# Farm Boss opinion



## purplewg (Jan 29, 2010)

It is an MS290 in pretty dang good shape. He wants $225 for it. Is it worth it?

Thanks


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## treeslayer (Jan 29, 2010)

yes, a pretty good saw. I had one last year, got stolen, though..


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## treesquirrel (Jan 29, 2010)

Thats a good decent for it. I think they retail for around 360.00.


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## rarefish383 (Jan 29, 2010)

I bought one a couple years ago for a small to mid size ground saw and really like it, Joe.


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## 48"BAR PINCHER (Jan 30, 2010)

Great saw. Got mine in 01 and have run the snot out of it. 0 issues at all.


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## Treecutr (Jan 31, 2010)

purplewg said:


> It is an MS290 in pretty dang good shape. He wants $225 for it. Is it worth it?
> 
> Thanks



Nope it's junk.............whats the guys number, you know just so I can tell him his price is WAY to high, they do need a scarcasm button, it would have greater affect.

Maybe you can get it for a little less?? If not still a good deal.


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## trost66 (Jan 31, 2010)

There decent ground saws there kinda big an bulky. Good price though


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## Tree Pig (Jan 31, 2010)

I have an old 029 Super that seems to be bullet proof runs great and you cant kill it but I agree with what Torst66 said... if you have cut with a good pro saw all day long you will notice the difference.


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## Plasmech (Jan 31, 2010)

purplewg said:


> It is an MS290 in pretty dang good shape. He wants $225 for it. Is it worth it?
> 
> Thanks



Too heavy for the power it puts out IMO. Save your money and get a used MS-361, you will love that saw, it's got spunk.


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## Tree Pig (Feb 1, 2010)

Plasmech said:


> Too heavy for the power it puts out IMO. Save your money and get a used MS-361, you will love that saw, it's got spunk.



+1 Got to agree again my 361 has been down for a few months so I have been using my 29 and there is a big difference even though its only a couple of pounds.


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## outofmytree (Feb 1, 2010)

Bought my wife a 250 with the ergo start option a few years ago and when it goes bang its new 361 time! Wish my saw prices were the same as yours!


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## Tree Pig (Feb 1, 2010)

outofmytree said:


> Bought my wife a 250 with the ergo start option a few years ago and when it goes bang its new 361 time! Wish my saw prices were the same as yours!



What would you pay for a 361 there?


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## outofmytree (Feb 1, 2010)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> What would you pay for a 361 there?



$1399 AUS = $1235 US.


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## mcb (Feb 1, 2010)

a brand new 290 is around $500 here in massachusetts, and we have plenty of dealers competing against each other. 

im going to be the lone dissenter and tell you to skip it, in my opinion, there are better used saws for the money if you are in it for the long run. anything that goes wrong with a farmboss tends to cost more than the saw is worth, making them more or less disposable. 

the first saw i bought was a used and "freshly rebuilt" ms290 farmboss for about the same price and in what looked like great shape. 1 hour into the job i bought it for, the saw was down on power, in hindsight, thanks to a leak at the cylinder base that made it run lean, thanks to the permatex job that the last guy did. the farmboss does NOT use a base gasket, only a bead of silicone. 

further, the ms290 is a clamshell design, meaning that half the crank bearings are held by journals that are cast into the jug. see the half rounds below? that is a tolerance fit and it creates a few issues. the least of which is that the saw isnt really able to be modded, the bigger issue is that if the base warps or gets knicked, you cant resurface it because the bearing wont let the jug seat any deeper. 







because of this, cylinders are very expensive and only available from stihl in my experience. i was quoted over $300 for a new jug. with so many homeowners tweaking the screws, there is a lot more demand for good used jugs than supply. 

also, you can see here that the crankcase is made of molded plastic, and its EXTREMELY inconvenient to work on because you really cant strip it down much more than this, everything is a really tight fit and difficult to get apart.






of the 7 saws ive torn down, NOTHING has been even close to as aggravating as the farmboss. you have to strip every last piece of that saw to get the jug off, and the chainbrake is ridiculously over complicated, made in germany alright. only a nazi could want to make a human suffer through reassembling that thing IMO. 

the only other stihl ive worked on is the 041AV so i cant really speak for stihl overall, but i would never buy another clamshell, ever again. all the husky, dolmar and jonsered saws i have tore down were a joy compared to the MS290. i sincerely recommend you seeing if you can find a jonsered CS21xx series saw. 5 very hard years and all ive changed is the plug. should be in the same price range.


