You all need to recycle your carburetor based chainsaws and get the 500i

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Sounds like never buy a chainsaw, cause there might be a problem with it.

With new technology..I understand some people's apprehension..

People asked similar questions back then - how can a saw that was in Germany for a few years come here and have all these problems ? M-tronic had been out for years...

Who knows...

For guys making a living with these saws it's a valid concern. Playing chainsaws is a whole different mentality.
 
And they have been on the market long enough over here, that secondhand ex pro logging 500i's are showing up in the used saws for sale.
As I said previously, the 500i is a great saw for its range. If I were still commercial logging and the forests were still ruled by men with saws, not machines and I lived up in out Northern Island where the trees tend to be smaller, I would have a choice of 572, 462 or 500i and if I showed up with any other make, would likely be laughed off the skid site.
The only saw I would look at would be the 500i, it will blitz anything close in the CC range, beat anything in the 80-85cc range and compete with the 90cc saws quite happily. Only place I see it struggle a wee bit is against 95cc saws in big timber with big bars- but it was never designed to do that.
Do I own one- no. Have I used one, yes. I am no longer using a saw for sole income- if I was, I would have one in a heartbeat.
Won’t blitz a Dolmar 7900.
 
Sounds like never buy a chainsaw, cause there might be a problem with it.
The difference is @SAWMIKAZE can relatively easily diagnose his dead coil, pick one up from the local Stihl shop & fix it himself in a few minutes for the cost of a coil.
With the 500i you have to have the dealer plug it in to diagnose anything to do with the fuel or ignition system. On top of that the service manual states that if replacing the control module (coil equivalent) data from the original must be transferred to the new unit or it will not be able to be tuned & may seriously damage the saw!
Wonder where that leaves you if said controller is dead & won't talk to the analyzer... or maybe that won't ever happen 🤣 🤣🤣
 
We have a saying for that over here- is called a Tui Ad.
Stock for stock, in the hands of an unbiased operator- I am willing to bet the 500i would win.
I’ve run them both with the same chain. 7900 is still ahead. 500 feels lighter though
 
I remember my dad telling me that EFI on cars was a joke. He said the carburetor will never be replaced.
All I know is this. I operate 7 different chainsaws from Sthils, Husqs, Dolmars and Echos. And I operate at least 1-2 of them on a daily basis for our sawmill operations here in Texas.

A TON of people who run chainsaws need to learn VERY basic rules of chainsaw care and how to maximize the life of your heads.

#1 ALWAYS CLEAN THE AIR BOX / FILTER EVERY SINGLE TANK OF GAS. Yes, it is that simple! Those little nanoparticles will absolutely destroy your top end. Another tip....research your chainsaw's air filtration system. Not all are created equal. I feel Dolmar is #1, Husq #2 and Stihl #3. I run aftermarket filter setups on my big bore Stihls for a reason.

#2 TRY TO NEVER RUN your chainsaws out of fuel. Actually, maybe this should be #1 although I have no empirical evidence to support it. Why? The air to gas mixture is significantly compromised when these motors are running out of fuel. So simply said, you create a massive lean condition that will result in premature top end failure. ESPECIALLY, if you are the guy who runs your saw until it is out of gas. BAD MOVE! I always make sure to re-fuel my saws PRIOR to actually needing gas. And guess what? I also check my air box.

Get into this regular habit and you will be amazed at how you can extend the condition of your chainsaws. I use to average 2 top end rebuilds a year. Then I made sure everyone in my business prescribed to these rules and I'm getting twice the life out of my top ends. Yes, on occasion some dumbass buries a 36+ bar into a massive Live Oak or Pecan and keeps it full throttle....
 
Yep, always the best move to buy the first model year of new technology. Good luck with that. The first year Polaris 900 RMK is the most glaring example of why you never, EVER buy the first year of a new model with new technology. What a POS that thing was.
A runner up for the "why you never buy the first year..." was the 6.0L powerstroke (Navistar) diesel in the Ford F250/350 trucks. Talk about a POS! Oh, and even the 800 cc Polaris engines in the 2014-15 timeframe were known to "grenade".
 
I’ve run them both with the same chain. 7900 is still ahead. 500 feels lighter though
well there you go then.
Dolkitas do not get much love over here- never see them in forestry here and to be fair- I never said they would blitz an 80cc class saw- just beat them. :p
 
All I know is this. I operate 7 different chainsaws from Sthils, Husqs, Dolmars and Echos. And I operate at least 1-2 of them on a daily basis for our sawmill operations here in Texas.

A TON of people who run chainsaws need to learn VERY basic rules of chainsaw care and how to maximize the life of your heads.

#1 ALWAYS CLEAN THE AIR BOX / FILTER EVERY SINGLE TANK OF GAS. Yes, it is that simple! Those little nanoparticles will absolutely destroy your top end. Another tip....research your chainsaw's air filtration system. Not all are created equal. I feel Dolmar is #1, Husq #2 and Stihl #3. I run aftermarket filter setups on my big bore Stihls for a reason.

