# stihl ms251



## STIHLTHEDEERE (Feb 21, 2015)

just wondering who here owns one, or has used one, and what the general opinion is on this saw? people still seem to ask for the ms250 over the 251, and i'm not sure why??


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## Rockjock (Feb 22, 2015)

I have one in the Garage that was brought to be for repair. a MS 251 C-BE the fellow who owns it yanked on the easy start so hard be broke off the little clip that holds the starting assembly together. .25 part BUT at-45c it started up just fine. Runs well and cuts very nicely. No complaints. I like the new air filter and I hope the owner of the saw realizes he just not have to really pull on the easy start a smooth fluid motion was and is more then enough to start it up.


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## Franny K (Feb 22, 2015)

I got mine in Ohio when they were not even available here in Connecticut and the company line was the 241 would not be imported. It is amazing how long they keep the prior model the 250 around. I got it to use the picco rim drive,

It does not sound particularly nice, perhaps this is because the clutch drum is not in the center of the composite part that surrounds it, hasn't ever seemed to get worse. That is the worst complaint, the whirring noise. I put some sports tape around the handle right away as it seemed the two parts flexed, still do but not near as bad.

It is amazing what this thing will do with an exhaust opening the size of a pencil eraser. Seems to have good part throttle torque.

I have looked inside the spark plug hole and removed the muffler to see what is inside, It does have a two ring piston and sure didn't look like the port edges were champhered or had the edges cut a bit so the ring won't catch.

Pretty amazing that I can remove the bar due to getting stuck and re attach the bar without touching the tension adjustment.

I don't care for the one bar nut/stud or the direct contact of the bar to the composite saw body.

The flippy caps are great once I marked the exact position to put the cap to install it, maybe the stock markings are better now. It is the least gasoline odor chainsaw I have. If in doubt give it a wiggle though I havn't had a problem for over a year by now.

The non adjustable oiler is a minus but seems sized properly for the size of the two tanks.

I was not happy with the one starter pawl (non easy to start model) I got another one and the corresponding spring/clip needed but not through the dealer network as they wouldn't sell me the necessary parts. The starter chord is small in diameter and doesn't pull out as far as I would like. It is getting to the point I might be advised to pick up a spare piece.

In my picture the big piece is coming out on a chain and the rest I can pick up or flip. I am pretty sure it is a dead elm.


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

I have the same phenomenon. I sell twice as many 250's as 251's, even though the 250 is $20 more. Until all the 250's are gone, I imagine it will stay that way. I don't think one is better than the other.


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## SawTroll (Feb 22, 2015)

Rockjock said:


> I have one in the Garage that was brought to be for repair. a MS 251 C-BE the fellow who owns it yanked on the easy start so hard be broke off the little clip that holds the starting assembly together. .25 part BUT at-45c it started up just fine. Runs well and cuts very nicely. No complaints. I like the new air filter and I hope the owner of the saw realizes he just not have to really pull on the easy start a smooth fluid motion was and is more then enough to start it up.




It is of course a bad model - being a cheaply made "strato" model, with added weight boosters (C-BE).


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## STIHLTHEDEERE (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> I have the same phenomenon. I sell twice as many 250's as 251's, even though the 250 is $20 more. Until all the 250's are gone, I imagine it will stay that way. I don't think one is better than the other.


there is definately nothing wrong with an ms250, wish i had a dollar for the 250 and 290 cutting firewood around here, as we have sold a ton of them over the years!!! they are tough saws for sure. guess i just need to demo a 251 to see what the deal is with it......


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## STIHLTHEDEERE (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> I have the same phenomenon. I sell twice as many 250's as 251's, even though the 250 is $20 more. Until all the 250's are gone, I imagine it will stay that way. I don't think one is better than the other.


there is definately nothing wrong with an ms250, wish i had a dollar for the 250 and 290 cutting firewood around here, as we have sold a ton of them over the years!!! they are tough saws for sure. guess i just need to demo a 251 to see what the deal is with it......


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## cus_deluxe (Feb 22, 2015)

They certainly are good little saws. ive seen a number of them be used and abused and continue to work with almost no upkeep. I had to laugh though at a guy i know who cuts and burns a lot of wood for himself, as he stood there singing the praises of the tool-less chain tensioning system, while using a screwdriver to turn the little knob to tighten it......


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## Franny K (Feb 22, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> It is of course a bad model - being a cheaply made "strato" model, with added weight boosters (C-BE).


