Stihl M.D. (Manufacturing Date) Code Format Change?

[SteveSr]

Stihl typically puts a manufacturing date code (MD) on the silver EPA / Engine family sticker on the product. In the past it was coded as YYMM where YY=last 2 digits of the year and MM=month. Stihl is a European company and their format is typically YYMMDD.

I recently saw a fairly new Stihl trimmer and it appeared that Stihl may have changed the format to MMYY to match the American system and American market. After all, just about everything for the US market is now made in Virginia Beach.

Can any of the dealers (or others) comment on this topic and whether or not Stihl has changed the format and when and on what products the new format applies.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[AKDoug]

As a dealer, I have no idea if or when they switched. It's not something I really concern myself with. Since every saw or trimmer I have in stock was made in Virginia Beach, I cannot comment on saws made in Germany. All of my US made products have the date code in the MMYY format. The oldest saw I have in stock, a carb'd 261, has a DOM code of 04 13.

 

[mdavlee]

It was sometime in 2010 or 2011. I can't remember for sure. I just remember an old tread about this same thing.

 

[SteveSr]

As a dealer, I have no idea if or when they switched. It's not something I really concern myself with. Since every saw or trimmer I have in stock was made in Virginia Beach, I cannot comment on saws made in Germany. All of my US made products have the date code in the MMYY format. The oldest saw I have in stock, a carb'd 261, has a DOM code of 04 13.

Thanks for the confirmation. It does appear that they have switched formats. Now the only remaining question is when the did the changeover occur and does it apply to all products or just some?

 

[Stihl-Pioneer]

I believe they switched in either 2007 or 2008. I have a few saws with the old date code (md) and the new date code (dom).


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[SteveSr]

I believe they switched in either 2007 or 2008. I have a few saws with the old date code (md) and the new date code (dom).

Although I can't verify this... It appears that EPA/Engine Family label with -

MD ---> Old YYMM format
DOM --->New MMYY format

In the one occurrence of this I have seen I didn't catch (or realize the significance of) the change from MD to DOM.