Picked up a used 261c... any tips?

[husqORbust]

Picked up a used 261c for a good price. Allegedly low hours. Looks the part. 12/19 is the D.O.M. Fired in 4 pulls on choke. Idled for awhile and couple WOT pulls...no wood to test on. Shut off and restarted a few times in half a pull. Gave him money and left.

Anything I overlooked?
Anything I should or shouldnt do with an M tronic saw?
Plan on running 94 octane no ethanol with stihl white bottle mix at 50:1.
Kinda skeptical about the M tronic but I figured I only live once. Did actually want a reg carb 261. Coming off an ms250....that I still own. Prob going to sell the 250 when this thing proves sustained reliability.

 

[Crispexx]

So if this is the generation 3 M Tronic carb the reset/tuning procedure is as follows
1) Start with the switch on the triangle, or all the way down like your cold starting a traditional carb saw.
2) start saw and let it idle for 30 seconds
3) WOT saw for 30 more seconds.
4) shut saw off
So the entire thing take about 1 min to complete. You’ll notice when you give it the WOT it sounds like it’s running at a really low RPM, which it is, but after about 10-15 seconds it’ll start screaming like it should then drop back down to that low rpm. That’s when you know it did it’s reset. I have a 262c and a 261 standard carb and they both are awesome little saws.


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[toadman]

My M-tronics have been flawless, enjoy it!
I have noted not to kill it immediately after exiting a cut, but let it idle for 5 sec...
standard practice, or should be for equipment life.
I never reset mine anymore, they re-tune themselves to changes VERY fast.
It's really not needled unless you do major mods in my experience.

 

[Crispexx]

My M-tronics have been flawless, enjoy it!
I have noted not to kill it immediately after exiting a cut, but let it idle for 5 sec...
standard practice, or should be for equipment life.
I never reset mine anymore, they re-tune themselves to changes VERY fast.
It's really not needled unless you do major mods in my experience.

I agree, I reset mine when I first got it so it was tuned to my elevation and air density and the fuel i had in it and all that stuff. I do plan on opening up the muffler a little bit later on


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[husqORbust]

Thx for the reset info. I might do that just because I'm going to run 94(only octane available to me w/out ethanol). He said he used a few cans of premixed then switched to pump gas. Not sure what octane or if it was an ethanol variant.

For reset clarification, when you say start on triangle and let idle for 30 sec, I let it run in the triangle position for 30 sec or click it down to "run" and let it idle for 30 sec then WOT?
If I'm supposed to keep it in the triangle position, do I go straight from triangle to WOT or click it down then WOT?

Muff mod may be in the future...depends how ambitious I get. I thought my ms250 lacked power but still didnt really care for cutting up the muffler....just ended up with a 261 to satisfy my more power desire. On paper, this 261 should be plenty compared to the 250. Cant wait to get it into some wood...

How much power is to be expected when opening up the muffler on a 261?

 

[husqORbust]

Is there a memory in the Mtronic? I.e if I shut it down too quickly or let it idle for too long does it affect the mtronics base tuning and require resets? What kind of problems would I be having if I needed to reset?

 

[Crispexx]

The M Tronic does have a memory, as in it will keep the carb settings it had when it was shut down. So as recommended above let the saw come to an idle for a few seconds before shutting down.

Reset. So a standard carb has 4 positions Off, Run, Half choke and Choke. An M Tronic has 3. Don’t quote me on what the actual positions are called but I call them Off, Run and Start(triangle). When you first start the saw start it in the Start position, you will have to depress the trigger to get it into that position. Start the saw and keep it in the Start position for the first 30 seconds. When you pull that trigger to WOT for the next 30 seconds it will click into the run position just like a standard carb saw will click out of the half choke position. I’m sure I’m dumbing this way lower than you need but it might help someone else in the future.


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[Crispexx]

Is there a memory in the Mtronic? I.e if I shut it down too quickly or let it idle for too long does it affect the mtronics base tuning and require resets? What kind of problems would I be having if I needed to reset?

Oops forgot to answer this one too. Problems are much fewer and further apart with these saws since the carbs constantly adjust the fuel mixture several times a second.

But be aware of the fuel solenoid, I do not remember if the white one or the black one was having problems but there is a newer version of those out there now. Typically if your saw has been running well but then all of a sudden it just bogs and won’t start and is flooding it might be a bad solenoid. As a default the solenoid will open to flood the saw so it won’t damage the saw by running lean. Found that out the hard way.

