Your Experience 500i & 661

[CaptainMauw]

Didn't see much actual info on the 661 here in the thread. The original releases from 2016-2018ish had some issues with fuel solenoids. Theres a ton of threads across multiple forums on it, but basically the solenoid had a short life and caused rough idle, dying, and bogging in the cut. I upgraded the solenoid on my 2016 model to a newer one and it was a night and day difference. Paired it with a few other things and pulled a 36" full comp in hardwood all day long with pressure on the dogs.

The new ones (2019+) are better. Stihl opted to stark making the cylinders in house and they have much better QC. The newer ones have a darker metal for the cylinder, are a better quality casting with better port edges, and are stamped with STIHL on the side. They also have a new coil and tune that is something like 20% above what the 2016 model was. Right out of the box the new ones are much stronger. Open up the muffler to flow a bit and maybe some light porting and the saw is flat out stupid. I watched a guy bite the dogs and then throw his weight against the saw (ported) in a hardwood and it didn't even stutter.

Get it. You wont be disappointed.

 

[henry r]

Travelled both, love both . I drove 48,000km around Oz and had an amazing time, and did 25,000 km around Europe and it was fantastic. Beauty is everywhere you just have to appreciate it. The Uk’s historic sites, fortresses and castles are some of the best in the world and the country side, ancient woodlands and mountains are breath taking. Relatively, Australia is rather underwhelming with diversity relative to its size. You have to travel many hundreds if not thousands of KM (days) to see a any noticeable diversity.
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Yep, that is solid grounds for deportation.

I don't think you are looking in the right place for diversity.
If you travel an hour north, north west, east, south east or west from i live you will see at least 7 noticeably different types of enviroment.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Yep, that is solid grounds for deportation.

I don't think you are looking in the right place for diversity.
If you travel an hour north, north west, east, south east or west from i live you will see at least 7 noticeably different types of enviroment.

I’m guessing you’re joking, but if not,
you’re right, I’ll see much more diversity driving an hour north and hour south of me. 48,000 km around the whole of the country and in the centre really isn’t enough time to get a feel for a country and what it has to offer!

 

[henry r]

Tom, I'm not joking. Some are subtle some are very obvious.
To give you a rough idea i live at 1000m above sea level within an hours drive there are places over 1500m and down to 3 or 400m. Some places have 2 to 3 times the average rainfall as others. Max and min temps can vary by 6 or 8 dec C within an hours drive too. Add to that different rock and soil types...

For a bit more info:
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/bioregions/NewEnglandTablelandBioregion.htm

Check out the subregions.

Note 1 hour drive will also take you into parts of the North Coast and the Nandewar bioregions.

 

[toadman]

Didn't see much actual info on the 661 here in the thread. The original releases from 2016-2018ish had some issues with fuel solenoids. Theres a ton of threads across multiple forums on it, but basically the solenoid had a short life and caused rough idle, dying, and bogging in the cut. I upgraded the solenoid on my 2016 model to a newer one and it was a night and day difference. Paired it with a few other things and pulled a 36" full comp in hardwood all day long with pressure on the dogs.

The new ones (2019+) are better. Stihl opted to stark making the cylinders in house and they have much better QC. The newer ones have a darker metal for the cylinder, are a better quality casting with better port edges, and are stamped with STIHL on the side. They also have a new coil and tune that is something like 20% above what the 2016 model was. Right out of the box the new ones are much stronger. Open up the muffler to flow a bit and maybe some light porting and the saw is flat out stupid. I watched a guy bite the dogs and then throw his weight against the saw (ported) in a hardwood and it didn't even stutter.

Get it. You wont be disappointed.

I sort of picked up on this added power as well, through different saws.
one of my close friends has a '16 model 661 and it is completely stock except for a dual port muffler with no baffles in it. It has about the same hours on it as mine has now, but he uses it less often than I do mine.
Running His saw a couple times was the reason I bought one for myself. I was pretty impressed with the 661 pulling full comp chain on a 36" bar buried in pin oak.

When I ran mine for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to find mine has noticeably more torque at high RPM & better throttle response with the same size bar, same chain, and same log a few days later. This has only gotten more notable as I use the saw. Mine took a full gallon of motomix to break in and wake up fully.

