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Find? My dealer(s) just make a chain from bulk loop. If you only shop or have access to box stores, then stay with stock configurations.
Considering a new Stihl
- Thread starter Corbet
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My 290 has been converted to a 18" 3/8" and I'll never go back to .325. When the saw is starting to groan under a load, a few quick strokes with the file on the cutters and it chews thru wood like a bigger saw.
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Cutting big wood like in the picture, a 461 is really a necessity. Still, my 290 gets plenty of work on logs that size also.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
My 290 has always had a 3/8" chain and a 20" bar. That wood in the recent picture was nice and dry Ponderosa. The saw cut it OK just suffered from lack of O2. I just need to get around to the muffler mod and then try a full skip. I still want a 461 with a 24". Then I might back the 290 down a bar size.
Maybe by spring the 462 will be available.
Maybe by spring the 462 will be available.
Get a 372xp. I was born in Colorado. High altitudes, take power out of engines for sure!
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
Anyone heard anything new on the Stihl 462 availability? After looking at a few of the recent international reviews I think I’d prefer the weight reduction over the 461 even if it means a little less power. Plus not having to tweak the fuel mixture constantly as I’m running it between 7500 and 12,000 feet all the time. Admittedly I’ve never touched my 290. It was originally tunned at 9000 and I’ve just run it since.
Ryan'smilling
Addicted to ArboristSite
Rumor has it that they're available in the US. Midwest Stihl (the distributor) has them at least. Not sure about the rest of the country.
Wow. What are you cutting at 12,000 feet?
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
pines/spruce, tree line is higher down this far south. I don't get up that high often but occasionally. Over 11 is pretty regular.
T-Dozzer
ArboristSite Operative
461/462 & never look back. Use the other one as a limbing saw.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
Looks like the 462 might show up in dealers around here in the next 30 days. I’m pretty convinced that is the direction I’ll go with a 28” bar. I just can’t get over how light it will be. Same as my 290 but nearly double the power. I’ll take my chances with the new tech.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
I’ll let the boy run the 290.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
Well I’ll have to survive another season with my 290. Between my wife wanting a new sofa and my car braking down no new chainsaw funds this year.
Cutting st 11,200’ today the 290 was bogging down pretty bad but still got the job done.
Cutting st 11,200’ today the 290 was bogging down pretty bad but still got the job done.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
Old thread but I finally got a MS462cm. Looking forward to firewood season
Just got mine last week!
Hickahollar
ArboristSite Operative
I have a ms362 with 20 and 25 inch bar I also have a ms250 18 inch bar the ms362 after break in will pull the 25 pretty good in red oak i can bury but I can't push it. If you need bigger than a 25 inch bar go with the next size up the ms461 I believe is not much heavier than the 362.
Hickahollar
ArboristSite Operative
Ha should of looked at the date congratulations on your new saw.
Vanguard
ArboristSite Lurker
Read the entire thread out of curiosity, Gratz! That 462 should compliment your 290 well. The 50cc and 70cc class seem to have their own class of work when you don't need to get into the bigger saws. Every Stihl 60cc saw I've ran had me wishing less weight for smaller work, and more power for larger work.
I used to run an 029 Super with either an 044 or 046. I don't do anything professional with saws anymore, mostly big timber construction with some felling and tree work in the past, but I ended up buying both a 261 and 462 last year, both with Mtronic - seems to be doing well so far.
These Mtronic saws are very easy to run, and I live close to two major dealers in the area. If I lived in the bush up in Alaska, then I wouldn't have gone Mtronic - mostly paranoia on my part, relying on dealer support. I am curious how Mtronic will do at 10,000 feet. I've only ran older saws just shy of 7,000 feet, living on the west coast.
If I were to buy a third Stihl right now, it'd be a 362 Mtronic though, mostly to keep in the truck when I'm out in the woods or if a friend / family member needed bailed out quickly from a fallen tree. Around my neck of the woods, I see 60cc saws mostly used as "One only saws" on property or in a utility vehicle that can ocasionally handle something getting a little big.
I've used my 462 with 28" bar, semi-chisel - round ground in slightly dirty wood pushing over 42" just fine. I've also used my 261 with 20" bar, full chisel - round ground in wood pushing over 36", doing fine, but you obviously stand there longer compared to 462.
Otherwise, anymore saws after that will be vintage project saws - restored to run, not sit. I miss that vintage sound I grew up hearing, watching them saws rip through wood, maintaining their rpms. It's a tragedy to bench perfectly working muscle saws otherwise.
Anyhow, let us know how that Mtronic works at 10k. Experience always trumps hearsay and theory in my book.
Corbet
ArboristSite Lurker
I ran it briefly through a 14” ponderosa at the house. 8100’. Ripped a half dozen cookies and put it away satisfied. With 2 feet of snow on the ground there is not much exposed to cut.
As light as it is I’m not sure I’ll run my old 290 much if at all. Just bring it along as a back up or for the boy when he gets older. My wife is in no hurry to see him operating a saw.
As light as it is I’m not sure I’ll run my old 290 much if at all. Just bring it along as a back up or for the boy when he gets older. My wife is in no hurry to see him operating a saw.
Well I went the 500i route, pretty happy with it so far. 
