I think Stihl did a gas cap recall in 2011 for the "flippy" caps that were leaking. I've got a lot of Stihl saws and never had a gas cap leak problem, although one of my saws was included in the recall, so I got a new "flippy cap" for that one.
A chainsaw shop was saying that when Husky started selling saws at big box stores and local ma & pa hardware stores, when the owners had a problem and took it back to the place they bought it, they'd tell them to take it to his shop for warranty work.
He went on to say that one guy had bought a saw at I think a JD dealership (may have been a few years ago, IDK if JD sells them now or not.. for that matter it may not have even been a JD dealer) and they hadn't prepped it before he left the store. Got home and couldn't get it to stay running. Within an hour or two of purchase he went back to the place he bought it and said I can't get it to stay running. They told him they didn't have small engine mechanics, they just sold them - to take it to this guys Husky Dealer saw shop and he'd deal with it under warranty.
He said that kind of thing was running dedicated Husky dealers out of business, that these nationwide chains could sell the saws cheaper than he could, so he wasn't selling that many Husky saws, but was getting all the saws to do massive paperwork on to get paid, etc.
I've often gripped about the cost of things from a Stihl Dealer, but I do like the dealer network they have.
If you're handy you can get Husky parts online whereas genuine Stihl parts are not that easy to source outside of dealers. They tend to protect their dealers in that regard anyway.
I have Nephews that have a ton of Husky stuff and they run hard, and have been very trouble free for them. (Neither are overly brand loyal, as they each have Stihl MS462's and one has a 261 while the other has an older 461)
I've just had Stihl my whole life and haven't had any real issues at all. But mostly older Stihl's are particular on the cold starting technique as "Scissors" noted above.
TBH I don't think you can go wrong with either brand.
A chainsaw shop was saying that when Husky started selling saws at big box stores and local ma & pa hardware stores, when the owners had a problem and took it back to the place they bought it, they'd tell them to take it to his shop for warranty work.
He went on to say that one guy had bought a saw at I think a JD dealership (may have been a few years ago, IDK if JD sells them now or not.. for that matter it may not have even been a JD dealer) and they hadn't prepped it before he left the store. Got home and couldn't get it to stay running. Within an hour or two of purchase he went back to the place he bought it and said I can't get it to stay running. They told him they didn't have small engine mechanics, they just sold them - to take it to this guys Husky Dealer saw shop and he'd deal with it under warranty.
He said that kind of thing was running dedicated Husky dealers out of business, that these nationwide chains could sell the saws cheaper than he could, so he wasn't selling that many Husky saws, but was getting all the saws to do massive paperwork on to get paid, etc.
I've often gripped about the cost of things from a Stihl Dealer, but I do like the dealer network they have.
If you're handy you can get Husky parts online whereas genuine Stihl parts are not that easy to source outside of dealers. They tend to protect their dealers in that regard anyway.
I have Nephews that have a ton of Husky stuff and they run hard, and have been very trouble free for them. (Neither are overly brand loyal, as they each have Stihl MS462's and one has a 261 while the other has an older 461)
I've just had Stihl my whole life and haven't had any real issues at all. But mostly older Stihl's are particular on the cold starting technique as "Scissors" noted above.
TBH I don't think you can go wrong with either brand.
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