Stihl MS200T: What's So Special About It?

[grizz55chev]

I think you need to get in a program for hoarders, I'd like to help. You could send me that pile of parts on the bench and I'd take very good care of them.

 

[lone wolf]

 

[grizz55chev]

It's worse than I thought Wolf. You're beyond help, now I know where all the dead 200t's are.

 

[Conquistador3]

So we finally found out why prices are so high: supply and demand people!

 

[angelo c]

show them the NIB ones too !!!

wolfie uses these saws to feed his family....its not "hoarding" its "working"....

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Challenge accepted.... name some names there young fella.

the 200t has its reputation because it is WELL EARNED. anyone who has ever worked one IN A TREE hour after hour after hour on branches that were wayyyy to big for its intended use will agree. there may be short term "fixes" by other manufacturers, but there is no current offering "over the counter" that will "embarrass" a 200t dollar for dollar( pound for pound) over the long term in its intended use range.
A top handle in its working environment HAS to function. Any time longer then necessary for a climber to be in a tree is assuming danger for no reason. they are not cutting cookies up there for firewood. they are limbing a tree mostly for removal and a paycheck( family survival).

personally, I think a 201TC is a damn good alternative if the operator has an open mind...but Religions die hard....and the following that a 200t has is well earned.
As to value/price....the market will offer what the market will bare ( poorly quoted Adam Smith stuff)

No offence meant but it's hard to avoid saying your comment proves my point. A person don't even get a chance to try out other good saws because there's always someone on the crew pounding them over the head with an overpriced creamsicle. I'm not bashing the 200, I know it is a proven performer.
I know climbers who won't use anything but an ms200 only because they'll get laughed at if they show up with anything else. Some of them would actually rather use other brands.

Please name them

That isn't the point. A saw doesn't have to beat another to embarrass someone. All it needs to do is come close.

 

[Definitive Dave]

In general a reputation is earned. The 200T is a pure design flawlessness.
Climbers love them because they do the hardest work on the site in the closest most dangerous quarters and want a dead-nuts reliable saw to do it.
Stihl screwed the pooch with the original 201T and then made another mistake by not renaming the "new" MS201T the MS202T. That model is stuck in infamy as a underpowered piece of junk and even if they doubled the power in the same case it will never sell well.
A MS201T can be made to run well, even as well as a MS200T, but the MS200T cut perfect straight from the box and is still quieter than a performance enhanced MS201T which is important to a guy using it next to his face all day.
balance, weight, power, easy starting, longevity (till ya run ethanol or drop them out of a tree).
Other brands can be cheaper but I have never seen an arborist who was spending his bosses money who didn't want an MS200T over any other saw, period.
Find another top handle saw that can command $1000.00 on Ebay
P.S. lonewolf knows his way around a 200T

 

[blsnelling]

It's only a popularity thing or fad. There are other saws in that size range that will embarrass the cool guy.

I'm not bashing the 200, I know it is a proven performer.

Isn't that a contradiction? Trust me, the 200 didn't get its reputation by being and overpriced creamsickle. An arborist calls it his money maker for a reason. If there were a better tool, they'd be using it.

 

[blsnelling]

Most arborist I know pulled the spark screen on their 200s. That essentially added another port and enhanced the performance. You can't do that to the 201. Pulling the screen doesn't add a port. The way I mod them, I add a smallish second port and re-install the spark arrestor.

I don't have a 200 to test with, but I bet a box stock 201TC performs at least as well as a box stock 200T.

 

[lone wolf]

As Definitive Dave pointed out show us another top handle that commands a thousand dollars on Ebay! Nuff said!

 

[lone wolf]

Most arborist I know pulled the spark screen on their 200s. That essentially added another port and enhanced the performance. You can't do that to the 201. Pulling the screen doesn't add a port. The way I mod them, I add a smallish second port and re-install the spark arrestor.

I don't have a 200 to test with, but I bet a box stock 201TC performs at least as well as a box stock 200T.

Climbers really like the MS200T ,what can I say. I am satisfied with them so is everyone I know that has them.

