Need advice guys, stihl ms 180 met its doom! New saw time.

[DaddyRabbit]

Its not that I didn't have anymore need for the saw than 3 or 4 hours its just that it was usually big ole teets up when it was called upon for duty. I would then pick up one of my other saws and go with it. Trust me, lackadaisical gas or premix was not the problem as I am a stickler on my preventive maintenance and only use fresh 93 octane with stihl synthetic premix. My not so dearly departed Stihl just so happened to be a lemon of the highest order. I would never be so presumptuous as to say all 180's or stihl's are junk because I know better but I can say this about my particular case. I am on my way out the door to look at a new 211 right now.

Using a saw 4 hours in 3 years you might just want to rent one from home depot or you might be a candidate for buying the pre-mixed fuel that most dealers sell that has a long shelf life. Nothing wrong with the little 180's when used within their design capabilities, a heck of a lot more saw than a wild thing.

 

[deye223]

I went back and checked, the OP joined in 2007 and had not posted since 2008. He wrote on 11/8/2008 that he had bought the MS180.

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/80511-2.htm#post1218947

For Fish, this is a picture of it before it departed this world.

wow look at it no flippy caps must be as good as a MS660 and he chucked it :confused2:

 

[TK]

wow look at it no flippy caps must be as good as a MS660 and he chucked it :confused2:

Not only no flippy caps, but those things are just freakin huge! Biggest gas caps I've seen on a saw. I thought the sasquatch type of guys only used 660's and 880's???

 

[deye223]

Not only no flippy caps, but those things are just freakin huge! Biggest gas caps I've seen on a saw. I thought the sasquatch type of guys only used 660's and 880's???

i thought they were wheels so you put a rope on the handle and pull it along :msp_thumbsup:

 

[Fish]

How much do you want for it?

My inquiry was legitimite..... I would have gladly bought it, probably just had a cracked fuel line.

 

[homelitejim]

Its weird that the OP threw the saw away, I have lots of saws that have met their demise and they are still in my shop waiting to donate their parts to others or are parted out and sold to fund other saws. I bet he could have made a bit of money parting out that nice looking 180 on the bay.

 

[wyk]

wow look at it no flippy caps must be as good as a MS660 and he chucked it :confused2:

I wouldn't mind a lil 180 without flippy caps. Here's our 181 we use in work, complete with broken front flippy cap:

 

[7sleeper]

I am very happy with my MS 180. It has proven itself over the years. I only had to replace the coil. If you are a Husqvarna fan I would consider as an alternative to the Stihl 211 a Husqvarna 435.

Good luck,

7

 

[DaddyRabbit]

I have never and will never pawn my troubles off on others for a few measly dollars. My name means much more to me than that.

Its weird that the OP threw the saw away, I have lots of saws that have met their demise and they are still in my shop waiting to donate their parts to others or are parted out and sold to fund other saws. I bet he could have made a bit of money parting out that nice looking 180 on the bay.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

OK, went to look at the 211 and had it on the counter when the saw guy told me to look at the MS 230C instead. He said you're getting much more bang for your buck for a mere $40 more. So the rest is history. I worked it all day and it performed without so much as even a hiccup.

 

[Fish]

Well, when you want to throw it away, give me a shout!!!

 

[DaddyRabbit]

Hopefully it'll never get to that point. This thing flat rips!

Well, when you want to throw it away, give me a shout!!!

 

[Grateful11]

I still remember the first time I cut with my MS180, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it ran and how fast it cut with that little narrow chain. I haven't used mine much at all in the 2 years due to having back surgery but I still crank once a month or so, just did it Monday. I've ran quite a few tanks through it and it's just now getting broke in, the idle needs to be adjusted down and carb needs to be tweaked, at least it sounds like it needs a little adjustment at full rev it doesn't make the right sound if you know what I mean, it sounds like it wants to keep revving. Someone on here told me to give each carb screw an 1/8th of a turn. I run it enough before my surgery that it looks like it ready for a new bar. For saw that weighs next to nothing I think it's a nice little saw.

 

[russhd1997]

I still remember the first time I cut with my MS180, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it ran and how fast it cut with that little narrow chain. I haven't used mine much at all in the 2 years due to having back surgery but I still crank once a month or so, just did it Monday. I've ran quite a few tanks through it and it's just now getting broke in, the idle needs to be adjusted down and carb needs to be tweaked, at least it sounds like it needs a little adjustment at full rev it doesn't make the right sound if you know what I mean, it sounds like it wants to keep revving. Someone on here told me to give each carb screw an 1/8th of a turn. I run it enough before my surgery that it looks like it ready for a new bar. For saw that weighs next to nothing I think it's a nice little saw.

The carb on my MS180 has fixed jets. No mixture screws!!! That is what is keeping me from doing a MM on it. An adjustable carb can be had on ebay for $25 plus shipping. It is made in China though and I'm not sure of the quality.

