Stihl pole saw

[danl]

A few months ago I mentioned to my wife I would like a new pole saw. The other day, she said she had wanted to surprise me for Christmas but needed to ask me a couple questions.
She had done some homework and narrowed it down to Echo and Stihl.
She said it was too much money for her to get the wrong one, I said since Echo would have to come from HD and there is no good service in our area I would choose Stihl.
She then asked me ht101 or ht131, and I said "that will be the surprise, whichever you choose".
Now I am starting to wonder if I goofed, I didn't realize the Stihl was 4mix. I don't know much about them.

According to Stihl's website you don't have to adjust the valves?
Should I use only Stihl 2 stroke oil?
I used Mobil 2T racing oil until I used all my reserve up last spring, then I switched to Echo premium synthetic.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Have her buy a 6 pack of the Ultra 2 cycle oil (silver bottle) and it will double your warranty.

 

[danl]

I will pick some up, can't ask her to, it's a surprise remember Wish I knew which Stihl she got me, I think she hid it at her parents...

 

[1Alpha1]

I have the HT-131 and love it. It makes torque like you wouldn't believe. And, it idles so nice! That is important to me. I hate it when you have to blip the throttle to keep a piece of O P E from dying while it's running.

I use only the Stihl Ultra oil in mine.

 

[Rockjock]

Have her buy a 6 pack of the Ultra 2 cycle oil (silver bottle) and it will double your warranty.

Incorrect. the HT131 is in the pro saw category . 1 year warranty for a homeowner only . Pro saws have 1 year for a homeowner 90 days for a pro.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Incorrect. the HT131 is in the pro saw category . 1 year warranty for a homeowner only . Pro saws have 1 year for a homeowner 90 days for a pro.

Hmmm, my sheet shows that the Pole Pruners have a 2 year warranty (personal or professional).

[EDIT] I just pulled this from the Stihl USA website.

 

[Rockjock]

I stand corrected.. I do recall entering in the details of a sale for warranty repairs and it did say 1 year. Yet another reason to get parts and some equipment across the border!!!

 

[1Alpha1]

I got a two-year warranty on my HT-131.

 

[earlthegoat2]

The HT101 is not a bad pruner either. It's done everything I have asked of it. I have no experience with the 131. My experience with 4 mix on these power heads has been good so don't worry about it. We run three landscape crews and they each have an FS100, FC100, HL100, and HT101. In a years time of full on landscape maintenance use I may have to address the fuel system, spark plug, and/or valves one time for each crew. Note: I Said each crew, not each machine. They are pretty good pieces of equipment.

I run Husqvarna XP pro oil at slightly lower than 50:1. Semi synthetic and a boat load cheaper than HP ultra and seems to work excellent since I'm not having any mix problems that I can note. All these machines are over three years old too with no major overhauls. I have them set a bit richer than factory though so that helps.

 

[1Alpha1]

As I've mentioned in the past, my HT-131 comes across as rather fragile. That's just my opinion and I could be wrong. Having said that, no way it will ever get loaned out to another. Not even my step-son. Just ask my wife.............

I treat it with kid gloves. I'm weird that way when it comes to all my O P E. It's all expensive and you really do need to have some working knowledge of it, to insure proper usage.

 

[CedChop]

I bought one the interchangeable echos with the PAS-266 with saw attachment and string trimmer. So far I'm impressed. I've found it very good to use to reach into gnarly cedar trees to start the elimination process. If you go thru HD they will probably have to order it for Santa. I think I got a 5 yr warranty.

 

[oldrockhead]

Deleted

 

[CentaurG2]

Unless you are going to try and make a living pruning trees, you are far better off investing in a good manual pole saw rather than a power one. A good set of interlocking fiberglass poles with a replaceable blade will do just about anything a power pruner will do. Power pruners are great for fast work but they are heavy (especially the ht131) and tiring to use for an extended period of time. You need a lot of upper body strength to control one and at full extension, you really need to be cautious about how you cut off limbs to prevent the pole and extension from being damaged. If you get the power pruner stuck (and you will) to free it you will need a bucket truck, ladder or another pole saw. You cannot pull it out of the cut. Echo was the gold standard till the stihl ht131 came along. Most folks I have talked to still prefer the Echo.

 

[TysonH]

I have owned an HT131 for about a year now and I have to say I love it, good power, design, ease of use. I actually am starting to like this 4 mix engine thing lots of torque. I think the weak point would be the shaft itself. I dont have any damage to it but its an obvious weak point.

I've honestly used an Echo pole saw much more than my Stihl and its a good, dare I say slightly better overall package. Its less in power but not underpowered, the shaft is more robust than the Stihl design and it too is easy to use. Both are heavy to use but 30mins of cutting will get you a few hours of dragging brush.

 

[danl]

She ended up getting me the HT131, I tried it a little yesterday right before dark. It is an armload, but seems to have a lot of power. My wife told me I needed to get the correct serial number back to the dealer, because they called her and had it wrong. I asked her if they told her about the ultra oil and she said no.

I called this morning to give the correct serial and asked if I could still do the double the warranty oil deal, at first they said no and I said "I know you haven't registered it yet because you had the wrong serial number and my name isn't even on the invoice..."
They agreed so I went back out there bought a six pack of ultra and they reprinted my invoice with the oil on it so I should be good for 4 years, right??

 

[HarleyT]

P.M. me your serial number, I'll check it and see.

 

[danl]

Will do.

 

[Trx250r180]

Nothing wrong with 4 mix ,they are a little heavier is all ,my ht101 is a great machine ,the 101 and 131 are the same saw minus the engine size .

 

[danl]

Think I'm going to invest in one of those stihl super harnesses, anyone use one? I have a good grapple on my tractor so I probably can clean up the fallen limbs before "my limbs" recover from holding the saw..

 

[1Alpha1]

Think I'm going to invest in one of those stihl super harnesses, anyone use one? I have a good grapple on my tractor so I probably can clean up the fallen limbs before "my limbs" recover from holding the saw..

My HT-131 came with a harness, but I don't think it's the same as the one you mentioned. I'm not yet at the point where I need a harness or even a shoulder strap to help support my O P E.

When using my HT-131, I usually go for about 30 min. or so, before I want a rest break.

Funny how 30 yrs. passing can take you from, "I don't need no stinking harness" to "Hmm, maybe one might come in handy".