Stihl 361 first impressions

[Stein]

Got a chance to get out my new 361 Saturday. It finally warmed up to 5*F and I had to give it a go. Bucked and split an 18" burr oak that was blown down in the creek during our May tornado. I never bothered with the oak with my old Craftsman.

Pros:

Well, it's fast. Cuts through that oak as fast as the Craftsman would cut through pine. It's nice not bogging down all the time.

It's smooth. Very little vibration. It was comfortable but I only cut for about 2 hours.

The extra two lbs over the 260 pro didn't seem to bother me, so I am happy with my choice.

Cons:

It doesn't start as well as I hoped when it was warm. I'm used to one pull in the run position on the Craftsman. The 361 I have to do the two hand shuffle to get the switch into the half choke position, pull two or three times and then it fires, hit the trigger and let it settle into an idle.

It really doesn't idle that smoothly. Again, I'm hoping that it is "new saw" break-in.

I hope these are both due to it being brand new and will improve with time. I have heard 5-10 tanks will do wonders for the saw. The dealer tuned it for 13,800 for now and will bump it after a few tanks.

Question:

I left the carb preheater in the "warm weather" position, as the dealer that did my setup told me that he never changes his from "summer" to "winter". Will this help with cold weather startup when warm or cold weather idle? According to the manual, it is to prevent carb icing, which didn't seem to be the problem here. (Old pilot here-so familiar with carb icing.)

Observation:

Why does this thing have a compression release? I used it the first time that I was going to start it, as I was going by the book. Because I never have had one, I forgot about it after that an never used it again. I mean, I really forgot it had one, not that I intentionally didn't use it. It doesn't pull hard at all. At least not enough to "remind" me that it had one, and I'm 5'8" and 155 lbs.

Technically a Pro:

Pinched the saw on the third cut in the blowdown. Actually, the tree fell on another tree and I was removing the offending tree so I could drag the downed tree from the creek. Grabbed the Craftsman and made another cut up the tree to free it. The pro being that I have two saws so I no longer have to worry about freeing a pinched saw.

 

[litefoot]

You should continue to "forget" about the decomp valve. I found that it was easier to flood the saw using it. I live in a cold weather state, but my saws get put away after the snow flies. So I can't help with that part. But in 5 degree weather I bet a "warm" saw can reach cold start conditions pretty quickly. I'd definitely be using the preheater.

 

[SawTroll]

....
Cons:

It doesn't start as well as I hoped when it was warm. I'm used to one pull in the run position on the Craftsman. The 361 I have to do the two hand shuffle to get the switch into the half choke position, pull two or three times and then it fires, hit the trigger and let it settle into an idle.

It really doesn't idle that smoothly. Again, I'm hoping that it is "new saw" break-in. ....

Mine never acted up like that, mostly one pull at "on" when warm, despite what the user manual say ("fast idle").

Try to open the "L" screw a tad, may help on the idle issue as well.

 

[Stihl051master]

I have a 361 also, and once you get about 15 tanks through it you will be MUCH happier with it (not that I was at all disappointed to begin with).

 

[blsnelling]

Cons:

It doesn't start as well as I hoped when it was warm. I'm used to one pull in the run position on the Craftsman. The 361 I have to do the two hand shuffle to get the switch into the half choke position, pull two or three times and then it fires, hit the trigger and let it settle into an idle.

It really doesn't idle that smoothly. Again, I'm hoping that it is "new saw" break-in.

You need to take the saw back and have the carb tuned. It does not need to breakin in order to run right. It should idle smoothly and start with one pull when warm. I don't care if it's the first tank of fuel. Get these kinks worked out of it and you'll like it just that much more. Nice saw.

 

[fishercat]

i agree.

get it tuned correctly ot learn to do it yourself.i have never had a new saw tuned correctly.not in any brand.

 

[windthrown]

Get that thing tuned up!

Yep. Tune it up. Or get whatever is restricting the fule line fixed. It should not start hard when warm. It should also idle fine. I can set mine down and they idle fine for 10 minutes if needed. They rarely stall or cut out on me.

The 361 is prone to flooding if you use the decomp for starting when cold, but that is the only problem I have ever had on either of mine. When they are warm, they take one pull, and no fast idle needed. Only other time that they are hard to start is if you run them out of gas. My 361s start easier than the 290 or the 025/250. The 1123 type of Stihl saws tend to be hard to start at times when they are warm.

It will wake up in about 10 tanks of gas. Break in takes that long. The rings will seat and it will have better compression. Use good gas and oil. 100% synthetic will not smoke as much. Also I have found that I do not need to flip the summer-winter thingeys until it gets to about 35 degrees here. Then it tends to ice up some. Winter mode allows more warm air in from the engine area, but also more chips in to clog up the air filter. In Nebraska that may be the problem if it is icing up on you. At 5* I would flip to winter mode.

Lastly, if you drop start your saws, the decomp button does not make that big a difference. I use it though, as I have a weaker left arm (drop starting arm) due to tendonitis.