NEVER AGAIN!!!!

[HarleyT]

Several years ago I bought a new stihl weed eater.. it was my first stihl purchase.. after gassing it up and making sure it would run, the dealer said.. oh. Btw, this has a ryobi motor...

This was an IDC/Ryan model, Ryobi...

 

[Chris-PA]

Well, if you want to talk about cheap homeowner crap, look at a Poulan 4218AVX.. I have 3 of them, all given to me by different people.. I could have figured one of them was straight gassed.. but not all 3.. They are just pieces of garbage right from the get-go, and the strato carb is probably their biggest killer.
Yes, proper care of even homeowner stuff can make it last respectably, but the same care on pro material will make it last a lifetime.. We bought a Stihl pro grade brushcutter in 1990, and apart from being finnicky to tune, it's never given us any grief... Same goes for all my Husky saws.. The 61 isn't cheap crap, though it might be a little short of "pro grade", and the L65's, while not powerhouses, certainly last a long, long time (going on 40 years on mine)

I don't have one of those yet, although they are a straightforward derivation of the earlier non-strato versions I use a lot. I don't like that they copied Stihl's mistake of using an inboard clutch with a plastic housing, although I don't read of them melting. They also used a Stihl carb, but I like the Walbros a bit better. Otherwise they are simple and sturdy and there is no reason I couldn't make one run well and reliably like I have my other Poulan clamshells.

Their biggest problem is cheap fuel lines and mostly owners that have no idea how to operate or maintain them - yours were all used.

The greatest common denominator in all these types of threads where someone has problems with some brand is the cheap, unreliable fuel systems. These days they're all made by either Walbro or Stihl (Zama), in a couple of basic models/series, and they are all cheap, crude junk. They can be made to work reliably if you understand how they operate and take care of them, and mine do, but these are not high quality devices.

 

[west041]

Another thing no one mentioned is that established brands like Stihl and Husqvarna have to sell cheap homeowner saws at competitive prices to stay in business or they would lose out to Japanese companies selling affordable lines at Home Depot like Echo and Ryobi. I could be wrong here, but I would guess that dealers sell 10 MS 180s and 291/290s for every 260/261, 360/361 they sell. Sacrifices have to be made.

 

[Full Chisel]

Another thing no one mentioned is that established brands like Stihl and Husqvarna have to sell cheap homeowner saws at competitive prices to stay in business or they would lose out to Japanese companies selling affordable lines at Home Depot like Echo and Ryobi. I could be wrong here, but I would guess that dealers sell 10 MS 180s and 291/290s for every 260/261, 360/361 they sell. Sacrifices have to be made.

No doubt about it. Our pro grade saws gather dust while we can't keep the plastic cased saws on the shelf.

 

[Rockjock]

i would get a diaphragm kit for the carb to bring her up to snuff. i got an FS38 POS that is the same way. seems you install a new kit, run it a season and then come back to a trimmer that don't wanna run right. i want to cut a pump diaphragm out of a better material for it.

The FS38 is the trimmer we sell the most of ( price point ) and the only issue we have for the most part , is it the customer leaves mix in it over the winter. Motomix maybe what you need to start using. Costs less then a carb kit.

 

[Conquistador3]

Another thing no one mentioned is that established brands like Stihl and Husqvarna have to sell cheap homeowner saws at competitive prices to stay in business or they would lose out to Japanese companies selling affordable lines at Home Depot like Echo and Ryobi. I could be wrong here, but I would guess that dealers sell 10 MS 180s and 291/290s for every 260/261, 360/361 they sell. Sacrifices have to be made.

Here it's different.
Big box stores all carry their stuff. If you want an Echo, a Stihl or a Husqvarna, you have to go to a dealership. Yes, even the basic homeowner lines.
Husky used to sell Mac's through big box stores but they ran out of things to cut: the last Mac branded lawnmowers I've seen (assembled in Italy out of Chinese components) were atrociously bad and probably cost Husky a fortune in recalls and buybacks and now big box stores have started shifting to never heard of brands which look like the standard eBay specials but at three times the price.

Once in a while I pay a visit to big box store websites to see what they are selling and at what price.
The one closest to me sells a Hyundai-branded Zenoah/Redmax G3400 clone at €230. Which is as close to armed robbery as one can get without sticking a gun to someone's head: the standard G5000 clone can be easily had on eBay from euro sellers (meaning cheap and fast shipping, no custom duties etc) for under €80, shipped. It won't set the world on fire, but it's closer to its price in quality than that G3400 clone.

