15 replies to this topic

[earthgrinder]

I must say I am less than pleased with my Stihl 170 chain saw. I bought one because of their supposedly great reputation. I didn't even run a gallon of fuel through the saw and the coil failed. Fortunately it was under warranty. I am probably just starting on my 3 gallon of fuel and the saw lost power. Turns out the spark arrestor screen was plugged with carbon. I am using Stihl Ultra oil. Is this normal for this saw?  Anyone else have a similar problem with the spark arrestor?

[Eric]

First off I make it a rule never to buy any saw that says homeowner in its description, second I stay away from things like IntelIcarb. I don't cut with stihl but many husqvarna saws require a very specific break in run up and procedure, if you stray your saw will have extremely poor performance. I stay in the commercial grade saws and have never been let down, they cost more in the beginning but more than pay for the difference in ten years when it is still running as good as day one. Sorry about your saw I am sure a dealer can give you some help.

[ol' stonebreaker]

  A plugged screen is usually caused by too much oil mixed in the gas.

                                      Mike

[John Arsenault]

I been running stihl saws for the past 10 years chainsaw carving the little home owner model mentioned is my daily go to saw.  There is not another saw like it on the market. Its super light and very reliable. The little screen thing is common , I toss mine out from day one however if I don't remember to do that when I but a new say I usually get a month or so before it starts to clog up, so maybe you have to much oil in your mix or you are running it like my wife does....haha 

 

This saw does not need to be babied , as pointed out its listed as a "homeowner saw" but I can tell you first hand its the best homeowner saw on the market, as long as you have good quality fresh fuel and a good 2 stroke mix you should not be able to hurt it. 

 

I have never in all my 10 years never had a coil go on any of my stihls, to be honest I can list all the problems I have had .1 Screen  clogged. 2 Broke a rubber engine mount (I am aggressive) 3. broken a fuel line. Not the saws faulty but bars and chains are my biggest expense.

 

 

I have owned the professional husqvarna saws and they are close to the reliability of Stihls home owner models , but stay far far away from the Chinese made huskys they are junk, I killed one of those in 2 months. 

 

Trust me when I tell you you will be fine with that stihl. 

 

 

 

 

The above was just one wholesale order all cut with Stihl saws anything small was done in its entirety with the smaller homeowner model because its the lightest most reliable saw around.

 

 

 

 

[chieffan]

We have gone to the Clay County Fair for over 10 years.  Chain saw artist is the for the whole 10 days.  He has a rack full of none less than 15 Stihl chain saws.  I have 2 myself, one being about 15 year old.  Have no problems with any of them other than the normal ,maintenance items.  That is saying something for Stihl Chain Saws.  One of the best, if not the best.

[dropped82]

I also have a small collection of stihl saws. Never an issue. Sometimes some minor tuning is needed but nothing major. All my saws are without the screen. You may have to turn the mixture screw a slight bit to accommodate for the loss of backpressure. Not much if at all though. Plus your carb has limiters on it so it'll only go so far.

Another note, stihl requires a high octane fuel. Using a lower grade fuel can cause reliability issues. Ask me how I know haha. Although extreme, I run a mixture of 93 and 110 Cam2. I have 110 on tap 5 minutes from my house (bonus of living 15 minutes from a drag strip). I also run stihl synthetic. 40:1 in my older (041av super, 041av Farm boss, 015l). 50:1 in my MS361. It really likes the high octane fuel.

Eric

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Edited by dropped82, August 01, 2016 - 09:38 AM.

[earthgrinder]

I also have a small collection of stihl saws. Never an issue. Sometimes some minor tuning is needed but nothing major. All my saws are without the screen. You may have to turn the mixture screw a slight bit to accommodate for the loss of backpressure. Not much if at all though. Plus your carb has limiters on it so it'll only go so far.

Another note, stihl requires a high octane fuel. Using a lower grade fuel can cause reliability issues. Ask me how I know haha. Although extreme, I run a mixture of 93 and 110 Cam2. I have 110 on tap 5 minutes from my house (bonus of living 15 minutes from a drag strip). I also run stihl synthetic. 40:1 in my older (041av super, 041av Farm boss, 015l). 50:1 in my MS361. It really likes the high octane fuel.

Eric

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Carburetor in non- adjustable.  Only screw is for idle rpm.  I am using Stihl Ultra with mid grade gas as recommended in the manual.

[John Arsenault]

I also use my stihls in the winter to cut through the ice bank from the melting snow coming off my garage roof. When it refreezes it turns into a solid ice block. 

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[JBRamsey]

I've been around Stihls all my life. My Daddy still runs a real Made in West Germany Stihl. It's indestructible. 30 years ago I bought a used Stihl at a flea market. I worked that saw hard until I could no longer get an oil pump kit for it. I let a buddy talk me into a Husqvarna. That was a huge mistake. It still sits under my workbench. I bought me another Stihl. It has never let me down. Neither has my 15 year old Stihl weed eater.

Spark arrestor screens get clogged. If they weren't catching anything, they wouldn't be working. Watch the oil mix. Watch dirt daubers building nests in the muffler. Stihls usually have a special fuel to run in the first tank for break-in.

I will probably need one more saw in my lifetime. It will definitely be a Stihl.

[JBRamsey]

Two more cents worth.

Look at all of the Alaskan based reality shows. Every one of the homesteaders, cabin builders, etc have Stihl saws. I've seen one Husqvarna in use. That says a lot.

[earthgrinder]

It is good to hear all of the satisfied users. 

[MH81]

Say that overall, we are very happy with our Stihl products. We have two they both have the compression release and are considered commercial or pro-sumer units. One it an 036 and the other is a 261
FIL has two older ones that are consumer designed units. He has had great luck as well.

The surprise in our saws came a a freebie that I gave no respect at first. It has proved me wrong.
Little Homelite made by (Ryobi?) that looks similar to this

It's light, easy starting, powerful and it was second hand at 8-10 years old. Best feature? Easy chain tightening.
I would buy another of either.

[MH81]

Oh and did you get it from a dealer or online ?

[earthgrinder]

I bought my Stihl at a local dealer.

[MH81]

Just so we are all on the same page, have you taken the machine to them? Or at least asked for guidance?