Husky v. Stihl-------My preference is Stihl and I have owned several of both brands.  Two choices come to mind looking at the current offerings.
http://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/professional-saws/ms362cq/  This being a great saw for most stuff.
http://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/professional-saws/ms441cq/  This being a great saw for LOTS of work.

Not that I owned a small logging company or anything 

^^ I note the MS381 (the older model I'm considering) is no longer listed on the Stihl US website....

Quote from: Skybarney on August 19, 2013, 02:59:34 PM
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Not that I owned a small logging company or anything 

I thought you were an airhead...

Quote from: ungeheuer on August 18, 2013, 04:26:02 AMI'm trying to work out if this is a Chinese fake or not...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stihl-MS-381-Chainsaw-/200953744741

Quote from: ducpainter on August 18, 2013, 04:29:15 AM
It looks the part.

If it's a fake it's a 'good' one.

That ebay listing? 

Did some homework. 

It is a Chinese fake.  Which some poor bastard just paid $800 for  .

Just like this one....  also Chinese...

...only the Chinese one's have that black vertical line (although they don't always have it) and silver bolts on the loop handle.

Here's the real thing...


Why pay an ebay seller $801 + $55 shipping when you can get it direct from China for way less with free shipping?
http://www.dhgate.com/product/high-recommend-ms381-stihl-chain-saw-72-2cc/168136665.html#s1-3-1|2993257429

Time for me to pay my local authorised dealer a visit.  Gonna pay real money, want the real deal.

Wow. They are getting good at it.  Why not just make a Hyosung Chainsaw though?

Quote from: ducpainter on August 19, 2013, 06:45:59 PM
I thought you were an airhead...

Lol,  I owned a paragliding school in SoCal for years.  When the Bark Beetles attacked the 22 trees on my property I ended up with a 60k quote to remove them as most were over 100ft and within fall range of the house.  Needless to say I was shocked at the price and being a rigger of safety gear already I did some research on logging, bought some saws, ropes and spikes and got to work with a buddy taking them down.  We did it perfectly, then the neighbors started coming over and hiring us at half of the "usual" rates.  Three months later we had six saws, a bobcat and a roll off truck. 

Made enough money to become a balloon pilot which was good because about four months after we cleared all the trees in our neighborhood the forest burnt down, along with my house and several other houses we had already logged.  It burnt down a great paragliding site so I changed careers and opened my own balloon company.  Pays better than paragliding or logging and one can't beat the work hours 

And to keep this on topic,  Stihl changes models almost every two years.  Any saw over 360 will do the job on all but the largest of logs.  Even those the 360 will handle, just not as fast a cut as a Magnum ( :

Well, I bought ye olde 72cc Stihl MS381 Magnum from my local dealer (no longer sold in the US, but we dont care about having eco compliant exhaust emissions on our forest destruction equipment  ).

http://www.stihl.com.au/STIHL-Products/Chain-Saws/Professional-Chain-saws/21276-1573/MS-381-Magnum%C2%AE.aspx

Was able to negotiate a couple of hundred bucks off the RRP and a free spare chain thrown in, so I'm happy with that. 

Thanks to everyone who.... chipped in... with advice  .

Nice saw.

I'd say have fun w/ it, but wood sucks.

Wow $1,200!

Seems like I paid $600 or so for my 365 Husky (65cc) And I see that they are $665 these days at Baileys with the 20" Bar.

The 71cc is $774.

Hope that Stihl give a back massage or something.

Quote from: Mendo Dave on August 21, 2013, 06:33:01 AM
Wow $1,200!
Seems like I paid $600 or so for my 365 Husky (65cc) And I see that they are $665 these days at Baileys with the 20" Bar.

The 71cc is $774.

Hope that Stihl give a back massage or something.

Yeah  .  Got mine down to $1049.....  probably the same saw would be $649 in the US.  If you think chainsaw prices are high.... lets compare Ducati prices between here and there 

I hope you make more money or something to offset those prices.

.... keep hearing that Australia is a "high cost environment"....  manufacturers can't shut up shop fast enough to move to China because of the "high cost of labour" here.  But we're in danger of straying into politics now, so best leave it at that, eh  .

I hear the Chinese food is better in China and The CEO's like good authentic Chinese at lunchtime, that's one reason for moving. Another is that really good Chinese knockoffs can be be found in China, Gucci bags, rolex watches, Chainsaws etc. Much better than the Chinese knockoffs made in Mexico for instance. 

   I've heard that real Chinese food --in China-- isn't so hot compared to the American-ized stuff sold here in the 'States.

But... my wife's family has actually bought some "real" Chinese knockoffs (on visits to China) that were pretty decent quality.  Nothing like a chainsaw, though... this was all much simpler mechanical stuff or more handcrafted items like woodworks and textiles.

Here's the rub: in China, they say the domestic knockoffs are getting too expensive... in China, a lot of the uber-cheap knockoffs are actually sourced from North Korea.

Local guy at the Stihl dealership told me that when somebody brings in their Chinese fake Stihl for repair or parts... they're often totally unaware that this thing they've been cursing is not what they think it is, but rather a fake....

And that whilst on the surface the Chinese copyists are getting pretty good at making these things look real.... that under the surface there are few common parts.... so the dealer can't help with spares or repairs.