Let’s talk chainsaws

[yetti462]

The avgas is pure with no additives. The additives in any pump gas over time will break down the diaphragm s in carbs. Has long shelf life and exhaust doesn't burn my eyes.

 

[jrainw]

And if you are a motorhead it smells like race fuel and makes me unreasonably happy, I know, I’m not right, many reasons why.

 

[t-squared]

Use ethanol free fuel whenever possible. At the very least, use the best premium fuel you can find. Also treat EVERY drop that goes into any equipment that sits....weedeaters, blowers, mowers, saws, etc with Stabil and a "maintenance" dose of Sea Foam.

 

[nonobaddog]

'Pure gasoline' is a funny term. There is no chemical compound called 'gasoline' so there really can't be pure gasoline in strict terms. All gasoline is a mixture or blend of petroleum distillation products and all gasoline has additives. Avgas is the only gasoline still allowed to use the additive tetraethyl lead. If people mean pure gasoline is pure in the sense that it doesn't have ethanol mixed in that is fine. Avgas is great stuff and it certainly will run well and not hurt engines. It just might be more expensive than required. What fuel do you think the chainsaws were designed to run on? I don't think any chainsaw manufacturer recommends using only avgas in their saws. The most common avgas is 100LL and it is dyed blue for identification. It has an octane rating of 100 which is great but not required and is a little bit of overkill. Again avgas is wonderful stuff and will run great, it is just more wonderful than it needs to be for a saw.

Automotive gas without ethanol is also great stuff. It does have more additives than avgas but those additives are mixed in on a seasonal basis and help engines run better and cleaner in the typical seasonal conditions when the gasoline was formulated. These additives do not hurt the saw. It is the ethanol that hurts the saw as well as other small engines. Ethanol free premium typically has an octane rating of 91 to 93 and that is also more then the engine really needs to run fine without knocking. Most small engines are designed to tolerate a little bit of ethanol because the manufacturers know that some people will be using that stuff but just because it can tolerate a little bit doesn't mean it is good for it. Using gasoline with too much ethanol in it will void the warrantee on some or even many small engines.

Both avgas and ethanol free premium are great fuel for chainsaws and other small engines. I choose ethanol free premium simply because it is cheaper and easier to get but if anybody wants to pay for avgas that is just fine.

 

[nonobaddog]

The most common way that water gets in gasoline is from condensation from humid air in a partially filled gas tank during temperature variations. The water doesn't mix with ethanol free gasoline. I have seen little puddles of water on the bottom of outboard motor gas tanks many times. The water stays on the bottom because it is denser than gasoline. It is not good to allow that water to get into the engine. You can actually tilt the tank so the water goes into a corner and suck it out with a tube and a syringe.

Back in the old days before they added ethanol to any automotive gasoline it was not unusual to get water in a car gas tank from condensation. This water would collect in the low spot of the gas line and then freeze in the winter which of course prevented the engine from getting gas and you were stuck there. This was called 'gas line freeze'. The normal thing to do was to add a product called Heet to the gas tank. Heet is nothing more than alcohol, typically methanol, but ethanol would work too. Alcohol mixes readily with water and with gasoline. The alcohol slowly absorbs the frozen water and allows the water and alcohol to thoroughly mix in throughout the gasoline. This allows the gas to get through the gas line and the engine can run again. I have added Heet to the outboard motor gas tanks mentioned above and watched the little water puddle in the bottom slowly disappear as it gets mixed in with the gas.

Since they started adding ethanol to automotive gasoline, the water in the air above the gas in gas tanks is still condensing like it used to but now it mixes in right away and you almost never even hear of gas line freeze anymore and people up here do not carry several bottles of Heet in the winter like they used to.

Ethanol did not 'cause' water in the gasoline. It simply allows the water to mix in instead of staying separate.

 

[indyjohn]

Two solid posts back to back sir. Well done and well said.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

I was given a 041 Farm boss. My buddy didn't use it anymore. He said it leaked bar oil real bad. When I got it the case was full. I cleaned it up and sharpened the chain and have run it a little the past two days. So far no oil leaking. I'm guessing the seals are shrinking when it sits idle for a long time. It seem to run pretty well but I want to have someone that is familiar with the older Stihls look over it. Anyone here have experience or knows someone within an hour or so from Crawfordsville?

 

[thelefthand]

I was given a 041 Farm boss. My buddy didn't use it anymore. He said it leaked bar oil real bad. When I got it the case was full. I cleaned it up and sharpened the chain and have run it a little the past two days. So far no oil leaking. I'm guessing the seals are shrinking when it sits idle for a long time. It seem to run pretty well but I want to have someone that is familiar with the older Stihls look over it. Anyone here have experience or knows someone within an hour or so from Crawfordsville?

