Thoughts on aftermarket ms 660(hultz) or Stihl ms 461

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Which saw ?

  • Aftermarket rebuilt ms660

    Votes: 5 45.5%
  • Stihl MS461

    Votes: 6 54.5%

  • Total voters
    11
I can't say that I have had that issue... If I have had it I didn't know or recognize there was an issue, and nobody has brought it to my attention as yet...
If the saws crank good without the fast idle, I would say no one has brought it to your attention. I haven't heard of any kit that had a working fast idle out of the box. Mine does not work either but it cranks well enough with out it. I still would like to have it working though.
The guys that have bought the blue 660 complete saws say that the fast idle does work on those but I haven't seen one in person.

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If the saws crank good without the fast idle, I would say no one has brought it to your attention. I haven't heard of any kit that had a working fast idle out of the box. Mine does not work either but it cranks well enough with out it. I still would like to have it working though.
The guys that have bought the blue 660 complete saws say that the fast idle does work on those but I haven't seen one in person.

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I would imagine that to be the case. I have just never known of that as a problem. I have rebuilt one of the blue ones already, it ran like crap out of the box. The owner bought a 660 I built for him and said mine was night and day different from it. He asked me to put a new top end on it and it ran way better, but he never mentioned that issue on either saw. I'm sure it is just as you said... It starts and runs so people don't make it an issue. Good to know about it though, thank you.
 
Hi everyone,
New to Forum but not to Saws.
I just finished a 660 build and I had the same fast idle problem as well as the sticking chock plate. Sanded the plate and replaced Part 1 (from above picture) with one from an old blown 066 Mag saw that I had for parts. problem solved. Only other problem I had was a badly formed gas line connector that was leaking, the barbs would not seal, again replaced with old one from part saw. Have about 4 tanks of gas thru it so still breaking it in, so far so good.
 
I have built 40 of the 660 kits, 38 of the 372 kits and about 40 total of all of the other kits (070, 440, 380, 361, 360, 250, 200t) over the past 3 years... I told every customer of mine that I would stand behind every saw I build. So far in those 3 years I have had zero failures on any of the 372s I have built. I have had a few 660s that have had minor issues which amount to the starter ropes failing, the chain tensioners failing, the decompression valves failing and one clutch clip failing. I have only had one engine failure, which my customer and I BOTH believe was caused by a bad can of trufuel. Every one of the 440s I built had trouble from the carburetor to the coil to the flywheel and the starter. One engine failed because of the circlip (which I honestly believe I didn't install properly) I have had nothing but trouble with the 200t kit as well. Again carb, flywheel and coils. Out of all of the other saw kits there have been zero failures except ONE 361 that my customer got something lodged in the flywheel and he thought the cylinder seized because the rope wouldn't pull. I will agree with your statement that they (the factory) can't CONSISTENTLY get things right.... Which is because of the fact that quality standards are not enforced factory wide and less than high quality parts get out the door and end up in the hands of the builder. Which is the reason I stated "it depends on who builds them" I fixed every failure for every one of my customers and never once used OEM parts. I did use a different manufacturer of aftermarket parts though. My point is that just being OEM does not make it better, and just being aftermarket does not make it worse. There are different levels of quality throughout each category of part... Wether it is OEM or aftermarket.

I have the experience to recognize the bad parts that arrive in the kits, and replace them when I build it. I also have the relationship with my customer so they are comfortable with the sale in the fact that they know trouble may arise, but they also know that I will fix it.

So again, I say to you. It depends on who builds it.
The guys selling them for 750 are ripping people off.

Great post Noodle. Good to see some truth based off experience not on biased opinion only.

I have had plenty of experience with aftermarket barrel kits and other parts. I have seen some shocker kits, but when the kits have been good, i have had no hesitation in using them. The 77cc big bore kits for the 372 are brilliant. Ported they can make serious hp and torque and longevity. My favourite saw is my 371XP with a ported 52mm kit at 77cc. I sold my cleaned up 390XP because it had nothing on this saw but at greater bulk and weight. It easily pulls a 32” bar in Aussie hardwood at 32”. I have a video of that. I have here a complete Chinese copy of the 372 now with a ported 77cc kit. This saw has been thrashed for something like 10 years now and has not missed a beat. Im so impressed. I have a video of this saw in 32” of Aussie hardwood also. Also says alot about the aftermarket crank. Im also running the 100cc 395 kit on two of my saws. Yep, one is my milling saw.

I shake my head every time i read posts by people who are so opinionated about something they have not experienced. Yet those that have experienced have no issue. Interesting aye?

Heat? Give your saw a breather every few minutes. Its not a race!
 
Great post Noodle. Good to see some truth based off experience not on biased opinion only.

I have had plenty of experience with aftermarket barrel kits and other parts. I have seen some shocker kits, but when the kits have been good, i have had no hesitation in using them. The 77cc big bore kits for the 372 are brilliant. Ported they can make serious hp and torque and longevity. My favourite saw is my 371XP with a ported 52mm kit at 77cc. I sold my cleaned up 390XP because it had nothing on this saw but at greater bulk and weight. It easily pulls a 32” bar in Aussie hardwood at 32”. I have a video of that. I have here a complete Chinese copy of the 372 now with a ported 77cc kit. This saw has been thrashed for something like 10 years now and has not missed a beat. Im so impressed. I have a video of this saw in 32” of Aussie hardwood also. Also says alot about the aftermarket crank. Im also running the 100cc 395 kit on two of my saws. Yep, one is my milling saw.

I shake my head every time i read posts by people who are so opinionated about something they have not experienced. Yet those that have experienced have no issue. Interesting aye?

Heat? Give your saw a breather every few minutes. Its not a race!
Thank you. I'd love to see the video of the 32 on that saw. I have ran up to a 28 on mine with no trouble at all, still plenty of oil and power.
 

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