deal or no deal

[ailanthus]

My local dealer has a used stihl 025 for $165. It was a trade in by an older fella who wanted one of the ez start models. Pretty lightly used, comes with 16" & 18" bars and chains. Starts, runs and oils well. Bought new at the same shop in 2001.

I need a saw and this is the size/cc I was looking for.

Good deal or not??

 

[HittinSteel]

If its had light use and has been gone over by the dealer then the price seems pretty good.

 

[MasterMech]

025/MS250 is one of my personal favorites. If it looks/runs good then I'd say the price is good.

 

[StihlHead]

$165 is about its price. 2 bars are nice though. I have owned over a dozen of the 210-230-250 saws. They are my least favorite of the Stihl saws. They are a PITA to work on, but they run OK when they run. Still way better than the small Echo stuff, the 025 is the largest of the line. It is aloso rather vibration prone and the air filter tabs tend to break pretty easy on them. I ran Picco 3/8 B&C rather than .325 on them. .325 is a bit large for that saw, and picco is narrower and cuts faster. I sold all my 025/250 saws several years ago and bought a series of 026/260s which worked a heck of a lot better for my tree business.

Personally I would recommend a newer model MS211. I picked up one for $185 a few months ago on CL, and I love that saw. Totally different beast, runs great, low vibration, good power (about as much as the 230 has), sips gas, better filter, and a half pound less weight. I have not had to work on it yet though, so I cannot compare it to working on a 250.

 

[MasterMech]

250 vs 260 is kinda like toyota vs lexus. I actually don't have any trouble working on MS250's, they are just simple little saws with a ton of power for their size and pricetag. +1 on the Picco conversions.

 

[StihlHead]

Yah, the 260 is a step up, but for some reason 260s do not command all that much money around here. Or at leasst they did not until recently (I guess the economy is finally turning around). I got an all but new 026 for $50 that was stright gassed. I got a new 260 P&C from a friend in WA state that is a Stihl mechanic and they fit right on. Poor man's BB for the 026 (260 has a larger stock engine). I have ported several of them. The 026/260 are fun to work on compared to the 210/230/250s.

 

[MasterMech]

Stihlhead, have you done the Picco conversion to the 026/260?

 

[HittinSteel]

Stihlhead, have you done the Picco conversion to the 026/260?

I'm not sure you need to...... the 260 with a muffler mod will pull 3/8" but I prefer .325

 

[onetracker]

great thread.

i only got my first stihl 5 years ago so i'm learning alot. before that i had mcoullough's and homelite's and poulans.

thanks gents

 

[StihlHead]

Stihlhead, have you done the Picco conversion to the 026/260?

The picco conversion on the 026/260 is trickey. The reason in the large mount bars on them. I have all 3/8 standard 0.050 B&C and rim drives on my saws except the 211 which has 3/8 picco. I never liked .325 (kerf is too wide and the same as 3/8 std.) on either my large or small format bar saws, and I sold all my .325 stuff off a few years ago. Also this way all my large Stihl saws have interchangable large format 3/8 std. B&C. Anyway...

I was intrigued with the picco conversion of the 026/260 saws a while ago. Stihl had an option on the 024 (baby brother of the 026) with large format picco bars. For a while they made them available in the US. The chainsaw milling guys liked them, and started converting larger saws to the picco B&C setup for cooler chainsaw milling with the narrow kerf picco (overheating is a perpetual problem for chainsaw milling). By larger saw I mean up to 440s... this made Stihl nervous about liability, and they stopped selling large mount picco bars in the US. So then companies like Logosol started making the bars in that size, and they were still being used. However, last I looked they do not supply those bars in the US any more.

So the problem is that you need a large mount picco bar for this setup on the 260. You also need a rim drive for it too. Some guys use solid nose 3/8 std. bars to run picco chain, but I do not like that setup. I want a roller tip bar. 3/8 std nose sprockets are too big for picco. I did find some picco rims at a Stihl shop for the 260 clutch/drum though, so I have that part solved. I just need to find a 16 or 18 inch large mount picco bar for it. I saw one on Ebay a year ago but I was outbid on it. It was an original large format picco 18 inch Stihl bar off of an 024.

I had a similar issue running picco on my 025/250 saws. I wanted picco rim drives, as they are far better than spur sprockets. But I could not find any picco rims that would fit the small inner diameter 025 rim drive that I had for the .325 chains. There are several different sizes of rims for that saw, and it depends on Oregon or Stihl format. I never found one that would work, and used spur sprockets on them until I sold off my 025/250 & 023 collection (I left my 210 with my ex). The 211 has a rim drive option though, and I believe that the rim and drum on those will fit the 210-250 saws, so that part may be a solved now. As soon as my sprur sproket wears out on my 211, I will swap it out with a picco rim drive. I swapped the original 310 spur sprocket with a rim drive off of a 360 (same size clutch/drive).

 

[StihlHead]

I'm not sure you need to...... the 260 with a muffler mod will pull 3/8" but I prefer .325

I have done 3/8 std vs. .325 comparisons running on the same lightly modified 260 saw and it was a dead heat. 16 inch bars, full chisel chain. Only difference seems to be that the .325 has more cutters per inch than 3/8 std. I have one full stock 260 and it pulls a 16 inch 3/8 B&C fine.

As for mufflers on these, I have some photos to post on that. The early 026 models had mufflers that were pretty opened up. Late model ones were choked up a lot. Its the opposite to the air filters on those saws: the early models have the smaller ones with the hose/screw gas tank vent, and the later model 026/260s have a larger air filter with the round plastic gas tank vent. I try to mod the leter model saws with the early size muffler porting.

 

[MasterMech]

I have provided part #'s necessary for that conversion (026/260) on this forum before. Might take a bit of searching to find it again.

Did it to a brand new MS260 Pro once. Fantastic combo.

 

[StihlHead]

I tried to find that information but failed. If anyone had a large format Stihl bar that would be great, but I do not know anyone that sells them in the US any more. I have the old Stihl bar numbers from the 024, but thay are obslete. Logosol had them listed a few years ago, but they no longer list them either. I have a friend looking for one for me in NZ.

Funny, I never had an 026 or 260 pro saw. I never have a need for a decomp on a 260 (I drop start my saws; top handle in right hand and starter handle in left) and I never saw the need for more oil output than the non-pro model has. The 026/260 is a funny line of saws, and they came with all kinds of different mufflers, two filter setups, two types of tank vents, quite a few different carbs (the Walbro WT-194 is the best), clear and solid gas tanks, aluminum and composit top handles, and plastic and metal starter housings. It seems to have been a mix and match arrangement from what I have on these saws. Then there are the pro model adjustable oiler and decompression buttons on top.

 

[MasterMech]

...(I drop start my saws; top handle in right hand and starter handle in left) ...

You left-handed or is that just how it's done on the West Coast?

Don't know if any of this will help you StihlHead but check this out:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/chain-saw-question.72535/#post-917093

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stihl-024av-will-run-but-not-idle.83700/#post-1073558

 

[StihlHead]

You left-handed or is that just how it's done on the West Coast?

Left coast, yes, but I am not a south paw. I was taught by pro sawyers to start saws that way, many years ago (with my dad's Homelite). Actually that is how they were originally designed to be started. Right hand on top handle, bar facing away and toward the right, left hand on starter handle and pull up in the start handle while pushing down on the top handle. Those were also the days without saw brakes. I tend to start my saws with the brakes off, and I always assume that the brakes are off when handeling them. But that's me.

I have the 026 IPL, but no luck getting the large mount 3003 picco bar for it.