Good deal on a Stihl 461?

Once it has that new clutch in it and you verify compression and that it will run, go for it.

Looks like it has a lot of unmatched parts. IE. Clutch cover looks newer than the cylinder cover, air filter cover older than the cylinder cover, and the handle/tank look the oldest. Cheap price though.

If it were me and the saw was still available I would find $375 and buy that saw - after looking it over thoroughly including a compression check and pulling the muffler. Report back if you get it and pics are required.

Decent deal but I would have a hard time spending that when a $220 HD Dolkita +$120 big bore kit will get you a slightly more powerful pro-saw for slightly less money and may not be abused nearly as much as that saw appears to be.

And that all assumes the 64 cc Dolkita isn't big enough as it comes for ~$220. IMHO, it's plenty big, that's what I run currently...

The text implies that the ad was posted some time ago, which makes me a little suspicious about why it hasn't sold yet. In my area, which is not exactly full of big spenders, that saw would've sold pretty quickly unless something was amiss.

CountryBoy19 said:

Decent deal but I would have a hard time spending that when a $220 HD Dolkita +$120 big bore kit will get you a slightly more powerful pro-saw for slightly less money and may not be abused nearly as much as that saw appears to be.

And that all assumes the 64 cc Dolkita isn't big enough as it comes for ~$220. IMHO, it's plenty big, that's what I run currently...

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What the hell is a Dolkita? And exactly what saw are you referring to? A 64cc Makita saw from HD is nearly $700.

claydogg84 said:

What the hell is a Dolkita? And exactly what saw are you referring to? A 64cc Makita saw from HD is nearly $700.

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He means a Makita, which is mechanically identical to a Dolmar model, and which sometimes can be had for a little over $200 used when HD periodically unloads rental equipment.

As said, looks like a lot of different vintage parts on that saw. How does that happen. My saw has original everything. For me, no price is right for a worn out beat up saw. That said, I don't know anything about a 460, but I'd look for a hardly used well kept one.

Jon1270 said:

He means a Makita, which is mechanically identical to a Dolmar model, and which sometimes can be had for a little over $200 used when HD periodically unloads rental equipment.

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$200 used would be a good price for that saw, but that deal can't come around often?

Not all the time, but often enough that accounts of having gotten one for $200 - $250 are pretty common. Asking prices are often higher, but can be negotiated down. Apparently some HD locations will even put your name on a waiting list.

Jon1270 said:

Not all the time, but often enough that accounts of having gotten one for $200 - $250 are pretty common. Asking prices are often higher, but can be negotiated down. Apparently some HD locations will even put your name on a waiting list.

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I'll have to look into that, thanks.

Good luck. I had a 6401 for a while, converted to a 7900, and it was a very nice machine.

Check the cylinder, it could be rebuilt with an aftermarket cylinder of questionable quality. I sold a 460 in slightly better shape for $500 and the buyer said deal before I had the last d in hundred out of my mouth. New or old covers may or may not mean anything. Covers get cracked for stupid reasons sometimes.
Countryboy has the best idea though. I am a diehard Jonsered fan but my Dolmar 6400 has stolen a piece of my heart. The rpm's and the torque to keep them up are amazing. I can't wait till it becomes a 7900 and gets ported

Wildo said:

Countryboy has the best idea though. I am a diehard Jonsered fan but my Dolmar 6400 has stolen a piece of my heart. The rpm's and the torque to keep them up are amazing. I can't wait till it becomes a 7900 and gets ported

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Lol, I'm a diehard Stihl fan but my Makita (Dolmar in blue/gray clothing) has stolen my heart as well. Where else can you get a 64 cc pro-saw with new bar & chain (sometimes they put a new one on and sometimes they don't) for $220??

I've kicked around the idea of putting the 79 cc oem piston/cylinder or the 84cc aftermarket cylinder on mine but I keep coming back to the fact that I'm just a simple firewood cutter and the 64 cc works quite well for my uses. Sure, I could cut a little bit faster with a bigger piston/cylinder on it but I don't know that it's really worth the $120 for the AM big-bore or the nearly $200 for the oem 79 cc... at least not for me because I'm pretty frugal...

CountryBoy19 said:

Lol, I'm a diehard Stihl fan but my Makita (Dolmar in blue/gray clothing) has stolen my heart as well. Where else can you get a 64 cc pro-saw with new bar & chain (sometimes they put a new one on and sometimes they don't) for $220??

I've kicked around the idea of putting the 79 cc oem piston/cylinder or the 84cc aftermarket cylinder on mine but I keep coming back to the fact that I'm just a simple firewood cutter and the 64 cc works quite well for my uses. Sure, I could cut a little bit faster with a bigger piston/cylinder on it but I don't know that it's really worth the $120 for the AM big-bore or the nearly $200 for the oem 79 cc... at least not for me because I'm pretty frugal...

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If you do, go oem.

It's probably sold if he is no longer in contact. My brother works at HD and he has yet to be able to snag me one the few times they have become available. He's a department manager too!

Dairyman said:

If you do, go oem.

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Why? Is it really worth the cost difference? What does that gain you for nearly double the price?

