Biggie Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 I feel like my prayers have been answered. We used the 8" corded version for years and, while I love the 5⅜" fuel model, I've broke 4 in the last two years. They've been covered under warranty but I was starting to come to the conclusion the the 5⅜" wasn't heavy duty enough for what I was using it for and needed a different answer. This is exactly what I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggie Posted April 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 Got my new saw today and the thing is beefy. The motor is bigger than the corded model and it makes the 5⅜" fuel model look like a tinker toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulengr Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 How did you break them?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggie Posted April 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 17 hours ago, paulengr said: How did you break them? I keep taking out the gears. Started with a new saw in fall of 2017 broke it, sent it in and they repaired it with armature and gear housing. Stripped gears again and they sent me a new saw. Broke 2nd new saw and sent it in to warranty to have them replace armature and gear housing. Broke repaired saw and I'm now on a 3rd new saw. I see in the online parts manual they have updated the gear housing, but I haven't even used the newest saw because about the time I got it they released the new 8" so I've just been using my brushed 5⅜" saw. I'm still trying to decide if I should keep the fuel 5⅜" or sell it. I really do like it because it has a lot of power in a small package and never seemed underpowered for anything I was cutting. But if its only going to last me 6 months its just a matter of time before I run out of warranty. I would also say that we've stripped gears in a couple 8" corded saws over the last 15 years so its not like it doesn't happen but every 6 months is a little too excessive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulengr Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 What type of work puts that much shock load on the gearboxes? Or do you do that much cutting to where it wears them out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggie Posted April 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2020 I personally think its a design flaw and the gears are too weak. We use the saws daily but no where close to using them enough to wear them out in under 6 months. Doing the same work we were getting over 5 years out of the corded 8" model. It was always a specific abusing task that broke the corded model, like one broke the day after a newer guy was cutting some heavy I-beams. That wasn't the case with the fuel 5⅜", I mainly cut 12ga sheet steel with it and I was never abusing it when it broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.