Babies first Stihl...

[British Red]

When it comes to power tools, I have always been a Husqy man. I have brushcutters, chainsaws, hedge trimmers etc.

That said a couple of the more recent ones have not been as good as I am used to. I have worn out my Husqy 321 to the point I can't be bothered fixing it, so have decided to try a Stihl

I've gone for a medium power "farmers" level saw - the MS291

Stihl MS291 Chainsaw by British Red, on Flickr

Its a 3.8hp saw and broadly similar in specification to my old Husqy 350 (3.2 hp) that I still run

Chainsaw and splitting tools by British Red, on Flickr

It'll be interesting to see how the two saws compare with one another - I hope the Stihl is as good as the Husqy has been

 

[bambodoggy]

Interesting what you say about the issues with the Huskys, myself and a lot of the tree folk I know are feeling the same about Stihl and moving back over to Husky lol

Be interested to see how you get on with the Stihl, I've always rather liked my mate's 261....but he's had two to my one smaller mid range Husky

Cheers,

Bam.

 

[sunndog]

291...good handling size saw that

 

[British Red]

Be interested to see how you get on with the Stihl, I've always rather liked my mate's 261....but he's had two to my one smaller mid range Husky

I probably don't use them the same as you do Bam. I use them really, really hard - or a couple of weeks - then put them away for months. Just endless cross cutting ground work really. My old 350 has been a great saw though. I've run it for many, many, hours a day and it just keeps going.

 

[bb07]

I too have always had Huskys. They've served me well with no complaints, but a few years ago I decided to try Stihl and so far have no complaints about them either. Both brands, like anything else, have their good and bad points but with these two brands the good far outweighs the bad.

I have noticed that the Huskys seem to start a little easier than the Stihls, but the finish on the Stihl bars is much more durable, at least in my experience. I also like how easy it is to service the sprockets on the Stihl. The Stihl fuel/oil caps are one thing I really like, both types. I find them very easy to open, while the Husky caps, particularly the oil cap, always seems difficult to open by hand.
All in all, I find Stihl to be a little more user friendly, as well as a bit better for servicing. I especially like the air filter on my latest, the MS261.

I suppose it really does come down to personal preference, but I'm quite happy with both brands. I'm sure you will put your new saw to good use. Now get out there and cut something. And please don't forget the pictures

 

[Quixoticgeek]

what is the vibration like, between the huskies and the stihl?

J

 

[ozzy1977]

I have always been a stihl man myself, every husky i have used has had a fault of some sort, not so stihl. I guess its true what they said to us a college 20 years ago that you will find your favourite brand and stick to it and we has stihl, husky, johnsered and sachs dolmar gear to use

 

[British Red]

what is the vibration like, between the huskies and the stihl?

J

Both my 350 and the MS291 have built in vibration damping - like shock absorbers - built in. There shouldn't be much in it, but I'll let you know after use Julia.

 

[janso]

Must admit my husky 550xp plays a good tune but my Stihl topsaw will be kept going as long as poss! The newer models seem too underpowered with the eu restrictions on them. Makita are coming on though with good saws...


Sent from my hidey hole using Tapatalk... sssh!

 

[janso]

Red, that saw looks too clean mate!!! I'm reminiscing


Sent from my hidey hole using Tapatalk... sssh!

 

[British Red]

Red, that saw looks too clean mate!!! I'm reminiscing

Its got about three cords of firewood to work its way through - we'll soon get that shine of it

 

[sunndog]

I too have always had Huskys. They've served me well with no complaints, but a few years ago I decided to try Stihl and so far have no complaints about them either. Both brands, like anything else, have their good and bad points but with these two brands the good far outweighs the bad.

I have noticed that the Huskys seem to start a little easier than the Stihls, but the finish on the Stihl bars is much more durable, at least in my experience. I also like how easy it is to service the sprockets on the Stihl. The Stihl fuel/oil caps are one thing I really like, both types. I find them very easy to open, while the Husky caps, particularly the oil cap, always seems difficult to open by hand.
All in all, I find Stihl to be a little more user friendly, as well as a bit better for servicing. I especially like the air filter on my latest, the MS261.

I suppose it really does come down to personal preference, but I'm quite happy with both brands. I'm sure you will put your new saw to good use. Now get out there and cut something. And please don't forget the pictures

I bloody hate those new caps lol
The fuel cap on my ms200 and the oil on my 171 just refuse to go on about one time in four and have me fiddling about with em for five minutes
I'v only got an old 440 with proper screw on caps left now

Personally I don't think there's much to chose between stihl and husky.....bit like makita vs dewalt its mostly down to preference

 

[Clouston98]

Fantastic! I know nothing about them but they look great- as do those axes!

 

[Goatboy]

Must say that like Red I was always a Husqvarna man, found the Sthils a wee bit tempremental to temperature differences and damp - not good when felling in winter in Scotland.

So saying quite a few arborists always had one for fiddly jobs in hard to get to bits as they always made a decent small light chainsaw.

I just liked my Husqvarna as it was nicely thought out, oodles of power and easy to maintain/keep going.

Plus a chainsaws got to keep going, this scene from Sometimes A Great Notion still gives me a shiver after all these years.

[video=youtube;vKdF-IP7rE0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKdF-IP7rE0[/video]

 

[Shinken]

I found the ST to be guteral and the HS to be smoother best i can do at explaining it really. Both excellent saws

 

[bb07]

I bloody hate those new caps lol
The fuel cap on my ms200 and the oil on my 171 just refuse to go on about one time in four and have me fiddling about with em for five minutes
I'v only got an old 440 with proper screw on caps left now

Personally I don't think there's much to chose between stihl and husky.....bit like makita vs dewalt its mostly down to preference

So far so good on mine, but I must admit that the old style are better. Simple=best usually