Any thooughts on the Stihl 201-T CM

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I don't own one but use one at work. I really like the saw, I dare say as much if not more than a 200t. One issue we have noticed is particulate matter getting past the air filter. Apparently others have had this issue too.
 
****ing garbage. Had the fuel solenoid replaced and it still needs to be throttled to start. Plenty of power but it chokes out idling and every time I throttle it it chokes. My 201 had none of these problems.
 
After about 6 months to a year (depending on how hard you use it) the experience in those in use at my company is they start becoming difficult to start and keep running, like gorman noted. Don't buy a Husqvarna T540XP, they are not any better and the one we tried burned up in less than six months and was a money pit before then. I still like my Echos for reliability even though they don't have the same power.
 
After about 6 months to a year (depending on how hard you use it) the experience in those in use at my company is they start becoming difficult to start and keep running, like gorman noted. Don't buy a Husqvarna T540XP, they are not any better and the one we tried burned up in less than six months and was a money pit before then. I still like my Echos for reliability even though they don't have the same power.
I've been having the same problem and have had it for about 4 months. Could it be the air filter?
 
I've been having the same problem and have had it for about 4 months. Could it be the air filter?
Not sure. I haven't replaced it but I washed it and it came out looking new and it didn't fix it. Seems to be a common problem on all our M-tronic saws.
 
Those fuel solenoids are easy to replace, but Stihl raised the price of them from less than 20 bucks, to about 50. Talk about a shot in nuts to a working man. The 201c is a really good saw.....but those solenoids will sometimes take a dump. Symptoms are running too rich, and hard starting.

The 540t....pure crap. I thought Germans over engineered stuff till I messed with these things. Good Lord.

The 201 and 540xp are why people are discovering how good the echos and shindaiwas are

Agreed.
 
They seem to be very much hit or miss saws. With the MS200T you knew what you were dealing with: a hot rod which needed a lot of attention and ate carburetors for lunch. But with the MS201T you can get a saw that goes on and on just with ordinary maintenance, one that breaks down early on or one that turns out to be a hangar queen. As noted it's an overengineered saw (compare it to an Echo or a Maruyama) and those things have a tendency for inconsistent quallity.

Frankly I'd get either a second-hand 200T or a Japanese saw. Apart from Echo/Shindaiwa, Dolmar/Makita and Maruyama, remember the Jonsered 2236 is nothing more than a rebadged Zenoah GZ3500T.
 
If you go to equipment then chainsaw here on a.s there are probably a hundred threads on 201tcm. The good the bad and the ugly its all there

Sent from my LGMS428 using Tapatalk
 
If you go to equipment then chainsaw here on a.s there are probably a hundred threads on 201tcm. The good the bad and the ugly its all there

Sent from my LGMS428 using Tapatalk
This would be the case with 95%+ of the new threads on AS these days. It was full of life and activity once upon a time. I hope this place gets its mojo back again.
 
Just bought the 201 TCM about 5 weeks ago. So far it's been a good saw. But it's new. Mine doesn't get very good fuel mileage. Not sure if the tank is smaller or it just uses more. But I go through a tank noticeably quicker. I also bought the Echo about 3 weeks ago. I've been more than happy with it so far also. But it's a new saw too. The only complaint about the Echo is the tiny fuel and oil caps. I get gas everywhere. Especially when I just get out of a tree and I've been running a saw all day. Power is just fine in my opinion. I have 4 top handle saws spread out over different trucks so I'm not using the same saw everyday. Actually right now the Echo is my favorite saw. Never thought I would say that.
 
Good power can run up to 16" Bar, decent on gas after broken in. Those handles are brittle and all the linkage is in there. I have seen many break and I've seen one break on a 1ft drop so be careful. $200 repair if u can't fix it yourself.
 
Back
Top