Buying Sthil saw from private party.

[kontech]

Hi all,
I have recently decided to upgrade my problematic Husky 450 to a larger saw that will handle felling and bucking dying ash trees on my few acres.
I've been looking at MS661 or MS462 but could not justify the cost at the dealership.
I found a few new saws on marketplace and met with the guy that wanted to sell me new 661 for 1200 w/o bar. I passed on it as I didn't feel right and didn't want to get taken. For one thing, it was still expensive too me to buy one w/o any info of its origin. And I could not even tell it was a real Stihl, even though i has Stihl imprint and serial # that Stihl support cross reference to MS661 made this year. I took a few pictures I can post.
Are there any known scam schemes with saws going around that I should be aware of, i.e. counterfeit or hot saws in the U.S.? TIA

 

[huskihl]

No problems with counterfeit 661 and 462s, as there isn’t much for aftermarket parts for them yet

 

[berrnard]

new 661 for 1200, go back to that guy
but do you need that big? bigger is not always better for your back

 

[tJKrider]

I bought a used MS362 a few years back (yes I know it's not a 661 or 462). All looked good, started right up, idled, rev'd, oiled, etc. Got it home and when I went to use it the first time it wouldn't run properly. Start once and then not restart, wouldn't idle, or I couldn't even get it started. I found a guy who was familiar with that model and gave me what I paid for it. I was happy, he was happy (said it was something with the e-carb). Anyway, I vowed to not purchase a higher end saw used again unless I had a bit more knowledge about its life, hours, usage, etc. If not, I will buy new with a warranty.

 

[kontech]

new 661 for 1200, go back to that guy
but do you need that big? bigger is not always better for your back

Yeah, that 661 felt rather heavy. Attached are a few pictures. Anyway, that hole encounter didn't feel right to me. Maybe I'm just too paranoid.

 

[berrnard]

Yeah, that 661 felt rather heavy. Attached are a few pictures. Anyway, that hole encounter didn't feel right to me. Maybe I'm just too paranoid.

post a pic of the SN and our gurus can sniff it out, but looks real from the outside

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Hi all,
I have recently decided to upgrade my problematic Husky 450 to a larger saw that will handle felling and bucking dying ash trees on my few acres.
I've been looking at MS661 or MS462 but could not justify the cost at the dealership.
I found a few new saws on marketplace and met with the guy that wanted to sell me new 661 for 1200 w/o bar. I passed on it as I didn't feel right and didn't want to get taken. For one thing, it was still expensive too me to buy one w/o any info of its origin. And I could not even tell it was a real Stihl, even though i has Stihl imprint and serial # that Stihl support cross reference to MS661 made this year. I took a few pictures I can post.
Are there any known scam schemes with saws going around that I should be aware of, i.e. counterfeit or hot saws in the U.S.? TIA

 

[OM617YOTA]

For a $300 difference vs. buying a new 661 from a dealer, I'd just go to a dealer. No worries about warranty coverage, no worries about if the saw is stolen, no worries about the saw being legit and sitting for the last two years with the ethanol gas the original dealer put in it to fire it and get it out the door.

Plus, if you had a bad gut feeling, listen to that and walk away. There will be other saws.

 

[huskihl]

post a pic of the SN and our gurus can sniff it out, but looks real from the outside

There aren’t any clones, so it doesn’t have a choice but to be real. Could be stolen though.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Might not be a bad idea to check with Stihl dealers that do a lot of repair. Surprising how many people never return to pick up some nice stuff. We sold a MS660 with a new OEM top end for $400 and a TS420 for $150. How crazy is that. Cost of repair. That's the deal, with us anyway.

 

[fields_mj]

I bought a used MS362 a few years back (yes I know it's not a 661 or 462). All looked good, started right up, idled, rev'd, oiled, etc. Got it home and when I went to use it the first time it wouldn't run properly. Start once and then not restart, wouldn't idle, or I couldn't even get it started. I found a guy who was familiar with that model and gave me what I paid for it. I was happy, he was happy (said it was something with the e-carb). Anyway, I vowed to not purchase a higher end saw used again unless I had a bit more knowledge about its life, hours, usage, etc. If not, I will buy new with a warranty.

