Husqvarna 455R question

[Steve B]

Anyone have one and can report on their likes/dislikes with it? I have a

345, and really love it. But, today, we were logging, and had a "situation".

It has a 16" bar, something I would never ever buy again, but at the time, adequate to our needs. I outgrew it, basically.

I cut a hinge with four cuts, and had to cut it from two sides, instead of just doing two cuts like I could have with a 20". When I went to cut the back, the hinge was off enough that the tree twisted, jamming the saw in there.

So, I had to get a second short saw, and finish the back cut, which was enough to get it to fall, and release the first saw. Luckily, neither saw was hurt, but the tree, twisted and fell where it wasn't supposed to, on my escape route. I got out okay, and no saws hurt, but it's time for a bigger saw.

I really like my Husky, and a friend of mine has two Stihls, and an old Husky. For the last two days, he had nothing but problems with the Stihls, but the Husky did fine. It had a 16" bar, which is why he used the 18" Stihls first.

I've seen 455, 455e, 455r, and there are possibly others. What's the difference?

Like to hear what you know on Huskys.

Steve

[gregz]

I am always tightening chain. I forget what model and size I have, but the labels do slide off. Always start fast, but I need to watch more on gas storage.

Greg

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, One thing I can tell, when I go out to Vancouver Island, there are loggers every where. I see lots of Husky or Jonsered chain saws, almost nothing else.

[Joe]

Hopefully, not just because they're cheaper.

Joe

[Don Phillipson]

The best repairman here recommended against Husqvarnas because he said all the Canadian models now come from the same factory in Toronto, but are differently badged (Poulan, Husky, Craftsman, and so on.) He now buys only German-made chainsaws. I have tried those three Canadian brands and now use a 14" Stihl (which seems to do more than 18" models of cheaper lines, faster too.)

[Harry K]

Stick with name brands (Husky, Stihl, Jonsereds, Echo). Buy from a local dealer. Do NOT buy any saw you find in a big box store, they are basically throwaways. There reallyh isn't much difference between any of those 4 brands in respect to performance, maintance, long life, etc. The "homeowner" grade (one step up from big box) sold by dealers will last your lifetime unless you are out there running them 8hours a day 5days a week - even then they will 'pull the train'.

Your experience with Stihls is almost certainlhy a matter of maintenance and probably leaving fuel in them for long periods. It is not due to them being Stihls.

Again. Find a local dealer and buy whatever homeowner grade saws he sells. Brand is not critical.

BTW you experience getting a saw stuck is much easier solved with a Stihl than other brands. Just drop the power head - the inboard clutch makes the job easy. Not so with outboard clutch saws which is almost impossible if you had a reasonably snug chain when it got bound up. I ran Homelite back in the days when they built real saws and stuck one several times. Blessed the day it finally died and I discovered Stihl and the inboard clutch!

Harry K

[SRN]

Current Stihl consumer warranty is 1 year, or 2 years if you buy a 6-pack of Stihl 2-stroke oil at time of saw purchase

[SRN]

Of course, and the warranty is good nation-wide at any Stihl dealer with a dated receipt.