love it in spite of what the internet says about them. The first saw I bought was an MS361 I picked up for $75, I think. Either that or it was a lot of 4 Macs (440, 35, PM6 x 2) I picked up from a stoner who "just smoked a joint before you showed up, so I'm kinda high right now."

 

[davidwyby]

grew up with an eager beaver thingy. Pics of me with it around here somewhere...then my cousin paid me with a Jred 2050 in my 20s. Tackled a big tree job for friends later so I bought my 395, still not knowing a lot about saws...then the 395 sat and went bad which brought me here...and the CAD set in. I'm in the middle of nowhere in the desert and not a lot of saw heads around, so I have to buy to try...getting to the selling side of trying now.

 

[David Young]

grew up with an eager beaver thingy. Pics of me with it around here somewhere...then my cousin paid me with a Jred 2050 in my 20s. Tackled a big tree job for friends later so I bought my 395, still not knowing a lot about saws...then the 395 sat and went bad which brought me here...and the CAD set in. I'm in the middle of nowhere in the desert and not a lot of saw heads around, so I have to buy to try...getting to the selling side of trying now.

If you want I might have an eager beaver or mini Mac I am willing to gift you

 

[Loony661]

These are all great stories! Some of necessity, some of resilience, and some of just plain ol’ fun. I like it! Keep ‘em coming!

 

[shadco]

025 it was a decent saw.

.

.

 

[davidwyby]

If you want I might have an eager beaver or mini Mac I am willing to gift you

hmm…
Many years ago I took ours apart and couldn’t get it back together, got frustrated, and junked it. A couple years ago I got one off fleabay for sentimental value and it turned out to be junk, never have worked on it.


Also I forgot to mention that somewhere around a couple years ago I won a @Mastermind Dolmar 6100 that started the ported sickness, which leads to current fave saw, 7900 by Kevin that just landed tonight.

 

[Benwa]

Grew up with my dad running an Echo 500VL. When I was in my early teens it "died," he took it to the shop & it was too expensive to fix. He left it there and came home with a brand new Husqvarna 455. I was devastated. So many memories with him & that ol' Echo. I couldn't belive he just LEFT IT THERE. "Dad, I could have fixed it!" Haha. Anyway First saw I ever owned, was was my Grandfather's McCulloch Pro Mac 55. However, the first saw I ever bought & paid for with my own hard earned money, was this
Stihl 056 Mag II. Bought it for $400 when I was 19 years old. That was a borderline unobtainable amount for me at the time. I remember thinking "there's no way I can afford this"...... and I couldn't really. Good thing I was young and had no problem eating top ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I bought it to clear some acreage with a bunch of large alder on it for my boss at the time. Did the job in trade & got to keep all of it as firewood. Big deal, as that's how we heated. I've had it 20 years now. Been through a full rebuild (it ate a piston skirt) and it's still going strong today. I'll never let it go.

 

[Kiwioilboiler]

hmm…
Many years ago I took ours apart and couldn’t get it back together, got frustrated, and junked it. A couple years ago I got one off fleabay for sentimental value and it turned out to be junk, never have worked on it.


Also I forgot to mention that somewhere around a couple years ago I won a @Mastermind Dolmar 6100 that started the ported sickness, which leads to current fave saw, 7900 by Kevin that just landed tonight.

 

[Chainsaw Addict]

Stihl 028 Super. Darn good saw. Still a solid runner.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

 

[deye223]

My 1st saw was a husky 262xp .
Best thing I ever did (saw wise) was sell that pos and buy a ms460 .

 

[davidwyby]

My 1st saw was a husky 262xp .
Best thing I ever did (saw wise) was sell that pos and buy a ms460 .

Ouch! Haha!

 

[ElevatorGuy]

My 1st saw was a husky 262xp .
Best thing I ever did (saw wise) was sell that pos and buy a ms460 .

Sounds like me leaving the pos Heep at the Toyota dealership! Absolute garbage.

 

[Al Smith]

Poulan S25 DA sold by Dayton electric motor painted orange $139.95 .The same in Poulan green was $169 .Fact I still have it although it doesn't see much run time .It runs as good today as it did in 1974-75 .I'll just say I've cut a lot of wood with it because it was all I had for a long time .

 

[Guido Salvage]

The first saw I bought was a Mall OMG (?) that I still own. I paid $5 for it at an auction (and was offered $10 when I was loading it up). I carried it around in the back of my Willys 4x4 wagon in college. I next bought a Poulan 361 and within 2 years I owned several more. Over 40 years later I have sold about half of my collection but probably still have 250 saws.

 

[..X..]

My first saw was a craftsman 50cc.. I bought it brand new for $60! I had a bunch of craftsman / sears points to use, so I only had to pay $60 plus tax lol. At the time I needed to cut down two apple trees and I figured I would sell it for $100 after I was done. Well, I was never able to sell it, so I kept it.

Since then I bought 40 acres of land, so my saw collection went up a little. I bought a new broken in box Makita 6421 and converted it to a 7900 then I bought a little top handle husky that works awesome when brushing and even cutting down small trees in the woods. Once in a while someone gives me a hard time about my "little husky" so then I whip out my 395xp.

 

[Al Smith]

The battle on those old saws that have sat on a barn floor for the last 30 years is making them run .Nobody ever said you have to use them .I've get at least ten of those boat anchors I'm about sure all ran at some time .Some may again or may not .

 

[Wood Doctor]

Don't laugh, McCulloch 610 Timber bear, I was 16 at the time. The thing actually cut well and never let me down.

Same here and I still have it:

However, I must admit that I was older than 16 when I bought it in 1977. She still runs with lots of torque and has been known to pull a 28" bar on occasion. Not much plastic on it, but it was one of the first saws to have a chain brake.