Most badass 50cc saw

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I have two 50cc saws. An Echo CS490 and a Stihl MS261. The Echo is a nice saw, but the Stihl feels like it has more power.

And almost double money,at least in my country.You are going to need a loan if you decide to buy anything from Steal,i mean Stihl.500€ for the 501SX and 825€ for the 261 C-M.There is nothing that can can justify this price difference.More power to do what?To cut cookies 2 seconds faster?Nothing against you or the saw but i had to say this..Everything is about the price/perfomance for me,in Greece the best performance/price ratio for the 50cc goes to the Dolkita,500€ for the Makita EA5000P.I was this close to get one but then i found a NIB CS 490 on Ebay for 230$,how to say no to this?
 
I’m a stihl guy ‘cause there’s never been a husky dealer close. My ms261cm is great.

I needed a new trimmer about 30 years ago and I went to the husky dealer about 15 miles from me. The place was empty, so I ended up with a stihl.
 
I have two 50cc saws. An Echo CS490 and a Stihl MS261. The Echo is a nice saw, but the Stihl feels like it has more power.
Good to know.
One of these looks good.
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And almost double money,at least in my country.You are going to need a loan if you decide to buy anything from Steal,i mean Stihl.500€ for the 501SX and 825€ for the 261 C-M.There is nothing that can can justify this price difference.More power to do what?To cut cookies 2 seconds faster?Nothing against you or the saw but i had to say this..Everything is about the price/perfomance for me,in Greece the best performance/price ratio for the 50cc goes to the Dolkita,500€ for the Makita EA5000P.I was this close to get one but then i found a NIB CS 490 on Ebay for 230$,how to say no to this?
True words. The Stihl MS261cm is $1400 in Australia. The Shindaiwa SX501 is $1000.
The Echo CS490 is $950

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The 261cm with it's stratos gutted, muffler baffle removed, and an ignition advance is a stunningly strong saw. I feel it's one of the very few saws ever made that can be made to run like it's ported without ever porting it.
What do you mean Strato Gutted?

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I agree with JJ that since you love the Stihl line-up, the 261 v2 makes a lot of sense of certainly fall into that bad... bucket, my buddy has one and it rips, in stock form. Not sure if some of these others do....yes they do have power and realiability, but also i think the sound and the look of the saw is a factor, is someone else going to walk up and be like, oh man that is bad... I personally like the orange and gray combination on the husky 550xp, haven't run the Mark II but i think they look sweet, they may not be as nimble as the original or the 346 but that is what your 241 is for. Curious what the price for the new 550xp is down under?
 
No problems with my 2016 550xp. My buddy's 2017 261v2 had hot start issue, replace solenoid under warranty, now my 462 is having hot start issue, very frustrating I gotta bring my old 044 as backup all the time
 
Wait - some Stihls have hot start issues, too?

I had a Stihl 'solenoid' (they seem like a new, magical component - must be a problem in your flux capacitor gear in there, son) very quietly and frustratingly replaced on a brand new saw once upon a time not all that long ago. Dealer said they just "pushed the reset button" but I don't really believe him. That should have taken - one hour, not one month. Not really a very good shop at all though, so who knows. They don't even stock 'pro' models on a daily basis. "Nobody buys those."

I do want to put a 261 in my hands but will have to drive quite a ways to do it.
 
What do you mean Strato Gutted?

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Remove the partition on the cylinder side of the carb, cut the panel that disects the intake into strato and fuel halves, and pow - stratos gutted. Basically, it will take in some mix during the strato cycle, and allow more air during the mix cycle. It's sort of like your carb is suddenly a large venturi...sort of.
But you need to make the saw draw more air(flow better) in in order for it to work well.

Here is an example of how the 261cm responds to just a simple baffle removal - not just a muffler mod, but the removal of the baffle inside the muffler. Keep in mind there is no timing advance or strato gutting in this vid at all. It is purely the result of removing the baffle and enlarging the exhaust outlet. It's around a 30% improvement by itself:

 
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