Just another junk chainsaw

   / Just another junk chainsaw #851  
I put half of that on my 346 in 3 years. Plus I used it for brushing out property lines.

I'm guessing a serious chainsaw user could wear out a quality saw in just a few years. I'd do 8-10 cords over a months time and would be done for the year. It never banged around in the back of a pickup truck or used by anyone but me.
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #852  
I don't happen to have a limber laying around though. :D Don't underestimate those electric saws. As I've mentioned in the past, chainsaw chaps are less effective if you do happen to lay it across your leg. They have more torque than a gas saw and will go right through into your leg. Considering that I once almost completely cut the lower half of one leg off my first pair of Labonville chaps with a Partner 5000 many years ago...
I was revering to the idling problem you was having on snowshoes, nothing worse then a saw that wont idle while limbing, By now I would assume your getting to old for snowshoe limbing.......
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #853  
I was revering to the idling problem you was having on snowshoes, nothing worse then a saw that wont idle while limbing, By now I would assume your getting to old for snowshoe limbing.......

In that case you are absolutely right. I like the dealer I go to but he's been doing it for 40 years and I don't think he or his help knows how to work on the autotune. In hindsight I wish that I had taken it someplace else before that log rolled onto it.

I did a little research on the autotuned and when it works properly it's great. One poster told of having a vacuum leak, and would have burned up a piston if the computer hadn't compensated for it.
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #854  
The place where I bought my newer 550xp, he said run the saw wide open down a log and within a few minutes the auto-tune will tune the saw. My newer 550xp seems to run better then my older 2013 550xp edition ever did, the main reason why my son went Stihl...
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #855  
Seems silly to me to be replacing chainsaws so often. Are they just so poorly made these days? I bought my Homelite Super EZAO around 1978 and it has cut over 300 cords of firewood and still fires right up and has lots of power. Maybe the types of wood people are cutting makes a difference in saw longevity. Most of my wood is spruce with some cottonwood, popular and willow.
Curious how many cord you burn a year up there and how many months you burn. With those varieties you need more wood than others but we all burn what we have.
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #856  
Curious how many cord you burn a year up there and how many months you burn. With those varieties you need more wood than others but we all burn what we have.

Before Global Warming we would burn 8-10 cords per winter. Now, since it rarely gets below -30F we only burn a cord or 2 and only for supplemental or emergency back-up heat.
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #857  
Before Global Warming we would burn 8-10 cords per winter. Now, since it rarely gets below -30F we only burn a cord or 2 and only for supplemental or emergency back-up heat.

You must use a primary heat source then?
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #858  
You must use a primary heat source then?

Yes, the dreaded heating oil. Not bad this year with the price of oil being down but it was usually $4+ per gallon. Price of propane hardly dropped at all and is running at $3.51 per gallon. Solar is out because the local power company won't buy excess unless it is a large, approved by them system. Not enough wind to use either. Oh well, Life is Good.
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw
  • Thread Starter
#859  
Can you or anyone here recommend a good small saw for limbing? I have a couple of older Huskys for the big work but having trouble working them in the brush.

I bought a new Stihl MS-180 a month ago, it barely runs. Dealer did a new carb and at least now I can use it but it runs too lean to be of any use to me.

It is a tough little saw as I've thrown it as far as I could about 5 times now and it hasn't broken.

The dealer DID try to discourage me from buying it but the $200 price tag was intriguing.

My best guess is to buy an older used, less than 3 cubic inch saw that has a good track record.

I should have never gotten rid of my old Jonsereds 621.

Thank-You.

I took a 180 in trade and gave to dad. It runs great for his needs. Only reason I took it in was because it had the easy start feature that he has to have now days.

Now if buying new look at the echo 400 for good old school saw. Retail little more though. ECHO CS-4 4.2cc Easy-Starting Chain Saw - ECHO USA

New style echo 3510 ECHO-USA | CS-351 Rear Handle Chainsaw

New style echo 4510 ECHO's CS-451 Rear Handle Chainsaw | ECHO-USA

Wish I could trouble shoot your 180. I did dads after him running ethanol gas through his for several years. Easy peasy rebuild and clean carb. But again I would buy a new little echo over the new homeowner stihl stuff.

s180carb.jpg
 
   / Just another junk chainsaw #860  
Can the MS180's carb be tuned? Maybe by removing limiters or buying the set of "tamper resistant" carb tools for $10 on ebay?

I have an Echo MS352 which would be a good limbing saw. It starts super easy. It came with the carb set really lean so I removed the limiters, cut off the tabs and put them back in (looks stock and they help the screwdriver find the slot). I also bought a used muffler and gutted the cat con from it. Don't need the extra heat from that right next to the cylinder. The idea being that I can put it back to stock(ish) should I ever take it back to the dealer. I use it for brush cutting where I'm constantly stopping the saw to pull out and pile the stuff I just cut. I hate leaving a saw idling on the ground.

But for limbing I prefer my MS241CM. It's got more power and cuts faster but it's still light enough for me to limb an entire large tree. Unfortunately Stihl no longer sells them in the US.
 

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