Stihl MS661 C-M first impressions

[Stihl working hard]

Nice saw. I'm anxious to check one out!

Tell me about it everyone's toey in Ozz

 

[Island Faller]

Nice saw. I'm anxious to check one out!

Have you modified one yet?

 

[pro94lt]

How's the 661 holding up?

 

[burnses]

the 661 just got put on the trailer by much older technology!

nice vid keep em coming
sap can

 

[Husqvolmar87]

Sorry, please excuse my absence here...

My muffler modded 661 is still pulling strong with over 40 tanks of fuel trough it

Here in german oak, the chain is a little bit stressed, because i've made a lot of cuts bevore i have taken the gopro video and the wood is not really clean



(and yes, the logo on the saw has some similarity with terry landrums "wicked work saw" logo that i have helped to design some months ago, but i use that logo on the saw only for my private saws and use, because i think it looks cool )

Some weeks ago i have tried to send the 661 to Brad Snelling for porting, but the momentary shipping rules dont allow me to send a machine that runs with oil and gas to the states....

Greetings Stephan

(sorry again for my bad english....)

 

[XSKIER]

Very nice! It sounds better than any race ported MS 660 I've ever heard. If I had one of those MS 661s, I'd be making my firewood pretty short too.

 

[7sleeper]

Sorry, please excuse my absence here...

My muffler modded 661 is still pulling strong with over 40 tanks of fuel trough it

Greetings Stephan

(sorry again for my bad english....)

Servus Stephan,

Schäm Dich und nur ausnahmsweise wird Dir hier verziehen! Zum Glück hast Du als Versöhnungsgeschenk ein nettes Video mitgebracht. Weist eh nächstes Mal kommst nicht so billig davon! Da musst mir schon die Säge überlassen....



Servus,

7

 

[HuskStihl]

I haven't relayed nearly that much information in over 2000 posts. Thanks much!
I really think it was the last generation of huskies and places like this that finally convinced Stihl they had to push the limits a little. Not too many people thought the 440 was much better than the 044, same with the 460/046. Even fewer thought the 660 was an improvement over the 066. Die hard Stihl guys like mastermind and Brad were saying the 390 was better than the 660, and I think Stihl heard. The new stihls have more power, less pork, better AV and better filtration. I don't think they would have done that without the stiffer competition. The 461 and. 661 look like winners. Curious to see the 572 and 590

 

[hammerlogging]

awesome post indeed, thanks for the effort, and follow-up.

I've looked this thread up since I have to wonder about going forward with 661s as well, could buy one any time, but just pulled another 660 out of a box so I could wait a while too.

Looks good, and I'd heard good things, so I wanted to know more. So I read the whole thread, then went back to watch the first video. No wonder so many people said "nice 390"

I prefer my ported 660s to 390s all over the place, but for stock, that 661 seems better than a stock 660 for sure. I'll keep my eyes and ears open!

Thanks again.

 

[ChevyHDNutt]

Can anybody help me out on getting o e of the wide clutch covers for a 661 like comes on r model? I live in Alabama and my dealer showed availability to order but been on back order forever... thanks

 

[jochem mulder]

The 661 is a great saw....and the 390....well...just fantastic

 

[gary courtney]

just saw video ! that 390 kicked butt!

 

[trooper jd]

Hello AS!

My name is stephan, im a 26 year old chainsaw fanatic from south-western germany

Since two years, I read this site here a lot. I must say, it is blowing me away how much knowledge and experience some of you guys have! Especially the saw-builders! I am a big Fan of those professional builders like Terry Landrum, Brad Snelling, Mastermind, Stumpy and all the others!

I am very interested in worksaw modifications, but germany, the land of dolmar, stihl and solo is unfortunately a wasteland when it comes to modded worksaws. There is no one who port worksaws on a professional level . That's why I tried it myself and step by step I'm getting better. But there is still a long, long, long way for me to become even semi-pro. But this site has already helped me a lot!