 

[Big_Wood]

The FS38 is the trimmer we sell the most of ( price point ) and the only issue we have for the most part , is it the customer leaves mix in it over the winter. Motomix maybe what you need to start using. Costs less then a carb kit.

Mine get's drained but sits in a cold shed all winter. The blue diaphragm in that carb is just **** regardless. It's place in the shed is not negotiable either lol if I can find some of the material the tan diaphragms are made out of to cut one it'll be the last time that carb comes apart. Wonder why they cheap out with that garbage. I mean, it seems it may save them a penny per 5 carbs using the shittier material. Maybe I'll rig a walbro to it one day [emoji4] oh and by the way, mine was a spring cleanup trimmer. Found it at the end of someone's driveway. Carb kit and away I went lol. I would never pay for POS like that. I got my 31cc ryobi that never fusses. Also a spring clean up find lol

 

[Rx7man]

I don't have one of those yet, although they are a straightforward derivation of the earlier non-strato versions I use a lot. I don't like that they copied Stihl's mistake of using an inboard clutch with a plastic housing, although I don't read of them melting. They also used a Stihl carb, but I like the Walbros a bit better. Otherwise they are simple and sturdy and there is no reason I couldn't make one run well and reliably like I have my other Poulan clamshells.

Their biggest problem is cheap fuel lines and mostly owners that have no idea how to operate or maintain them - yours were all used.

The greatest common denominator in all these types of threads where someone has problems with some brand is the cheap, unreliable fuel systems. These days they're all made by either Walbro or Stihl (Zama), in a couple of basic models/series, and they are all cheap, crude junk. They can be made to work reliably if you understand how they operate and take care of them, and mine do, but these are not high quality devices.

Each one of these Poulan 4218's were on their original chain with lots of life left, the bars are like new, and the rest of the saw looked out-of-the-box new, no clutch heat marks on them or anything.. I think EPA regs requiring them to run too lean is a major contributing factor of course... I think they were Zama carbs on those.

 

[Chris-PA]

Each one of these Poulan 4218's were on their original chain with lots of life left, the bars are like new, and the rest of the saw looked out-of-the-box new, no clutch heat marks on them or anything.. I think EPA regs requiring them to run too lean is a major contributing factor of course... I think they were Zama carbs on those.

There are no EPA regs requiring them to run lean. There are limits as to how much unburned fuel you are allowed to blow out the exhaust. These are strato engines and so they inherently emit less unburned fuel. Nonetheless they still have carbs that are not capable of holding a fixed fuel/air mixture, and could have been set quite wrong for the location and temperature where they were ultimately used.

Besides all that they could have been straight gassed, or used with the wrong oil mix given the typical skills in such things as measuring oil, etc.

 

[Amp4027]

Each one of these Poulan 4218's were on their original chain with lots of life left, the bars are like new, and the rest of the saw looked out-of-the-box new, no clutch heat marks on them or anything..

I believe so too.... I got a new PoulanPro 262 (42cc w/ 18in bar - discontinued after a few years & renamed as PP4218 soon after) from Home Depot for ~$120 after Hurricane Ivan. Worked great for one cleanup, drained the gas, and went into the shed. Went to use it again about a year later, and pushed the primer bulb and it popped. Took the cover off and the green airfilter turned to mush & crumbled when I went to pull it out with the fuel lines were rotted away. Dropped it off with a lawnmower at the repair shop, and they said it'd be cheaper to buy a new one than repair it. I just now got around to rebuilding my saws and come to find out the air filter is discontinued, so I have to rig something up.

I guess manufacturers figure they arn't gonna make $$$ and sales if they ship their products with near-indestructible Stellite & D2 tool steel bars, Tygon 2075/2375 lines, and 4-prong sparkplugs....

 

[wood4heat]

Nonetheless they still have carbs that are not capable of holding a fixed fuel/air mixture

Well that explains the erratic starting manners. I thought I just hadn't figured out the correct starting ritual, er starting procedure for them.

 

[Rx7man]

Yep, I agree they don't hold a setting... In my case with mine, and knowing the previous owners, I could say straight gas was a possiblility in one of them.. All 3 of them suffering from the same scorched pistons with owners who DO know what they're doing when it comes to mixing fuel.. I doubt it...
Perhaps if they had mixture screws you didn't need special tools to adjust people would be better able to set them properly.. Either way they are set rather wrong at the factory.

 

[albert]

We have 8 or so ms211's at work that are abused by idiots. Old mix, wrong mix, thrown on and off trucks, cutting RR ties along with ballast rock. They always start 3-5 pulls cold with good mix. They only come in for service with rocked chains and sometimes master control linkage knocked out of place. They all leaked oil from the oil hoses built in gromet that is loose in the case. The hose issue has a fix by Stihl that is fast and resolves the leak.

