I need the expert advise of this forum!!!

[fishhuntcutwood]

My second saw was a stihl farm boss is the one I would recommend. 

Dave- which Farmboss do you have?  There's been a couple of different saws to wear the Farmboss name.  The current one is the 290, but the 041 had that name, and I think even the 028.  The 029/290 is a good saw indeed.

Jeff

[fishhuntcutwood]

Yep, looks like some pretty good replies so far, with one very slight exception.

The MS280 is an entirely new model that shares no lineage or ancestry with the 028. I have an MS280 amongst my many saws and find it`s performance to be no stronger than that of the 260 yet it costs about the same and weighs more. The 280 is also built like a homeowner saw in that it has a horizontally split crankcase and extremely spongy anti-vibe. Many dealers seem to be confused about where the 270/280 fit into the line up between pro and non-pro saws given the formerly tell tale white rear handle indicating "Pro" and the ambiguous info from Stihl, but upon closer examination and use it is obvious they are "farm" saws like the 290/310/390.

Sorry if I have stepped on anyone`s toes regarding the 270 or 280, I don`t mean to say that they are not good saws, just not the equivalent of the 260 or 361.

Russ

Quite right Russ.  Maybe I should have mentioned that it was a different saw than the good ol' 028, but my post was already long enough, so I just made the comment about it falling somewhere in between, and being a pro saw or not depending on who you ask.  It's still not a bad saw, in my opinion, but there are better saws, and the 028 is one of them.

Jeff

[SawTroll]

Dave- which Farmboss do you have?  There's been a couple of different saws to wear the Farmboss name.  The current one is the 290, but the 041 had that name, and I think even the 028.  The 029/290 is a good saw indeed. Jeff

Good question, and there has been even more Farmbosses......
Over here the "Farm boss" designation has been used on tree different models lately;
The 390, and the basic versions of 260 and 360 (this one is now dicontinued). The 260FB and 360FB is/were offered at very competetive prices.
The 290 and 310 isn't offered at all.
I have seen the 270 and 280 designated "Wood boss"....

[cnl390]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, comments & opinions.  This forum really helped me in my selection of a saw.  But where you guys really, really helped me was in opening my eyes to personal protection.  None of my friends ever use any protection so I wasn't even considering it.  (Although when I was working a friends father's ranch when I was in my 20's we were builing a chicken coop and were stripping the branches off small cedar posts.  My friend was holding the posts verticaly with his hand at the top while my other friend stripped the branches below.  Saw kicked up and caught my friend right below the thumb, talk about ground chili meat.  Luck would have it that his dad was head of the pathology dept at the University hospital so he received service that you or I might not get)

Anyhow I bought the Husky 353 with 20" bar, Husky helmet with hearing protection & mesh faceguard and the entry level chaps.  I guess the only thing I screwed up on was listening to my friend and getting the 20" bar, but it isn't too hard to order the 16".

UPS is set to deliver any minute and I can't wait.  But instead of rushing out and hurting myself or my saw I have one more question, can you reccomend a good chainsaw training video.