#2 TRY TO NEVER RUN your chainsaws out of fuel. Actually, maybe this should be #1 although I have no empirical evidence to support it. Why? The air to gas mixture is significantly compromised when these motors are running out of fuel. So simply said, you create a massive lean condition that will result in premature top end failure. ESPECIALLY, if you are the guy who runs your saw until it is out of gas. BAD MOVE! I always make sure to re-fuel my saws PRIOR to actually needing gas. And guess what? I also check my air box.

Get into this regular habit and you will be amazed at how you can extend the condition of your chainsaws. I use to average 2 top end rebuilds a year. Then I made sure everyone in my business prescribed to these rules and I'm getting twice the life out of my top ends. Yes, on occasion some dumbass buries a 36+ bar into a massive Live Oak or Pecan and keeps it full throttle....

You don't run 36" bars full throttle ?
 
All I know is this. I operate 7 different chainsaws from Sthils, Husqs, Dolmars and Echos. And I operate at least 1-2 of them on a daily basis for our sawmill operations here in Texas.

A TON of people who run chainsaws need to learn VERY basic rules of chainsaw care and how to maximize the life of your heads.

#1 ALWAYS CLEAN THE AIR BOX / FILTER EVERY SINGLE TANK OF GAS. Yes, it is that simple! Those little nanoparticles will absolutely destroy your top end. Another tip....research your chainsaw's air filtration system. Not all are created equal. I feel Dolmar is #1, Husq #2 and Stihl #3. I run aftermarket filter setups on my big bore Stihls for a reason.

#2 TRY TO NEVER RUN your chainsaws out of fuel. Actually, maybe this should be #1 although I have no empirical evidence to support it. Why? The air to gas mixture is significantly compromised when these motors are running out of fuel. So simply said, you create a massive lean condition that will result in premature top end failure. ESPECIALLY, if you are the guy who runs your saw until it is out of gas. BAD MOVE! I always make sure to re-fuel my saws PRIOR to actually needing gas. And guess what? I also check my air box.

Get into this regular habit and you will be amazed at how you can extend the condition of your chainsaws. I use to average 2 top end rebuilds a year. Then I made sure everyone in my business prescribed to these rules and I'm getting twice the life out of my top ends. Yes, on occasion some dumbass buries a 36+ bar into a massive Live Oak or Pecan and keeps it full throttle....
Could it partially be because they now spend less time running while being cleaned and fueled all the time.
 
Haven’t been on this forum long but these stihl fanboys are awful similar to ktm fanboys. That being said, I use mostly stihl products and I would not hesitate on buying a 500 if reliability is a concern, they make awesome products, and if one has an issue that’s not caused from lack of maintenance it’s probably 1 in 1000. That being said, my experience with my 1 husqvarna that I bought was so great that I’m going to buy another one. I can only speak on both brands pro saws because that’s all I use. The guy that made this thread definitely wears stihl apparel, only grills on a traeger, and the only cooler he’ll be seen with is a yeti.
 
A runner up for the "why you never buy the first year..." was the 6.0L powerstroke (Navistar) diesel in the Ford F250/350 trucks. Talk about a POS! Oh, and even the 800 cc Polaris engines in the 2014-15 timeframe were known to "grenade".

If I'm not mistaken, the first Powerstroke diesel was the 7.3 liter and it was the best of the bunch (or at least the turbocharged version, which ran from around 2000 to 2003). More than a few of those have clocked over a million miles.

The 6.0 liter came later and yeah, it was a disaster, and they didn't get a whole lot better after that. But the 7.3 liter is a beast that just runs and runs and runs. Mine (2001) sometimes gets almost 25 mpg on the highway, which is quite a bit better than my F150 with the 5.4 liter gas engine, and it AVERAGES (this is averaging the total mileage clocked versus total diesel fuel burned since I got it) 20.0 mpg. Oh, and it weighs > 6000#.
 
Yep. If you want clean, eardrum-bursting, high-current power, tube amplifiers -- particularly preamps -- are the only way to fly. There's a reason people still pay big money for -- and Marshall still makes -- those old tube heads.
It's called "headroom."

Gotta love me some Russian 12Ax7s!
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And just where do you get a 500 I ? They seem to be hard to find.


Coastal Farm and Ranch in Washington State had two at their Monroe, WA store and one at their Marysville, WA store. None of the local Stihl shops in central eastern Washington had any, so I bought mine on the westside of the Cascades from the Monroe store. Mine came with a 32" bar which is unwieldy to say the least. (and makes the saw nose heavy) I have a 25" ES Light on the way for it. That saves about a pound of weight over a standard Stihl 25 inch guide bar. (and brings the balance back much closer to the top handle.)
 
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