A couple of weeks ago, I took my ancient 16'' Poulon Micro 25 and my newer 16'' Poulon Pro 220 to my daughter's. Her father in law brought his 18'' Craftsman. They rented a lift.
The occasion was 2 huge, 3' diameter trunk silver maples. When they bought the house, I told them the trees had to go, and the sooner the better, and they would have to hire professionals because they hung over the electric lines, house, and road. They didn't listen to dad.
Some of the places I was working, I wished the Micro 25 still had is original 12'' bar. On the other hand, many of the limbs took 2 passes with the 18'' Craftsman.
Both Poulons are a bit cranky about starting. The Craftsman had sort of a different system, you pull the rope out slowly, and near the end, it unwinds and starts right up. However, it was about twice as heavy as the Pro 220.
I hate the chain tensioner on the Pro 220. It has a little gear in the bar you turn with a screw driver and it pushes a rack against a pin. It just won't stay tight. The saw won't cut right with a loose chain, and even if you put up with it, the chain comes off. I used the Micro 25 most of the time. It has a 2.5 cu in engine, and the chips fly.
I once had a job where I used a Stihl. It was a good saw.
Try to match the saw to the job. The bigger saws are heavy and awkward on smaller jobs. Of course, compared to the saw, a second, different sized bar and chain, is cheap. You want several chains anyhow so you can keep changing to a sharp one.
) of the 031av. I prefer stihl but am not opposed to a husqy. something capable of a 16"-18" bar. It will get used a couple of times a year for trimming/cutting down trees