Half a year ago, I was in contact with Terry Landrum. I helped him a little with his logo design and He sold me a “wicked work saw kit” for my 390! I'm still very excited about it! Terry is really a great guy!


Last week I got a brand new Stihl MS661 CM and I did a little test with it against my 390 with the “wicked work saw kit”. I already posted this comparison in our german “motorsaegen-portal”.

The test was not really good, because I had little time and the weather was very bad. But I had some good feedback for it.

Then I thought to myself, why I should not post it here?

So here is my first post on AS


Brand new MS 661 CM

Here in comparison with my 390

Filtration differences between 261 and 661
The 661 has no pre-filtration!

Some first and nice impressions of the 661:
- excellent finish and quality
- good acceleration and throttle response
- great antivibration system
- high torque

Negative impressions:

the filtration is not impressive, so it looks after only two cuts in small beechwood.

Here the videos

(both saws wearing 20" bars, new stihl rsc chains and 8 pin rims)

Some cuts in hard beechwood



First two cuts without pushing the saws.
In the third cut i’ve tried to push both saws the same way.


Noodling test




Airfilter test





I know the test was not fair, but that ported 390 is the only other saw in that class that I have at the moment. I also would have liked to have thicker wood for the test, but in the matter of time it was not possible for me.

One thing I can say, out of the box, the 661 is a damn strong saw. The saw feels noticeable stronger and more agile then its predecessor 660. The m-tronic does an excellent job!
Also, the saw has only been run for ten minutes! I'm sure that the saw will get even stronger after a few tanks of fuel.


If you have questions, or want specific pictures or videos, I'll try to get it.

Throughout the week I will weigh both saws for comparison.


I hope it was something interesting for you, and of course not my last post on AS…


Greetings Stephan


PS: excuse my bad english, I will improve it…school is so long ago
Is it possible to send this saw from germany to the u.s.? To a serious builder?

 

[trooper jd]

Hello AS!

My name is stephan, im a 26 year old chainsaw fanatic from south-western germany

Since two years, I read this site here a lot. I must say, it is blowing me away how much knowledge and experience some of you guys have! Especially the saw-builders! I am a big Fan of those professional builders like Terry Landrum, Brad Snelling, Mastermind, Stumpy and all the others!

I am very interested in worksaw modifications, but germany, the land of dolmar, stihl and solo is unfortunately a wasteland when it comes to modded worksaws. There is no one who port worksaws on a professional level . That's why I tried it myself and step by step I'm getting better. But there is still a long, long, long way for me to become even semi-pro. But this site has already helped me a lot!

Half a year ago, I was in contact with Terry Landrum. I helped him a little with his logo design and He sold me a “wicked work saw kit” for my 390! I'm still very excited about it! Terry is really a great guy!


Last week I got a brand new Stihl MS661 CM and I did a little test with it against my 390 with the “wicked work saw kit”. I already posted this comparison in our german “motorsaegen-portal”.

The test was not really good, because I had little time and the weather was very bad. But I had some good feedback for it.

Then I thought to myself, why I should not post it here?

So here is my first post on AS


Brand new MS 661 CM

Here in comparison with my 390

Filtration differences between 261 and 661
The 661 has no pre-filtration!

Some first and nice impressions of the 661:
- excellent finish and quality
- good acceleration and throttle response
- great antivibration system
- high torque

Negative impressions:

the filtration is not impressive, so it looks after only two cuts in small beechwood.

Here the videos

(both saws wearing 20" bars, new stihl rsc chains and 8 pin rims)

Some cuts in hard beechwood



First two cuts without pushing the saws.
In the third cut i’ve tried to push both saws the same way.


Noodling test




Airfilter test





I know the test was not fair, but that ported 390 is the only other saw in that class that I have at the moment. I also would have liked to have thicker wood for the test, but in the matter of time it was not possible for me.

One thing I can say, out of the box, the 661 is a damn strong saw. The saw feels noticeable stronger and more agile then its predecessor 660. The m-tronic does an excellent job!
Also, the saw has only been run for ten minutes! I'm sure that the saw will get even stronger after a few tanks of fuel.


