I will miss my old saw; 22 years we were together and cut hundreds of cords of wood; perhaps thousands. I have batted it with an excavator, run over it with a skidder, and even grazed it a time or two with a bulldozer. A few weeks ago though I lodged a tree and pushed it over with my dozer and it landed on the saw. $119 later it was running, only to do it again the next day. This time though it did not fair so well. It is annihilated...gone. I am using a spare 446 Husky now to get by, but it is not big enough that is for sure. It starts fine cold, but takes 17 cranks sometimes to get it running when its hot which I suspect is the coil. It is frustration anyway, so a new chainsaw is in my future, but $1100 for a new 046 replacement...yikes!
Yeah, that's too bad. Have you looked at Dolmars? I think a 7900 is several hundred dollars less than the comparable stihl, and still German engineered.
Home Depot rental centers unload low-hour Makita 6421's on occasion. $300 give or take. Buy a $200 top-end and a six pack, in an afternoon you'll have a 79cc monster for around $500. Will have all the umph your 046 did and more too.
Yep. You're obviously comfortable working on saws so there's no need to feel a new one is your only option. Deals like this one in my area aren't so hard to find.
You should be able to do better than 1100, I shopped around and came in under 900 with 25" bar two chains oil etc. A thread was just posted about a 461 for 850ish. You can try and look at other chainsaws but but if you are like me nothing will fill the void of the 046 like a new 461 will!!!!
Sounds like a business expense. Best to buy new. I had an $1100 day a month or so ago. New gas compressor and nail gun on the same day. My accountant put it to me this way when Quickbooks basically forced me to upgrade my lap top. "You are getting a 40% discount buying a new one before December 31st since you won't be paying taxes on that money."
22 years of use out of your old 046 sounds pretty darn impressive to me.If you can get even close to that amount of hard use out of a new $1100 saw then that would seem worth the money to me.
I got my 661 last summer, brand new from the dealer, out the door for $1050 with 20" bar and a 6 pack of oil. Now, I had to drive about 45 miles to find a dealer who actually specializes in woodcutting - most of them around here are tractor dealers who also sell chainsaws. A got to run a buddy's Dolmar 6100 a couple weekends ago, and I was impressed. I won't be trading in the 362c, but it was a really nice saw, especially for the price.
I agree, I never liked Husqvarna but the dolmars I like if I didn't do Stihl, I would and have often almost pulled the trigger on the Makita at HD, I think that's one of the best deals going on a chainsaw. I too hit all my Stihl dealers within 40 minuet drive. The smallest shop gave me the best info and the best price.
