Reviews

I have used this chain saw twice (about 4 hours total) and could not be happier! Saw starts very well per instructions and cuts like a dream. Make sure to mix the gas and 2 cycle oil as required and always use the proper weight chain oil, and you won't go wrong. This was just another super purchase through Amazon.

Having once enjoyed cutting wood in the backdrop of Maine and Wisconsin, I was a bit suspicious about what my new Poulan Pro could do. But after working the primer, chock, and adjusting the chain ever so slightly, my new tool worked like a charm. I used it again this morning to trim out a pine tree here in CA. I do wonder, however, if those parts will stay together, for when starting it, the chassis seems to shake more than I anticipated. Keep in mind - it seems a far better machine than the one I bought 20 years ago for just about the same price!

This is the best saw for the money out there. Runs great for the smaller projects.

I have owned this saw 1 week and I am already buying a new bar. I think for light use this is a fine chain saw but I thought it would handle a few cords of wood for just one winter. On the upside the saw always starts easily and the motor runs well. On the downside, the bar is very wimpy and susceptible to heat/bending damage. Also, the hold down screw will not tighten sufficiently on my saw - I have to frequently re-tighten the chain to prevent it from falling off. Yes, chains will naturally loosen when they get warm but this saw is simply not holding the bar in place. The oiler seems to clog very easily so I have to keep a constant eye on that as well. I would return the saw if I had bought it locally but I don't think it is worth shipping back. I have talked to 3 people this week who own this saw and all have had chain and bar problems. Maybe the replacement bar from Oregon will be better quality than the original (or maybe not), but I am still stuck with a poor adjustment mechanism for chain tension. I was so close to buying a good saw (stihl farm boss or above) but I just needed a saw for this winter. Only slightly older Poulan saws are much better - I have used several of the older ones without any problems. I am really amazed that this saw has relatively good reviews. I have owned several chain saws over the past 30 years or so and this has been the most troublesome of the bunch by far.

Ordered this item on Sunday using the normal ground shipping and received it on Wednesday. I never owned a chain saw before so I read the owners manual and followed the instructions. The saw worked perfectly with no drama. I believe it is a fantastic light duty saw at a very reasonable price.

Reviews

I did a lot of checking before I bought this saw and learned that for the money this was a great value. I also choose using the Amazon Prime to get the saw within 2 days which it did get here as they said it would. One thing I would do different though is to have an item gifted wrapped because it was shipped in the box that the saw comes in. Had I not been home that day someone could have came to my jouse and walked away with a brand new saw. So anyhow, I unpacked the saw and check to make sure there was no packing material in the saw. Checked the chain to make sure it had the right tention on it, gas it up and also put in some good chain bar lube. Then followed the starting instructions and then had it running by the 3rd pull. One of the biggest plus's about this chain saw is that through Poulan they give you a full 2 year warranty on this saw if used for residental use. And from what I read about a lot of reviews is that Poulan's customer service is very good about making repairs or giving a replacement for defective chain saw's.

I did quite a bit of cutting last fall, and it worked well. The tensioning lock system is pathetic, but Poulan will provide you with the original double nut system free of charge, which I highly recommend. These are equipped with the current anti-pollution mixture adjustment screws, which take a special tool not authorized for the public. You can, however obtain them on e-bay; and unless you're up for periodically toting the saw to a repair shop, and shelling out $20 or more for a minor adjustment, I suggest getting one.

After a short time of use, the engine would not idle, even after adjustments recommended in the owner's manual. Won't restart until the engine is cooled. Makes it almost impossible to accomplish any work with this performance. Now the rewind starter is jammed and won't operate. This is a new saw and based on my experience I would never purchase this product again. My saw is junk, at best. Spend a few extra dollars and get a saw that is built stronger and will cause less trouble.