What you post may or may not be true, It is the biggest thing I could get to run a rim drive picco/3/8 lo profile chain. The cutting attachment is not bad. The picco class chain is significantly safer in my opinion than 0.325 brand x offers in that size class or only offers a six tooth spur. The chain brake works very well. I thought they deserved a bit of support for achieving a 300 hour epa rating.


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## McGoo (Feb 22, 2015)

I have a 251 that is coming up on two years old now. It is my main saw for firewood duties. I use it for cutting australian hardwoods, and it has been faultless. I grew up using an 039, and compared to that the 251 is lithe and nimble. The cutting speed is the same until the wood is over 10-12", then the 039 takes off. 

I have never used a 250, I'm not sure I've even seen one to be honest. The 251 fills the gap here between the crappy micro saws and the heavier farm boss range. It's pro equivalent would be the 241 or 261. I've used the 241 and thought that it's nice, but not 50% more dollars worth of nice. 

My dad is looking for something lighter than his 391 as he is getting older, and the 251 is atthe top of the list.


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> It is of course a bad model - being a cheaply made "strato" model, with added weight boosters (C-BE).


Neither the MS250 nor the 251 that I sell are C-BE models. Now that I can get MS211's without the C-BE add ons, I will be selling more of those too.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> Neither the MS250 nor the 251 that I sell are C-BE models. Now that I can get MS211's without the C-BE add ons, I will be selling more of those too.


the ms 231 should be coming to market here in the us soon its going to replace the ms 230.


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

jakewells said:


> the ms 231 should be coming to market here in the us soon its going to replace the ms 230.


I've been wondering when it will appear. I'll probably stock it. I sold very few 230's, so I have no idea where it'll fit in.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> I've been wondering when it will appear. I'll probably stock it. I sold very few 230's, so I have no idea where it'll fit in.


only thing my dealer stocks is 170,230,250
he told me he wont order them because the new low emission saws are junk, he is such a idiot


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

jakewells said:


> only thing my dealer stocks is 170,230,250
> he told me he wont order them because the new low emission saws are junk, he is such a idiot


He'll be **** out of luck here pretty soon once the supplies of 170/230/250's is used up. We've had zero issues with the "low emission" saws. They seem to be holding up just as well as any of the previous generation of homeowner grade saws.


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## Flip D (Feb 22, 2015)

I bought a plain jane one a couple of years ago as a back of the truck, whoever grabs it beater saw for the farm and haven't been disappointed. My dad likes it better than his 250 so we swapped last fall. Like the above poster said, the exhaust is not much bigger than a pencil so a muffler mod would probably help it a lot. 

That being said, I found this site and purchased a used 339xp for $100 less than I paid for the 251. The 339 is a couple pounds lighter, much more nimble, and cuts faster than the 251. Both my dad and I use the 339 for all our small saw needs now, so the 250 & 251 will probably have a for sale sign hung from them some time this year but it's not really fair to compare a pro saw to a homeowner saw.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> He'll be **** out of luck here pretty soon once the supplies of 170/230/250's is used up. We've had zero issues with the "low emission" saws. They seem to be holding up just as well as any of the previous generation of homeowner grade saws.


i liked my 171 till i sold it because i got in tight spot and needed money i wouldn't mind another it had a adjustable carb and a better air filter system.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> I've been wondering when it will appear. I'll probably stock it. I sold very few 230's, so I have no idea where it'll fit in.


here is the new ms 231 i found while digging around it looks like my next saw possibly?


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

jakewells said:


> here is the new ms 231 i found while digging around it looks like my next saw possibly?


 Just curious. Why a 231 and not a 251? Just price?


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## Franny K (Feb 22, 2015)

Flip D said:


> I bought a plain jane one a couple of years ago .........
> 
> That being said, I found this site and purchased a used 339xp for $100 less than I paid for the 251. The 339 is a couple pounds lighter, much more nimble, and cuts faster than the 251.



The part I made larger print, well I just don't see it as possible stock to stock. I have the same thing in a top handle.


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## Flip D (Feb 22, 2015)

Franny K said:


> The part I made larger print, well I just don't see it as possible stock to stock. I have the same thing in a top handle.



Might just be I'm better at filing the 325 semi chisel vs yellow picco but it cuts faster that 250's. It doesn't have the torque but it has nice chain speed. All are wearing 16" bars.

I'd be interested to see what a 251 would do with a good muff mod.