 

[7sleeper]

I am by far no pro and do not know a lot about them, but since well known experts are here, I have understood that the carb is one of the weak points on the 200. As far as I understood the carb with the "accelerator plunger" (don't really know what it is called in english) is prone to cause problems.

7

 

[2000ssm6]

Hard to comment if you haven't ran one, well worth the $$$. They are a fire cracker with a muff mod, ported they are bad arse!

 

[Definitive Dave]

Most arborist I know pulled the spark screen on their 200s. That essentially added another port and enhanced the performance. You can't do that to the 201. Pulling the screen doesn't add a port. The way I mod them, I add a smallish second port and re-install the spark arrestor.

I don't have a 200 to test with, but I bet a box stock 201TC performs at least as well as a box stock 200T.

I love your mods and really like the "new" version of the stock 201T, but I know it will never have the acceptance amongst climbers and arborists that the 200t has, the initial run of saws just soured the industry on them.
When I sold all my climbing saws, I kept my Snellerized MS201T. Of course now even though I don't run a top handle EVER I want to add a nice 200T to the shelf.
It's just iconic I guess.
Dave

 

[Definitive Dave]

"I think" carbs were less of a problem when the saws were young.
Now that the majority have run on ethanol fuels for at least 7 years (and some a lot longer) they are showing their age and benefit from some tweaks, mods and coercion
I had always heard that they were pretty much perfect stock and that only minimal gains could be made with porting, but Randy claims he can get more out of them, so I may send one his way when he is a little more unburied work wise.
I kind of regret selling the 2 MS200 rear handle saws I once owned, the older I get the more I would like to have a nice light limbing saw.
Dave

 

[lone wolf]

I am by far no pro and do not know a lot about them, but since well known experts are here, I have understood that the carb is one of the weak points on the 200. As far as I understood the carb with the "accelerator plunger" (don't really know what it is called in english) is prone to cause problems.

7

Yup the carb does have problems. It seems after one year of heavy use or light use no matter which the pump develops a vac leak. I have fixed them not a big deal , they are not all fixable. Definitive Dave sells some nice running aftermarket carbs at a great price for these saws. I have run them and they work good. No accelerator pump and two adjustable jets no epa lock

 

[lone wolf]

If you are having trouble with your carb get one of these from Definitive Dave.

 

[angelo c]

It's only a popularity thing or fad. There are other saws in that size range that will embarrass the cool guy.

No offence meant but it's hard to avoid saying your comment proves my point. A person don't even get a chance to try out other good saws because there's always someone on the crew pounding them over the head with an overpriced creamsicle. I'm not bashing the 200, I know it is a proven performer.
I know climbers who won't use anything but an ms200 only because they'll get laughed at if they show up with anything else. Some of them would actually rather use other brands.


That isn't the point. A saw doesn't have to beat another to embarrass someone. All it needs to do is come close.

Jim, that's exactly the point. You said there are other saws......that will embarrass...
Then told me I made your point by call your statement out as mouse farts on windy beach nights.
Name the other saws and exactly how they embarrass ....(your words, not mine. )

On the job sites I've been on nobody cares what you run, they care about getting home safe and making the most out of each hour your either paying a crew for or getting paid to crew on. The best saw always gets run the most. No matter what color it is. Heck most of the guys don't speak English nor read it enough to to give a crud what the names on the saws are.

 

[lone wolf]

Jim, that's exactly the point. You said there are other saws......that will embarrass...
Then told me I made your point by call your statement out as mouse farts on windy beach nights.
Name the other saws and exactly how they embarrass ....(your words, not mine. )

On the job sites I've been on nobody cares what you run, they care about getting home safe and making the most out of each hour your either paying a crew for or getting paid to crew on. The best saw always gets run the most. No matter what color it is. Heck most of the guys don't speak English nor read it enough to to give a crud what the names on the saws are.

Well they speak English on my job.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Oh hell I'll bite....The eager beaver is one that will stand right next to it. The Poulan s25 will probably straight beat it.
Laugh all you want and tell me they don't make those saws anymore.
That's just two saws to list. What about the shindaiwa 358ts? Has anyone ran that one?