More confused than ever... MS362 , MS441 or MS461

[Elguano]

Well I just litteraly stole a 170 for 50$ in a Garage sale lol, but am still looking into it , I will have the 170,290 and just have to make my mind on a bigger saw for cutting my firewood logs ... I will probably bite the bullet next weekend, just have to make my mind on what to get..

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Well I just litteraly stole a 170 for 50$ in a Garage sale lol, but am still looking into it , I will have the 170,290 and just have to make my mind on a bigger saw for cutting my firewood logs ... I will probably bite the bullet next weekend, just have to make my mind on what to get..

Well that makes it easy. Sell the 170 and the 290. Spend that money on a 241 or 261 and then buy whatever big saw you want.

 

[tychoseven]

Well that makes it easy. Sell the 170 and the 290. Spend that money on a 241 or 261 and then buy whatever big saw you want.

I support this proposal. Sell the 251 also.
If you're sure you'll never need to cut anything larger in diameter than the 12-16" you're cutting now, get a 60cc saw.
Otherwise, put that money towards a smaller pro saw (~50cc) and if you're buying a new 70+cc saw, get the 461 (vs the 441).

If you're mechanically savvy and can do a basic inspection on saws, look on craigslist for great deals. See the "you suck!" thread for examples. I bought my first saw, an 034, for $160 and it's running great 3 years later.

 

[Elguano]

Well this is what I call a steal, 50$ cleaned air filter + changed the spark plug and a can of carb cleaner and the thing fired right up

 

[morbius18]

I own a ms261c-m, a ms362c-m and a ms441c-m. I rebuilt a ms460 and ms461 and had all 3-70cc saws at the same time. I sold the others and kept the ms441. I'll probably get beat up because it's not a 460 or 461.
Here's the 461 I sold on ebay...


I really like the spring av, I like the fuel usage of the strato design and I liked my other mtronic saws so much I converted my MS441 to a 441c-m. I love the mtronic saws. 460 & 461 have rubber av buffers and aren't strato saws. The 461 does get some better fuel usage, but the 441 is better.

I'll reiterate, I've owned all 3, at the same time and have cut with all 3, I chose the ms441.


Of the 3, the MS261 gets about 75% usage, the MS441 gets 20% and the 362 gets like 5%.

If I was on a 1 saw plan, a 362 would be good, but the new ms261c-m isn't any slacker, especially with a good muffler mod. 2 saw plan would be ms261 and ms441.

 

[August76]

View attachment 668144 Save yourself some money.

I have the Makita dolmar dcs6421 it's a beast.

 

[August76]

A compression test can be helpful, but I'm my opinion looking at the chain is usually the first place to start. Unless we really know otherwise, disappointing saw performance is usually a result of a poorly sharpened chain.

Amen..makes a world of difference.

 

[Elguano]

Well i think I finally zero out on something. I will get the MS462, got a friend who live in Belgium they are available overthere, so i'll get it ship here.

 

[ericm979]

Hopefully you can get parts and service through your friend as well.

 

[holeycow]

If that 462 is any good it will need no parts or service for a very long time.

Most chainsaws leave the store and never go back.

Anyone with even rudimentary mechanical skills has no need of service for a chainsaw from a dealer.

 

[morbius18]

Well i think I finally zero out on something. I will get the MS462, got a friend who live in Belgium they are available overthere, so i'll get it ship here.

I think that the ms462 would be a good choice. I've not ran or even saw one, but the specs are really, really nice. But the price makes me cringe.

 

[morbius18]

If that 462 is any good it will need no parts or service for a very long time.

Most chainsaws leave the store and never go back.

Anyone with even rudimentary mechanical skills has no need of service for a chainsaw from a dealer.

I agree with that 100%. I've picked all mine up and cleaned and rebuilt them for a fraction of new MSRP.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Well i think I finally zero out on something. I will get the MS462, got a friend who live in Belgium they are available overthere, so i'll get it ship here.

Do your homework on the customs issue. I don't know much about it personally, but I've heard of saws being denied entry. Maybe take the plastics and the clutch cover, handlebar, etc off and call it a box of chainsaws parts.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Do your homework on the customs issue. I don't know much about it personally, but I've heard of saws being denied entry. Maybe take the plastics and the clutch cover, handlebar, etc off and call it a box of chainsaws parts.

And the tax issue.

 

[Elguano]

So far with exchange it come up to about 1250$ cad + shipping , i might be able to save the duty as he will ship it as a gift... worse case scenario i get nail for 13% tax...

Am getting it for almost the same as a 461 here, excluding shipping and the 461 would have tax on it

And as everyone said I fell pretty confident i wont have any issue (i probably jinx it right here) until they will be out here... which was supposed to be last yr

 

[Elguano]

I agree with that 100%. I've picked all mine up and cleaned and rebuilt them for a fraction of new MSRP.

Same as the 170 i picked up for 50$ cleaned the air filter , changed the spark plug (which was included in the 50) and put a new tank of gas and it started right up

 

[Elguano]

Hopefully you can get parts and service through your friend as well.

The friend who live in Belgium bought last yr an 03 escalade with 200000 Miles for 20 000 Euro! So i ship him part for this POS on quite a regular basis as they cant get the parts for a v8 6.0 overthere, he better get me the parts if this thing need parts lol

 

[ken morgan]

Confused? seems like a regular problem amongst the Stihl crowd...I am amazed they manged to put on the correct underwear in the morning.

 

[holeycow]

Correct underwear?

Just as long as I don’t put on the wife’s panties I am good.

Cause when I put those on...

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Correct underwear?

Just as long as I don’t put on the wife’s panties I am good.

Cause when I put those on...

Always wondered about that fixation with creamsicles.