031 AV, worth it?

[logeeland]

I have been watching a pair of 031's locally for a few months. It is like 2 pieces of bait on strings. Both run, but they need carb cleaning. One has the inertia chain brake and one has just the hand guard. Are these sought after saws? Any value in them? They are listed at $130 for the pair. Trying to get a push to buy them.

 

[Definitive Dave]

I wouldn't buy one, I wouldn't run one, I wouldn't sell one and I wouldn't give it away unless it was to another guy named Dave.

frustrating to work on, the most common part to have go bad is no longer available from Stihl and not made in the aftermarket, they are heavy and slow

remember that online "needs carb cleaning" really means " something is wrong and I don't have any idea what it is"
compared to the saws in your sig, it is a complete waste of time

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

The saws you are looking at are over priced by about $90.

 

[logeeland]

I was just thinking of buying the pair and flipping them. Figure I would ask here the value. He "said" one runs well and when he swaps the carb to the "bad" one that one then runs well. If they were each worth $150 to $175 I might try cleaning them and flipping them. But I just need other saw guys to tell me no!

 

[procarbine2k1]

Assuming the one only needs a carburetor, and both ignitions are good.. Yes there is some money to be made-on eBay (assuming they are in good cosmetic condition). If you had a hard time selling an 038 locally, you'll find these much harder. There is a fine niche market for these saws.
Decent ones sell for 125-175 pretty common, on eBay. Locally, at least here.. There doesn't seem to be much desire for them.
BTW, the one with the chain brake could very well have the updated electronic ignition, I don't believe those were as problematic.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I'm not gonna tell you no on this. I've had several 031s and 032s and I kinda like them. Like all saws their age they aren't as fast as the newer saws but so what? They are a slight bit heavier than the new ones because they're made of metal not plastic. Believe me, if I ran across a deal like that and the saws weren't all beat up I would probably buy them. They might be a little harder to work on but they don't have all the EPA crap on them that the newer ones have.

 

[logeeland]

Assuming the one only needs a carburetor, and both ignitions are good.. Yes there is some money to be made-on eBay (assuming they are in good cosmetic condition). If you had a hard time selling an 038 locally, you'll find these much harder. There is a fine niche market for these saws.
Decent ones sell for 125-175 pretty common, on eBay. Locally, at least here.. There doesn't seem to be much desire for them.
BTW, the one with the chain brake could very well have the updated electronic ignition, I don't believe those were as problematic.

Not worth the headache for profit. Thank you for the advice.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

A lot of us do this for a hobby which you can make a little money if you do it right. It's not something you can make a living or get rich at. You can make a little money on about any Stihl if they don't need a lot of parts and aren't too beat up.

 

[logeeland]

A lot of us do this for a hobby which you can make a little money if you do it right. It's not something you can make a living or get rich at. You can make a little money on about any Stihl if they don't need a lot of parts and aren't too beat up.

I have been doing it as a hobby for a few years now. I like the spending money in my pocket. I have not jumped into that vintage saw yet and wanted some opinions. It sounds like a solid saw but I have a few other projects to fiddle with that are more personal and fun. I will skip the 031's for now.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

A lot of the guys around here aren't too crazy about the 031 or 032 Stihls for some reason, Vintage saws is definitely a smaller market than selling newer ones. Like someone said, they might be a bit more difficult to work on than the new ones. I mostly work on newer ones also but will still go back and pick up an 031 if it doesn't cost too much.

 

[logeeland]

A lot of the guys around here aren't too crazy about the 031 or 032 Stihls for some reason, Vintage saws is definitely a smaller market than selling newer ones. Like someone said, they might be a bit more difficult to work on than the new ones. I mostly work on newer ones also but will still go back and pick up an 031 if it doesn't cost too much.

The guy wants $130 for the pair. I bet I could throw $100 and he would take it. It has been posted since last November.

 

[logeeland]

A lot of the guys around here aren't too crazy about the 031 or 032 Stihls for some reason, Vintage saws is definitely a smaller market than selling newer ones. Like someone said, they might be a bit more difficult to work on than the new ones. I mostly work on newer ones also but will still go back and pick up an 031 if it doesn't cost too much.

Here is the text of his ad:

Two Stihl 031 AV chainsaws. The first one starts and runs well with 16" bar and 3/8 chain with lots of life in it. I ran it for years with a 20" bar and chain and it performed well. Good low end torque for a 50cc saw. Very little plastic to break and no stupid flip caps to mess with. I finished my firewood in the fall, put stabilizer through the fuel system, then drained the tank, sharpened the chain fully and put the saw away for the winter. It has always fired up reliably in the spring after a few cranks.

The other 031 is for parts. However it has good compression, and did run but has fuel system problems.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I would probably be interested in something like that but doubt I would give him the price he wants. I probably wouldn't give him much over $75 for both, but then again I don't need any more chainsaws right now. I have quite a bit of stuff to keep me busy if we ever get any good weather around here.