cwatkin
ArboristSite Member
I recently bought a Stihl MS-250 chainsaw and wanted to give my thumbs up on this saw. I have always had a Stihl MS-361 pro saw and find it to be a great cutting machine. There are a lot of times when a saw of that size isn't needed and is a pain due to its size and weight. This isn't a huge saw by any means but it does work you if you cut all day with it, plus it isn't the best for trimming or tight spaces.
I have traded for several used MS-170 and 180 saws in the past and always found them too underpowered for all but small trim jobs, would get sick of them, and trade/sell them off. MY local dealer had a sale on the MS-250 saw a year or so ago and I looked up the specs and decided to take the plunge without even having used that model in the past. I do not regret this purchase. Since I already have a larger saw, I opted for the 16 inch bar that they offer stock with the saw. I have found this to be an excellent trimmer as well as a basic firewood saw. It will cut anything up to the length of the 16 inch bar without much problem. Sure, it isn't as fast as my 361 on 14 inch logs, but it will still get through them. I am cutting lots of wood in confined spaces where a power line was put through and the trees were pushed off to the side and have found this saw to be just perfect for cutting in such locations. It is small enough for trimming and use in tighter spaces, yet powerful enough to be useful. I never thought I would say it, but I go to this saw unless I need my bigger one. I am by no means a big guy but am fit. I can cut all day with this saw and not get tired!
I also like having another decent sized saw to cut myself out of trouble if I happen to bind another saw.
A few other things to note:
1. You can fit a picco bar such as one from an MS-170/180 to this saw if you change the clutch sprocket, which is also the same as is used on the MS-170/180. I have a 14 inch bar that I use for trimming and it just screams. The dealer I go to says that the smallest bar is the 16 inch as that is what is published. You could go to a 12 as I have done it but decided the 14 is better for this saw. In all honesty, I stay with the stock 16 inch unless doing lots of trimming.
2. I got the model with the easy start and quick adjust as that was the one on sale. I like the wasy start but not the quick adjust. The easy start is like a wind up toy. You pull it as slow as you want and it turns over when you let go. You can start a warmed up saw standing up. You have to get used to this. I was told at the time of sale that a lot of guys pull the cord out when they are used to the traditional start.
3. Although I have had an MS-180 with the quick adjust, this is my first heavy use of a saw with this "feature." I found that it kept backing out and that I was constantly having to adjust the chain tension. A spring and/or pin finally broke of fell out of the tightening wheel and the problem got MUCH worse. I rigged it for a bit so that I could vut for more than 30 seconds by putting duct tape around the side cover to hold the handle down so it wouldn't back out but wrote to Stihl in the meantime. I told them that I liked the saw overall but that it left some to be desired with the quick adjust. Unfortunately I had waited until just beyond the warranty period to begin my heavy cutting with this saw. Stihl contacted me back and offered to send me all the parts to change out the tensioner and side cover for free, even though I was outside the warranty period. I did this in about 10 minutes and it is a GREAT saw now. No messing with the tension and it cuts like a dream, plus I still have the easy start.
4. I have run the crap out of this saw and it seems to be holding up well, especially since I got the new side cover and tensioner parts. It even survived some pretty good user abuse. I was cutting around a creek and had just cut a bucnh of vines out of the way. One of them was laying on the ground and one end was under the saw. The other end was on the other side of the creek and got caught on my boot. The saw was running and the vine pulled the saw over the edge where it fell into the creek. I started scrambling to get the saw out of the water but it died before I could get to it. I removed the air cleaner and began pulling. The engine sounded normal so I thought hydrolock wasn't an issue. It took a few minutes of pulling to get it started and then it didn't want to idle. I threw the air cleaner back and and began cutting notstop. After a few minutes, it sounded normal and would idle once again. There have been no long term issues from this incident. I can say that this is the only time when I wish I could have pulled with more force than offered by the easy start but did get the saw going.
