Yesterday I took delivery of my Stihl MS241C from Brad. I must thank Brad again for going out of his way to help me get a ms241c. I really appreciate it and just goes to show that there are some great people on this site.
On to the saw!!! Going into this venture I was a little nervous as to how this saw would perform and feel in general. I was curious as well how this saw would compare to 50cc class saws like my 550xp. The ms241c and 550xp are very close in weight. When i took the 241 out of the box, I placed it side by side with the 550xp and the 2 saws almost looked like they were the same size. I could tell the difference in weight and maneuverability just by flicking the 2 saws around…. mind you the 550xp had 3/4 of tank of fuel and oil, while the 241 was bone dry. Once I fueled up the 241, I could still tell a difference lol. Its not nothing major, but you can feel a difference. The fit and finish of the 241 is the same of any Stihl product. Brad also modded the muffler opening up the stock opening and adding some gills.
Quick back round on my chainsawing experience. At the young age of 12 I started cutting with chainsaws. My father use to sell firewood at that time, so thats what got me into it. Fast forward 17 years and I'm now working for New York state highway maintenance. Yes I know its not like being a logger or worker for a tree service lol. Anyways, we cut are fare share of tree's year round, whether they are dead, monsters hanging out in the rode, blow downs or a sight distance issue. When we cut tree's down, we obviously have to stop the traffic for a few mins. Once traffic is stopped then we drop tree's across the road. After the tree is cut down we have to get them cut up fast and out of the driving lane, so that we can get traffic back moving. When we start cutting up a tree, its go go go to limb it up and out of the lane. You learn to appreciate and want a very quick saw for this kind of cutting or application. We have been using ms170's, ms250's, 346xp and the new 550xp. We've been using the 550xp for at least 2 years, so I have a good feel for that saw now. In case you were wondering, we have 268, 365, 372x-torque and a 390xp for the bigger stuff.
Okayyyy, out to the would pile we go to cut up some fresh red oak. I have logs from 3" to 24" or bigger.
Saws used: 550xp with 18"/.325 and ms241c with 16" 3/8LP. The chain on the 241 was a low kick back pm3…. the husky was low kickback as well
The first saw I used was my the 241. I did my 5 cuts to set the m-tronic and away we went. It felt light and nimble right off the bat. I was very impressed with how quick it was and it definitely seemed to revvvvvv. I played for about 5 mins wight he 241 and then i switched to the 550xp. I made a few small cookie cuts and cut up some 14" logs. I could feel a difference in chain speed right away, with the 241 being faster. I buried the 241 in a 15" oak log and it didn't skip a beat. Im my head, I'm like wowww this thing isn't just a limbing saw lol. For the next 15 mins, i went back in forth using both saws and eventually the ms241c stayed in my hands till it was almost out of gas and dull. When i was done, i was in aw. I was so impressed with the 241. I could see myself using this saw 24/7. Now I'm like, is this how all the m-tronic saws feel?????? lololol. I am very very very happy with the saw and it is definitely a keeper!!!
Now I'm not sure if it was due to the muffler mod on the 241, but the 550xp didn't seem to have the "rev" that the 241 had. Also not sure if the difference in chain size and bar length, had anything to do with the 241 being quicker? Thats for all of us to find out further down the road, as more member's start buying this saw and trying different bar/chain combo's
Today I'm going to cut some more. This time the 550xp will be wearing 16"3/8 "aggressive" combo and the 241 will be wearing the same bar, but a rm3 chain aka aggressive chain lol. Might try an take a few video's too.
. In all seriousness Sawtroll should get one of these little devils they ARE that good.
