Best under $400 chainsaw

[jjmk98k]

I have worked my Husqvarna 350 a good bit for general homeowner / camp / firewood / tall tall trees stuff and have been VERY pleased with it.

Another nod for the safety equipment as well! invest in good gloves, eye and ear protection at a minimum....  also have a good pair of work boots....

READ THE USERS MANUAL AND BE FAMILIAR WITH THE SAW, read on proper tecniques for the chore at hand.....

I dropped my first 7 big trees with no other schooling than a book, patience and a game plan..... by the 4th tree, i was placing a 2 liter bottle out and coming darn close to making the trees fall close to it..... no one got hurt, nothing got broken...

[SawTroll]

I don't know a thing about Chainsaws but I have been happy with my home owner saw.  Its a Husky Rancher. It has compression release so my worn out shoulders appreciate that. Since I bought it used, it's a third pull cold starter every time. first pull choke, second pull it fires, third pull push in the choke pull and its running. First pull starts after that.  Its plenty big enough for any chore that I have ever needed it for.

Jeff,

It`s my opinion that since the era of the 55 the differences between homeowner and pro saws have become more distinct. You got a good one.

Yep!

[SawTroll]

Good decision. Remember it will take a while to break and run to its potential. Mine really picked up after about 10 tanks.

Good decision, yes! 

...but I think it may need closer to 20 tanks for full breakin, at least the US dealer that sold me one said so.

[windthrown]

Yah, good advice on the 5100! Even if I advised it (and the advice was free).

As for breaking her in to get full power, it will be several tanks of gas before the rings seat completely and it have better compression.

Hey Troll, you finally get that 5100 for the Saw Witch? How does she like it? 

[zaharia]

Got my 5100S.  I have a question regarding oil. Maybe a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. I bought some of the new Stihl HP Ultra synthetic oil. It says it is JASO FB and API TC/TC+ certified, but doesn't mention ISO-L-EGD certification on the bottle or website. The manual for the Dolmar says the oil needs to be ISO-L-EGD certified as well as JASO FB. Is it safe for use in the 5100S? Got it because I will use it in a Stihl blower I have as well as a Stihl 4-mix trimmer I am picking up next week and want to use the same mix.
EDIT: Seems from info I found on the internet that ISO-L-EGD is a higher rating than JASO FB, so I imagine that it should be okay?
"The highest JASO rating is "FD", which equals the ISO-L-EGD rating. Lower ratings are "FC", "FB" and "FA." 

[windthrown]

ISO and JASO are different standards but both should be fine in air-cooled chainsaw engines. Some oils have been tested with both, some one or the other, and some oils like Stihl and Husky do not list the rating but would probably pass (like Stihl orange bottle oil). Often times Stihl, Husky and some others do not send their oil in to be tested becasue it costs more money and they have to spend more on quality control and testing the oil, and pass the cost on to you. The real issue is to avoid blue goo that is not only TC/TCW-3 water-cooled type. Those oils are blended to have different ash and lubrication qualities, and work at lower temperatures. They may mess up an air-cooled 2-stroke engine over time (some swear that they cause real engine problems). There are also some all-aound 2-stroke oils out there that claim they run in air and water cooled engines, but I would avoid them.

You should be fine with that Stihl stuff. I am surprised that they only have an FB rating though. Most of the types available at Home Depot (Echo and Homelite, for example) have both ISO and JASO FC certified ratings and are specifically made for air-cooled 2-stroke engines. Using them will not void your warantee. Currently I am using Castrol JASO FB rated air-cooled oil in all my 2-stroke engines (Stihl, Echo, & Homelite). I was using Stihl orange bottle oil, but they lack a standard certification on it, so I flipped to reasonably priced certified oil that I can depend on. The lubrication is about the same in JASO FB and FC, but the smoke factor is better in FC than FB. FA has considerably less in both smoke and lubrication qualities, so I avoid it. I also mix my oil at about 45:1 which is more low-end and bearing friendly. A tad more smoke, but I would rather have an engine that lasts longer. A lot of pros around here drop it to 40:1 to get better lubrication and longer engine life.

Also use super gas. Do NOT use regular gas. You can get by with mid-grade (most saws made today call for mid-grade), but over time sitting in a gas can the octane will drop. So may as well spend a little more and get better gas and keep your saw happy. Most saws do better with higher octane, and I am sure that the Dolmar 5100 is pretty high strung. Higher octane gas will avoid pre-ignition and burn more evenly. This will avoid flares and uneven burning in the combustion chamber and your engine will run cooler and better as a result. I add a stabilizer to my gas as well to keep the carbs from gumming up over time. That stuff will keep gas fresh for up to 2 years. I think that Stihl adds a gas stabilizer to their oils though, so you may not need it.

Have fun with the Dolly. Report back on its performance!

[SawTroll]

... Hey Troll, you finally get that 5100 for the Saw Witch? How does she like it? 

She like it very well, and so do I.....   

It is set at 14200rpm for run-in, so far.