My New Saw Was Junk

We went to use my new saw, a PolanPro 18" bar that I purchased during Black Friday at Tractor Supply Company; it was on offer for $99.99. It was a total piece of junk. It would not start, kept vapour locking, the chain jumped; and yes, it was correct, my friend has been using saws for many years, and it was pumping the chain oil out way too generous. We search the net for reviews and 90% said the exact same things I mention was repeated each time. We managed to use the saw a bit but it was horrible. We managed to drop some trees but not cut them to fire log length; just enough so we could move them out of the way. Tractor Supply did give me a gift card for the amount of the saw even though it was past the 30 day return so Tractor Supply did right by me in part; cash return would have been nicer but at least I am not totally out of the money for the saw and I can use it for fence posts and such.

So at the moment, I am without a saw. I don't have a lot of money to spend on a saw so I am probably looking to buy a used saw. I am asking for recommendations.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. There will be alot of opinions on here about various brands and makes of saws. Try not to get hung up in brand loyalty. I think you're on track with getting a used saw as your best bang for your buck. That said, buying used puts a higher value on trusting the seller. There are plenty of trustworthy sellers here on FHC.

 

What's your budget & what are you cutting?

Without knowing either, I'd be looking for an older Poulan 3400.

 

I will be cutting some oak, tulip popular, beech, etc. My budget is tight; $200.00 would be the most I would like to spend; so that is why I decided used. I will be away for a few days but will check the forums when I can.

 

Buying used can be tricky. You'll get a better price, but end up with someone else's problems in many cases. If you don't know anything about tinkering with small engines, this might be a big problem.

I think it will be hard to beat an Echo on the bang-for-the-buck factor. They're usually priced around 1/2 the price of a Stihl or Husqvarna. They might have a few more plastic components, but they're extremely reliable. You can probably find a brand new CS400 locally to you for under $300. Check with dealers for a better price than Home Depot.

 

If an 18" bar is what you want to stay with, try to find a Stihl 026/260. Sometimes they pop up in your price range, but if not, the Stihl 029/290 is a good saw, and has cut a lot of firewood for a lot of folks over the years. They show up on CL around me almost weekly. I think the Husqvarna equivalent is the 455, which is probably also a decent choice.

 

get you a poulan 3400, homelite xl-12, homelite sxl. mcculloch 10-10, or mcculloch pm-60 . they can be had for small $$$. on ebay you will pay shipping but you also have an advocate if the saw turns out to not be as advertised. if you want new, $200 is only gonna buy you a big box saw which is what you just tried. not saying they're all bad but I wouldn't want one. i only ever had one new saw - i bought it in 1985. still running great today; its an olympyk 251B. i'd say get one of those but they're kinda like chickens' teeth. just sayin

 

DexterDay can get you in way under budget on a poulan 3450 54cc pro grade build. I love that series of saws. Have 3 of them myself.

 

Please buy his saw so I dont add a 4th one.

 

That's really to bad and good on TSC for at least giving you credit.

Any chance you just got a lemon? Not the best saw out there but still a decent value for occasional use. A lot of people have and use these saws without incident. I would consider another Poulan Pro (maybe from another store like Home Depot) before giving up on them completely. Just make sure you try it before the warranty runs out.

If you have completely given up on the brand, there are some good reviews here from guys using Echo chainsaws. A little more costly but a great bang for your buck I'm told. They also carry one of the best warranties in the business (5 years).

 

I agree with this , you won't go wrong buying a saw from Dex
Quite a few people on here own a PP5020 and like them, good bang for the buck, you can use gift card at Tractor Supply put in another 100 bucks ,and you will be cutting wood .
Read the manual and break it in right ,you should be good.
Besides that go look at the Echo's

 

Where in VA are you and how soon do you need a saw?

 

Quote from Kimberly
Martinsville; I am actually sitting on the NC border

 

I had the same experience as you, same saw but bought it from Lowes. They took it back and I upgraded to the Poulan Pro PP5020AV. For me, the difference was night and day; though the 5020 was only $20 more, it was a lot better saw. I couldn't be happier with it.

That said, you may do better with a decent used "professional" saw. I'll never know, as I truly doubt I will ever buy a chainsaw used unless I personally know the seller or have a good reason to trst him.

Greg

 

Buy that saw from Dex. Will be better quality than anything you will buy that says poulan pro today. If Dex sells it take gary (guido) up. The guy buys truck beds full of saws.

 

Pretty much any saw from here is as advertised. The few that have not been the people have gotten their money back or seller made it right.

 

One of the things I like about this site is its diversity of different saw brands without the bashing and fanboys shoving their brand down your throat.

That said I generally also find chainsaws are like guns everyone has a favorite one they prefer. Myself I prefer sthil and glock lol but I'm very open to other brands. My preferences aren't the best out there by any means and I would of definatly try other brands out

Now that I have made that kinda clear sthil as I noticed this weekend and I just threw the flyer in the garbage is offering a pretty decent deal on saws for a spring sale. You may check them out you might get what you want in your price point. I would imagine husqvarna and Echo prob have something going too.