Stihl ms 500i

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I just learned about this saw, too and would like to know the answer. I'm curious if the price will justify the advantages of fuel injection.
 
I too just saw a video about it. Is it available in USA? How much? Looks powerful but maybe should wait a few years and let stihl work out air filter problems.
 
I read about it about a year ago on the Stihl website in German so I copied it all into translate and I thought it said it was as light as a 261 with the power of a 661 but know I think they say the weight is comparable to the 461. I thought it said something about the price being 2200 euros but I’m not sure. I read somewhere about it maybe being released in the states in early 2019 maybe but don’t quote me on that I just wondered if anyone had any current info? Thanks all!
 
Ive been doing a little search too. Price around 1800 us. Dont think i want one but i love to try it out. 562xp is about as complicated as ive gone thus far. Its exciting though seeing new stuff. Lithium Battery powered is probably the wave of the not so distant future, the old dudes around here probably hate me for saying it.

One thing that will never change is true tree care, understanding of trees themselves, safe felling techniques, proper structural pruning, identifying diseases and administering proper treatments... technology and science will continue to evolve hopefully for the better of our forests .
 
Lithium Battery powered is probably the wave of the not so distant future,
My money, quite literally in fact, is on graphene supercaps instead of lithium ion. Out already in car/truck battery replacements, KERS storage for hybrid buses. Only a matter of time, I hope, before trickles down to OhPE (and trickles up to grid peak shaving and stabilisation). As a side note, has anyone seen what EGO are doing with their back-pack battery packs and various OhPE ? Interesting.
 
1800 ain’t to bad for a saw comparable to a 661 with a lot more tech. I could never afford it but it would be cool to see the longevity of the injector system. Also in the reviews it seems that a lot of debris gets into the guts of the saw, more than others anyway. I’m more of a vintage saw guy myself I have 5 Stihls but I usually grab a 10-10 or a super xl over the stihls.
 
unfortunately our grand/greatkids probably wont havt the petro to play with much but batteries. Gas will become a thing of the past and hey, electric motors with instant high torque is nothing to scoff at. That being said, 372xp! Best saw ever made!
 
Ive been doing a little search too. Price around 1800 us. Dont think i want one but i love to try it out. 562xp is about as complicated as ive gone thus far. Its exciting though seeing new stuff. Lithium Battery powered is probably the wave of the not so distant future, the old dudes around here probably hate me for saying it.

One thing that will never change is true tree care, understanding of trees themselves, safe felling techniques, proper structural pruning, identifying diseases and administering proper treatments... technology and science will continue to evolve hopefully for the better of our forests .
My dealer said that at the last Echo tech class he went to they told them 2 stroke O P E is a grey hair business. Electric will take over sooner than later.
 
I think each will have it's place. Gas chainsaws probably wouldn't work on Mars but otherwise I can't imagine them totally going by the wayside. I don't know if batteries can ever get so energy dense they'd be comparable to gasoline in terms of weight. If you want to get 8-10 hours of cutting out of a electric saw that's comparable to a 391 or something like that you'd need 10 Li-Ion batteries that weigh in the neighborhood of 10 pounds each. yeah right!
 
Thats a good point. And if they get the batteries as energy dense as gas they would become more dangerous and unstable. At least with our current tech. Something will be discovered/invented as it always has. The more fossil fuels we mine, pump and burn the less there will be. Supply-demand. Gas may become to valuable to put in a saw.
 
Thats a good point. And if they get the batteries as energy dense as gas they would become more dangerous and unstable. At least with our current tech. Something will be discovered/invented as it always has. The more fossil fuels we mine, pump and burn the less there will be. Supply-demand. Gas may become to valuable to put in a saw.
I just reread my last post: sorry guys. Im just throwing ideas around. Maybe gas would be so valuable to only use in small engines. Cars are not having trouble running electric engines...
 
I read somewhere that at the current rate of consumption there's really no using it all up - fossil fuels. There are environmental concerns - although I think of all the polluting machines, chainsaws and other O P E are probably low on the list.
And as far as batteries I think there's just a hard limit to how much energy can fit in a given space. I have an electric bike with a 702 watt-hour battery which is a lot - but a gallon of gas has like 33 kWh - or about 40 times as much as what my bike's battery has and the battery weighs like 7 or 8 pounds. The motor is a 750 watt (1hp) rated motor that weighs 6-7 pounds - which makes it quite heavy for a comparable gasoline 2 stroke engine.
So about 15 pounds for something that would have 1 hp - quite small for many chainsaws - and a battery that has to be swapped out if you want to keep sawing; you can't just charge those up right quick. Not to mention other things like the frame, bar, oil & chain, handle that would make that 15 pound saw weigh more like 20 pounds.

Electric motors are undeniably more efficient - a 26 mile charge on my bike costs about .13c worth of electricity whereas my car goes about 22 miles on a $3 gallon of gas. You can look at the efficiencies of Teslas vs. conventional autos too and see that Teslas cost a lot less to operate on average than any gas powered car. But right now there are some really major limitations.

All that being said - my point is that batteries are really heavy, even though they can be reused as many as a thousand times they're nowhere near being able to compete for market share of O P E when it comes to energy density and practicality (i.e. weight & bulk) of conventional gas powered equipment. Gas powered equipment is not going anywhere anytime soon; except maybe in the occasional user market. Professionals won't be using electrics until it makes economic sense to do so.
 

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