stihl model numbers

[htpd43]

i just spent the last 2 and a half hours searching and reading through threads but i cant find an answer to this question - How does stihl come up with model numbers for their saws? the closest i can figure out is the cc's on some of the saws and hp on others. but i looked at specs on some saws and the cc's or horsepower and the model number were not that close. examples:ms310 at 59cc with 4 hp and an 026 at 49cc with 3.2 hp. they werent anywhere near each other. i did see a few models where the cc's or horsepower figures were only off from the model number by a few. examples: 064 at 84.9cc with 6.5 hp and an ms660 at 91.6cc with 7 hp.

like i said i searched for a while so i apologize if this has been covered but i'm not very familiar with stihl saws - ive been a jonsered user for a while.

thanks for any info.

 

[ironman_gq]

I have also wondered how they come up with them.:monkey:

 

[TreePointer]

19th Century German random number generator.

 

[captjack]

I have always gone with the bigger the number the bigger the saw - but that just me

 

[ironman_gq]

It used to be that the even numbers were usually pro saws and the odd ones were usually homeowner saws. Cant go by this anymore because of the 361 and 441 and Im sure there will be other *1 saws coming in the pro line

 

[smokinj]

bigger# bigger saw imo thats the only way I can figure it

 

[htpd43]

At the risk of sounding rude, I kind of figured that the bigger the model # the bigger the saw is. I've been around long enough to have that part figure out- but that only works if you are looking at saws in the same generation. For example, an ms 250 is smaller than an ms 441 or an 066 is smaller than an 088.

Hypethetically, without looking at specs how would you know which is bigger between an 054 and an ms 361 or between an 088 and an ms 391? I just want to know if anybody has been able to figure out the logic stihl uses to come up with model #'s. Other brands make it pretty simple. A Jonsered 2165 is roughly 65 cc just like a 2186 is roughly 86 cc - what method does stihl use - that's what I want to know.

PS this response was typed up on my phone. I've never tried before. I hope I didn't screw it up too bad. And thanks for all your responses so far.

 

[smokinj]

At the risk of sounding rude, I kind of figured that the bigger the model # the bigger the saw is. I've been around long enough to have that part figure out- but that only works if you are looking at saws in the same generation. For example, an ms 250 is smaller than an ms 441 or an 066 is smaller than an 088.

Hypethetically, without looking at specs how would you know which is bigger between an 054 and an ms 361 or between an 088 and an ms 391? I just want to know if anybody has been able to figure out the logic stihl uses to come up with model #'s. Other brands make it pretty simple. A Jonsered 2165 is roughly 65 cc just like a 2186 is roughly 86 cc - what method does stihl use - that's what I want to know.

PS this response was typed up on my phone. I've never tried before. I hope I didn't screw it up too bad. And thanks for all your responses so far.

I put the 0 at the other end 026, 260 and so on the 088 is 880 guess i have never really thought about it been around stihl saws and just know the cc size by the #'s I dont think there is any good logic for it

 

[TreeClimber57]

Hypethetically, without looking at specs how would you know which is bigger between an 054 and an ms 361 or between an 088 and an ms 391? I just want to know if anybody has been able to figure out the logic stihl uses to come up with model #'s. Other brands make it pretty simple. A Jonsered 2165 is roughly 65 cc just like a 2186 is roughly 86 cc - what method does stihl use - that's what I want to know.

The issue with some of the models you list "088" vs "391" is new vs old model numbers. The 088 is essentially the MS880, the 026 the MS260.

Bigger # does mean bigger saw, beyond that I have no idea.

Stihl has what they call in my brochure 3 groupings of saws "Property Maintenance - whatever that is" "Landscaping/Semi-Pro" and "Forestry"

The interesting thing is that the bigger # meaning bigger saw is not always 100% accurate. The 270 for example is 50.0cc and the 260 is 50.2.

The current model list is:

Forestry:
MS260
MS341
MS361
MS441
MS460
MS660
MS880

Landscaping/Semi-Pro
MS270
MS290
MS390

Property Maintenance
MS170
MS171
MS180
MS181
MS211
MS230
MS250

 

[4seasons]

It works like women dress sizes. Size 8? EIGHT WHAT? It's not inches or feet or pounds or meters. Maybe it means she can only wear it 8 times before it goes out of style. So a 036 is now a 361 and a 056 is what between a 460 and a 660? Beats me. I guess I'll stick with Dolmar. I know what a 5100 and 7900 are. But wait I have a 116si. Is that bigger or smaller than a 120? Oh I see it has a Sachs in front so that makes it alright. Just wait till they take the numbers away and start naming them after animals. My Cheetah will run circles around your Tiger. Yeah well my Grizzly will pull a bigger bar.

 

[wigglesworth]

It works like women dress sizes. Size 8? EIGHT WHAT? It's not inches or feet or pounds or meters. Maybe it means she can only wear it 8 times before it goes out of style.

That is funny right there. I often wondered myself about the whole womens clothing sizes. It seems to me that my size 38 pants are approx. a size 14 womens. LOL

 

[AOD]

Serial numbers.

In the early years of the "O" series Stihls, the saw name was the second two digits of the serial number, for example, the 07's and 08's serial numbers were 1107 and 1108 respectively. All 070's and 090's serial numbers started with 1106. After that era it's anybody's guess, I think the S-10 might have an 1110 serial number, but Im not sure.