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## KenJax Tree (Feb 22, 2015)

Dollar for dollar the best saw in the 40cc class is the Dolmar 421


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## Deleted member 83629 (Feb 22, 2015)

AKDoug said:


> Just curious. Why a 231 and not a 251? Just price?


price im a little strapped since my part time job doesn't pay a lot and mowing season wont start till the 1st week of april.


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## AKDoug (Feb 22, 2015)

jakewells said:


> price im a little strapped since my part time job doesn't pay a lot and mowing season wont start till the 1st week of april.


I totally understand.


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## wahoowad (Feb 26, 2015)

Hi. Harry Homeowner here and I'm on my 2nd season with the 251. Sometimes it is hard to start, at times the starter cord doesn't seem to pull out cleanly. It's like something stops it inside, awkwardly. Feels like I'm about to rip the cord off after it stops 6". My biggest gripe is the oiler doesn't seem to put out an adequate amount of oil. Chain always looks dry. I called Stihl support and they guy said unofficially he thinks they have oiling issues. Took it to my dealer and he thinks it is fine.


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## McGoo (Feb 26, 2015)

I have never noticed a lack of oil on the chain. The only problems have come from my lack of sharpening at times.


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## wahoowad (Feb 26, 2015)

McGoo said:


> I have never noticed a lack of oil on the chain.



Hmmm. I have never noticed oil on it. I will see a little oil flinging off if i do a few revs up against a tree but not much at all. I prolly get 1.5 tanks of oil per tank of gas so I know it is coming out. Does a little better if I remove bar and totally clean everything up but then seems to get clogged up easy after only bucking up half a tree.


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## McGoo (Feb 26, 2015)

wahoowad said:


> Hmmm. I have never noticed oil on it. I will see a little oil flinging off if i do a few revs up against a tree but not much at all. I prolly get 1.5 tanks of oil per tank of gas so I know it is coming out. Does a little better if I remove bar and totally clean everything up but then seems to get clogged up easy after only bucking up half a tree.



I would say mine is the same for showing and using oil, but I haven't noticed it clogging up. To be fair, I'm mostly cutting semi- to fully dry Australian hardwoods, maybe that is the difference? But then I would have thought I need more oil than in softwoods.


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## THALL10326 (Feb 26, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> It is of course a bad model - being a cheaply made "strato" model, with added weight boosters (C-BE).



Bad models? Oh wait its you, not surprising,haha. SawTroll how ya been ole feller? Been awhile since I've peek on here to pester you. I see your still bashing Stihl but we at camp Stihl grin, yes we continue to hammer team Husky in sales with those "bad models". By the way aren't you getting up in years now, bout time you started thinking about getting a ez pull saw, come on by and pick yourself up a new 251, you'll like it,LOL


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## windthrown (Feb 26, 2015)

Tommy Hall?

Oh my god! I have not seen you here on AS since I last saw Elvis...


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## THALL10326 (Feb 26, 2015)

windthrown said:


> Tommy Hall?
> 
> Oh my god! I have not seen you here on AS since I last saw Elvis...


Hey there Wind. True I don't venture on here much anymore. Every once in awhile
I'll read through some threads but rarely post anything. I did see a thread about crank
bearings some guy was having abit of trouble installing so I figure what the heck and gave him pointers on how I do it. Then I saw my buddy ole Sawtroll still shaking those Husky pom poms and wearing that blue dress with the H on it bashing ole No.1 I couldn't resist tapping him on the noggin, gently of course. Note I didn't tell him just how bad we're killing them, trust me its bad but I'm not the type to rub it in on my buddy, no need to, he already knows,haha


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## STIHLTHEDEERE (Feb 26, 2015)

THALL10326 said:


> Hey there Wind. True I don't venture on here much anymore. Every once in awhile
> I'll read through some threads but rarely post anything. I did see a thread about crank
> bearings some guy was having abit of trouble installing so I figure what the heck and gave him pointers on how I do it. Then I saw my buddy ole Sawtroll still shaking those Husky pom poms and wearing that blue dress with the H on it bashing ole No.1 I couldn't resist tapping him on the noggin, gently of course. Note I didn't tell him just how bad we're killing them, trust me its bad but I'm not the type to rub it in on my buddy, no need to, he already knows,haha


 wish you still posted here regularly. i always enjoyed your posts.


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## SawTroll (Feb 27, 2015)

STIHLTHEDEERE said:


> wish you still posted here regularly. i always enjoyed your posts.



Who didn't? 

...but apparently he still believes the ol' halv truths that the VB guys are telling him....


