Is the 291 a replacement for the 290? If so I would wait to buy to see how it is. I am all Sthil , but would not buy a first year saw.

poll leaning heavy for the stihl!

still not sure, both seem like great saws....husky is about $50 cheaper tho.

anyone know what the warranty is like for either?

Friend of mine did his Mormon mission in a part of the Chilean nation which is big on logging. He said parts were weeks out if they needed them and they didn't get paid if they weren't working.  90%+ used Stihl's. He owns a Stihl. I bought a Stihl too. I'd buy another when mine dies. Buy a pro model.

I have a husq 450 rancher. I haven't had it long so no opinion yet, but I bought it based on others opinions and expectations of it being good.

I have the rancher but it's not the auto tune. Great saw. Zero issues in almost ten years or however long I've had it.

Leaning a bit Husqvarna, seems warranty for stihl is only 2 years.
Husqvarna is 4 years!

WELL! after alot of thought and talking to a sales rep at walmart I went with a homelite pro!
42cc 18in bar, they say its just as good at the stihl and husqvarna but less then 1/4 the price!!!
she said that they are so reliable that they did away with their warranty service all together because it was never used!
looking forward to doing some cutting tonight!

So what did you really end up with?

oh your no fun
got the husky. 4 year warranty vs 2. and the auto tune should make things easier cutting year round
plus should help the engine to last longer since it is continually tuning the fuel mix

I realize now I should have let that go a little longer before posting, sorry!!

Congrats on your new saw, I it will do you well I'm sure. I've never used one with auto tune so maybe post an update when you've got a few hours on it, let us know your thoughts?

Good choice. Like all quality equipment, treat it nice and it'll treat your wallet nice.

  You too ?    

I bought a Husky eleven years ago. A couple spark plugs, a couple bars and more chains than I can count later it's still running strong.  I am considering having it rebuilt by a local dealer next year just as a preventative measure. We burn six to eight ricks of wood each year. Add in an ice storm and clearing several acres of land. If it broke down tomorrow and couldn't be repaired I would buy another.

You burn Ricks wood?

Both are good saws.

I have a Stihl Pro series saw. So I'm bias.

I have a 455 rancher and an MS271.

They are both great saws and cut through trees like butter.  

I would agree with others saying "Get both".

A spare chainsaw is never a bad thing.  I had to pull the Stihl out one day when I lost a bar nut on my Husky.  I bought spare nuts after that, but the day's job would have been over if I hadn't had the Stihl.

I've got the 290 and it's a work horse ....love it .
 

Update;
bought the Husqvarna in part because of the 4 year warranty vs 2 year on the stihl.
I WAS originally leaning stihl because of a few small things like the choke on the husky being a flimsy looking plastic pull tab, and the fuel/oil fill caps
made to work with the scrench.  my FIL has a few jonsered like that and the plastic where the scrench fits is broken on all of them and they are a bitch to get out to fill.
HOWEVER, on the newest models of husky they have a stronger choke lever and a flipper on the fill caps so they are tool free.
that plus the warranty closed the deal for me.
so I ended up buying the Rancher 455 with autotune.
I have since cut about 5 cords of mostly red oak and I am pretty happy with it! the auto tune was a bit off at first while it collected data.
in the directions it says you need to initially run the saw at full RPM under load (cutting) for 3-5 minutes....damn saw cut too well to do that.
I tried slicing away at a big oak for a minute or two to " program it"....but apparently that wasn't good enough as occasionally when I would get down with a cut
the saw would die, very annoying.
then came across a large "Y" section of oak that I needed to slice up. cut about 2 feet through the middle of was is basically a huge knot and that seemed to do the trick.
has been running perfectly since then.  
I would also mention after all this cutting the air filter still looks like new, so the airflow precleaner deal seems to work quite well!
fuel economy seems to be good. cut all this plus two more trees in another area on one tank.

I bought my Husqvarna at a dealer that sells both. I guess its considered two businesses under one roof but whatever.  So it was a real apples to apples conversation. I have not had one problem with my saw in several years of owning it.

Good choice.

MS291 is a kick ass saw, would definitely recommend. I bought one about 6 months ago to replace my aging ms250. I think I've turned the 250 over about twice since then.

I just got this the other week. I love it. LOVE. IT.

Husqvarna 450 20"

And I spent years cutting trees everyday with Stihl. I just went with the best deal. As far as I'm concerned, flip a coin.

My Sthil keeps 37 acres looking nice.

Buy a used saw for much less.

This old 1977 031AV still runs like a champ with a 20" bar.

With a Husqvarna you'd be able to keep 37 hectares looking nice.

Husqvarna > Stihl

Fact.

Husky 372 with 28" bar/chain refuses to say NO!





But my Stihl 461 with 32" chain/bar puts it to shame....