Shindaiwa 357

Terrible – The Shindaiwa 357 is one of the worst-designed climbing saws ever produced. It works fine for ground work but, for professional climbing (its advertised purpose), it is inherently dangerous and non-functional. Amongst its problems: 1. The tanks are reversed, putting the bar oil vent above the handle when the saw is hung vertically (from a lanyard… Read more

or in a scabbard). A climbing saw must be suspended vertically in order to climb safely and effectively. One never ascends a tree without filling both tanks, so the oil starts leaking out through the vent as soon as the climb starts. The vent is located at the base of the top handle so the bar oil runs down the handle. A slick saw handle in a tree is deadly. I could not imagine a more stupid design. I wonder how many people have been injured or killed, due to this design. The tank reversal is also inherently problematic because, after sucking two-stroke exhaust for hours, it would be very easy to accidentally put fuel in the bar oil tank or visa versa. This has not yet happened to me but other climbers have told me about damaging saws due to this confusion. 2. There is no lanyard ring. The only way to suspend the saw is by tying to the top handle. There are many instances, such as a swing-away, where the climber must drop the saw immediately upon completion of the cut. I have twice had the lanyard slip up the (oil-slick) top handle and grab the throttle, resulting in a saw running wide open, swinging from the end of a rope. If the lanyard had been secured to my saddle, instead of a separate rope, I surely would have been maimed. 3. On the saw I purchased, the engine floods if the saw is suspended vertically for more than a minute. The saw starts and runs great, so long as it is not used for its labeled purpose. There is nothing more unprofessional than having to yank the starter cord 20 times, while the crew waits below, stopping vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Before I gave up on the saw, I had several instances where the whole neighborhood had gathered, with cameras and lawn chairs, to witness the topping of huge albizias. By the time I got the Shindaiwa started, the crew had to let the traffic move and the spectators had left. What it cost me in bad publicity would have paid for ten Stihl 200Ts. Incidentally, if you earn your living climbing, I have seen no saws that can compete with the Stihl. It will pay for the price difference 100 times during its life. I do not know how long the 200T will last, but I have a 25-year-old Stihl 020 that still starts on the first pull. I only stopped using it because parts became unavailable. 4. The chain brake attachment is not secure and it comes off constantly while working in a tree. This sort of distraction is not acceptable when one is suspended from a rope 120’ in the canopy of a brittle tree. 5. Shindaiwa’s customer service stinks. I took the saw back to the dealer twice within two weeks of purchase and many times subsequently. He did his best to correct the problem. A couple times the saw even worked for a few climbs before the problem resumed. I tried again and again, for more than a year, to get the problem resolved. When it finally became clear that neither the dealer nor the distributor could resolve the issue, I called Shindaiwa USA President [name censored] on 7/13/09. [name censored] assured me that he would immediately resolve the problem to my satisfaction. I was passed down the chain of command until I got to [name censored] on 9/16/09. [name censored] heartily corroborated all of the technical issues. When I asked him why Shindaiwa would create such a foolish design, he said “The Japanese do things for strange reasons”. When I told him that these failures are unacceptable, he responded “You will find the same issues with all current climbing saws, of any brand. They just don’t make them like they used to.” As to the detaching chain brake, he said “Most professionals remove the chain brake entirely”. [name censored] assured me that he would resolve the problem to my satisfaction. I told him that I was unwilling to wait any longer and that the only acceptable resolution was an immediate refund of my purchase. He offered to get me a credit for another brand of saw, of my choice. He returned my call, a couple days later, and told me that he had arranged for a $100.00 credit against the purchase of another saw with a local retailer. He had not even bothered to check to see if the retailer had the saw I wanted (an MS200T, of course). I got a bit irate, at that point, and made it very clear that $100.00 was unacceptable. His response… “The saw is out of warranty” On a saw that is still on its first bar & chain.

Dangerous saw! See comments below.