Shindaiwa 285S / 352S

My go to saw – I own between 20 and 30 saws of all major brands mostly all forestry grade as well. This little Shindaiwa is by far one of my favorites. I have too many hours to even count on this little thing and I literally beat the crap out of it cutting mostly hard woods. This saw incredibly easy to start power is crazy for being so small.If these saws weren't so expensive to buy parts in United States id buy many more. Show details

This is perfect for me – Bought a 352s in 2007 and have it used it continually since... I heat with wood. I have had no trouble with it and its lightweight , for me, 83 years. Still going strong. The saw that is. I would definitely recommend buying another one. I live in the north eastern USA.  Show details

Indestructible? – I've had my 352S for about 5 years, usually using it lightly in autumn to prepare firewood for the home. It has a 16" bar on it. Lately (during the past 6 months) I've been slowly getting into the arborist industry and have cut a couple of medium-larger trees (about 25m high) - a Eucalyptus tree and an Iron Bark with this saw. It was used to… Read more

cut everything from the small branches all the way down to the large trunk. The borrom of the tree (the bottom 3m of the trunk) was too large for the chainsaw. Or rather I didn't want to kill the poor saw just to cut one trunk, so I stopped using it on that tree. But during the process it has cut large dead limbs that were totally dry and hard as anything on the Ironbark, and I accidentally dropped it from a height of 10m or so, watching in slow motion as it hit the fence, bounced onto the sandstone and rolled down the hill. My grounds-man went to check the damage, pulled the chord, and it started first go!

It has never needed any replacement parts, although the on/off switch has disappeared into the housing (it's permanently in the 'on' position, so I pull the choke to turn it off). And also, a couple of times when I leave it laying around I find that it had leaked some oil onto the ground. Not a huge amount, and not a big worry, but not ideal nevertheless.

+ Reliable, never had significant problems.

+ solid construction, can take a beating.

- on/off switch has disappeared (Although I should have got it fixed while it was becoming loose)

- can sometimes leak some oil when left lying around.

Nice little saw – Very light saw, I have it for about 8 years now and its not used very much. However its been tortured by me on some occasions. Other than new chains and bars no parts have been changed and it runs like new. One star down because when its been laying around for a longer time you need to pull about 8 times even with choke on. This is because it needs to prime the fuel to the carburator.

Best Quality – Buy the origonal shindaiwas like the 352s and not the rebadged echo models and you will have a faultless saw. Look at them side by side, if you can't spot the difference in build quality right off you probably shouldn't be handling a chainsaw in the first place.

Stihl /Shindaiwa competition – Iv'e had 2 Shindaiwas. The first was stolen:0(. My friend has a 20 inch Stihl chainsaw and told me how great it was. We had a little race through some Australian tea tree.My shindaiwa went through 3 or 4 seconds quicker without any heavy pressure.I have an easy sharp 16 inch bar and chain which is a big help. It's nice and light and well constructed. Great sales team in Hamilton Nothing so far.

In comparison with many others it is a good design, easy to maintain, no oil leaks, – Have had a 352s for three years of 8 weeks x 4-5 hrs per day of 50-200 mm all angle cutting and have not found any faults yet. best is the twin air cleaner system and ease of maintenance. Strong well made construction, easy starting every time. best air filter I have seen on any one of around 8 brands inc Swedish and German. For use in very… Read more

cold (frozen timber) conditions I would use a Swedish heated handle model. Cannot fault it The chain bar oil tank had a cork seal leaked which I replaced with 20 cent 'o'ring

Terrible – see above totally fed up, spent good money to buy a supposed good quality saw and got crap, and NO SPARES are available to the dealers light easy to start The service is non existant, they have been bought out by ECHO and the distributor has been changed, so NO SPARES are available to the dealers, I have had to have 2 Carbies replaced, and it has… Read more

taken over a month in the shop they cannot get parts from All Power, they say tey dont have any [parts to send out.

I am totally pi..sed off will never buy another Shindaiwa product, should have stuck to my Stihl