 

[Full Chisel]

The FS38 is the trimmer we sell the most of ( price point ) and the only issue we have for the most part , is it the customer leaves mix in it over the winter. Motomix maybe what you need to start using. Costs less then a carb kit.

The carbs on the FS38s are trash. About half of them will have a serious bog off throttle from the factory and you have to feather it to achieve WOT. The mufflers are likely choked up and contribute to that though. You couldn't give me one.

 

[wood4heat]

We have 8 or so ms211's at work that are abused by idiots. They all leaked oil from the oil hoses built in gromet that is loose in the case. The hose issue has a fix by Stihl that is fast and resolves the leak.

I assume that's where mine was leaking. At the time I gave up on it I don't think Stihl offered anything different than the original which would once again shrink and leak over time.

I didn't think a lot of that saw but it was fine for how little I used it. If I didn't have to drain the bar oil every time I ran it I would probably still have it. I will never buy another one though. For roughly the same money I still think used pro saws are a far better value.

 

[mountainlake]

Will I buy a piece of homeowner grade equipment from Stihl! A few years ago I bought an ms211 for some cleanup around my house. That POS was nothing but trouble from day one! Ditched it for a used 024 which has been a great saw!

I was up cutting firewood with my uncle a couple years ago. He had just bought an MS290. Ran fine half the day until the choke/run switch popped out of position and was interfering with the throttle. We snapped it back in place but it refused to stay. We wound up finishing the day with just my 361.

Last year I picked up an hs45 trimmer. After fighting the F'ing thing for half an hour I got it running and did quite a bit of work with it. Went through another battle getting it started a few weeks ago and it ran but would die as soon as it built enough rpm to get the blade moving. I thought it was just too low on fuel and the pickup was sucking air. Today I filled it to the top and after messing with it for another half hour I got the same BS! Launched that cheap POS half way across the yard.

Is homeowner Stihl code for single use?

At least you learned fast, really a shame Stihl using their name to sell junky saws. Steve

 

[Cliff R]

At least they tell you right up front what they are selling. I was at our local John Deere dealer couple of days ago picking up some 318 parts and took a look at their Stihl displays. Says right on each one that they are for "homeowner" use, or "professional". The had some "mid-range" stuff in the lot. The price tags are quite a bit apart between the different "levels" of equipment.

My neighbor bought an MS-250 a few years ago, I think it's on the lower end of they scale. He kept having troubles with the choke/run/stop switch. Somehow he kept pushing it and the throttle in the wrong sequence, and it would get all flipped over on itself. The local dealer actually told him when he took it over there that it was worn out and needed to be replaced. He brought it here instead, and we just removed the air filter cover and re-arranged things so it worked correctly again. I thought the entire set-up was a little hoaky at the time, but workable if you do things in the correct order each time you use it. He's a professor at a local College, CLUELESS with power equipment of any kind, and probably best that his MS-250 seldom saw any use anyhow.

I have a pretty nice collection of power equipment, two string trimmers, 3 leaf blowers, garden tiller, etc. They are all Echo and have been FLAWLESS. Matter of fact I just inherited another Echo leaf blower and string trimmer from my wife's sister. Her husband passed away 9 years ago, and she finally gave away all his tools and equipment.

Despite having stale gas in them (dumped it out and put in fresh mix), and not being started for nearly 10 years, they both fired right up and ran flawlessly, just had to "tweak" the "H" and "L" screws slightly for my liking......Cliff

 

[stihlaficionado]

Will I buy a piece of homeowner grade equipment from Stihl! A few years ago I bought an ms211 for some cleanup around my house. That POS was nothing but trouble from day one! Ditched it for a used 024 which has been a great saw!

I was up cutting firewood with my uncle a couple years ago. He had just bought an MS290. Ran fine half the day until the choke/run switch popped out of position and was interfering with the throttle. We snapped it back in place but it refused to stay. We wound up finishing the day with just my 361.

Last year I picked up an hs45 trimmer. After fighting the F'ing thing for half an hour I got it running and did quite a bit of work with it. Went through another battle getting it started a few weeks ago and it ran but would die as soon as it built enough rpm to get the blade moving. I thought it was just too low on fuel and the pickup was sucking air. Today I filled it to the top and after messing with it for another half hour I got the same BS! Launched that cheap POS half way across the yard.

Is homeowner Stihl code for single use?

Have had 6 years trouble free with my Stihl FS 45 trimmer, easy to flood though