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## STIHLTHEDEERE (Feb 27, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> Who didn't?
> 
> ...but apparently he still believes the ol' halv truths that the VB guys are telling him....


 and what should we believe about the stuff you tell us???? picking up my new 2260 today, wonder how long it run before it breaks down...............


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## windthrown (Feb 28, 2015)

Of anyone here, I think Mr. T Hall is his own man and does not believe half of what they tell him in VA Beach. He goes by what he sells out of his Crab& Saw shack there in the South, which always seems to be a lot. I have to agree on the sales numbers though. There are still about 10:1 Stihl to Husky dealers here in the PNW and I see almost all Stihl saws here being used by fallers and arborists.


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## THALL10326 (Mar 1, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> Who didn't?
> 
> ...but apparently he still believes the ol' halv truths that the VB guys are telling him....


Hot diggy dog you ole geezer , you have responded and now its like ole times,hehe. Half truth, oh my you do know better. Oh I know when you been playing second fiddle since forever its hard to catch up. However ole buddy your falling farther behind it seems every year. Used to be Husky was always a bigger outfit than Stihl mainly because they were into so many other products Stihl didn't manufacture. Even though Stihl always killed them in small handheld power equipment sales Husky was still a bigger operation producing other lines of products. That was until 2014. In 2014 Stihl had grown so much they now employee as many people as Husky yet still producing mainly nothing but small power equipment. Husky on the other hand has the same amount of employee's but their product offering is still way more than Stihl. They produce much more than just small handheld power equipment. Think about all those mowers and such at Sears. Now think about that ole buddy. Stihl needs as many people to keep up in production of their handheld power equipment as Husky does for their entire product offering which is many times larger than Stihl. In other words in like products made by both companies Stihl is, how is a nice way to put, slaughtering the competition. They are so far ahead of everyone else in handheld power equipment sales the other outfits couldn't catch them riding a rocket ship. 

Now SawTroll you gotta change your tactics. You gotta find a way to produce more sales, not just do back flips in the blue dress with the big H logo on it, wink!!!


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## STIHLTHEDEERE (Mar 1, 2015)




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## SawTroll (Mar 1, 2015)

THALL10326 said:


> .....
> 
> Now SawTroll you gotta change your tactics. You gotta find a way to produce more sales, not just do back flips in the blue dress with the big H logo on it, wink!!!




What I am calling halv truths inthis context is mainly *selective* use of statistics. 

I don't see any need to change any tactics, as I am not attempting to sell anything. This means I am free to report things as I see them, without following the "policy" os any brands or companies. 

By the way, how is Demi and Davy doing?


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## moondoggie (Mar 1, 2015)

A guy I know bought one. I cut 2 cords with it. It worked and rattled me to pieces. It absolutely would not dig/pull. My wrists hurt bad. Also terribly hard to start cold. I own a husqvarna 445 very smooth and surprisingly powerful IMO. I was cutting red and white oak no bigger than 
14" and some smaller sourwood. It should have ripped the sourwood to pieces. It wouldn't. Ran the 445 against it. Both saws 18" bars and Stihl aggressive chains. The 445 beat it by at least two seconds every time. And my 445 has cut at least 250 cords.


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## THALL10326 (Mar 1, 2015)

SawTroll said:


> What I am calling halv truths inthis context is mainly *selective* use of statistics.
> 
> I don't see any need to change any tactics, as I am not attempting to sell anything. This means I am free to report things as I see them, without following the "policy" os any brands or companies.
> 
> By the way, how is Demi and Davy doing?


There is no tactics when it comes to cold hard facts, the numbers do not lie. Of course we can all argue over which model is better than the other, which has more features than the other but the one thing we can't argue over is who sells the most of all models. Sales is what all these companies are interested in, the rest of the hoop la doesn't mean beans to them. Remember ole buddy sales is what pays for everything. All the R&R, all the salaries, keeping the factories running, sales pay for it all. Without sales there is nothing.

Demi went no count and Davy went and found another more modest goat. Hell last I heard they even went and sold the Lisa Marie. I'm telling you ole buddy the world is a ever changing place, not always for the good either. Some things remain the same though, like you and me. We pester each other all in fun but you know I would back you up in a heartbeat if you needed me, cheers!!!!!!!!


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## SawTroll (Mar 1, 2015)

THALL10326 said:


> .... Some things remain the same though, like you and me. We pester each other all in fun but you know I would back you up in a heartbeat if you needed me, cheers!!!!!!!!



Yes, I know ol' friend - has happened before.