But if you ever make large elevation changes, like several thousand feet, it wouldn’t hurt to reset it. It may not need it but that’s what I do, I live at 500 ft elevation but do cut wood at 5k ft elevation so I’ll set it when I get up there.

Sorry for the long post, the wife says I talk a lot.


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[full chizel]

No need to reset anything when changing oil or fuel. Just let er rIp.

 

[husqORbust]

Thx for the clarification... thats what I was wondering about. So just start in triangle. Dont touch throttle for 30 sec. Then pin it to WOT for 30 sec. And in the WOT 30 second stage there should be fluctuation of RPM.

Do I bring it to operating temp before doing a reset or safe to just send it on a cold motor?

 

[husqORbust]

No need to reset anything when changing oil or fuel. Just let er rIp.

Oh yeah? Is it that good?

 

[full chizel]

Oh yeah? Is it that good?

It’ll adjust to the new oil and fuel while your using it. The reset helps with starting issues, idle issues, bogging, etc. Anything you would need to adjust a manual carburetor for It will do on its own.

 

[drf255]

12/19 DOM should have the white solenoid. Take a peek under the cover and at the fuel filter. If the filter is orange, the solenoid is white, and the label denotes “M3.0” on it, you’ve got the good one.

My V1 had a black solenoid on it and was good for years. Id suggest swapping in at least the orange fuel filter if not equipped. They say the larger micron matter that slips by the old filter is the reason for the solenoid failure.

You’ll love the Autotune. I used to be skeptical too, but now I’d love to retrofit to older models. Always at peak tune, always starts, rarely fails. I’d say I do more maintenance on my older saws without it. Most people muffler mod it at the starter side front cover, you’ll get gains but nothing like an all out port job. The MT will compensate for whatever you did.

 

[husqORbust]

I do have an orange filter and a white solenoid... just checked that out. I also noticed some fine particulates in the fuel tank. Fuel looks/smells really fresh, but I guess the PO wasnt particularly anal about cleaning up around the cap before refills. I'll take care of that.

I have still yet to cut wood with this 261, but everytime I pick it up and check it out it really does make my 250 feel/look like a fisher price piece of...

One of the reasons I pulled the trigger on a pro saw was I read someones comment somewhere that the prosaws power delivery and power band is much more intense, and even if the home owner saw had a good power rating, it was rather anti-climatic in its power delivery/torque... which I could say about my 250.... its a decent saw, but it doesnt really have that much jam if you know what I mean. Pretty "boring" saw, lol

Just talking outloud here... might help someone down the line trying to decide b/w a home owner and pro grade saw.

Maybe I'll do a in operation side by side video one day of the 250 to 261

 

[drf255]

Apples to oranges. Really no comparison.

 

[MS500i R]

Toss a double dawg and roller kit on it: 1135 650 7750

And run it, as others have said it's a great little saw.

 

[farmer steve]

@husqORbust. Got mine last fall and ran the snot out of it cutting wood last winter. No issues at all. Running non e with the silver Stihl bottle oil at around 45-1. I also have a 250 and no comparison at all. I'll be the enabler here and tell you that a 462 would make a great 2 saw plan with the 261.

 

[Hand Splitter]

pics, pics, pics to please!
My next saw will be a 261c. I have saw envy!

 

[MooneyPilot]

With a 12/19 build date the Mtronic will be golden... And yes, the pro versions do indeed make some of the omeowner stuff look like a fisher price version.

 

[MooneyPilot]

So if this is the generation 3 M Tronic carb the reset/tuning procedure is as follows
1) Start with the switch on the triangle, or all the way down like your cold starting a traditional carb saw.
2) start saw and let it idle for 30 seconds
3) WOT saw for 30 more seconds.
4) shut saw off
So the entire thing take about 1 min to complete. You’ll notice when you give it the WOT it sounds like it’s running at a really low RPM, which it is, but after about 10-15 seconds it’ll start screaming like it should then drop back down to that low rpm. That’s when you know it did it’s reset. I have a 262c and a 261 standard carb and they both are awesome little saws.


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I guess we all have our methods and I guess whatever works for you is the best. My experience with mtronic on my 241 is to actuate the choke, pull once or twice until it runs, then pull the trigger to release the choke and warm it up while you’re walking to the cut. Then unless it sets very long, it will start on the first pull thereafter.