Stihl saw lead times.

[Sawset]

I'm looking at a new larger pro Stihl in the 70cc range. Something like an MS462. None of the local dealers carry one, or have warehouse stock on hand, and would need to order directly from Stihl. Something was mentioned about the home owners saws being made domestically, and easier to get, and pro saws made in Germany and more difficult to get. I ordered one anyway. So we'll wait and see.

 

[Nealm66]

Crazy times

 

[CincyBurner]

I ordered a 462 for myself over a year ago (great saw !), and just ordered one for the shop a couple weeks ago. No issue on delivery in either case. I've seen them in Stihl dealerships too. Perhaps it because regional Stihl distributor, Bryan Equipment is nearby ?
The MS 400 CM looks like an interesting introduction and something to consider as well - MS 400

 

[duramaxman05]

My father in law has the same problem find an echo 7310.

 

[Sawset]

Well looky here what just showed up. 6months backlog.
So I got to try it out on some good sized white oak logs that I had set aside.
Compared to the MS261, after blazing through a cut, I couldn't help but turn to the right and cough.
It's got a little bit of power.

 

[Gearhead660]

Well looky here what just showed up. 6months backlog.
So I got to try it out on some good sized white oak logs that I had set aside.
Compared to the MS261, after blazing through a cut, I couldn't help but turn to the right and cough.
It's got a little bit of power.

View attachment 291845

Nice. What size bar?

 

[Sawset]

It has a 25" bar. One thing I noticed with that is that the nose is slightly front heavy - so if I pick it up, the bar tilts down some.

 

[Gearhead660]

My MS290(20") is a decent saw, but have been thinking about getting a bigger one. Have found myself maxing out its capabilities lately. The 462 sounds like a good saw.

 

[Hap Shaughnessy]

The 462 is a great saw IMO. Mine has cut plenty of wood since 2019 when I got it. Ive seen where Stihl changed the internal ramp and piston on the newer models. Mines the older style and runs like the day I brought it home. Feed it good quality high octane ethanol fuel, a good quality oil, change air/fuel filters/spark plug often and keep yer chain sharp and she'll work great. I took out the muffler baffle, opened the stock outlet, and put a Bark Box on it and that made a big improvement in performance and runs cooler too.

 

[Sawset]

My limited first impression:
For the 25" bar, it's fairly difficult to stall the chain. The bar and saw combination is not weak by any means. One thing on the todo list was to go around cutting off the final rounds at ground level for half dozen white oaks. Each was 175-195 years old, 30"dia, and solid. A very strong cut, and made very quick work of it. Glad I waited for that job. Also, the weight is a little deceiving. I think the weight is around 13lb, but that's for the engine only. Add a solid bar, chain, fuel, oil, I could see getting a little tired at the end of the day with it vs a lighter saw. Maybe I'll be grabbing it more often, maybe not, we'll see. Lay it on some bigger rounds, that's seems to be where it needs to be. As far as running hot - I came back the next day to have a look in the woods and noticed one of the rounds was 3/4 burned and gone. A smaller saw can cause embers to form also, but I just thought it was funny, new saw, smokin rounds. One thing I need to get up to speed on is the m-tronic tuning. Does it do it on it's own?, or done at the start of a day - I'll find out but unsure at the moment.

 

[Osage]

I'm running a MS 400 that is an animal for it's size. Powerhead weighs under 13# and have seen videos of it making over 6hp on the dyno. It's a 14000 rpm saw that has a throttle response that I haven't see on any other saw. This saw will put a smile on your face.😁

 

[ericm979]

One thing I need to get up to speed on is the m-tronic tuning. Does it do it on it's own?, or done at the start of a day - I'll find out but unsure at the moment.

It does it constantly while the engine is running. It's a brilliant system in its simplicity: the ignition measures how fast the engine speeds up when given throttle and uses that to tell the carb solenoid how far to open. There's no sensors to go bad. My M-tronic saws always run like a perfectly tuned regular carb saw. In fact they feel a little leaner than my carb saws, because I always tune them slightly on the rich side so I don't have to retune if the temp drops 10 degrees. It feels like I tuned it exactly for the current conditions.

The one caveat with operating an M-tronic is to idle it for ~5 seconds after making a hard cut and then shut it off instead of shutting it off immediately. Turns out I have a habit of the latter, which isn't really a good idea anyhow as idling lets the fan cool the engine off. If you shut the M-tronic saw off immediately it will be rich when you start it and you can mildly flood it. If you forget, a couple pulls with the throttle wide open will get it to start.

 

[Nealm66]

Only trouble with the 460 family is the clutch springs are a little weak but I’m talking about 1.5 gallons of fuel per day for 6 months and then they start popping

 

[Sawset]

It does it constantly while the engine is running. It's a brilliant system in its simplicity: the ignition measures how fast the engine speeds up when given throttle and uses that to tell the carb solenoid how far to open. There's no sensors to go bad. My M-tronic saws always run like a perfectly tuned regular carb saw. In fact they feel a little leaner than my carb saws, because I always tune them slightly on the rich side so I don't have to retune if the temp drops 10 degrees. It feels like I tuned it exactly for the current conditions.

The one caveat with operating an M-tronic is to idle it for ~5 seconds after making a hard cut and then shut it off instead of shutting it off immediately. Turns out I have a habit of the latter, which isn't really a good idea anyhow as idling lets the fan cool the engine off. If you shut the M-tronic saw off immediately it will be rich when you start it and you can mildly flood it. If you forget, a couple pulls with the throttle wide open will get it to start.

This is good information, thank you. I kind of thought it ran a little lean also. Very crisp and clean actually. But, I also tune by ear to get the 4 stroke, then a little more, so it's probably omitting some of that. The manual mentioned flooding, which I thought was a little strange. I never have trouble with flooding, so left it as a wait and see type thing. Your comment explains that a little.

 

[EbS-P]

My limited first impression:
For the 25" bar, it's fairly difficult to stall the chain. The bar and saw combination is not weak by any means. One thing on the todo list was to go around cutting off the final rounds at ground level for half dozen white oaks. Each was 175-195 years old, 30"dia, and solid. A very strong cut, and made very quick work of it. Glad I waited for that job. Also, the weight is a little deceiving. I think the weight is around 13lb, but that's for the engine only. Add a solid bar, chain, fuel, oil, I could see getting a little tired at the end of the day with it vs a lighter saw. Maybe I'll be grabbing it more often, maybe not, we'll see. Lay it on some bigger rounds, that's seems to be where it needs to be. As far as running hot - I came back the next day to have a look in the woods and noticed one of the rounds was 3/4 burned and gone. A smaller saw can cause embers to form also, but I just thought it was funny, new saw, smokin rounds. One thing I need to get up to speed on is the m-tronic tuning. Does it do it on it's own?, or done at the start of a day - I'll find out but unsure at the moment.

Next bar I buy will be a 28” light weight one. I would consider a 25” but I already have two or 3 28” chains with just a few sharpening screws in them.

 

[CincyBurner]

With a 20" Rollomatic ES Light bar my 462 is balanced. With ES Light I imagine a 25" bar would push slightly forward, and a 28" bar a bit more so, but both definitely much more comfortable than what it would be with standard bar. The longer the bar the bigger the difference of using a ES Light bar instead, but it's pricey.