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## jdind (Jan 7, 2016)

Been looking at a MS 251 for a while now. Finally bit the bullet and got mine yesterday. I must say I'm rather unimpressed so far, mostly by the crappy single bar nut design. Due to the bar not getting oil at first, I took the clutch cover on and off a few times. At one stage, as I was unscrewing the single bar nut to release the cover, the whole bolt started coming out of the plastic casing! I managed to get it back in, but still, it doesn't inspire much confidence. Nor the fact that Stihl has a spare oversized bolt in their catalogue (must happen a lot).
I since checked the owners manual and it says that the bar nut should be 'finger tight'. That sounds rather light on, especially when there's only one nut and a crappy plastic chain guard (the metal one doesn't come as standard, apparently???)
The overall design is really pretty crap: there's a second bolt that the bar slides into, but for some reason there's no way to use that second bar bolt to tighten the bar, WTF?


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## radioFlash (Jan 8, 2016)

The "finger tight" recommendation is before you tension the bar chain. Once the chain is tensioned properly, the manual suggests "while holding the bar nose up, tighten the nut firmly"--pretty vague too. I found a Craftsman chainsaw manual for a 42cc saw that suggests 10-15 ft-lbs of torque. 

I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that it's possible to fit a different sprocket cover and convert it to a two bolt mount.

I forgot to tighten the nut a couple of times and threw the chain, which chewed up the plastic dust cover, which fortunately was pretty cheap. My saw only had the integral plastic chain catcher on the sprocket cover (now chewed up on mine), but the part number for the metal catcher is 0000 656 7700 and it's only a few dollars.


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## Rockjock (Jan 8, 2016)

The 251 has been a good seller for us, and seeing that several were sold to a crew that take down ash trees they got some serious hours on them with no issues thus far. I also got to use one in November in Deutschland to help a friend drop some trees and cut up some firewood. Again I found no issues with it. I am used to my 025 and thought it was a nice upgrade. Better AV and air filter. and yes the flippy caps.


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## jdind (Jan 9, 2016)

radioFlash said:


> The "finger tight" recommendation is before you tension the bar chain. Once the chain is tensioned properly, the manual suggests "while holding the bar nose up, tighten the nut firmly"--pretty vague too. I found a Craftsman chainsaw manual for a 42cc saw that suggests 10-15 ft-lbs of torque.



Oh yes, I didn't see that when I looked through the manual. Certainly better than finger tight, but still pretty vague as you said.



radioFlash said:


> I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that it's possible to fit a different sprocket cover and convert it to a two bolt mount.



I rang the shop and asked them, but they couldn't figure out a two-bolt cover that would fit the 251. :-( If anyone knows of one I'd love to hear it.


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## Franny K (Jan 9, 2016)

jdind said:


> Oh yes, I didn't see that when I looked through the manual. Certainly better than finger tight, but still pretty vague as you said.
> 
> 
> 
> I rang the shop and asked them, but they couldn't figure out a two-bolt cover that would fit the 251. :-( If anyone knows of one I'd love to hear it.


Look at this thread
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/hot-stihl-251.283651/
post 18 is the closest to an answer.

I thought about converting mine but have not. The anti vibe is pretty flexible, there is not a lot of composite material for the bar to press against where the new stud would go. The pin/peg does conveniently have a torx recess for taking it out.

I was looking on line at the manual and parts sheet for the Husqvarna 445 which I suspect is the comparable model. The Husky has 33mm stroke instead of 30. Ms250 had has 32mm. I only see a 7 tooth spur in 0.325 for the Husky where there are many choices for the Stihl being discussed here.


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## Chris-PA (Jan 9, 2016)

And I thought 2 bar studs screwed into plastic threads was cheap and an inappropriate design given the materials.


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## Franny K (Jan 9, 2016)

Chris-PA said:


> And I thought 2 bar studs screwed into plastic threads was cheap and an inappropriate design given the materials.


I believe it is composite instead of plastic.
It may be a better choice than using a T type b0lt and doing something different.
It would be interesting to do some destructive testing with the scrench/multi tool they provide with a saw purchase and see how hard it is to pull the threads out. What is the chances the threads on the nut pull out first.


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## Chris-PA (Jan 9, 2016)

Franny K said:


> I believe it is composite instead of plastic.
> It may be a better choice than using a T type b0lt and doing something different.
> It would be interesting to do some destructive testing with the scrench/multi tool they provide with a saw purchase and see how hard it is to pull the threads out. What is the chances the threads on the nut pull out first.


