Knowing what you know now... what would be your first saw?

[peds]

Afternoon everyone, how's it going?

 

Completely green behind the ears here, after 17 years in kitchens I fancied a career change, and after a decent trial day a few weeks ago I start work with a tree care company in November (currently working as a full-time dad for a couple more months). I've got my CS30/31, CS38 and CS39, but I expect to be doing a few months of solid groundie work before doing much up in the trees.

 

I bought that funny Florabest 50cc saw from Lidl a little while ago for a hundred euros (basically a cheapo Italian Husky knockoff, if I understand correctly), but I know it isn't a proper saw, and the intention is to just run the fucking thing into the ground so I can take it apart and put it back together all the time, and build up a solid understanding of maintenance. But it's never going to leave my land, and I'd definitely never turn up to work with it. Thinking back to my time as a chef, it would probably be like some twat turning up in my kitchen with a set of shitty 30 quid Ikea knives instead of a basic-but-decent Victorinox or even a fancy Shun. So I'm looking for advice on a decent first saw that'll see me through for a while, understanding that I've already got a cheap piece of crap to throw around and learn what not to do with it. The dude I'll be working for obviously has saws, and when appropriate I'll be using his kit (for example, I'll not be investing in my own top handle just yet...), but I want to get to grips with my own gear as well.

With the small amount of work experience I've had and what little we learned on CS30/31, I'd say if anything I'm leaning more towards Huskies than Stihls, but I am hugely prepared to be schooled on this front.

 

So my question to you all is this... what would YOU buy as a first saw, given what you've learned since you started work? Can you go wrong with a Husqvarna 550XP? Is there something cheaper that'd do the job just as well?

Huge thanks for any advice and opinions dudes.

Edited September 26, 2018 by peds

[bigtreedon]

Afternoon everyone, how's it going?
 
Completely green behind the ears here, after 17 years in kitchens I fancied a career change, and after a decent trial day a few weeks ago I start work with a tree care company in November (currently working as a full-time dad for a couple more months). I've got my CS30/31, CS38 and CS39, but I expect to be doing a few months of solid groundie work before doing much up in the trees.
 
I bought that funny Florabest 50cc saw from Lidl a little while ago for a hundred euros (basically a cheapo Italian Husky knockoff, if I understand correctly), but I know it isn't a proper saw, and the intention is to just run the fucking thing into the ground so I can take it apart and put it back together all the time, and build up a solid understanding of maintenance. But it's never going to leave my land, and I'd definitely never turn up to work with it. Thinking back to my time as a chef, it would probably be like some twat turning up in my kitchen with a set of shitty 30 quid Ikea knives instead of a basic-but-decent Victorinox or even a fancy Shun. So I'm looking for advice on a decent first saw that'll see me through for a while, understanding that I've already got a cheap piece of crap to throw around and learn what not to do with it. The dude I'll be working for obviously has saws, and when appropriate I'll be using his kit (for example, I'll not be investing in my own top handle just yet...), but I want to get to grips with my own gear as well.
With the small amount of work experience I've had and what little we learned on CS30/31, I'd say if anything I'm leaning more towards Huskies than Stihls, but I am hugely prepared to be schooled on this front.
 
So my question to you all is this... what would YOU buy as a first saw, given what you've learned since you started work? Can you go wrong with a Husqvarna 550XP? Is there something cheaper that'd do the job just as well?

Huge thanks for any advice and opinions dudes.

Buy a 562xp i love 550xp but they are a bit small if u are only going to want to own one saw happy cutting and stay husqvarna the future is orange [emoji7]

[Rough Hewn]

1st thing you'll need is ppe.
Boots, trousers, helmet and gloves.
Then buy a new saw.
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[peds]

2 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

1st thing you'll need is ppe.
Boots, trousers, helmet and gloves.
Then buy a new saw.

Yep yep, already got that lot dude, cheers!

[peds]

20 minutes ago, bigtreedon said:

Buy a 562xp i love 550xp but they are a bit small if u are only going to want to own one saw happy cutting and stay husqvarna the future is orange

Well, I wouldn't say I only want to own one saw, who knows what the future may bring? I do understand the idea of getting something a bit bigger from the get go though, especially seeing as that Florabest device is 50cc too.

 

Cheers for the advice dude, it's appreciated.

[Mick Dempsey]

550xp is a great first saw, always first on the van.

 

 

 

 

[Rough Hewn]

Start small.
You'll use a 50cc more frequently.
But wood can get big.
Husky,stihl,echo,Makita,maculloch all make excellent saws. But not every saw is excellent.
Also user preferences.
I like reliable, big dogs, big bar, full chisel chain and running on aspen and bio oil.
Between the above brands at 50cc the biggest difference will be how you sharpen your chain and how well you maintain it.
Personally I prefer to use a stihl.
We have mostly huskies at work.
My 261

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[Stere]

Didn't think mculloch made anything decent any more?

[stihlmadasever]

Husky 346xp..

You probably wont be able to get one but look hard enough and there are some gems left.

Welcome to arb work

Its shite...but not as shite as cooking a sirloin well done for some dipshit with no tastebuds in his fuckn head!

Been there done that....

 

[billpierce]

You looking for new or used?