Help me justify a new saw purchase

[261cm]

Sweet!! I wish I lived close to you so I could just run it 1 time! I’ll bet it is a beast.
I wish Stihl would come out with one the size of the 261 with efi, and I would be all over that!
Congratulations on your new purchase, and I bet you will really like it.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Congrats on the purchase! You'll like that 500i.

I'm not sure why they wouldn't sell it w/o the bar/chain...my last 2 new Stihl purchases were w/o the bars. Both times, they just credited me the value of the bar. My 500i was still in the box when I got it.

Thanks!

Stihl makes a big deal about refusing to sell outside of a dealer, but there are dealers and then there are "dealers". Coastal is a box store.

 

[Hard_Yakka]

Turned out the bar and chain were just on another pallet, and had come in this morning as well. Right place, right time.

Not sure what I'm doing with the 32" bar and chain, but I'm definitely getting a 28" and a few chains.

View attachment 991867

Was this the Coastal in RBG? If so I won't waste my time going to town unless they had two

 

[OM617YOTA]

Was this the Coastal in RBG? If so I won't waste my time going to town unless they had two

Albany.

If they don't have one on the shelf, ask someone to check in the back.

 

[OM617YOTA]

28" bar and chain arrived and mounted. Balances much better than it did with the 32" bar.

 

[Hard_Yakka]

I seriously considered the 500 when you found that one up there but I put had put a bark box on one 362 and really liked what that little bit did so my thoughts are to just do some port polishing/cleanup on that unit. It has a 25" Stihl lightweight bar but considering a 28" LW. My recent bone scan showed more spinal deterioration so need to keep the saws as light as possible, I really enjoy zoning out the news/world to just process firewood and want to keep doing that as long as I can.
I'm sure you'll get lot of use and 'enjoyment' out of that rig.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I seriously considered the 500 when you found that one up there but I put had put a bark box on one 362 and really liked what that little bit did so my thoughts are to just do some port polishing/cleanup on that unit. It has a 25" Stihl lightweight bar but considering a 28" LW. My recent bone scan showed more spinal deterioration so need to keep the saws as light as possible, I really enjoy zoning out the news/world to just process firewood and want to keep doing that as long as I can.
I'm sure you'll get lot of use and 'enjoyment' out of that rig.

Best of luck with the spinal stuff. Definitely take care of yourself.

I'm considering a bark box or straight shot myself, supposed to help the saw run a lot cooler. Any experience with that?

 

[OM617YOTA]

I dumped out the fuel the shop put in my 500i to fire it up before letting me have it. Glad I did, what I dumped out was yellow/green instead of Stihl oil blue, and smelled pretty old. Refueled with my own mix of Echo Red Armor, Stabil, and non-ethanol premium.

Cut a few cookies and then shut it down. I just don't have anything here big enough to really put a load on the saw and seat the rings properly. Will wait to run it more until I can treat it right.

 

[Hard_Yakka]

I have a bunch of 28-32" Oak recent (early last autumn and not on ground) and fresh windfalls that need cutting up .

Best of luck with the spinal stuff. Definitely take care of yourself.

I'm considering a bark box or straight shot myself, supposed to help the saw run a lot cooler. Any experience with that?

I really haven't run my 362C with BB that much either so can't say, sorry. I have four large oaks that went down 32" butts one was double that with two trunks. Anyway I was sectioning those out and it went quite smoothly. I use a chisel chain skip tooth.

 

[OM617YOTA]

If you were closer, I'd happily come help!

 

[Husky77]

I'm a homeowner firewood guy. I cut 2-3 cords/yr. My current 034, 034S, and 4 stroke abomination handle this just fine. I just want a toy.

What I'm looking at:

1. Keep what I already have and works, put the money in my pocket
2. Echo 590 - basically equivalent to what I have now, just new. By the specs, my 034S should be more powerful, but it's lead a long hard life, and people who have trigger time on the 590 say it's more powerful.
3. 462 - Overkill for what I do.
4. 500i - Stupid overkill for what I do. If I was pulling the trigger today, this is what I'd do. Small enough cost increase from the 462 that I'd happily pay the extra and make the jump.

I'd probably go with a 28" light bar on the 462/500i. M tronic and fuel injection don't worry me a bit vs. carb. I'd potentially be open to a ported 462, but for the cost of porting, I'd rather just step up to the 500i.

Share your thoughts.

Personally I would go for a husky 362, I have one that I picked up cheap, put a new ring in and cleaned it up now it's my favourite saw. Got a short bar on it and it flys through beech like a hot knife in butter. Or look out for a 375 but the 362 would handle anything I'm likely to come across. Myself I am staying away from the auto tunes I like working on my saws and dont trust dealers. Good luck on your quest, get what you want life is too short.... enjoy it

 

[Hard_Yakka]

Well there's plenty more .. first pic is our pile, second is what I stacked today at a clients out Elkton way. Yes there are a few punky ones in the pile. The customer, as of today, is just going to torch the pile this autumn. They don't burn wood and I have way to much that I haven't gotten to from 2-3 years ago from snowzilla.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I dumped out the fuel the shop put in my 500i to fire it up before letting me have it. Glad I did, what I dumped out was yellow/green instead of Stihl oil blue, and smelled pretty old. Refueled with my own mix of Echo Red Armor, Stabil, and non-ethanol premium.

Cut a few cookies and then shut it down. I just don't have anything here big enough to really put a load on the saw and seat the rings properly. Will wait to run it more until I can treat it right.

The Stihl premium oil in the silver bottles is yellow/green but it hasn't always been that way. The stuff in the orange bottles is blue.

Congrats on the saw!

 

[ihookem]

Borrowed? or lent to? it can't be both...and, yes he made a good decision.......great posting, because its ended.

Borrowed one of my rebuilt 026s to a 76yr old neighbor for the last couple of weeks who was lookiing for something lighter than his 461.
He ultimately purchased a Echo 501P on Thursday after trying to decide between it a 261 and 550XP.
Today we ran his new 501P 18" alongside the 026 with a 16" b&c, He is hoping the new saw wakes up a bit as it breaks in and with the slight differences in bar length he thought maybe the 026 had more than his new saw but was still happy with it and at his age he was not really worried if the saw was going to still be running 20yrs from now. I have a 026/260/261 044 CAD but today after running both saws side by side I think my neighbor made a good decision for himself considering the price differences and his age.

Yes, he likely did best . After a while , I noticed the saw had more torque. At first it needed a lot fo RPM's to work good. Now I can push it a little harder now that it's broken it.

 

[Fatherwheels]

You asks an good question, just buy it is my answer.
There is so much infighting amongst the nations right now,
the availability of chainsaws and other tools we need is being
impacted, covid, climate, wars, and talk of wars, get em while you can.

 

[thomasinvancouver]

I bought myself a 462R a couple years ago. I didn't "need" it at all... but it is lighter and "quicker in the small stuff" than my 046's......
If a new saw will put a smile on your face, buy it!

I sold my 362 and ran only the 462. It’s a great saw. If you want more then the 592 is, in my opinion, better than the 500i and 661.

 

[Goinwheelin]

Poulan 5020