All in all, this is a great saw and I recommend it to anyone with a Stihl dealer nearby. I know there are lots of good saws but I am most familiar with Stihl. I am sure Echo, Husky, and others make an excellent comparable saw.
Just wanted to share,
Conor
I have traded for several used MS-170 and 180 saws in the past and always found them too underpowered for all but small trim jobs, would get sick of them, and trade/sell them off. MY local dealer had a sale on the MS-250 saw a year or so ago and I looked up the specs and decided to take the plunge without even having used that model in the past. I do not regret this purchase. Since I already have a larger saw, I opted for the 16 inch bar that they offer stock with the saw. I have found this to be an excellent trimmer as well as a basic firewood saw. It will cut anything up to the length of the 16 inch bar without much problem. Sure, it isn't as fast as my 361 on 14 inch logs, but it will still get through them. I am cutting lots of wood in confined spaces where a power line was put through and the trees were pushed off to the side and have found this saw to be just perfect for cutting in such locations. It is small enough for trimming and use in tighter spaces, yet powerful enough to be useful. I never thought I would say it, but I go to this saw unless I need my bigger one. I am by no means a big guy but am fit. I can cut all day with this saw and not get tired!
I also like having another decent sized saw to cut myself out of trouble if I happen to bind another saw.
A few other things to note:
1. You can fit a picco bar such as one from an MS-170/180 to this saw if you change the clutch sprocket, which is also the same as is used on the MS-170/180. I have a 14 inch bar that I use for trimming and it just screams. The dealer I go to says that the smallest bar is the 16 inch as that is what is published. You could go to a 12 as I have done it but decided the 14 is better for this saw. In all honesty, I stay with the stock 16 inch unless doing lots of trimming.
2. I got the model with the easy start and quick adjust as that was the one on sale. I like the wasy start but not the quick adjust. The easy start is like a wind up toy. You pull it as slow as you want and it turns over when you let go. You can start a warmed up saw standing up. You have to get used to this. I was told at the time of sale that a lot of guys pull the cord out when they are used to the traditional start.
3. Although I have had an MS-180 with the quick adjust, this is my first heavy use of a saw with this "feature." I found that it kept backing out and that I was constantly having to adjust the chain tension. A spring and/or pin finally broke of fell out of the tightening wheel and the problem got MUCH worse. I rigged it for a bit so that I could vut for more than 30 seconds by putting duct tape around the side cover to hold the handle down so it wouldn't back out but wrote to Stihl in the meantime. I told them that I liked the saw overall but that it left some to be desired with the quick adjust. Unfortunately I had waited until just beyond the warranty period to begin my heavy cutting with this saw. Stihl contacted me back and offered to send me all the parts to change out the tensioner and side cover for free, even though I was outside the warranty period. I did this in about 10 minutes and it is a GREAT saw now. No messing with the tension and it cuts like a dream, plus I still have the easy start.
4. I have run the crap out of this saw and it seems to be holding up well, especially since I got the new side cover and tensioner parts. It even survived some pretty good user abuse. I was cutting around a creek and had just cut a bucnh of vines out of the way. One of them was laying on the ground and one end was under the saw. The other end was on the other side of the creek and got caught on my boot. The saw was running and the vine pulled the saw over the edge where it fell into the creek. I started scrambling to get the saw out of the water but it died before I could get to it. I removed the air cleaner and began pulling. The engine sounded normal so I thought hydrolock wasn't an issue. It took a few minutes of pulling to get it started and then it didn't want to idle. I threw the air cleaner back and and began cutting notstop. After a few minutes, it sounded normal and would idle once again. There have been no long term issues from this incident. I can say that this is the only time when I wish I could have pulled with more force than offered by the easy start but did get the saw going.
All in all, this is a great saw and I recommend it to anyone with a Stihl dealer nearby. I know there are lots of good saws but I am most familiar with Stihl. I am sure Echo, Husky, and others make an excellent comparable saw.
Just wanted to share,
Conor
