posted 9 years ago
I have never physically had one in my hands so this is hearsay, but I have grown up around the big-timber logging industry and run a professional tree service and talk with lots of guys that run chainsaws for a living so take it as you will:
Makita makes quality tools that work hard. The guys that I've talked to who run them say they are great until something breaks, which with a complicated machine being used for real work is bound to happen. The biggest complaint I have heard about the saws by far is the down time involved with getting the saw repaired. You just can't get the parts for them like you can a Stihl or Husky saw, or even the saws you see at the ranch/home stores like Johnsered and Echo.
Bottom line: if you're looking to use the saw at a homeowner level it will serve you well and you can probably weather the extra down time if you have to send it in to be repaired. If you're going to rely on the saw to make you money and will be losing money if you can't get it fixed ASAP I'd go with Stihl of Husky if I had the funds.
"Instead of Pay It Forward I prefer Plant It Forward" ~Howard Story / "God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools." ~John Muir
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