I get what you're saying, but be careful trusting a dealer to work on or warrantee a saw regardless of brand. There ARE some good ones out there, but not many. Most of them are not really interested in making repairs and only want to sell new saws so they can meet their sales quotas and keep their dealership. Over the past 2 decades, I've taken 3 different saws to 4 different Stihl dealerships to be repaired because I was working too many hours to deal with them. On all 4 occasions I was told that my saw was trashed and it would be cheaper to buy new. On all 4 occasions I was able make the repair for less than $50, and on 2 of them I paid someone else to do all the work. On one occasion I was told that my 036 had lost compression and needed a new top end. Got it home and tested the compression and it had 150 psi which is EXACTLY what it had the day I brought it home a decade earlier. Put a new plug in it and it ran just fine.

My general rule of thumb is that if they can't build a good race saw, they don't have enough knowledge and experience to be trouble shooting anything.

 

[fields_mj]

Hi all,
I have recently decided to upgrade my problematic Husky 450 to a larger saw that will handle felling and bucking dying ash trees on my few acres.
I've been looking at MS661 or MS462 but could not justify the cost at the dealership.
I found a few new saws on marketplace and met with the guy that wanted to sell me new 661 for 1200 w/o bar. I passed on it as I didn't feel right and didn't want to get taken. For one thing, it was still expensive too me to buy one w/o any info of its origin. And I could not even tell it was a real Stihl, even though i has Stihl imprint and serial # that Stihl support cross reference to MS661 made this year. I took a few pictures I can post.
Are there any known scam schemes with saws going around that I should be aware of, i.e. counterfeit or hot saws in the U.S.? TIA

Depending on your mechanical abilities, I've been very happy with my G660 (Chinese 066 clone). I had to take down a 6' pin oak in the back yard. After getting it down, my 064 gave out on me (my fault). I didn't have time to tear into the 064 and repair it. I needed a saw that would pull the 42" bar that I bought for the job. This was just over a year ago. I ordered the G660 from the Farmertec website, paid a little more ($321 total) to get it from US Stock and had the power head with the full wrap handle sitting on my porch in 2 business days.

If you go this route, you NEED to replace a few things before you get started. The screws for mounting the felling spikes and the handle are crap. Replace them with ones from your Stihl dealership. They cost around $1 each. My oil pump wasn't working worth a darn right out of the box (tested with a 28" bar first). I ordered a high output pump ($40) from Hyway since I was also going to use it with the longer bar. On the same order I went ahead and got a Hyway dual port exhaust ($30 I think) just because I wanted it. The e-clip on the drive shaft didn't have any temper to it which quickly caused some significant issues that I won't get into. I'd pick up a new e-clip while you're at the dealership getting the screws. Some folks have had issues with the pawl and starter rope. Mine have been fine, but you can get a pawl and a Stihl ElastoStart pull rope for another $40. With all the bells and whistles, I have less than $450 in the new saw and it runs great. I put about 7 gallons of fuel through it last summer running the 42" bar, mostly on days that were in the mid to high 90s. I lost 15 lbs during the process There are enough people out there running the G660 on Alaskan Mills and getting good results that I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. The 046 clone also seems to have a good reputation. With their bars and chains, the opinion is that you get what you pay for. They work okay, but there are better options. Still, for getting work done, they will get the work done without breaking the bank. Now that the big tree is cleaned up, I normally run an Oregon 28" bar, 404 full chisel chain and an 8 pin rim. I use the saw for noodling rounds that are too big for me to lift onto my splitter, or for bucking stuff that's over 18". I don't run it a lot, but when I need it, it starts fine and does a great job. I'm not going to say its as good as an MS661 because I've never owned or operated a 661. I will say that it's close enough that for the average person who doesn't run the saw 5 days a week, year round, you're probably not going to be able to tell the difference.

Just my 2 bits,
Mark