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## Tree Pig (Feb 1, 2010)

mcb said:


> a brand new 290 is around $500 here in massachusetts, and we have plenty of dealers competing against each other.
> 
> im going to be the lone dissenter and tell you to skip it, in my opinion, there are better used saws for the money if you are in it for the long run. anything that goes wrong with a farmboss tends to cost more than the saw is worth, making them more or less disposable.
> 
> ...




They only sell for $400 give or take $20 depending on the bar.


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## Tree Pig (Feb 1, 2010)

outofmytree said:


> $1399 AUS = $1235 US.



How about you send me the cash and Ill pick up what you need and ship it to you. Youll still prolly save $400-$500 even with shipping.


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## zikibusey (Feb 1, 2010)

*Ms 290*

Occasional use... great saw for the money. I've gone through 10-12 tanks and a 20" bar with no problem. As I nock on the butcher block table next to me.


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## purplewg (Feb 1, 2010)

Oh boy, so many thoughts on this. I don't like the tear down problems mentioned here. I think I can get it for $175. If so maybe it would be a disposable saw?

Thanks


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## Plasmech (Feb 1, 2010)

purplewg said:


> Oh boy, so many thoughts on this. I don't like the tear down problems mentioned here. I think I can get it for $175. If so maybe it would be a disposable saw?
> 
> Thanks



What is your budget? That will enable a better answer.


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## purplewg (Feb 1, 2010)

Plasmech said:


> What is your budget? That will enable a better answer.




As cheap as possible! No, all kidding aside I would like to stay around the $400 range. Of course like all of us I would like to pay as little as possible for the best saw. lol

I don't use it everyday. Right now I am pretty busy cutting and grinding burned trees though.


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## tree md (Feb 1, 2010)

Last one I bought I got new for like $230 back in the late 90's. It lasted me like 5 years with no major problems. I have had a couple of them. I considered them a disposable saw. It would not be my first choice for a used saw though. There are better options to be had for around the same amount of money.


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## outofmytree (Feb 2, 2010)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> How about you send me the cash and Ill pick up what you need and ship it to you. Youll still prolly save $400-$500 even with shipping.



Cheers mate. Down the track this may well be the right option. If you ever need a carton of VB (shudder) let me know!


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## outofmytree (Feb 2, 2010)

Never owned or used a 290 but if they have similar constrcution to the 250 I do own then I add my vote to the ok-for-weekender-but-not-a-pro-saw camp. I have had a number of niggling problems which, due to the nature of the beast, have required wholesale replacement where on the pro range saws it can be solved by one cheapie part. Lets face it, there is a good reason why the farmboss range are much cheaper than the pro range.


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## Woodchip1 (Feb 2, 2010)

I wouldn't call it a throw away. You might have it 10 or 20 years before you toss it in the garbage. Depending on how much you cut. I've cut alot of wood with mine and it has done fine. At 3.6 or 3.8 HP it can throw some chips. Sounds like you really don't need a better saw than this and at that price its a no brainer.


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## Treecutr (Feb 2, 2010)

I'd check craigslist/ ebay. I got my 460 Magnum for $350. Have only had one problem ( had to replace spark plug wire, used 4 " piece and crimped it in, being an electrician helps ) Thing is awesome ( 25" Bar on it now, and can go up if I need/ want ). Guy gave me a 60 day warranty too!!

Alsao, I'm with Stihl-O-Matic. If anyone is looking for a saw, and they see one for cheaper in my area, I'll get it and send it to you to save you money. I paid $300 for my 310 a bunch of years back, my dad couldn't get one for less that $400, so we went online found it cheaper, and lucked out to have a friend that lived close enough that he got it, and my dad gave him the money when he came to visit. Nice deal


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