Anyone kept up with what's happening with saws? Anything really new? For the past couple of years, I have kept up with it less than I used to. And something I have wondered... do you think Stihl's mTronic and Husky Autotune are 'necessary' in the timeline of saw history? Or do you think they did it just because it's something new and something to yak about... marketing fodder? And do you think fuel injection such as is on Stihl's 500 is where the ideal has landed or is headed? Are there any other fuel injected saws? Or, are you of the opinion that saws without the computer stuff are better? I wonder about repairs. A 'regular' chainsaw, I can repair many of the problems that occur, but if it's computer-related, I'm outta luck. So, that makes it less than ideal, I suppose. Same thing with a modern pickup truck. They've gotten too complicated with chips and computers. Do you think the fancy saws are so reliable and 'better,' that it overrides any repair needs? Back to pickup trucks... they seem super reliable, but beyond a warranty repair, it's kinda scary after that warranty is gone. I bought new Ram 1500 not long ago and within two weeks, a road rock chipped my windshield. And, of course, the chip advanced to being 2 feet long! I did check to see if it could be filled in but was told it won't work on that ding. Thankfully, not right in my vision. Somebody told me that windshield costs thousands due to all the tech that is embedded in it. Dangit! When I bought that truck, the sales add-on closing lady tried to sell me a separate insurance policy for just the windshield, lol. I denied it, never heard of such (doesn't my regular policy cover windshields?) but it makes me wonder now if I made the right choice. EDIT: Forgot to mention battery saws. I have one, a Husky pro model, 540iXP. I'm not sure it's worth the extra cost over the 'lesser' model. But battery saws... they might get there someday. Or are they 'there?'
Windshield should be covered on your insurance...usually $100 deductible. All these computers on new vehicles cause lots of problems...they will eventually on saws to some degree too. (I really doubt they will still be usable in 50 years, like some 1970 saws still are)
I have been checking Echo's website now & again to make sure they don't sneak out something new but otherwise not been keeping tabs. FI is coming. They are going to sell it to us as a performance upgrade rather than an EPA appeasement which it most assuredly is. I have a 80cc stock saw that was designed 20 years ago that will hang right with a 500i that I paid 2/3 of what the Stihl costs for, so in my opinion the 'performance' isn't really a sell. They do run very well, but not leaps and bounds better that I would expect for all the hoopla/cost. I own two saws from Husky with 'computers' in them. The first one was an early model and did experience some teething. The latest is a 2025 model and I would hope that it should be completely debugged at this point. Time will tell. I'm not anti tech, but I am assuredly anti over-complication especially when the benefit is small or null. I've come to the conclusion that the battery saw is for the lazy. I do own a battery saw for anyone who's jimmies might be rustled by that statement. Why? Because they do not really do anything 'better' than a gasser, they just offer more convenience. Until they figure out how to store the energy of a quarter gallon of gasoline in a 3 lb battery, gas will remain king. I can't even start with trucks. SMH
Dealer warranty work is a nightmare as the experienced ones only want one that pay and ford transmission apparently dont
I think the perception of being able to work on them is just that, perception, You can get Stihl and Husky software and work on them without being a dealer. I remember when gas compression engines went to air fuel ration controllers with ECM’s O2 sensors and then NOx sensors. It “seemed” like they were harder to work on, reality is they run much better and last a lot longer than their uncontrolled counter parts. As much as I loved a carburetor on my Harleys, the last one I owned was fuel injected and I never thought twice about not having to mess with it. As far as saws go, I think the M-tronic is probably better than Auto tune, but I don’t own any Auto Tune Husky’s to say either way as I’m not much of a fan of the 5 series Husky’s. There have been hot restart issues on the 500i reported by smoke jumpers, some have gotten away from them in that specific use category, however every 500i I’ve been around (all ported) have been excellent runners.
