No label, how do I tell an 066 from a 660?

[kayaklogger]

Bad week for buying used saws, bought a saw off craigslist that was advertized as a low hours saw, and being an idiot, I believe people when they look me in the eye and tell me something. Decent compression, and started right up, but everything else was bad. It's dead now, to make a long story short.

Bought a 660 off ebay yesterday (only 10 tanks of gas run through it, it said) and drove a few hours to pick it up in person, looked VERY clean, and the guy was super nice. Good compression, started right up. This morning I realized it wouldn't hold the 2nd choke position (wide open) and was really hard to start, then I started looking real carefully and realized the handle had been replaced, and the saw had been touched up VERY meticulosly with paint, then I noticed the 660 on the metal label was actually stickers from a model kit, almost perfectly matching the stihl font.

This still might be a good saw but I want to know if it is an older 660 or if it's a late model 066? the reason is that if it's an 066 I can pursue a fraud claim.

Does anyone know how I can tell?

I'm never buying a used saw again. I'm still chasing an airleak in my craigslist 460, and two bad 660's, I could have bought a new 880 by now.

Feeling pretty bummed, I was just starting to think I had this milling thing figured out.

 

[BarkBuster20]

im sorry hope you didnt pay to much, thats one way to avoid getting ripped with a used saw i look at all used saws as potentially needing a rebuild so i factor it into what i will pay that way i cant lose. so far its been working great.

 

[SilverBox]

Bad week for buying used saws, bought a saw off craigslist that was advertized as a low hours saw, and being an idiot, I believe people when they look me in the eye and tell me something. Decent compression, and started right up, but everything else was bad. It's dead now, to make a long story short.

Old saws never die!! They just need more parts!

 

[Freehand]

Above is an 066.


And here is a 660:

The air filters kinda give them away....also the body toward the top is leaner looking on the 066:notrolls2:

 

[Can8ianTimber]

Sorry to hear that man. Go new and take care of it and you will not regret it. Good luck.

 

[Brmorgan]

Heh, I'm the opposite - I couldn't imagine paying new price for a 660 (or any other saw for that matter) just to have it lose 1/3 or more of that value within a week of walking it out the door. Especially when it comes to milling, which can make a new saw look well-used in fairly short order. But I enjoy a good project, and I have enough saws now that if I have trouble with one, it usually isn't a big deal to go dig out another one to fill the void for the day. I've been lucky so far, I guess. Haven't bought any saws on eBay, but have picked up several from pawnshops and garage sales, and have yet to get something that was oversold to me. The pawnshop guys cringe when I walk in carrying the compression tester and scrench though, I think.

I have a hard time telling the two apart from the outside - if I had to guess from the above pictures, the 660 looks older and more like an 066 IMO. My 660 had the recoil cover with "STIHL" molded right into the grille, whereas the old 066 I have now has the cover with the separate riveted nameplate (which is also missing like the 660 above), so my experience was totally backwards. When I had the two side-by-side, I do remember there being noticeable differences around the air filter and carb but I can't remember exactly what they are right now. A good Stihl dealer should be able to run the serial number and find out when it was manufactured at the least, which should give you a pretty good idea which model it is. As for the 066 looking "leaner", well, if you say so... Same crap, different pile as they say, as far as I'm concerned. Which might make a fraud claim hard to win, because it's an easy mistake to make if the labels are missing, and almost all parts are interchangeable between the two. You might win on the basis that it was not in the condition it was advertised to be in, but even that might be hard too since you picked it up in person and had a chance to look before taking it away. There are a lot of people who just get used to a piece of equipment that isn't working properly, and just think "that's the way it is" and deal with it - for example folks buying the little Chinese homeowner-grade saws at the big-box stores might think it's normal to have to pull on a saw two dozen times before it'll fire, whereas I get pi$$ed if one of my saws won't start after four or five pulls. So the seller might not have realized that there was a problem worth advertising. Have you contacted the seller yet? Ya might want to let them know what problems you've experienced, and tell them that you are considering filing a claim if they aren't willing to compensate you for having to fix it. At least you're within driving distance so you might be able to resolve it in a civil manner before getting a third party involved.

 

[Freehand]

I don't know,Brmorgan........those 660's always look fatter to me from the top:monkey:

 

[excess650]

The 660 is just a late model 066. The early 066 had an aluminum flywheel. The later 066 and 660 have the poly flywheel.

There were several variations of the 066 that included the "red light", with and without compression release, early "flat top" ....

I have a flat top with aluminum flywheel, late 066 with poly flywheel, and 660. There is no difference between my late 066 and the 660.

Stihl changed model numbers back around 2002. The 066 became the 660 when the other saws changed from 026 to 260, 088 to 880, etc. Almost all of the newer model numbers have the tool-less "flippy caps" but the 660 retained the more durable screw in caps.

My big saws were all bought used. The late 066 had been rebuilt, and looked very nice. The early 066 looked a bit rough and was well used, but has since received a new top end. The 660 came in a box without top end, and was cleaned and rebuilt by me. Having taken the time to clean everything up and do the rebuild has given me a better working knowledge of the saws that I have. Buying used can be a gamble, and its buyer beware. Pay accordingly.

 

[SkippyKtm]

I have 4 MS660/066's that I'm currently rebuilding: 2 late model 066's and 2 MS660's (all 4 have the poly flywheels) and there is no difference between them except for the labels. I personally wouldn't care if I had a late 066 or MS660. I would base my decision to buy strickly on condition. Its best to bring a compression tester, T27 wrench (so you can pull the muff) and a spark plug wrench. I just bought an MS660 down in Yonkers that the guy said had good compression but wouldn't start. I pulled the spark plug and you could easily see the cylinder scoring. So that helped me negotiate a better price, I woulda been pissed if I drove 2 hours home only to find a toasted P/C.

 

[kevlar]

if you really want to know what the saw is (basically the same saw anyway)
I can run the serial # for you.

 

[treeslayer]

I'd rather have the 066.

honestly, if it runs well, so what? run it.