[Stonehenge]

I'd like to take a quick straw poll of hardscapers to find out who uses which brands of cut-off saws.

No right or wrong answers, just looking for info.

[Lanelle]

Seems that we can only vote for one brand. What if we have two or more brands?

[Pelican]

I bought a Partner, Unilock had a special on them I couldn't walk away from. I've got the 14" version and am pleased with its performance, it starts easily and has plenty of power.

[Stonehenge]

If you use more than one brand, I'd like to have yo do this:

Cast your vote for the most number of saws of a single brand that your company owns. If it's 50-50, pick one.

Post in this thread whichever is the second-most owned saw with your company. If you use more than 2, we'll just ignore the third place results for now.

[site]

We have one Partner and one Stihl. If both are fueled up and set up with the correct blade everyone reaches for the Partner.

[cutntrim]

Thus far I've only rented...and they've always been Stihl. Several of the rental saws have had starting issues - as in, it's a major PITA to get them started. I've rented from three different stores too, so it isn't just one store's equipment that has the problem.

When I've had reliable starting ones, they've worked fine. Although I found quickly that a 12" was too small, so now I only rent the 14" size.

The Stihl 14" is available for under $1,000CDN from a couple different locations. I have not priced the Partner, but I may also consider Shindaiwa as they make high quality two cycle lawn equipment with which I'm very familiar.

[Stonehenge]

Our Stihl has been reliable in it's starting, but in an odd way. I've tweaked the carb settings with no improvement, but starting it cold goes like this every single time:


Full choke - pull 10X. 10th pull will get a sputter.
Change to half choke - pull 3X. She'll fire right up.

This has been the formula for this saw for 7 years.....
.
The Partners seem much quicker to start

[Pelican]

Holy crap!!!

If I had a new saw that started like that, it would land back on the dealer's bench in a hurry!!! You must look like Popeye with your pulling arm Jeff!

My Partner starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull every time, on the first if it's warmed up. I rarely use the compression release on it, it doesn't seem too hard to pull with full compression.

By the way, I don't use my saw for brick cutting as the thread title suggests, I use it for coping and cutting asphalt for pavers. I've got a 10" wet bench saw I use for cutting pavers.

[Stonehenge]

That is part of the reason the Stihl has lasted as long as it has - it's the last saw taken out on a project. One of the 3 Partners is always chosen first.

We saw a huge increase in production when we started cutting pavers where they lay, using a cutoff saw. We cart around a tub saw for projects that involve a lot of difficult cuts. Otherwise, the tubs stay home.