 

[blsnelling]

I'm now going through the same decision. My Dad has one. I had to replace the carb a while back. Then the oiler wouldn't work. Several months down the road and the oilers not working again. He's ready to move on, just like I did with mine. I have no use at all for the 170/180. He's most interested in light weight and is considering a 260. I'm thinking he would love a Dolmar 420.

 

[Chris-PA]

I love this idea of the "lemon" - what, was it cursed by a witch? It's a machine, a collection of parts. In the case of a chainsaw, not very many. There are two possibilities:

1. The design is defective. In this case there will be a lot of them with similar problems, but that does not mean they cannot be corrected.

2. A defective part. Replace it and now it works.

My Poulan 2775 (type 1) had a poorly designed muffler shield - they will all fatigue fail and melt the chain break. The replacement was revised and cost a couple of bucks. A defective design.

My Dad's MS250C has a really stupid and complex fuel line system that fit poorly, but once I got it to seal up it now works reliably. Probably a little of both.

Rather than throwing such things into the landfill, put them out somewhere that other people can get them. That way someone else who has an interest can get a perfectly reparable saw for very little money and effort. Not everyone can afford to just throw stuff out and buy new.

 

[Jer75]

I have an older 018c that was a pretty reliable saw for the first few years but then it got hard to start and then it got to where if it did start it would idle until you hit the gas then it'd die.

A year or so ago I took it to the local Stihl dealer and explained the issues I was having. He kept the saw to have a look at it and then called and said it needs a new carb - cost would be $100. I told him I'd come get it, that the saw was only $200 new (and they were still around that when I was dealing with the issue) that I'd have to decide but didn't think I wanted to put $100 in it.

When I got there he said they're considered a throw-away saw but that he had a new super-duper parts cleaner thing that he put the carb in to clean it and it still wouldn't work.

Anyway, I left with my saw and when I got home I figured I didn't have anything to lose, I'd pull the carb (because after reading here that a kit may do the trick) and decided I'd have a look my self.

I could see the carb had not been removed at the shop (still sawdust on things and no evidence of a wrench on anything) so I don't think the dealer did anything - just figured to put a new carb on it.

Well I didn't of course have a kit but I got a can of carb cleaner and cleaned it all up real good. In retrospect I imagine a rebuild kit would have been the way to go, but it ran out like a top after I cleaned it and put it back together.

It still is a 40+ pull saw to get started though and for that reason I just leave it set. I don't know enough about saws to figure that out (fuel line, coil..., etc) But I just got an Echo 330T that ought to do the things I did with the 018c. Kinda figuring the 018c is done for the most part, and for the money it really doesn't owe me anything.

But that said, and speaking as a casual non-professional user, I don't know if I'd recommend it to a friend, I mean I really liked the saw when it was right but there are probably better choices in that class. (It was bought at the same time as my 029 Super and that saw has never had a single issue - heck I even have an old Homelite XL Kmart special that would run better if I would only get a new purge bulb...)

So I like Stihl stuff but I'm just not sure this is a low cost Stihl I'd really recommend.

Just my thoughts.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

You do understand in every engineering and manufacturing process occasional lemons are bred right? This is with anything mechanical, electronic etc etc. My point is and was anytime something you depend on spends more time in the shop or on the repair bench than productive usable time then its time to cut your losses and move on down the road. I seriously doubt that anyone in here would squirm much over losing $170 especially if it eased your pain and worries. In all it was a lesson well learned in that you get what you pay for every single time..you buy cheap, you get cheap. All in All, I guess I should count my blessings that the landfill took it because I haven't missed it or the $170 tuition fee a single nano second.

I love this idea of the "lemon" - what, was it cursed by a witch? It's a machine, a collection of parts. In the case of a chainsaw, not very many. There are two possibilities:

1. The design is defective. In this case there will be a lot of them with similar problems, but that does not mean they cannot be corrected.

2. A defective part. Replace it and now it works.

My Poulan 2775 (type 1) had a poorly designed muffler shield - they will all fatigue fail and melt the chain break. The replacement was revised and cost a couple of bucks. A defective design.

My Dad's MS250C has a really stupid and complex fuel line system that fit poorly, but once I got it to seal up it now works reliably. Probably a little of both.

Rather than throwing such things into the landfill, put them out somewhere that other people can get them. That way someone else who has an interest can get a perfectly reparable saw for very little money and effort. Not everyone can afford to just throw stuff out and buy new.

 

[Chris-PA]

You do understand in every engineering and manufacturing process occasional lemons are bred right?

No, designs are made that either work properly or do not, and parts are made that either meet specification or don't. Marginal designs or parts result in a portion of the production that doesn't work properly. To cut to the chase - I could have fixed it easily, and so could a lot of others here.

I seriously doubt that anyone in here would squirm much over losing $170

Umm...wrong. Nice to be you I guess.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

Now don't be hatin' :time-out:

Umm...wrong. Nice to be you I guess.