Poulan Pro 42 CC 18 in bar. The good, inexpensive, comes with a case, and an extra chain. Best of all, based on the prior reviews I bought the extended warranty - full replacement. The bad, That's the problem. Start with power. Sure this is a 42 CC motor, you should expect some power. But according to my seat of the pants usage, the saw is far too underpowered for even a 16" bar. It would probably have enough power for a 12 inch bar. To prove this case, I contacted Poulan who told me the saw has 1 HP per 29 CC, based on that calculation the saw has approximately 1.5 HP. Based on my experience, that 1.5 is right in line with the performance seen with this saw. You simply can't compare CC to CC when looking at a budget saw vs. a real chain saw. A 40 CC motor from Husqvarna produces around 2.4 HP. Automatic Chain Tension - This is an absolute engineering disaster. After some usage, my saw would not keep the chain tight. After an adjustment and a couple cuts of 6" limb or 1 cut of 12" or bigger, and I would need to readjust the chain tension. Upon calling Poulan, they sent me a replacement part. The revised part removed the tool less chain adjustment returning the saw to a typical chain adjustment with two nuts, and the adjustment screw. Extra Chain - It is a good thing the saw came with the extra chain. During the second tree cut down with this saw, the chain became so loose on a 14" log that it tossed the chain bending a fair number of the chain guides. The chain was relatively destroyed. It comes with a nice case. My suggestions, DO NOT BUY this saw. If price is really a factor (as it was for me) do yourself a favor, spend a little more money, and get a small saw from Echo, Husqvarna, Stihl, or any other producer of a real chain saw. Don't worry about CC's or the bar, these other saws will be lighter, more powerful and easier to use. If you really want an 18" bar, purchase an aftermarket bar & chain from Oregon. You will be much happier and the money will be well spent. Sure a small saw with the 18" bar would be under powered, but it will be much less underpowered than that 42CC Poulan. Prior to buying this saw, I found it hard to justify buying a good saw. I don't need a saw very often. Now, even though I rarely need a saw, I will be purchasing one by Echo, Husqvarna, or Stihl in the 40-50 cc range. You can't put a price on frustration.

I got exactly what I ordered, a few bucks cheaper than elsewhere, got free shipping as I was content to wait for the super saver shipping slow boat, no sales tax. I put the fluids in it, followed the instructions and it started on the first pull. Couldn't ask for anything more. I even got a free second chain that wasnt advertised. I was replacing a seldom-used saw that had been stolen from my garden shed, so I really haven't used the saw. No reason to believe it won't work as great as the one I replaced. happy in Tennessee

Reviews

Having read many bad reviews about this product but I did not believe so I gave it a try...now I have to pay the price for that. The one of mine has the same problems as you can read in many reviews. I just don't want to say anything more because this thing is useless...more over Amazon will not let you return on this product!!! So beware of it!

The Good: Great concept to have interchangabe attachments. It cost way less (initially) to get this unit plus a few attachments versus buying everything separate. The pull start was relatively easy and never took more than a few pulls. The Bad: I purchased this unit and used it about once or twice a week during the summer to blow off the drive after mowing and to periodically edge, and use the line trimmer around the edge of the property. In the fall, I used the unit twice to blow leaves. In all, I would have to estimate I had only about 20 to 30 hours of engine run time on the unit. During the second blowing of the leaves, after about 3 minutes of use, the unit started to bog down and then quickly stopped. I attempted to restart, but the motor had completely seized. I let the unit cool for a day and tried again to no avail. I contacted Poulan who directed me to a local servicer (who was very easy to work with). He said he had to contact Poulan to see if they wanted to replace the unit or have him repair the existing one (since it was well within the 2 year warranty). Poulan asked him to disassemble my engine to determine if there was signs of excessive heat, indicating that I had used an improper fuel/oil mixture (which I hadn't and was irritated that they wanted to pay their servicer to prove me wrong versus just honoring the warranty to begin with). They finally agreed to the unit. The servicer then started to rebuild the unit and found additional parts "melted" in the clutch area that he hadn't found during the motor tear down. He again contacted Poulan who finally issued a replacement unit but would not offer a full 2 years on the warranty for the new model (only what was left on my original warranty). The servicer also explained that gas powered trimmers like these are rated for a certain # of hours of runtime before they begin to fail. This particular model was only rated at 50 hours. So for my usage, it is likely to "expire" after 2 years - right on time with the warranty to expire. The servicer indicated other brands like Echo have a 300 hour engine life. Of course they come with a larger price tag. Bottom line: Be wary of the warranty and expected usage. If you aren't going to use it that often, or extended periods of time, this unit will probably do you fine. I'm still debating what I'm going to do when the replacement finally dies and is out of warranty. The options are to buy a new Poulan interchangable trimmer so I can continue to re-use my existing attachments every 2 years ($120 roughly), or to invest in something like Echo equipment, which are more expensive and I'd have to buy 3 units to replace this one. Tough call. As a side note, from what I understand, several manufacturers use the same engine. I can't verify, but my old Craftsman convertible trimmer (which used the same attachments) had an identical engine (I think) and I had similar issues with it after a couple years.

