I say "Circus" instead of Service because they have made a mess of Forestry Management, especially in regards to removing fire fuels as it relates to forest fires.
Are there any rock stars among the little saws or are the pro contenders more or less created equal like every other category? I'm looking to replace my recently departed 50cc saw with something smaller as it was almost never used for anything I consider to be firewood anyway.
A lot of praise for the Dolmar 421, echo 490 or 400. I have a little Stihl ms 192 rear handle this a fun little saw but cost just as much if not more then the above and at 30cc it is pretty limited to limbs and small trees below 8-10 in. I am sure there are some others but the Dolmar stands out as a good all around solid saw.
When we pull trees out of the woods at the farm, we go pretty small anyway to not make a mess. Anything I get from the tree guys is 70cc material. Kinda makes me think one of the snotty 25-35cc saws is what I am after.
Well, there's the rear-handle MS200, but they're hard to come by and very expensive unless you get lucky. Most of my firewood is felled and limbed for me by tree services so the 200 I have often seems like a silly indulgence. But on Friday I took down a big red maple for a neighbor, which meant breaking down a tangle of branches on a steep and weedy hillside, and I was very glad to have that little saw.
Those little 150's are pretty nifty! I've only made a couple cuts with one at a G2G but I can see their value. I think my son's toy chainsaw weighs more.