 

[andy]

I sort of picked up on this added power as well, through different saws.
one of my close friends has a '16 model 661 and it is completely stock except for a dual port muffler with no baffles in it. It has about the same hours on it as mine has now, but he uses it less often than I do mine.
Running His saw a couple times was the reason I bought one for myself. I was pretty impressed with the 661 pulling full comp chain on a 36" bar buried in pin oak.

When I ran mine for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to find mine has noticeably more torque at high RPM & better throttle response with the same size bar, same chain, and same log a few days later. This has only gotten more notable as I use the saw. Mine took a full gallon of motomix to break in and wake up fully.

Wait till you get a few more gallons through it.... it will really wake up.

 

[toadman]

I put 20-22 gallons of 50;1 mixed 96 octane race fuel through it this past fall cutting trash logs into firewood to sell... After the first gallon or so, nothing really changed that I could notice on a day to day basis.
That first gallon was night and day.

 

[RTK]

I put 20-22 gallons of 50;1 mixed 96 octane race fuel t
That first gallon was night and day.

How So??

 

[toadman]

The ability to maintain higher rpm cutting hard wood was very good, but wasn't quite what it is now. Also, it sounded extremely Pig rich throughout the RPM band Vs. after the first gallon...Now I am not an expert tuner, so this sound it very subjective and I may be wrong or miss identifying the difference.
But, I wonder if Stihl sends the M-tronic saws tuned rich when new?
Anybody know about this? Yes? No?

There is a big tree company locally who constantly trash talks the MS291 for scorching pistons in under hour of use...
The Stihl dealer replaced his saw for free, but the problem wasn't technically Stihl's fault. It was tuned well, and I own & have fixed that MS291 he killed. I use it sometimes & it runs well now.
I pulled it out of the dumpster behind the Stihl store after he cut down my neighbors tree & I watched his first two cuts with the brand new saw... Each cut took 20 minutes, running flat out, with a dirt-dipped chain in hard maple.
This is an extreme example, but I can't help but wonder if a bit richer A:F mix off the bat would hold up better to initial abuse or improper break in.
Although tuning Rich from the factory could cause annoyance to homeowners who aren't aware of saw tuning, and get a slow doggy saw.
M-tronic potentially solves that issue...

Or could be just me rambling...

Also, (possibly related) the first gallon was Stihl Motomix, and I haven't put anything besides ethanol free race fuel through it since that first gallon.

 

[CaptainMauw]

I loved my 661, but sold it two weeks back as the brand new ported 461 with triple port was arriving. Although this triple port 461 is just flat out stupid, it isn’t my 661 on the 32/36” bar and I mildly regret selling it for the short term. But, I saved the cash and am hoping to have a new 661 one shortly. My old 2016 was well used and showed it (former production saw for an outfit) and I was tired of constantly throwing parts at it and dealing with its insistent “attitude.” By golly when she worked well, phew! When she didn’t, I had a habit of calling her bad names.

When I got it it was just caked in black crud internally and running bad. Solenoid and carb work then followed by good EF fuel and mix at 40:1 solved it for me. I wouldn't be surprised if the new M-tronic comes a bit rich as mine seems to run pretty lean and the saw hated anything less than 40:1 mix. I'm pretty sure Stihl probably learned some hard lessons from the initial release and the problems which is why the new 661 is so different. M-tonic for the small saws vs big bores are a vast difference. So to stand by the 50:1 maybe they adjust the tune settings for a tad richer. Either way, with big bore, id rather be rich then lean.

 

[henry r]

Hey tom, are you a member of chainsaws australia on facebook?

There is an 064 fs there that needs some love and might be fun to tinker with. New big saws are cool but big saws that start with "0" are cooler. (Well as cool as a stihl can get anyway)

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I loved my 661, but sold it two weeks back as the brand new ported 461 with triple port was arriving. Although this triple port 461 is just flat out stupid, it isn’t my 661 on the 32/36” bar and I mildly regret selling it for the short term. But, I saved the cash and am hoping to have a new 661 one shortly. My old 2016 was well used and showed it (former production saw for an outfit) and I was tired of constantly throwing parts at it and dealing with its insistent “attitude.” By golly when she worked well, phew! When she didn’t, I had a habit of calling her bad names.

