500i

[rico]

Durability and reliability are very important to me, which is another reason I choose to run Huskies. Other than someone feeding one of my 395's bad fuel and someone shanking a tree resulting in a smashed 562 & 550, I honestly can't remember the last time one of my saws needed to go to the shop for service or repairs. Feed' em good fuel and keep the air filters clean and they run for fucking years.

 

[southsoundtree]

I have found the same with Stihl. A bit of maintenance, and not running them with dull chain, overtensioned, etc. goes a long with, along with quality fuel and mix.

 

[27RMT0N]

Didn’t know you were getting into modded saws.. as I recall you were a stock saw kinda guy. No matter.. my biggest gripe is we have several crappy Stihl shops near by, a couple of decent ones half day travel. But no husky shops within about a full days round trip.. for the cost of a simple repair it’s cheaper for me to just buy a new fucken saw and get back to work than drop off and pick up!
Or try to fix it myself which is hit or miss

Same boat here (har har for us ferry folks...) but the nearest Husqvarna dealer I trust is Woods Logging in Sedro Woolly. They are a western Washington logging institution, but effectively a ferry ride that might not come these days and a 2.5 hour trip in each direction. It takes a full day just to go there and back. Otherwise I'd LOVE to get into Husky saws to have more options. When I go into Woods with fitted jeans and a clean t-shirt, they treat me like ignorant-homeowner-crap, when I show up in dirty Carhartt's and a shirt stained with fir pitch they treat me a little better, but I never feel respected either way.

I truly don't care about Stihl vs Husky, and I'd be more than happy to take whichever saw in its class is the best, but I do need at least minimal dealer support given where I live.

@rico , I know this sounds like a total n00b question, but given my experience asking about buying modded saws at Woods (despite 13 years in the industry....), how does Maddsons handle the issue? Can you just call and say 'Hey, I want a ported 372XP" and then go pick it up?

For the record, with mostly Stihl Saws, I haven't had to take a single one in for repairs in like 5 years. Just general maintenance.

 

[evo]

Same boat here (har har for us ferry folks...) but the nearest Husqvarna dealer I trust is Woods Logging in Sedro Woolly. They are a western Washington logging institution, but effectively a ferry ride that might not come these days and a 2.5 hour trip in each direction. It takes a full day just to go there and back. Otherwise I'd LOVE to get into Husky saws to have more options. When I go into Woods with fitted jeans and a clean t-shirt, they treat me like ignorant-homeowner-crap, when I show up in dirty Carhartt's and a shirt stained with fir pitch they treat me a little better, but I never feel respected either way.

I truly don't care about Stihl vs Husky, and I'd be more than happy to take whichever saw in its class is the best, but I do need at least minimal dealer support given where I live.

@rico , I know this sounds like a total n00b question, but given my experience asking about buying modded saws at Woods (despite 13 years in the industry....), how does Maddsons handle the issue? Can you just call and say 'Hey, I want a ported 372XP" and then go pick it up?

For the record, with mostly Stihl Saws, I haven't had to take a single one in for repairs in like 5 years. Just general maintenance.

I had the same experience there. I took my 020 in cause I couldn’t figure out the problem many times over, nor could the local Stihl dealer. A full day and a half round trip (drop off and pick up) and new crank seals the saw still wasn’t right. Admittedly slightly better. But it turned out to be just the tank vent rotted out and needed a recalled/updated replacement. To be fair this is a legit ms020 late model so they likely haven’t seen one in a long time.
After MANY hours of online archive digging and a $5 part it runs like a champ

 

[southsoundtree]

Easy to see dealer support being limited to the most recent things.

Young guys at the counter might be a concern.


What a person can do for oneself is different from what the dealer can/ chooses to do.


My graybeard, local mechanic put a bushing in my steering column. The local, reputable, busy shop was going to put in an assembly for 10 times the price.

When he was working in my old chipper, 5 -7 years ago, he said, "You're not supposed to drill out the carb. I've been doing it for about 30-40 years."

Runs like a champ! Hungry as could ask.

 

[rico]

@rico , I know this sounds like a total n00b question, but given my experience asking about buying modded saws at Woods (despite 13 years in the industry....), how does Maddsons handle the issue? Can you just call and say 'Hey, I want a ported 372XP" and then go pick it up?

It's been a while since I purchased a saw from Madsen's, but yes. In the past I would simply call and tell them what I want. When i am buying modded saws I like them lightly modded, so many times they had what I wanted in stock or would bust it out very quickly. Unfortunately Madsen's is not to immune to the supply chain nightmare that has brought saw availability to a screeching halt, and last time I talk to them they told me it was gonna be a couple months wait...