Hi all, I'm wanting to buy a chainsaw for general purpose work around my property. I thought about a 16" or 18" . What is considered the most reliable and easy to use? Any comments appreciated.
I can give you the benefit of 36 years in the service industry. Poulan wins hands down, more bang for the buck, there are better saws out there, but will cost 50-75% more. Homelite if a good basic saw, but very unserviceable. Sears saws are built by Poulan and therefore are to be considered also.
Dont know who the "everybody" is that are telling you Poulan is junk, but as I said, I give you 36 years in the saw service business, unless you are a pro, the 16 inch popular selling saw will do you a great job at about $100 to 120, the Husky saw is about the same quality, no use to pay the extra $30 Bill
I would choose the Husqvarna for thirty dollars more. Both poulan and Husky are owned by electolux. I guarantee you that you'd get 30 dollars worth of extra parts and better engineering on the Husky. Between craftsman and poulan. Buy the poulan you'd be much happier with a dealers help and parts support than a 5 dollar an hour grunt. It might look the same but sears specs the cheapest parts, guaranteed. You get what you pay for!!!! Check in you're local area also. One brand might be more prominate than the other. In my area (Denver) you could'nt find someone that would work on a poulan and definitely not sears. Except for sears themselves and I would trust a sears mechanic to clean a car right. I'm talking from expierience also. I sell 800 saws a year and service twice that much. Good luck.
