On another note guys I received a PM from a member about 8 months ago on the MS661 topic. I'm sure some of you will find it interesting. The ported MS660 he mentions was built by a very respectable builder who doesn't post here much any more. The older members would know him as one of the best work saw builders this site has seen. This is what he sent me with all identifying parts removed...
I ran one last year for about three months when they were being tested here in the States. We're not supposed to talk about it or publish anything about it...we even had to sign a paper stating that we wouldn't...so you can't quote me directly on anything I say. You can however say that a logger used one and, without mentioning my name, say that he was well pleased with it. Very well pleased.
The saw came to me new with a 36" bar. The only instructions I had from Stihl was to use Stihl Ultra oil at 50:1 and to run the saw like I would any other work saw. They also didn't allow any mods, no fancy mufflers, anything like that. Straight stock. They specifically told me not to baby the saw and not to take any special care of it. I took them at their word and ran the snot out of that thing. They wanted real-world working conditions and they got them.
I had absolutely no problem with the saw. None. It was a little slow to self tune...they told me it would be...especially with major elevation changes during the day. By slow I mean just a second or two...no major delays. It didn't slow down production.
The saw I had was very smooth. Much smoother than a stock 660. I didn't keep any figures on gas consumption but the 661 doesn't gulp the gas like my 660 did. If I had to guess, and a guess is all it is, I'd say the 661 uses twenty percent less gas.
The saw, stock, has power. My main saw is a 660 that ***** woods ported. Again, these are ball park guesses but I'd say the 661 ran almost as well as the ***** 660. Very very close in torque.
The 661 will out-work a stock 660. There are always stock 660s around and we used them for comparison. We had a few impromptu races in the woods, switched operators, switched chains, everything we could think of to make things even and the 661 would out cut any of the stock 660s that we had. The 661 had a lot of low end torque. I could lean on it...which I don't usually do...and it was hard to bog in our soft woods.
I ran the 661 against only a couple of Huskys...a lightly ported 390, and a heavily ported 395. The 661 was measurably faster than than the 390 but couldn't stay up with the 395.
At the end of the trial period I took the saw back...they wouldn't let me keep it or buy it...talked to the Stihl rep, filled out some forms about what I thought of the saw, and that was it. The saw went back to Germany for teardown and inspection, that's all I know. It was running as well as the day they gave it to me and they seemed almost disappointed that I hadn't found anything wrong with the saw. They were already having problems with them then but they wouldn't say what they were.
I don't know what problems they're having with the saw but the one I ran, and the ones that other guys ran, were flawless. I know of three logging saws and two saws that were used by the Forest Service. We weren't supposed to communicate with each other about the saws but you know how that goes. All the guys that ran the saw liked it and see it as a great replacement for the 660.
I'm first on the list at the saw shop when they are released. LOL...I hope it shows up before I'm too old to use it.
Once again, you can quote me on any of this but don't mention my name. I might get a chance again to demo a new saw and I rather liked the experience.