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

[peds]

Another vote for the 550, great.

Right, so it looks like fork out for a 550 brand new, and latch onto a 346 if I'm ever lucky enough to find one second hand...

 

Carlos, I'm in Sligo. It does seem that arborist.ie are the best-stocked site I've found, a little more expensive than some of the UK sites unfortunately. I've not found a decent bricks-and-mortar shop near me yet either.

[gary112]

550xp best saw

[Rough Hewn]

Out of all the stock huskies the 346 is a wee ripper.
12-14" bar and lightweight.
The only other I like is the 395. [emoji12]

[billpierce]

How are people finding there 550xp once the warranty is up? Local saw shop has said he wouldn't touch one past 2 yr old unless it was free!

My 026 seems to be close enough is speed and weight to my 346xp.

Personally I am a sucker for the slightly older, tougher saws, but it's mostly just me using them and I'm am happy to maintain them.

[spuddog0507]

5 hours ago, peds said:

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.

one thing i would look at is second hand value in years to come ,from my own observations a stihl seems to be between £60&£100 more for a second hand machine as compared to the husky equivalant but husky is the more expensiver saw when new ?, and i find stihls are easier to work on 

[peds]

That's a fair consideration for sure, but I honestly can't see me selling anything on in the future... I'm a bit of a hoarder. I've got 12 pairs of skis in the shed right now from the last decade and a half of collecting them, I could have sold them on as I finished using them... but they have such sentimental value. They'll make fine shelves one day.

[stihlmadasever]

25 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Out of all the stock huskies the 346 is a wee ripper.
12-14" bar and lightweight.
The only other I like is the 395.

13-15" bar my good man,or get it too spud and it will pull an 18 inch bar....effortlessly

[peds]

With regards to second hand saws, look at this...

https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/372xp-husquvarna-professional-chainsaw/19723633

 

I've not got a clue if that's worth it or not. Could be an accident waiting to happen, could be a classic saw at a fair price... no idea.

[Husqvarna King]

346/357 or 550/560 ?

[Stubby]

Well , back then it was a heavy all metal Jonsered 620 or something . Soon got a Husky 254 and 242 . ( wish I still had them )  . So today it woud have to be 550 and/or 560/562 .