I've researched pretty heavily and the general consensus is that the aftermarket BB kits from reputable sellers are actually pretty good. The castings are a bit thinner than the OEM, and you can't really port them any, but the cylinders are nikasil like the OEM and they last just as well.

So you can pay $180+ for oem 79cc then pay for a port job, or you can just slap on the AM kit @ 84cc and have roughly the same power for $120.

Clyde S. Dale said:

It's probably sold if he is no longer in contact. My brother works at HD and he has yet to be able to snag me one the few times they have become available. He's a department manager too!

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There used to be a thread on arboristsite that detailed the process of obtaining one. Some of them keep a waiting list, others it's first-come first-served. The "disposition list" or the list that tells them what rental devices need to be sold and replaced with new comes out on a certain day of each month. It's best to call on that day and ask if they got the new list and if there is a chainsaw on it (make sure you specify which saw, IIRC they also rent a smaller box-store type saw that isn't worth anything). If they didn't get the list call the next day and the next day until they have the list, then you should know approximately when they get the list if you have to try back next month. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to when saws get put on the list. Some people were able to buy saws that had as few as 20 rentals on them for ~$250. My particular saw had about 195 rentals but was only 2 years old, OTD price (tax included) was $230ish. Be sure you check the saw out; generally they aren't heavily damaged but they can be. Mine has a small crack in the carb/air-filter cover, I noticed it prior to purchase but at that point I had been calling this HD for months and finally scored one and I had driven 1 hr to get it (I wasn't turning around for a small crack in a cover). Sometimes you can haggle on price but my experience was, "Sorry the list says we have to sell it for this price; that's what it gets sold for". Often it's easier to get them to throw in a new bar/chain than it is to haggle price. Mine came with a brand new Carlton chain; I didn't have to ask. I did ask for the "scwrench" tool and they said they didn't have one, I said, you just replaced this with a new saw that came with one, can I have that tool? They said, "No, we just throw all that stuff away". I took the saw anyways... My scwrench for my Stihl works on the Makita so I only have to carry one tool with me anyways (would be nice to have a spare though).

CountryBoy19 said:

Why? Is it really worth the cost difference? What does that gain you for nearly double the price?

I've researched pretty heavily and the general consensus is that the aftermarket BB kits from reputable sellers are actually pretty good. The castings are a bit thinner than the OEM, and you can't really port them any, but the cylinders are nikasil like the OEM and they last just as well.

So you can pay $180+ for oem 79cc then pay for a port job, or you can just slap on the AM kit @ 84cc and have roughly the same power for $120.

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The am kit is a good cheap increase in power no doubt and some are of better quality than others. But as you said the castings are thiner and the powerband is different. Maybe I'm weird but it's just 60-80$ more and your already in dirt cheap though not as cheap as Jon was. You never know you might want to put in a solo crank and really have a runner.[emoji6]

CountryBoy19 said:

So you can pay $180+ for oem 79cc then pay for a port job, or you can just slap on the AM kit @ 84cc and have roughly the same power for $120.

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I have only done one of these so I'm not drawing on a deep well of experience, but this idea that the AM 84cc kit is as good as a ported OEM kit is totally inconsistent with what I read about the options. What I heard over and over again was that there was little point in porting the OEM 79CC jug because it's so good in stock condition that it's difficult to improve on. The AM kits, on the other hand, are rough to begin with and thus benefit from some extra attention. This is all setting aside the fact that the OEM quality control tends to be much better. I've only bought three used saws that came with aftermarket top ends, and all of them were being sold because of failures of the AM cylinder or piston -- not scoring due to air leaks or tuning problems, but plating flaking off, shattered pistons... ugly stuff. The broken piston was on a Bailey's MS460 big-bore kit, probably very similar to the one they offer for the 7900.

Babaganoosh said:

I'm not a fan of all the intellicarb stuff because I like to work on things myself.

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I think you mean Autotune. Intellicarb is nothing special.

Dairyman said:

The am kit is a good cheap increase in power no doubt and some are of better quality than others. But as you said the castings are thiner and the powerband is different. Maybe I'm weird but it's just 60-80$ more and your already in dirt cheap though not as cheap as Jon was. You never know you might want to put in a solo crank and really have a runner.[emoji6]

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Lol, I totally understand, more is better, and more better is even more better.. .haha... but at the same time, $230 OTD for a saw that cuts firewood almost as good as I could cut wood if my total investment was $410 works for me. A 78% increase in investment to get a slight advantage in cutting performance; IMHO, that is WELL into the arena of diminishing returns; I'll leave it as-is... I'm too cheap... but sometimes it's nice to talk about what I might do...

If I ever did want to replace the cylinder I'll likely still go with the AM just for cost. My saw is used, the cylinder will likely outlast the rest of the saw so I don't want to dump a ton of money into it. Unless I ever get lucky and find a scrapped 7900 with good P&C for cheap, then I'd be all over it.

Dairyman said:

You never know you might want to put in a solo crank and really have a runner.[emoji6]

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Oh great another mod to add to my list. My wife is already miffed on the fact that I had a brand new saw in pieces hours after I dropped 6 bills on it. Now whenever she sees it in pieces the first words out of her mouth are "how much did it cost this time?"

Can the SOLO crank give it that much more torque? It is amazing already.