They all make a few lemons. I know guys that complain plenty loud about their Huskies theyve owned in the past. I dont think you could go wrong with either brand if you go with their pro models and use a quality oil. Should last a lifetime.

Two things to do if you want a saw to last is use a good fuel-oil mix and keep your chain sharp, those two things are where most problems start.

I have a Husky 455 good saw.

What I tell people is if you are thinking about a saw , shop the dealers not the saws.

my son works for a Stihl dealer , gets zero discount they have minimal service . they can sell you the saw but they can't get you back in the woods cutting the same day if the answer isn't buy a new bar & chain off the shelf.

for years I drove past that dealer by about 3/4 of a mile to a Jonsered dealer , because he stocked parts and could get you back to cutting.

the other place drop off saw give written description of the issue and then wait they stocked almost no parts

the guy I have used , he would take 5 and you could go out to a log in his yard and make a couple cuts and show him what was off.

Dealers make the big difference when saw models have such similar performance

if you are already old , heck the some guys would be offered a lifetime warranty on a smoke detector battery.

guys who cut for a living wear out a saw a year send it in for rebuild and use it as a backup or second saw so they have one always ready to go

it took me 10 years to wear out my first saw MS260 but I wore out parts of it and not other parts of it , I sent it off as a parts saw

a young guy say 25 should wear out a couple three saws before he can't lift one any more if he cuts a decent amount like if they heat mostly with wood

saws wear out . parts wear

I didnt get the impression the Op was an arborist for a living. Obviously, there are exceptions, but for the average joe, i stand by what i said, a good pro saw running quality oil should last a lifetime. Yep, gonna need to replace bar, chains, plugs, air filters, but thats understandable. My father is still has the same McCullogh chansaw since I was a lad. He's in his early 90s now, doesnt use them, but theyll still cut wood.

Swung by pawn shop today, had a like new Stihl 280, hard case, 4 new chains and sharpener/wrench. Asking $325, I asked what is the out the door cash price, he said $275.

Looked like a nice small saw. Do you have pawn shops in your neck of the woods?

100% wisdom right here

I have two good stihl dealers and home depot sells/supports maybe echos. Not ever considered an echo for this reason alone.


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I do firewood on the side to offset my fuel cost during the summer.

Well, I went to go look at a Stihl Ms310 that has been on marketplace for a while marked at 300$. I get there and it's a super nice widow and it was her husband's saw. I pull it out of the case and it fires up in less than 4 pulls. It started better than my MS180 does which is surprising. I looked at the overall shape of the saw and saw nothing that concerned me, the chain was sharp. I checked and made sure the chain brake worked. My only concern is the bar has all the paint worn off but I know that's not a big deal as long as it works. She also had an MS390 with a 25" bar for 420$ but I don't need anything that big quite yet. I did end up purchasing the MS310 for 300$ though, it came with a case and 5 extra chains plus the 1 on the saw. I got it home and went and ran it on a couple of logs and it cut like a dream. It's definitely heavier, I can tell that much but it seems to be just about the right amount of weight for me.