Stihl 361 Problems

[Erik D. Schmid]

I had a twenty on it, but went to an 18" only because I wanted the 20" for my 066. I have had no problems with lack of oil, however I would like it to put a little more out, but it does seem to be fine. Opening up the oiler a little bit has crossed my mind though.

 

[glens]

Now that a near-new MS361 will be available at a bargain price, remind me where it is again.

My Stihls oil plenty unless I'm running an Oregon bar.

Glen

 

[rustyb]

Glens,

Could you elaborate on this statement?

"My Stihls oil plenty unless I'm running an Oregon bar".

I have been considering an Oregon bar for myMS260. Actually, it's a Windsor Speed Tip I'm considering. Bailey's told me it's an Oregon with a different name. At any rate, do you feel it prevents things from getting oiled as well as a Stihl set-up?

r

 

[glens]

I think more oil falls out the tail than gets on the drivers.  At least that was my experience recently.  The German-made Stihl bars are the best available and worth the price difference.  Obviously, I'm not endorsing the Canadian Oregon-made Stihl bars.

Glen

 

[Crofter]

Glen have you looked at the bar to see why the Oregon doesn't pick up oil as well as the stihl. If the only difference is the oil dam that some bars have built into the tail, it should be possible to put one in with solder without softening the rails. It only just kisses the bottom of the drive tangs anyway and has to wear down as the rails wear. I once had to take one down with a hacksaw blade when installing a new chain on a worn bar. The drive tangs were actually lifting the tie straps right at the oil dam. I didn't know what I was into till later when I cam across an article on the oil dams in the chain groove.

 

[glens]

Yeah, you probably could smash down a short length of 14 or 12 AWG solid copper and shove it in there, too.  Necessity is an inventive mother, ain't she?  I just looked at a few of my old Homelite-mount Oregon bars and none of them have dams.  Is that standard across the board or am I just lucky?

Glen

 

[Al Smith]

Good question,don't know.Actualy never looked.All my oldies,that have auto oilers,will oil any length bar I put on them,even the big old 48".I'm not too fussy,if it oils the bar,I don't care how much oil it blows drips etc,so long as it lubes the chain.The way I look at it,oil is cheap,bars and chains are not.

 

[glens]

The Homies were always a mess, leaving their mark wherever you set them down.  My Stihls with extremely rare exception (usually a result of revving it but not cutting any wood) leave no trace of mess.  Imagine my surprise when I put an Oregon bar on one and had a huge freaking puddle under the saw after cutting wood (and the chain sounding like it was dry for an unduly long time).

Glen

 

[Crofter]

Maybe without the oil dams you need extry tackyfiers in the oil to help it be dragged uphilll by the drive tangs. I have seen some bars that even new had the rail ends really splayed open, supposedly to help guide the tangs into the groove. That might make a slight difference on oil retention too.

 

[jokers]

I`ve found the cheap laminated bars that Stihl puts on everything below the 440 to be as bad or worse than the Oregon made bars because you can`t grease the tips. I went from not having a tip failure that could be attributed to anything but abuse in over twenty years, to having five in about a six month period. Then I put a brand new Windsor Mini Pro on a new MS260 Pro and it lasted about 5 hours. What`s up with that?

I`ve had no trouble with the PowerMatch Plus, Stihl ES, and GB Pro Tops that I`ve been running. I guess the moral of my story is that I agree with Glen that it`s worthwhile to upgrade to the better Stihl bars.

Russ

 

[rustyb]

Dang Russ,

Combined with the extra cost of the Stihl bars ($37 compared to $24) & your comments below, I was ready to order the Windsor Speed Tip. Are the Speed Tips & Mini Pros different perhaps?

Thanks,
r

"Those Stihl sprocket noses of late( past few years) seem to be low quality and power robbing. The best bar I`ve use with the 026 is the Windsor Mini Pro which weras well and has a nice free wheeling nose".

 

[jokers]

Hi Rusty,

That particular Mini Pro was able to be resurrected by greasing the tip and driving it along a 2x4 which forced the sprocket to turn. Now I grease it all the time, counter what Stihl believes to be necessary.

Russ

 

[glens]

Well, I obviously don't use my saws as much as Russ uses his (LOL), but I've not had a problem with a nose sprocket on any Stihl bars, of any type, to date.  Some how or another, they get plenty of oil in the nose bearings.

Glen

 

[xander9727]

I just replaced the sprocket nose on one of my 36" bars. I ran it for an hour and the thing seized up.......I am not a satisfied customer.

 

[stihltech]

bars

I only warrant about 2 of those bars a year. If anything, failure went down after the oil hole was removed. I would not put them on a 44. Use a pro bar, especially if you bore cut alot.

 

[jokers]

I only warrant about 2 of those bars a year. If anything, failure went down after the oil hole was removed...........Use a pro bar, especially if you bore cut alot.

Wayne, you warranty bars? Why do you suppose that the failure rate went down after removal of the grease hole, did quality get better or was there less user error or abuse?

How many repeat customers do you have for the laminated bars? Could it be that the laminates are developing such a reputation as junk that repeat buyers are bucking up for the ES bars more frequently?

What about the rash of unevenly worn rails on the laminate bars that first came to light about a year and a half or so ago? That phenomenon does not suggest an overall increase in quality.

Glen, I don`t know how much you use your saws. As for me, I realized nearly twenty years ago that I no longer wanted to be forced to work outside in inclement weather and thus began my search for a job that is primarily indoors with conditioned air and no rain running down my neck or poison ivy rashes in areas covered by my underwear. Luckily, my search was fruitful. As an added bonus the pay and benefits are also better. Unfortunately my saw time has been reduced to the amount of time that it takes to cut about three to four triaxle loads of firewood logs a year over the last few years with some odd side jobs thrown in, which incidentally is still significantly more saw time than those who are saying that I don`t know how to use a saw. Maybe I should only cut pecker poles and their saws would look better? Unfortunately the weight of a modified 372 seems like overkill for ROW clearance work, would you agree?

Russ

 

[jokers]

Glen,

I was just looking back at your post that prompted my last reply and a question came to mind. How many Stihl bars have you been using? Are any of them laminates?

I think that a person should have some qualifying experience before commenting on the suitability of any product, what have you got?

Russ

 

[glens]

For Stihl mount, 5 ES and 2 E, 2 of each currently not on a saw, one of the Es about 1/2 used up and the other a little less so.  And one Oregon laminate that will probably never get appreciable use.

I cut most days, but not every.

Glen

 

[Noah]

I don't want to have to modify a new saw to put out enough oil to save bars and chains, so what do you guys think about:

a) Cutting good stihl, husky, bar oil w/ a lighter weight oil like Canola. Canadian gvt uses it on some of their heavy equiptment I'm told. Cant speak to its ability to cling and penetrate, but my theory is maybe the flow would increase w/ a lighter oil. The con is, of course, its ability to cling through the full rotation around the bar. Anybody ever put this to the test?

b) Can't think of another solution when going w/the new eco-friendly oiler on this model. Maybe its not a problem, but then again I don't think people notice sparks unless they are working in dim light of late dusk; at least I don't.......then its the 4th of july! Surely, that can't indicate enough lube, esp. when you stop it in hardwood and run your fingers along the chain on the underside.

 

[Noah]

Ps

PS: I probably won't be checking back until after Christmas, so I hope that you all have a blessed Christmas.



Remember: God in the flesh came to this earth to die for unworthy guys like us, so that we could be saved from and go to :angel: when we die.
I Cor. 15:1-4 and John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8,9
Not a bad Christmas gift, huh?

Well, that's my "card" to everyone this year. Take care.