I wasn't too familiar with Poulan products, so I was a little apprehensive. Used it about 5 times, works like it should. It starts on the third pull on a cold start. It has plenty of power to do my yard clean up.

This is by far the best trimmer I've ever owned. Not only does it start quick, but it's extremely powerful. I bought the brush cutting attachment as well, which has been extremely effective for trimming branches on small trees in my yard. Thanks Poulan!

My Poulan Pro pp125 arrived quickly and has worked great! It starts easily, idles perfectly, and with the Tanaka Quiet line I bought at Amazon it cuts really well. I live in Hawai`i on 2 acres and am using it to cut the Guinea Grass which is 4 feet high and quite tough, but the trimmer is doing the job. I thought I would need a brush cutter, but that isn't the case. I think the Poulan Pro pp125 is an excellent value, and with free shipping a great deal! I bought the following items at Amazon along with the Poulan Pro pp125: Tanaka 746570 Quiet Trimmer Line, .095-Inch x 285' Tanaka Perfect Mix 2-Stroke Oil 6.4 oz. Bottle - 6 Pack #700207 Dewalt DPG55-11C Clear Anti-Fog Protective Safety Glasses with Dual-Injected Rubber Frame and Temples Before buying the pp125 I read all the reviews, which I found quite helpful. What I found was that the negative reviews were mainly from people that had problems with the engine stalling when accelerating the engine. The one star review titled "Not as Good as I Hoped" by Araxiel is the one that got me thinking. In it he says "A worker who was doing repairs on a neighbor's house comes over and tells me that my problem with stalling is that my oil/gas mixture has too much oil." In a Comment he wrote "Update: I took the advice of the worker who recommended adding some gas to the tank to reduce the percent of oil in the mix. I put in about 4 ounces and lo and behold, the trimmer ran perfectly." He now has the pp125 rated 4 stars! I am using the Tanaka Perfect Mix oil at a 50:1 ratio as recommended and it works great. On the Tanaka website, in their FAQ section, I found that the gas to oil ratio should be what the oil manufacturer has listed, and not what the manufacturer of the engine has listed. A part of one of the answers has "there are 16:1, 25:1, 32:1, 40:1 42:1, 50:1, etc. However, if you analyzed these oils, you'd find very similar amounts of the actual ingredients needed to provide the life allowing lubricity (even at these odd ratios)." This means if you take 50:1 oil and mix it at 40:1 there will be too much oil in the mix, so we need to make sure we are mixing the oil and gas as the oil manufacturer lists. I don't know what oil Araxiel was using but I think this is very important information! I contacted Poulan Pro and asked about the oil ratio and received the response "Any good two stroke air cooled not water cool will work. 40/1 is OK." I wrote back providing the link to the Tanaka FAQ I have listed above and also wrote "A 40:1 ratio when using Tanaka Perfect Mix is not appropriate." He replied with "Thanks I will send this on to the engr. group."