Hello, I'm a homeowner but I have 10ac of mixed aspen / fir and could run my chainsaw every day if I wanted to, clearing deadfall.
Situation is as follows:
I've had an MS 391 for many years, 18" bar. It's worked well for me. Quite heavy though to use for long periods when delimbing and cutting material to go in the chipper.
A couple of years ago a neighbor moving to the city sold me his MS 180C, 16" bar. Initially it seemed like a toy but it's turned out to be quite nice for the lighter work.
Today I discovered the plastic handle molding is snapped in two underneath the saw.
Possibly I can glue it but it looks like otherwise the saw is totaled because that plastic molding looks time consuming to replace.
So I opened up the Stihl web site to look for a new saw that is lighter than my MS 391 but more durable than the MS 180C.
Also I have a note of the saws the local dealer has on hand from the last time I visited: MS 391, MS 362, MS 291
That's when I became confused. The MS 362 is a bit lighter than my 391, but much more expensive. Web site provides no clues as to why. Less plastic?
The MS 291 is the same weight but lower power, and uses a different kind of chain and lower price.
Then I found that Stihl has a chainsaw buying guide. They segment the market into homeowner, farm & ranch and professional.
Not sure how the saws know who is going to use them, but I figured I'm a farm & ranch guy, so clicked that.
Now it shows me saws that weren't displayed in the list when I clicked on chainsaws from the home page!
There's a MS 151 C-E there that says it's the lightest farm saw (6lbs) -- looks great, but it's $650! Does that mean it's not going to fall apart like the MS 180C did?
There's also a MS 194 C-E, but the web site says it's unavailable.
I'd appreciate If someone who knows the Stihl range could give me an idea which saws I should consider that are on the lighter side, for use as a second saw, that are also solid.
Are they transitioning to electric for the smaller saws, is that what's going on?
I'd like to stick with the Stihl brand for various reasons. Thanks.
Situation is as follows:
I've had an MS 391 for many years, 18" bar. It's worked well for me. Quite heavy though to use for long periods when delimbing and cutting material to go in the chipper.
A couple of years ago a neighbor moving to the city sold me his MS 180C, 16" bar. Initially it seemed like a toy but it's turned out to be quite nice for the lighter work.
Today I discovered the plastic handle molding is snapped in two underneath the saw.
Possibly I can glue it but it looks like otherwise the saw is totaled because that plastic molding looks time consuming to replace.
So I opened up the Stihl web site to look for a new saw that is lighter than my MS 391 but more durable than the MS 180C.
Also I have a note of the saws the local dealer has on hand from the last time I visited: MS 391, MS 362, MS 291
That's when I became confused. The MS 362 is a bit lighter than my 391, but much more expensive. Web site provides no clues as to why. Less plastic?
The MS 291 is the same weight but lower power, and uses a different kind of chain and lower price.
Then I found that Stihl has a chainsaw buying guide. They segment the market into homeowner, farm & ranch and professional.
Not sure how the saws know who is going to use them, but I figured I'm a farm & ranch guy, so clicked that.
Now it shows me saws that weren't displayed in the list when I clicked on chainsaws from the home page!
There's a MS 151 C-E there that says it's the lightest farm saw (6lbs) -- looks great, but it's $650! Does that mean it's not going to fall apart like the MS 180C did?
There's also a MS 194 C-E, but the web site says it's unavailable.
I'd appreciate If someone who knows the Stihl range could give me an idea which saws I should consider that are on the lighter side, for use as a second saw, that are also solid.
Are they transitioning to electric for the smaller saws, is that what's going on?
I'd like to stick with the Stihl brand for various reasons. Thanks.