If you have questions, or want specific pictures or videos, I'll try to get it.

Throughout the week I will weigh both saws for comparison.


I hope it was something interesting for you, and of course not my last post on AS…


Greetings Stephan


PS: excuse my bad english, I will improve it…school is so long ago
Is it possible to send this saw from germany to the u.s.? To a serious builder?

Fantastic post, particularly for your first. I realize the 390xp is ported but you just helped me decide. I would have to order the Stihl 661 c-m and wait 6 or more months for it. The Stihl will set me back $1399 with a 25 inch bar on the plus side I own a like new 32 inch rollomatic es from old 044 that did not pull it well. On the other hand I can get a 390 xp from a local dealer in stock for $1059. One drawback to the 390 xp is that both models the dealer has only have half wrap handles and I would want full wrap. My guess is that even if I order the west coast kit from Husqvarna it would still be less money than the Stihl. I have had good luck with both brands, I just have much more in the way of Stihl bars and chains.
If anyone could let me know if running the Stihl bars and chain on the Husky will cause cut or oiling issues I would appreciate it. My 32 inch Stihl and 28 inch es light bars and full house as well as skip chains are all .050 and the Husky come with a 28 inch (Oregon maybe) .058 bar and chain. I have seen people running Stihl bars on Husky saws using bar stud spacers I just don't know if the gauge difference is a deal breaker or if you also need to change the drive spur as well.

Thanks Jason.

 

[ShermanC]

Hello AS!

My name is stephan, im a 26 year old chainsaw fanatic from south-western germany

Since two years, I read this site here a lot. I must say, it is blowing me away how much knowledge and experience some of you guys have! Especially the saw-builders! I am a big Fan of those professional builders like Terry Landrum, Brad Snelling, Mastermind, Stumpy and all the others!

I am very interested in worksaw modifications, but germany, the land of dolmar, stihl and solo is unfortunately a wasteland when it comes to modded worksaws. There is no one who port worksaws on a professional level . That's why I tried it myself and step by step I'm getting better. But there is still a long, long, long way for me to become even semi-pro. But this site has already helped me a lot!

Half a year ago, I was in contact with Terry Landrum. I helped him a little with his logo design and He sold me a “wicked work saw kit” for my 390! I'm still very excited about it! Terry is really a great guy!


Last week I got a brand new Stihl MS661 CM and I did a little test with it against my 390 with the “wicked work saw kit”. I already posted this comparison in our german “motorsaegen-portal”.

The test was not really good, because I had little time and the weather was very bad. But I had some good feedback for it.

Then I thought to myself, why I should not post it here?

So here is my first post on AS


Brand new MS 661 CM

Here in comparison with my 390

Filtration differences between 261 and 661
The 661 has no pre-filtration!

Some first and nice impressions of the 661:
- excellent finish and quality
- good acceleration and throttle response
- great antivibration system
- high torque

Negative impressions:

the filtration is not impressive, so it looks after only two cuts in small beechwood.

Here the videos

(both saws wearing 20" bars, new stihl rsc chains and 8 pin rims)

Some cuts in hard beechwood



First two cuts without pushing the saws.
In the third cut i’ve tried to push both saws the same way.


Noodling test




Airfilter test





I know the test was not fair, but that ported 390 is the only other saw in that class that I have at the moment. I also would have liked to have thicker wood for the test, but in the matter of time it was not possible for me.

One thing I can say, out of the box, the 661 is a damn strong saw. The saw feels noticeable stronger and more agile then its predecessor 660. The m-tronic does an excellent job!
Also, the saw has only been run for ten minutes! I'm sure that the saw will get even stronger after a few tanks of fuel.


If you have questions, or want specific pictures or videos, I'll try to get it.

Throughout the week I will weigh both saws for comparison.


I hope it was something interesting for you, and of course not my last post on AS…


Greetings Stephan


PS: excuse my bad english, I will improve it…school is so long ago
Is it possible to send this saw from germany to the u.s.? To a serious builder?

Excellent video and descriptions.