Need to purchase a new chainsaw, was looking at an MS 660, can get the 661, which is M Tronic, all electronic, fuel injected etc. no tuning can be done at home or in the field. I see there is a 441 on here with a busted piston. kinda puts me off. Keener I think on the plain old MS660 which I can still buy new, but probably not for long. Any experiences/owners of an M Tronic saw here? Cheers
intrade,
Feb 22, 7:51am
dont know maybe it can run ethanol conterminated fuel? the same diagnostic as on efi cars will apply , i wonder how mutch people will change every part on a saw to fix a problem. electronic need good power and gounds would be interesting to see how stihl have made it protect against this problem , because lets face it corrosion on a saw on electronic wiring is 1000% more likely then on a car when you forget your saw overnight and it rains on it. togahter with saw dust everywhere.
intrade,
Feb 22, 8:03am
what do you want the saw for and can you tune a old saw without having instructions? because if you can and you dont need it comercially every day use you could buy what i have a jason sky model its got enough power but i had to repair and tune it out the box , the guy who sold it to me did not have time to reply or send me the part so i got the same part of a shidaiwa saw for 16$ tank brether. The guy whom sold me the saw then replyed to me and i told him what i had done and showed him a pic of his faulty part and he refunded me the 16$ . since then i have had 0 problems dont know about now the saw is sitting since 2 years unused but it started every pull once i had it tuned correct and idles fine 0 problem when ever i used it have it at least 5 years now
ambo11,
Feb 22, 8:13am
Cheers Intrade but I need a Pro saw, Have an MS440 now which has served me well, but need a bigger saw for large old trees. The chinese saws are like farting against thunder for what I need, but okay for the average home guy doing bits and pieces. I'm just after peoples experiences with the new generation Stihl, I can do anything to a saw, but since these saws are expensive, I'm looking for best value. and tending towards a new old stock MS660 which I can pull apart and tune in the field ( not that you need to with decent Stihl saws). Cheers
jmma,
Feb 22, 8:15am
Its all to do with Europes emmission rules. Stihl has invested heaps in their technology to have very low 2 stroke emmissions. We have no such law and that is why we are a dumping ground for all the shitty 2 stokes. Cant comment on the saw you are asking about though.
georgiam,
Feb 22, 8:31am
Get the old model 660. We have one 661 in our crew, when it is going it goes well. But for some reason it needs 10 minute rests in the afternoons, just stops and wont start again until it has cooled a bit. Shop has replaced this and that , but still has the issue. Have heard of the same issues at other crews using them. Everyone keeps a spare 660 on hand.
mechnificent,
Feb 22, 8:42am
My son has had chainsaws since he was thirteen and used them for hours and hours of tree felling, firewood and timber milling. He's now twenty one and well experienced with chainsaws. He's also the son of a mechanic and was bought up in a workshop. literally. His mom died when he was two and I'm self employed and so he was in the workshop fixing small motors since he was three. I also home-schooled them and they spent a lot of afternoons and days in the workshop. He's really good with motors and chainsaws. The place he works bought a new electronic stihl and it has give them endless trouble. He says it's the most temperamental piece of junk he has ever seen. and he loves stihls. He reckons it's really critical about the mixture and the oil you put in it, if it sits in the sun or leaning over in the trucks it won't start, there is nothing you can do with it, no choke and no mixture screws. The only thing is pull the plug and replace it and/or wait for the motor to dry out. It's been back to the shop so many times he got fed up and started taking his own saws. Now the boss pays him eighty bucks a day extra to provide his own chainsaw when they need a bit of chainsawing done, mainly clearin fallen trees and blocked tracks.
They sound like a piece of annoying junk to me. And tha's a brand new one. What will they be like after a few hours when the compression gets down. They aren't going to start with preset mixtures then I'll wager.
I'd stay away.
mrcat1,
Feb 22, 8:56am
Unless you have a high quality pulse inductive tacho and know what the no load max speed tuning in the field is best left well alone otherwise it may end up with a hole in the piston like the other one, I used to work on Stihls many moons ago but only have Huskys now and with the new Huskys even just having a rev limiter is a problem within its self unless you really know and have a understanding on how it works and what your doing. I have a 575 husky and then they got superseded by the 576 auto tune, I can convert mine to auto tune if I buy the module and fit it but I'd rather a tuneable carby, I have only just bought a new 3120 and that's a beast with 44" bar running .404 chain.
mechnificent,
Feb 22, 9:12am
Stihl or husky are the ones alright.
If we tune them as they recommend, just on the rich side of max revs, which gives best power, they shouldn't burn a hole in the piston. If we lean them a little till the revs drop back from max revs. then they burn holes in them and lack pickup and power.
ambo11,
Feb 22, 9:18am
Thanks guys, kinda what I was wondering. I'll be going for the old school 066. Cheers
serf407,
Feb 22, 10:28am
Have the stihl electronic saws that have given problems been run on the full synthetic HP ultra oil ? Stihl are supposed to extend the warranty if you run the saw exclusively on the full synthetic oil.
#11 You mean the MS660? 066 is chinese parts for repairs now.
mrcat1,
Feb 22, 11:24am
The modern chainsaw should never be tuned by ear, they have exact manufacturers recommendations +/- 150 rpm for husky, if you think you can tune by ear to that close of the max no load speed you have no idea what your doing. I tune mine 500 rpm under max no load speed so they run rich and tend to 4 stroke a little more and hang in there better.
mechnificent,
Feb 22, 1:09pm
They have always recommended checking the revs Mrcat. but nobody ever did. And I do have a very good idea about what I'm doing. I've been working in the country for the last thirty-nine years and have tuned hundreds. I've never had any trouble.
snoopy221,
Feb 22, 2:59pm
so they run rich and tend to 4 stroke a little more a
be roit on dat should be a tui strokin on load and a four off lol
tim41,
Feb 22, 4:24pm
i brought a ms461 magnum last year, goes great and has a proper carb,but you would want to take in into a shop to tune it
mrcat1,
Jun 3, 9:10pm
Oh where do I start? Ever since the early 90's every good reputable saw shop would be using a inductive tacho and a no load speed chart for the different makes of saws they service, an 1/8th of a turn out can put the revs out by 2000-3000 rpm easy. I bought my first chainsaw when I was 12, it was a Homelite XL12, I also had a Homelite Zip, some big Poulans, Pioneers, a matching pair of 298 Huskys as well as a matching pair off 300 yr commemorative 254 Huskys, I have played with some racing Jonsered saws out of British Columbia, I worked in what would have been the biggest Stihl shop in NZ in the 80's, playing with Mercury Distons and the like, as well as another Stihl shop later on, I then went on to using the saws rather than fixing them with some I have cut firewood and logged for years, I worked for a contractor and all we had was a fleet of Husky 288's, mine had the port timing modified as well as the exhaust modified so lets just say it used to play its own tune, none of the others could keep up with mine. So I currently have a Husky 254, 575, K750 and a near new mighty 3120 with a 44" bar that I am using on big old crop oversize trees that no one locally can touch so lets just say for 35 years I have very much kept my finger on the pulse of what to do to chainsaws and how to do it. Even the local Husky dealer where I buy all my saws from don't even ask me to take them back for a service as they know very well I know about saws and how to keep them running, I even have just as much service tools as the local shop including my own latest full workshop Oregon sharpening gear that the shop doesn't even have.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.