Unframed Dave

Long story short, but I bought this of an ex "friend" as running and recently serviced. It ran for a while fine, but died abruptly. New plug and air fitted but still no good. This morning I put a compression tester on it and it struggled to make 70 psi. Popped the exhaust off and suspicions confirmed. The piston is fubard. The bore to my inexperienced eyes looks reasonable. Anyway, out of curiosity, I took my 250's exhaust off, to see if it was likely to be my fault. Bore and piston lovely and shiny. I've had this saw for well over a decade. Few questions: 1. Is it worth repairing the 390. I'm quite happy to have a crack at it myself? 2. How did it manage to run for a fair while when I first acquired it? 3. Should I just buy another and keep this one for spares? Thanks

Another vote for the Stihl 2 in 1 jobby. I've had one for a month now and it has transformed sharpening for me. They are pricey for what they are, so also curious about the ebay version? I am in the market for another size. Dave

I'm only a domestic user. I have the Lumag, I'm thoroughly impressed with it. Keep feeding it with straight branches and so long as they fit, it munches it up. Not keen on smaller wiggly stuff.

Personally, I likes a snog, even if it's only at Christmas.

Personally, I'd have concerns about the additional condensate in my house.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

Everyday's a school day.

They do 3 backpacks, a professional 28ah, and two for domestic, 23ah and the one I was using yesterday which will take any of the "detachable" batteries. To be honest, it isn't worth using with the 5ah (it's very light), but is great with the 10ah. You know it's there but doesn't weigh you down massively. I also have the 23ah, which like you I find heavy. Great for a long job though without too much moving around. I think it will really come into it's own for hedge cutting and major brush cutting jobs.

I'm not electrically minded enough to comment. I count roughly 36 cuts through fair sized wood in my first two photos and commented previously on tidying up. This is some of the tidying up on the same battery. Doesn't make for a very interesting shot so didn't include it originally. I would be very keen to do a side by side comparison between the two machines though.

The 18" at work today, the battery on my back. Takes the strain off my shoulders, which is nice.

The 300s is 7.8ah vs the 5.0ah battery. Logically it would do about 50% more work.

Do you have a link for that please?

As a Norfolk resident I take great offence at these comments. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've suffered abuse on the subject. That's 6 time's goddammit.

I don't have any personal experience but it looks like you are not alone. Chrisbowers is rated "Average" with 3.0 / 5 on Trustpilot UK.TRUSTPILOT.COM Do you agree with Chrisbowers's TrustScore? Voice your opinion...

After unpacking the 14" saw, I was a little bit dubious. This however was unfounded. Coupled with a 5 ah battery, this is a perfectly balanced, light and highly ferocious little machine. I started with a bit of limbing and tidying of the general area we were working. Followed thus with removing a hung oak of around 10" average diameter. Absolutely no problem and truly amazed at how much work achieved with a single battery. I then started on a fallen spruce which was partially rotted. The original battery still went strong and eventually died with most of the tree logged. The first photo shows the amount of oak logged and the second how far along the spruce I got before the first battery ran out. To say I'm impressed is an understatement.

New to the forum this morning, so be gentle. Not seen any mention of the Ego brand. I have no commercial connection, just a hobby woods keeper with an awful lot of firewood to process after this year's storms. I also damaged both shoulders hand splitting logs during the first lockdown and find pull starting 2 strokes an absolute pain now. I started off with their 18" saw and a 5ah battery. As soon as I'd cut through a 20" laying stump with little more effort than my petrol stihls, I was sold. The 5ah battery has since been upgraded to a few 10s and even a 23ah backpack. The 5 is still useful, say in the garden or on their strimmer, but the 10s are incredibly useful in the woods. I have also only just bought the 14" saw for limbing and smaller work. Firsts impressions are that it's not the animal the 18" is, but cutting will be the real trial. I wanted lighter than the 18, so lighter it is, the proof will be in the using. Anyway, it literally is off to the woods. I'll pop in and report back on the 14" saw later.