Stihl MS291 So much for German Engineers

[a. palmer jr.]

Well Stihl is putting their name on it and if your willing to sell crap for $300 plus dollars (more when this saw sold) at what point does a consumer get something that isn’t crap? Honestly gluing a cylinder together is acceptable? It’s basically disposable landfill in 1 year usage. I have an 011 on my bench right now it’s not a pro saw but build quality twice as good. If this is the case buy Polan, their build quality sucks as well and honestly it’s better then Stihl 291.
As far as eating dirt comment just typical build up on any saw.

These current Stihls won't be around like the old Homelites of years past. I have a 360 Homelite in my shop right now that still can get the job done, a little heavy however, not much plastic...

 

[Gubaguba]

The lower end Stihl products are about profit. Stihl has built a name & is considered number 1 for building some of the best quality saws ever made over generations or decades or half centuries. Yes they use that good will & reputation to sell low end product to the uninformed. To the average Joe a 291 looks almost the same as a 462. Stihl at least kinda somewhat stands by their product, the warranty is worth a tad more than the paper it was written on...just. Its a shame, once upon a time you could trust any product they put their name on, but those days are long gone and ALL saw OEMS do this some worse than others. These days companies get rewarded for selling junk in such a price competitive world. Folks generally just aren't prepared to pay for quality and those who do are either in the industry i.e loggers and that's not where Stihl makes their money. For every 362 sold probably over a 100 291's go out the door. Guess you gonna have too get out the glue and stick that POS back together, alternatively rip a grand+ out your wallet & go get a good saw.

I don’t think $400 plus price tags one should expect junk. My point is why buy $400 junk when I can buy $200 junk and it would probably last longer. Have a $350 Echo on my bench now and it’s substantially built better then Stihl’s $400 junk.

 

[Goofaroo]

I don’t think $400 plus price tags one should expect junk. My point is why buy $400 junk when I can buy $200 junk and it would probably last longer. Have a $350 Echo on my bench now and it’s substantially built better then Stihl’s $400 junk.

Yep. From what I have experienced the lower end Echos are still well built and reliable compared to other name brand saws.

 

[CR888]

What your buying into when you purchase Stihl is the worlds biggest dealer network, a strong brand that won't dissapear off the face of the earth and along with this comes benefits. Parts will be available well into the future, access to them is relatively easy in any 1st world country. Also there are many used parts saws that can be bought for rebuilds along with a huge AM support. For all this you do pay a premium, sure you can buy a cheaper saw that's as well made but that's a simplistic way of looking at the situation. Many here buy Stihl pro saws used that are 50% or less than msrp and they can access any part they want to rebuild/restore it into whatever condition they choose. Often the best judge of a product is the market, the market knows a good product as resale value reflects this. Today you can get a Chinese saw delivered for less than a $100! These cheap imports have affected the marketplace making name brand saws cheapen up their lower tier products to try to compete. Its easy to blame Stihl for this but they are responding to the market conditions to stay in business. Rarely does the cheap ass consumer take the blame for driving this race to the bottom. Business tries basically to give you what YOU want. German engineers have been the worlds best for well over a century, no other country has come close to the domination they have in almost every aspect of engineering. You don't think they are capable of making the best saws? Well who is? History will tell you their runs on the board as far as saws go. You want quality be prepared to pay for it or we'll keep seeing corners cut as costs need to be cut to compete with the competition. Believe me, I don't like it either but I also don't own a single Chinese saw out of about 35 saws. Buying the best I can afford has served me well, any time I've tried to save money with China cheap parts, its been money down the drain, frustration & wasted time. Running saws commercially I save money buying the best I can. The good pro saws are still good.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

I dont work on alot of low end stihls anymore, they've become rather disposable to many people but i do recall doing an oiler swap on one a few years ago that was especially involved as far as access.

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[Gubaguba]

I dont work on alot of low end stihls anymore, they've become rather disposable to many people but i do recall doing an oiler swap on one a few years ago that was especially involved as far as access.

