Stihl…….Thought best to just note that first!

In regular use at work I have 2 x MS181 and 1 x MS461. The 181’s are too weedy and the 461 is too much, I’m after the Goldilocks chainsaw that sits in the middle so assume I should be looking at a 2xx? I’ve been given the green light my boss to order a new one but I don’t know what to go for (especially as I’ve not used any 2xx saw).

We’ll be running either a 16” or 18” bar (more than likely just 16”) don’t require any fancy features. What model do you recommend?

Thanks!

stuck on Stihl? have stihl stuff myself but a number of the timber chaps around here have been swapping for makita when its time..

Yeah happy with Stihl, rest of our kit is Stihl and know how to sort it when things go wrong

I’m thinking 261 C-M. Doesn’t look like they’re freely available at the moment (just online, haven’t tried my normal shop yet) but in no rush

I’ve got a 231 with a 16”bar and it’s been a great workhorse. Used for small felling, snedding and cross cutting. We’ve also used it for the last bits when chogging down when the 201t with 12” can start to be a struggle on bigger stems.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Much prefer it to my bosses 361 as it’s a fair bit lighter. </span>

Would I notice much of a difference between my 181 to the 231? Think there’s about 0.7 hp in it?

When I was a full time tree surgeon, my daily ground saw was a MS260 with a 14″ bar (going back many, many years now). It could cope with a 16″ but was happier with the 14″.

If you’re thinking 16/18″ish I’d be looking at a MS36x (whatever they’re at now), I ran a MS361 with a 13″ for a while and that was a monster. Just light enough to sned all day with, and nothing stopped it.

What’s your use case for this saw?

“Would I notice much of a difference between my 181 to the 231? Think there’s about 0.7 hp in it?”

Not sure, I went from a 181 to the 231 but the 181 was pretty knackered, scored barrel, ran like a bag of spanners so for me the change was very noticeable! 😂

We’re a mixed woodland, majority broadleaf. However some gnarly old Yews, Oak and big old Hollies that cause the smaller saws to struggle. I’m thinking a slightly bigger saw will help reduce fatigue and will be more efficient for us, leaving the biggun for the real hefty stuff

Heh! I’m popping to our suppliers/maintenance chaps tomorrow for some bits (brake on one of the 181’s decided to pack up today) so will see what they suggest/got in stock. Just nice to go in with a rough idea of what I’m after

Sachs dolmar/makita are good value but old tech and heavy, and I believe they’ve now stopped making petrol saws. Spares support is also….. Slow. That said I swapped an ms180 for a ea4300 dolmakita and haven’t stopped giggling. It’s a ripper.

Are husky no go? The 50cc husqvarna saws are supposedly very very very good. I don’t speak from personal experience though, my husqvarna is the 365 (very good)

ime huskies for softwood forestry work every day of the week. Hardwoods? Stick with Stihl. Old Yew and Holly? See how you feel with the weight of an MS361 with a shortish bar… that’s what I’d be looking at.

“Would I notice much of a difference between my 181 to the 231? Think there’s about 0.7 hp in it?”

I’m also interested in if the 231 is worthy upgrade. It is only 0.7 hp difference, but in percentage terms this is a large gain.

The 231 is the bottom of the Stihl pro range (white handle).

I’d be looking at running a 231 with a 16 inch bar, will I notice the difference over my 181? I need the saw for processing firewood, mainly hardwood.

Thanks,

Husqvarna 550XP Mark 2 😉

Sorry, only Stihls I know of are the 500i and the bigguns.

Isn’t the 500i a biggun!

For a 16 or 18″ bar with hardwood you’ll need a MS361.
If a 14″ bar would do then I’d go for the MS260 all day long.

Use to run 16″ bars on our ms260 with no issue.

Use them all, all day. 181 is a toy, husky 550s fall apart. 261 could well be for most people the only saw they need. stihl 241 is probably the sweet spot for you. none about till april thou..

I’ve had a 40cm 56V EGO chainsaw for a few years. It’s ok… just.
Having to cut my way out of my driveway after a storm proved too much for it during a powercut though, and watching the neighbours and friends and pro’s involved could certainly see the difference (i’ll post another thread i think).

So i’ve added a Stihl MS 251 (Landowner range) to the shed. It should prove handy in the coming hardwood clean up.

MS361/362 is what we used as our standard saws when I was working for the NT. Advantage of running a bigger saw is that the chain pitch is the same as the/ your bigger saws at 3/8, so you can use all the same files etc, as well as swap bars around if required.
You can kit a 261 out with a 3/8ths sprocket bar chain etc but you’d need to chat up your local dealer to do that at time of purchase.
I loved my 361. 😊

Finally got around to ordering/finding them in stock. Delivered today just as we were packing up, we’ll give them a good run on Wednesday

Tidy.

Very nice!

Edit – reminds me I need to rebuild my MS260 with a new carb.

Nice. Get ’em ported