My 10 year old Stihl farmboss has always started in 2-3 pulls running with pump 93 octane. The poulane pro I had before that always had issues starting.
I'm thinking Stihl chainsaws are nothing but hype!
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Yep. I know this is the case.
At the completely opposite end of the spectrum, I also ran a Stihl 084 for a few weeks. Similar slow chain speed to the Homelite, but with more than 3x the displacement and .440" chain. It was like a Harley Davidson engine with a bar and saw chain.
The modern high-speed stuff is definitely my preference. The older and slower saws may never bog, but they're never fast, either.
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As a former motorcycle person and two stroke fan and racer, I was stunned at how primitive saw engines are. 1980s motorcycles had far better engine tech than modern saws. But after thinking about it I can see why they're engineered the way they are.
Reeds, power valves and especially expansion chambers take up space. That's not an issue on a motorcycle where there's lots of room but a saw needs to be compact in order to be manuverable and also needs to be light. Even proper transfer ports take up space- saws have more compact ports than modern motorcycles. Saw manufacturers make up for the lack of these things by adding displacement. Making the bore larger does not add much weight or volume. You won't find such oversquare engines on motorcycles because the short cylinder means less time/area for ports and thus less power, but for low power/displacement saws that's not a problem.
At the core, displacement-based racing categories for motorcycles drives the engineering to get the maximum usable power per CC. But for saws (well working saws anyhow), power/weight and power/engine volume are the drivers.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
It's got its place, for sure: saw mills. But for bucking anything with a bar 36" or under, I think the 066 or 064 is faster and more fun.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
About 5/6 years ago bought a 170 for limbing starting cold was not a problem , but hot was a different problem ,never new if it would start so I had a fire sale and got rid of it .
Bought a Sthil MSA 220 ( battery saw)for limbing and small wood works awesome. Last Dec bought the new MSA 300 with a 20 inch bar use it for every thing under 20 inches diameter, a great saw .
2 gripes with battery units, The extreme cost of battery should it go south, and if something mucks up in the saw itself i can't repair it. I do not have the ability to repair an armatur or field winding 98 % of the time. As of yet I have not had any battery powered unit of any type last more than 3 years and I am not hard on them.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Interesting. My reasons for staying with 2-stroke over battery are completely different than yours. For me, the aversion is 80% due to weight, and 20% due to run time. Reliability and repairability hadn't come into the equation, as had assumed they must be more reliable than 2-stroke. I'm not likely to waste much time on dickering over a repair on any frequently-needed implement I can replace for under $1000 with a 30 minute trip to the local Stihl dealer, anyway. Lessening the frequency, frustration, and cost of replacement is a more obvious consideration, for me.
I have a nice lightly-used and barely out of warranty Stihl BG-56 with a seized engine if you need an example of a 2-stroke implement that died quicker than your battery powered OPE's. No, it was never straight-gassed, just seized under normal operation one day while blowing off my patio. As noted above, I drove 15 minutes to my closest Stihl dealer, and picked up a new one the day it died. The broken one is still sitting in my shop, with all good intentions from me to pull it apart and repair, as it becomes more and more obvious that I'll probably just never get around to it.
Bummer. What saws were these? The bigger Stihl MSA series look pretty good, but they aren't cheap. There is a 3 yr. warranty for non-commercial use.
I had a Farm Boss for a few years. Did not use it a great deal. One march a small pine snapped and I used it to cut it up. After 3/4 of a tank of gas it stopped. The piston was scored. Dealer thought it was due to the carb being set lean to meet emissions standards. Bought a MS211 after that. Have has 0 issues. After the purchase of my wood burning insert, I use it a lot. Probably need a bigger saw, but would rather invest $$ into a splitter. Starts without a problem and I run on 89 pump gas. The engineered fuel is $30/gal. Pump gas is between 3 and 4/gallon. After 20 gallons I've saved enough to buy a brand new saw.
Garbanzo62,
What kind of 2-stroke oil were you running in your Farmboss? Let me guess, Stihl Ultra at 50:1?I probably owned 60 2 strokes. I now have 8 and I never saw a problem with regular gas with ethanol. it seems like the 2 stroke oil keeps the gas from spoiling. I had saws I did not use for 5 years and they started right up. they were cheap sears saws
yeah, but I've been running that primarily in the MS211 too. However, I just got some Kawasaki oil, going to try tht for a bit.
salecker
Minister of Fire
A gas powered saw should be re-tuned before each use.
Most people ignore that step, and for them there is the M-tronic saws,or fuel injected.
Just like electric vehicles,electric saws will be great for some and totally useless for others.
Most people ignore that step, and for them there is the M-tronic saws,or fuel injected.
Just like electric vehicles,electric saws will be great for some and totally useless for others.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
For me, the electric saw works really good. Last summer I found about 10 cords of small Red Alder which required multiple starts; just press the trigger and it goes! The video shows the MSA 220 at work.
Our 3 battery saws. bottom MSA 160 11 years old - no problems with batteries or saw.
middle MSA 220 has done around 16 cords - no problems.
top MSA 300 has done about 16 cords - no problems.
each saw is over 800 with tax near 900. I do not know what that machine you have is worth. without selling the wood that is a very expensive way to "save" money with a wood stove with that equipment and your time
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Still cheaper than buying oil/gas/whatever...especially in the long run as all your tools/equipment will still have decent residual value, especially if you buy quality stuff, and take care of it. Plus it's a good workout, and fun!
one thing is he aint using no battery powered skidder combo splitter. depends what age you are. some people only have a short run left.
The MSA 160 was a lot less 10 yrs ago. And the saws still have good value. They may be worth used as much as he paid for them now.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
The whole thing is a hobby. The saws - all of them, the boiler and storage, the woodshed and the splitters; it is just a lot of fun! Compared to owning airplanes and sailboats, the payback is pretty good.
All the equipment (toys) make it possible for me to keep firewood hoarding in my 70s and hopefully into my 80s.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
For me, firewood has been very rewarding. For the last 30 years I've been getting firewood (10 to 12 cords a year) for my mother-in-law who is 98 and still heats her house with wood. Without the wood, she likely would not been able to stay in her house.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Ignoring inflation and money spent on maintenance, I've never sold a tractor or a chainsaw for less than I paid in buying it. Care for equipment, and inflation will care for your sale price.
Of course, the $1200 you drop on a new saw today won't feel quite as big, when you get it back in 20 years, thanks to... inflation.
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