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I agree. I’ve been working mostly on demo saws, more money better build quality. Picked this saw up as part of a lot and made money back 4 times over already. This saw was the newest of the bunch. I’ve parted it out on EBay and will probably make more then if I sold it working honestly.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Ill tell you what pisses me off..the stihl saws with the plastic c hook that holds the lever in place and the C breaks or wears and you have to replace the case.

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[Gubaguba]

Well found a good use for saw. Take it apart and sell parts on Ebay.

 

[HarleyT]

Well found a good use for saw. Take it apart and sell parts on Ebay.

Shhhh.

 

[miller755]

What your buying into when you purchase Stihl is the worlds biggest dealer network, a strong brand that won't dissapear off the face of the earth and along with this comes benefits. Parts will be available well into the future, access to them is relatively easy in any 1st world country. Also there are many used parts saws that can be bought for rebuilds along with a huge AM support. For all this you do pay a premium, sure you can buy a cheaper saw that's as well made but that's a simplistic way of looking at the situation. Many here buy Stihl pro saws used that are 50% or less than msrp and they can access any part they want to rebuild/restore it into whatever condition they choose. Often the best judge of a product is the market, the market knows a good product as resale value reflects this. Today you can get a Chinese saw delivered for less than a $100! These cheap imports have affected the marketplace making name brand saws cheapen up their lower tier products to try to compete. Its easy to blame Stihl for this but they are responding to the market conditions to stay in business. Rarely does the cheap ass consumer take the blame for driving this race to the bottom. Business tries basically to give you what YOU want. German engineers have been the worlds best for well over a century, no other country has come close to the domination they have in almost every aspect of engineering. You don't think they are capable of making the best saws? Well who is? History will tell you their runs on the board as far as saws go. You want quality be prepared to pay for it or we'll keep seeing corners cut as costs need to be cut to compete with the competition. Believe me, I don't like it either but I also don't own a single Chinese saw out of about 35 saws. Buying the best I can afford has served me well, any time I've tried to save money with China cheap parts, its been money down the drain, frustration & wasted time. Running saws commercially I save money buying the best I can. The good pro saws are still good.

I really don't think anyone thinks that German Engineering is the best.
No engineer that I know thinks that, I am an engineer and I don't think that either.
Most countries have their high points and things that they excel at in terms of manufacturing.
Truly I think that at one point German Engineering was solid and reliable, but those days are gone.

Now they typically put out high end products that are leading in technology, but not reliable. This is always a trade-off, being at the forefront of technology, means you are using technology that is not as well tested as proven technology.
And at this point proven technology is not that much worse than leading edge technology. Do you really need your carburetor to tune itself? Is it likely to cause more problems than it solves? If paying for R&D on a product that does not need to be improved.(note the fact that 440s 460s etc are still loved and used by many) suits you Go ahead. But please don't make blanket statements like "German Engineering is the best", because that is just foolish.
Maybe German marketing is best?

 

[Wood Doctor]

Well, I found a good use for saw. Take it apart and sell parts on Ebay.

How about a row boat anchor? This is ridiculous.

 

[Gubaguba]

How about a row boat anchor? This is ridiculous.

Actually made out ok economically parting out and selling on ebay though work packing it all up. A couple people on Ebay contacted me saying same thing happened to them.
Still no reply from Stihl. Which to me says everything. I have other saws and won’t recommend Stihl. If you cut corners on one product you’ll do it on all of them. This saw should have never been sold it’s an abomination. No one with any mechanical sense or education can justify it. They did it anyway.

 

[Wood Doctor]

This reminds me of when I ran into an early released MS 290 that had an oil outlet in the vent that did not line up with the oiler hole on the bar. That cut the oiler's output by 60% and overheated the bar several times before we figured it out. The Stihl dealer told us it was an early production run that led to the failure. The bar told the tale:

 

[Pioneer]

So far I have found that Stihl's are like German cars, some good engineering and a fair amount of bad.