Stihl Chain saw

[Zacharytanner]

Hi Guys,
My old Stihl 031 was laid to rest today and in the middle of 5 Cedar trees I was taking down along my driveway...Well I had to go buy a replacement and went with the Stihl 290 as I use in for yard work and fallen trees on my property. Seems like a good little saw. I have a 16 in bar and it worked nicely. Any of you guys using this saw and what are your likes / dislikes.... Usually I ask B4 buying but no time today as it is a holiday weekend and my local dealer is closed Sunday and Monday.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[RONWEN]

You can't go wrong with Stihl.  [thumbs up]

 

[Zacharytanner]

Side note..... My old saw was so old it didn't have a chain brake and I have never used a saw with it...I like that feature

Frank

 

[tjbier]

The 029/MS290 is a good saw, also Stihl's most bought one due to it's price point.  With proper care it will last you many years.  It is a "calmshell" motor, meaning the jug doesn't come off the crank case you have to split the case to rebuild the saw (new piston, rings, crank bearing ect.).  That is the saws downside, but like I said take care of em and they will go for a long time ! Congrats on new tool day  ;D

 

[Tim Morris]

My 290 is about three years old. My only real complaint was the weight when topping stuff out so it's 180 "little brother" is only about a year and a half old. [big grin] You can never have too many toys tools. Seriously they are a great pair. I own several other Stihl products no complaints what so ever.

 

[Kevin Stricker]

I have a MS361 that has seen quite a bit of use in the last 4 years I have had it.  Easy to maintain and reliably starts cold.  Tough to clean pine sap/chain oil/ wood pulp once it has crystalized so I try to clean it up and sharpen the chain before I put it away.  I have taken down at least 100 trees and also heat with wood so it was a good investment.  Living in the mountains of Colorado on 3 acres means there is always some tree work that needs to be done.

 

[Hoover]

Either Stihl or Husqvarna, you'll be fine.  I have a Husqvarna 359.  Great saw, lots of power.

 

[Sparktrician]

My Stihl MS 192 C-E has worked out quite well for everything I've asked it to do. 

[smile]

 

[NuggyBuggy]

You can't go wrong with Stihl.   [thumbs up]

Unless the Stihl comes with a flippy cap 

 

[RONWEN]

You can't go wrong with Stihl.   [thumbs up]

Unless the Stihl comes with a flippy cap 

???

 

[awdriven]

I assume you're talking about the recalled gas cap? I don't think that was used on any of the chain saws.

If we're talking about the same thing - Stihl sold a number of machines that came with a gas cap that had a little cam lever that would be used to seal the tank closed. Some parts of the original cap swelled or distorted so the caps became very problematic to operate properly. There was eventually a recall and Stihl replaced the caps with ones made of updated material. I had two affected machines that were fixed and the caps have since been OK.

 

[wubears71]

I assume you're talking about the recalled gas cap? I don't think that was used on any of the chain saws.

If we're talking about the same thing - Stihl sold a number of machines that came with a gas cap that had a little cam lever that would be used to seal the tank closed. Some parts of the original cap swelled or distorted so the caps became very problematic to operate properly. There was eventually a recall and Stihl replaced the caps with ones made of updated material. I had two affected machines that were fixed and the caps have since been OK.

I have the updated caps and still hate them, especially on the backpack leaf blower.  Too often I think it's closed and latched just to nice it fall off and spill gas down my leg.  Other than that, I LOVE my Stihl tools. 

 

[Stokely]

My Stihls are great machines. I've got two chainsaws and weedwacker, two of them are 10 yrs old. But I've had to replace gas caps as well as bar chain oil caps on them. Plastic parts mind you. That said, I can't replace body parts but I'm confident in the saw's ability to handle the trees/wood I throw at it.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

I assume you're talking about the recalled gas cap? I don't think that was used on any of the chain saws.

If we're talking about the same thing - Stihl sold a number of machines that came with a gas cap that had a little cam lever that would be used to seal the tank closed. Some parts of the original cap swelled or distorted so the caps became very problematic to operate properly. There was eventually a recall and Stihl replaced the caps with ones made of updated material. I had two affected machines that were fixed and the caps have since been OK.

I have the updated caps and still hate them, especially on the backpack leaf blower.  Too often I think it's closed and latched just to nice it fall off and spill gas down my leg.  Other than that, I LOVE my Stihl tools. 

I asked my Stihl (Canada) dealers about the recall and they said there was no such thing...perhaps it is a US thing.

Like Tim, I have spilled many a liter of gasoline from my backpack blower (BR600) thinking the darn cap was closed.  I dread refilling it because after opening the fuel tank, I know I will be spending 5-10 minutes sitting on the ground trying to get the cap closed properly... and when I do, I am never really sure how I did it, just that I don't dare trying to do it again.

I've got two other Stihls (a weed whacker and an MS250) that have a different style of flippy cap and never have a problem, as well as two big 076es that have old-style caps and hence never have a problem like that either.

If one goes to arboristsite.com you'll find that the Stihl flippy cap is sort of a running joke.

 

[peter halle]

I can attest to the fact that there was a recall here in the US for the cam action caps.  I got a replacement for mine.

 

[semenza]

Yup, me too on the recall.  I have a 260 saw and a trimmer, both purchased about the same ti me. The recall only came through for the trimmer.

Seth