You must have got a rare Poulan as it has lived well past it's durability period LOL. If you had your owners manual it would tell you on the first couple of pages that saw is for occasional use only and is not what is called a working saw.I was a Poulan Pro dealer for 11 years until 2007 and they were my bread and butter for many of those years but they no longer sell a heavy duty saw that was ment to cut a lot of wood,once they started selling to hardware/box stores they did away with them and went after the homeowner market.

 

Hey Glenn, I just took notice of where you live.....
We hit the beach for a couple of weeks each summer at my brother in laws house in Stone Harbor. I'd love to stop in and trade tales one day next August when we are over your way.
Usually at a loss for things to do on a rainy day and that would fit the bill quite nicely!

 

Pony up the cash, get a stihl, and never have to buy a saw again. We have a trio of 290 farm bosses with 18 inch bars and full chisel chains. All they ever need is 2 cycle, bar oil, and sharp chains.

Some saws may have been good 20 years ago, but few are today. Husqvarna is the only other saw I'd use and only if it was nearly impossible to get to a Stihl dealer.

If you need any more advice, go look at what your local tree service and fire department use. I'd bet 90% or more use stihl.

Mike

 

I need to become best buds with your BIL. I stay at the motels about a block down from the area where Hoys is and the morning pancake place...its expensive!

 

That would be cool I am only 10 to 15 min away from Stone Harbor in fact it takes longer to get out of stone harbor then to get to my house from the Parkway.

 

Is the Pancake house Uncle Bills

 

yes! uncle bills

 

then a block back near the inner causeway is a weird pizza restaurant called 'give pizza chance' or something like that

 

One of my old college roomates is part of tha family that owns (until they split everything up) The Windrift, Avalon Inn, Stone harbor Country Club, and several other estabishments. I spent the summer of 1982 (I think) working as manager of an old waterslide on Hunt's Pier (now gone) daily and as a "bouncer" at the Windrift on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays.
What a great summer that was.
My wifes family vacationed in Stone Harbor there in her school years and after we got married she kept wanting me to go down there with her. Her family resumed vacationing there after she and I were married a couple of years and she talked me into it. I had always vacationed in the mountains of PA at my parents cabin and kinda thought the beach was dumb.
Always made an excuse to only stay one week - had jobs to do around the house on vacation time, etc.
Finally, I learned the secret to vacationing: Take 2 weeks! It takes the better part of a week to unwind a little bit, then you can really relax the remainder of the time.
I usually hit the beach by 9 am and leave around when the guards do. Sit with my chair in the water and devour about a book per day.
Now, i love going to the beach and would hate to ever miss it.
I know the residents have a name for tourists; shoo-bees or something like that.
What does that mean?
Had many a breakfast at Bill's too. Haven't been to Fred's in years; little old for that scene any more.
BIL's house is on 111th across the street from the bird sanctuary. We sit on the nun's beach. Nice and quiet and you don't get clobbered by boogie-boarders. I mean that is lots of fun, and I don't mind walking to another beach to do it, but it is nice to be able to cool of in the water and not have to worry about getting conked.
anyway........
Looking forward to getting together with you guys for a couple of hours in August!

 

I only go to the beach once a year when a buddy and his family come down from the city for a weeks vacation,I take it for granted because I live here year round(I would rather be up at your familys cabin in the mountians LOL) but I still need to be near the ocean as long as I know it's there when I want to go I'm happy.
We are friends with the owner of the Uncle Bills that is around the corner from us and her brothers own the rest of them,we had to stop going there as it does cost to much to eat there but my wife really likes their peanutbutter pancakes.

 

That's unfortunate that Poulan let itself go down the can so to say. I am impressed that it's lived this long under the circumstances.

Last year we had a cleanup day at church - we're adding on to the church and we were clearing about two acres of woods, so all the guys brought their chainsaws, and one guy set up his truck as the gas, oil, and chain sharpening depot. My little Poulan cut great for 10 hours solid with nothing more than refils on gas and bar oil, and one chain sharpening! All they guys running Husq's were mad and were having problems all day!

If you've ever watched the Blues Brothers movie, you could say that my saw's "on a mission from God" - now I'm waiting for the part where it completely falls apart ROFL!

I have no beef with Stihl - they're great saws, just a little pricey. My uncle has a Stihl Farm Boss with a 24" bar and shock motor mounts. It's old and weighs a TON but it's been busy for over 15 years without a hitch.

 

I have 2 stihl's 290,361. Check out Dolmar this is the next saw I get the 7900 model.

 

I've never heard of Dolmar - newer company?

A friend of mine has an old old saw - the bar's at least 22". It's weird because it's a big four stroke, kind of like a big saw with a small B&S on it... heavy.

 

Husky and Dolmar are good saws but I'm staying with my Stihls. In my travels I have found that people try and get one saw to do everything. Which is understandable because they don't want to spend the money. But having a large saw and a small saw can make life much easier when cutting firewood. I use a Stihl 180, 029 FarmBoss (18" bar) and the venerable 044 (30" bar). I couldn't agree more with the comments about using a sharp chain. Learn to file it yourself and watch the chips and don't keep cutting when the chain needs to be resharped. It will save you a lot of time and gas.

Take care of your saws and they will take care of you. We had a windstorm fell several trees on the block. One tree had fallen on a house and there where 3 guys using Stihls with very dull chains and not making much progress. I walked up with my 029 and 044 and asked if they needed help. They replied that I was not the only one there with a saw. I shook my head and started cutting the tree up with the sharp chain on the 029. In 5 minutes they all had quit cutting and were loading. When I got to the trunk and began using the 044 on the 31" hackberry, I was a one man show.

 

Actually Dolmar is one of the older brands of chain saw,but it hasnt gotten the same publicity that the big 2 have,im not sure if thats from a smaller advertising budget or what.