Might try the dealer on the south end of town across the road from the old Walmart/Big R. That's the only dealership in Montgomery county, or any of the neighboring counties that we've ever been able to get good service out of in the past 30 years. All the rest will tell you that the saw is totaled and cheaper to replace with a new saw even if the only problem is a bad sparkplug. If that dealer can't help you, you'll have to head farther south to Mansfield or over to Clayton. Those are a couple of shops out in the boonies. Both of them are older guys who actually know how to work on saws. I have contact info for both if you need it. Another option is to head over to Arborist site.com and see if you can find a builder that's local. I found a guy on there from the mooresville area that did fantastic work (as a hobby), but I lost his contact info years ago.

 

[Airtevron1]

Im a heretic, I love my Dewalt battery operated saw. Its amazing, no more gas/oil, wear yourself out trying to start.

 

[dudley0]

I bought the 60v weed trimmer and like it after a little use. Considered the bigger saw as I do not use them much. The batteries are swappable and no worry about the fuel screwing up the innards.

 

[maxwelhse]

I'll join the lunatics... For light, residential, use I'm digging my cordless saw and especially the cordless string trimmer.

For heavier jobs, no way. But, I'm also at the bottom of the market with 18V Ryobi stuff. Works nicely for what it cost.

 

[sheepdog697]

 

[sheepdog697]

The 271 is a good unit for the price point. For not a lot more money, the 291 is a better unit imo.

The ms261 is the pro grade saw in that 50cc class and it's worth every penny over both that I listed above. Lighter, faster, more power, and easier to work on.

A lot of dealers will give discounts if you ask and pay cash. I give 10% off on pro saws for example.

Whatever you buy, use high octane e free fuel only and quality 2 cycle oil.

Well dang, I just paid cash for a ms362c -m and a ms261c-m. Ace didn’t cut me any deals! Booo

 

[bocefus78]

Well dang, I just paid cash for a ms362c -m and a ms261c-m. Ace didn’t cut me any deals! Booo

You were lucky to find both of those. They are both currently backordered and have been for months.

Congrats on 2 awesome saws btw!

ps: Save your receipt....ace may not register them for warranty. Lots of places unfortunately don't.

 

[sheepdog697]

You were lucky to find both of those. They are both currently backordered and have been for months.

Congrats on 2 awesome saws btw!

ps: Save your receipt....ace may not register them for warranty. Lots of places unfortunately don't.

They registered them on the stihl touchscreen council. I ran the 261 this past weekend and it ran great.

 

[indyjohn]

RK Greenwood has a MS 500i on the shelf right now. $1329.99

 

[Leadeye]

RK Greenwood has a MS 500i on the shelf right now. $1329.99

Want!

 

[indyjohn]

Want!

It's a really cool saw, for sure. What I didn't mention was that they also had a MS 462c on the same shelf, $1129.99.

Two unicorns in the same place at the same time. I was losing my mind as the OG drug me off to the other side of the store. I'd rather have the 462 as it will handle a 30" bar. Neither is in my budget right now, maybe next year.

 

[Spring1898]

I want to join this conversation, but have nothing to add that hasn't been said... Well maybe something. I used to build/rebuild as a hobby, but haven't touched a saw for work in the last few years. I think I still have a couple of 360/361 and 200T carcasses that are waiting for me to have a shop again.

I think that people over think the ethanol gas thing. Most good 2 stroke oil has some sort of stabilizer in it. If the saw/or other power equipment isn't going to be used for a while, dump the tank and prime or pull it over until the carb is dry. If you are worried about how old the gas is, throw it in the car tank and get fresh.

That said, I have had excellent personal experience with archoil for stabilizing and longevity and it is pretty much what I used exclusively.

I held a 462 when they first came out a couple years ago. I was very impressed with the weight. First time things got lighter generationally since the 044/440 and the 200 series Huskies. Never got to run one though.

 

[Leadeye]

It's a really cool saw, for sure. What I didn't mention was that they also had a MS 462c on the same shelf, $1129.99.

Two unicorns in the same place at the same time. I was losing my mind as the OG drug me off to the other side of the store. I'd rather have the 462 as it will handle a 30" bar. Neither is in my budget right now, maybe next year.

My go to saw is an 046 I've had for a lot of years, the gardener does the same thing to me when I'm looking at equipment or guns. The older I get the more I want equipment to do most of the work, cut and split faster, haul more.