It's a plastic with filler - they're all using the same kinds of materials. The shear strength of those tiny threads is never going to compare to pulling a steel bolt through the case. You still need to keep the bolt from rotating, but a square head will do that fine.

It would be an interesting test but I'd bet on this:


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## Franny K (Jan 9, 2016)

This is another way of doing it.
I would most certainly like to have two bar studs and a metal plate that contacts the bar and saw chasis. On this model even a clutch cover that spread the load out a bit more and didn't mar the paint on the bar would be an improvement.


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## rynosawr (Jan 9, 2016)

Ok, my first hand opinion of the MS251....


I bought one that had the muffler fall off and it roasted and melted the inside of the case/body very badly, warping several parts of the chain brake mechanism enough that it still worked, but barely.

This was bought from the same owner/abuser as the hottest MS391 thread so I wasn't surprised.

I thought this saw had ruined crank bearings but it didn't, it had so much crud/varnish on the piston that it wouldn't hardly turn over when I got it.

Did a complete dissasembly and full cleaning and found a ton of carbon and varnish on the piston skirt and stuck rings.... This saw was less than a year old and had been used by some abusive tree service guys.

Put it all back together and started in two pulls cold and one warm. It has a funny noise to the clutch/kind of a whirring sound others have mentioned.
Oiler oils ok, but minimal.

Power seems ok, but I prefer an 024super or 026 old school saw feel.

I sold it for $240, but there wasn't much interest in it locally, which was odd to me. The shop I get parts from didn't recommend one very highly either.


My $.02.....


Buy a good used or rebuilt 024 or 026 on here (AS) before buying one of these Mattel saws.... I know everyone wants a new saw, but you can't beat the quality of a good used magnesium pro saw that has been well maintained.

The Dolmar 421 does look very good as a new saw also.


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## melloyello (Jan 9, 2016)

I have been using my 251 for 2 years. Normally it gets 2-3 tanks ran through it then the cover, chain and bar gets taken off and everything is blown out. The top cover comes off and is blown out. I also blow out around the muffler and blow out what fins I can get to. I do this with all my saws. I think taking care of your saws has a lot to do with how long they last.
Never had a problem with the one nut on the cover. I would like to see more oil on the bar though. I have seen that if I use Poulan Pro oil in it instead of Stihl oil it oils more. I have actually thought about running motor oil in it to get it to oil better. Aside from the oiler I don't have any other problems with the saw. It's light and has plenty of power for what I do with it. If I need more power I grab the 391. If I need less I grab the 170.
I have a few saws and haven't had any major failures. I have repaired many saws that have had major problems. Most of these problems could have been stopped by keeping the saw clean, keeping the chain tensioned properly, keeping the chain sharp, servicing regularly and using the saw as it was intended.


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## rynosawr (Jan 9, 2016)

melloyello said:


> I have been using my 251 for 2 years. Normally it gets 2-3 tanks ran through it then the cover, chain and bar gets taken off and everything is blown out. The top cover comes off and is blown out. I also blow out around the muffler and blow out what fins I can get to. I do this with all my saws. I think taking care of your saws has a lot to do with how long they last.
> Never had a problem with the one nut on the cover. I would like to see more oil on the bar though. I have seen that if I use Poulan Pro oil in it instead of Stihl oil it oils more. I have actually thought about running motor oil in it to get it to oil better. Aside from the oiler I don't have any other problems with the saw. It's light and has plenty of power for what I do with it. If I need more power I grab the 391. If I need less I grab the 170.
> I have a few saws and haven't had any major failures. I have repaired many saws that have had major problems. Most of these problems could have been stopped by keeping the saw clean, keeping the chain tensioned properly, keeping the chain sharp, servicing regularly and using the saw as it was intended.




You make some excellent points. I think you are 100% correct. If these saws are well maintained and cleaned regularly, they will last a long time.

It is really only in a harsh use and abuse environment that they are prone to fail.

I wish saw manufacturers would quit making saws with crevices and cubby holes for crap to get stuck in.....

It would make for much easier cleaning and maintenance, of course, they wouldn't sell as many saws because of that either....

I wonder sometimes what the marketing, engineering, and accounting teams say to each other every time a new generation of chainsaw is devised.


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## Rockjock (Jan 10, 2016)

I received a PM from a bloke reminding me of a video where this chap drops a fairly substantial tree and bucks it up with a MS 251 and a 14" B&C take your time and get it done..


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