What's in a serial number?

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HandLogger

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I was wondering what kind of information can be extracted from a Stihl serial number. For example, is there a simple way to determine the age of the saw from this number? Any other information?

Have a good one ... :)
 
I was wondering what kind of information can be extracted from a Stihl serial number. For example, is there a simple way to determine the age of the saw from this number? Any other information?

Have a good one ... :)
On a Stihl I don't think so. On a Husq, the first 2 digits are the year, the next two are the week. i.e. 052300041
would be 2005 built in the 23rd week. The new Stihl MS660's I am modding all start with 167 I had talked to our rep about this but he didn't seem to know either. I would deduce the 3rd number is the year, 2007 in this case. I may be wrong on this. I will be at work tomorrow and try to get to the bottom of this by phoning Scott Clarke in Langley, he is about the sharpest guy working for Stihl in Canada at present. Cheers.
 
Asked me local Stihl dealer to check when my old second hand 044 was first purchased by putting the serial number into the stihl database...he had no idea what i was talking about.
 
Are the numbers sequential?

Does anyone know if Stihl has sequential serial numbers? If so, I suppose I could ask some folks with MS660s to post their numbers, and when they purchased their saws ... what do you think? :popcorn:
 
If so, I suppose I could ask some folks with MS660s to post their numbers, and when they purchased their saws ... what do you think? :popcorn:

If you did that some worm could get the numbers and really screw up their credit.:jawdrop:
 
The Stihl numbers are sequential AFTER the 1st digit.. (which indicates county of origin). There is no date information encoded.
 
Thanks again

Lakeside,

I just sent you another question. When you get a chance, please give it a read ... :popcorn:
 
The Stihl numbers are sequential AFTER the 1st digit.. (which indicates county of origin). There is no date information encoded.

andy, can you break these numbers down:
1)stihl 051av 2986252
your reasoning tells me this saw is made in the states and is sw #986252 is the 051 series. would this also include 050 saws, or just the 051 models? just how many 051/050/075/076 were made?
2)stihl 048av E6614215
whats with the letter(s)? also how many 048/042 were made?

fwiw, both saws are stamped 'made in west germany' in several places on the casing and other parts, neither saw has been apart and have been 'personally' owned by family since new.

thanks.

dave
 
On a Stihl I don't think so. On a Husq, the first 2 digits are the year, the next two are the week. i.e. 052300041
would be 2005 built in the 23rd week. ......

There have been several variants of that system, so the "first two digits" thing isn't allways true, but a code has allways been there the last 25 years or so......

Some times you need some added info to determine if the saw is from the 1980s or the 1990s.
 
Any more info on this? Has anyone figured out how to decipher the serial number or is there a website search engine that will do it for you? I ran into a problem w/ my 032 AV...I think. Serial number is: 8102871

The problem I had is I couldn't get a ready made chain to fit. 3/8" 66 link was too small and a 72 link was too big. I think we even tried a 70 link and it was too big.

I'm sure the old chain stretched and had links removed. It had 66 links in it and they were runing a .050 chain...bar gauged at 058. .008 wear?

The bar has this stamped into the side: STIHL 7.80-10.80 and below that is:
MADE IN SWEDEN. It is Stihl gray and has big blocked Stihl letters stenciled onto the side.

Dimensions on bar: 21 5/8" (55cm) tip to tip not including sprocket teeth projection
Widest at around 2 7/8" (7.5 cm) not accounting for wear.
It gauged out at .058" in the chain groove.
It is a little longer that an 18" bar..maybe a 19" or whatever is metric?
It looks to be in good shape no dished in areas, edges are true, so I would like to try an use it.

I ended up buying a new Stihl 18" bar and 66 link chain.

What i want to know is where the saw came from? Is it euro spec? Is the bar made for something special? Where can I get ready made chains for it?

Thanks.

Edit: Something else that I found. In the Workshop manual that I downloaded from here somewhere (THANKS!!!!) it says that Tillotson carbs were fitted up to Serial # 4970520. Mine w/ serial # 8102871 has a Tillotson?! So I guess someone swapped out the carb? A Walbro for the earlier Tillotoson?
Am I even looking at the right number? I pulled it from the housing right on top just under the kick back guard.
 
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whats in a serial number ????? simple answer,,,,numbers and letters,,,:hmm3grin2orange::ices_rofl:
 
Sorry to bring up an older thread but it now helps me to understand where my 660 sits. According to the tech gurus at Stihl, my Serial #176426158 was produced in December of 2012. The guy I got it from said the old man he bought it from got it in 2008. So there is a little bit of confusion on my part wondering where he actually acquired it but I know its only 4 years old, and is probably one of the last few made, because I thought the 661 came out in 2014, IIRC.....
 
This is the first time I've seen warranty work on a saw I looked up. This saw had the topend, coil, and flywheel replaced two months after it was sold.

This saw was sold to a saw mill. I bet it lived a rough life!
 
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