I've seen em killed by experienced owners of tree services too..., many times. Have a pair of MS441's in my shop right now that have suffered that fate. One is a non-M and was simply smashed. The other one was an M and was smashed and straight gassed. Thought I could get one runner out of the whole mess but discovered both cases are cracked. Some pretty expensive negligence and abuse from a "professional".
Dude originally bought four of em at the same time which tells ya somethin' about the common sense factor right there. I've revived the other two for him in the past as well. Shoulda just bought MS461's for another couple hundred bux in the first place.
The 1127 series is pretty darned bullet proof for a plastic clamshell and even an 029/MS290 can benefit quite a bit from a simple muffler mod. The 039/MS390 can be made into a very strong saw with some minor exhaust work and a pop-up piston for very little money and a blown up 029/ms290 can be made into an 039/390 just by bolting on the 49mm 64cc top end gaining nearly half a horse with the same weight and can pull (and oil) a 24" bar all day long.
Out of all the saws this guy brought me the last time around, (6 of em), an MS310 was the only one that still actually ran.