When I got it it was just caked in black crud internally and running bad. Solenoid and carb work then followed by good EF fuel and mix at 40:1 solved it for me. I wouldn't be surprised if the new M-tronic comes a bit rich as mine seems to run pretty lean and the saw hated anything less than 40:1 mix. I'm pretty sure Stihl probably learned some hard lessons from the initial release and the problems which is why the new 661 is so different. M-tonic for the small saws vs big bores are a vast difference. So to stand by the 50:1 maybe they adjust the tune settings for a tad richer. Either way, with big bore, id rather be rich then lean.

If you want a saw to run a 36" bar without having attitude problems, check out the 395xp. 661 is a little lighter, but if you've got a 461 for more regular use, a little extra weight won't hurt.

 

[CaptainMauw]

If you want a saw to run a 36" bar without having attitude problems, check out the 395xp. 661 is a little lighter, but if you've got a 461 for more regular use, a little extra weight won't hurt.

Im a Stihl guy. Not so much because of brand loyalty, but because of whats available around here. There are zero Huskie dealers around me. Id love to give one a try, but lack of local support keeps me in the Stihl lane simply for the hours I put on the saws and parts im annually buying.

Ive wrestled with the idea of the 880 route vs 661 though for your point. With the 461 being the workhorse, I figure why not expand the top end to accommodate bigger bars for my milling (661 was always the backup miller if the Briggs motor on the mill crapped out). Im in no rush though, so I can ponder the topic further for this season.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Im a Stihl guy. Not so much because of brand loyalty, but because of whats available around here. There are zero Huskie dealers around me. Id love to give one a try, but lack of local support keeps me in the Stihl lane simply for the hours I put on the saws and parts im annually buying.

Ive wrestled with the idea of the 880 route vs 661 though for your point. With the 461 being the workhorse, I figure why not expand the top end to accommodate bigger bars for my milling (661 was always the backup miller if the Briggs motor on the mill crapped out). Im in no rush though, so I can ponder the topic further for this season.

I hear you loud and clear. We have basically no local support for Huskies either. BUT, I figure once a guy has a backup for each of his most used saws (preferably a duplicate) then having local parts isn't super crucial. AND, Husky parts are cheaper, you can shop around, and it's much easier to find what you need from diagrams than it is with Stihl parts in my experience.

Something to think about: a new husky 395 is about $1050-1100 shipped from a dealer who posts here. An 880 is what, double that? Close to it, anyway. So, for a little more than one 880, a guy could have two 395s. Parts availability becomes a non issue. And, as a bonus, you get get an adapter for $12 so you can run all of your 461 bars on the 395s. Which is something you can't do with the 880. A 395 won't really be slower than an 880 until you get into bars 42" and up.

 

[Conquistador3]

If you need a really big saw, you are not in a hurry and are not a commercial operator there are plenty of used big saws around. Just avoid those with crazy pricing like the big 70's MacCulloch SP's and Homelite 2100/3100. If you feel adventurous you can probably even have a brand new Stihl MS720 or Echo CS1201 shipped from abroad, but with all the big saws languishing around doing nothing you probably just need a bit of patience.

Three years ago there were a couple of Dolmar PS9010 for sale in the local classified: they had run perhaps 1o hours between them. They belonged to a landscaping company which had just shut down following the death of the owner: the sons were already doing other jobs and the wife wanted to retire so she was liquidating. The saws had been bought to deal with the occasional Giant cedar grown to gigantic proportions in a tiny garden. Great saws, but simply way too much for 98% of what we have here.

If you are not in a hurry deals like this will regularly pop up: sometimes they imply driving a bit and haggling a bit but that's part of buying used.

 

[CaptainMauw]

That’s more or less where im at. Its a two forked road; route A is slowly shopping around for a big bore beast and route B is opting for a brand new 661 and having it drop sipped straight to my builder for a good woods porting overhaul (he only works with new saws). Route A greatly expands the milling capability, but again, only as a backup in the event that the 18HP Briggs acts up. It would be arguably too heavy and big to even “want” to use very often for falling and bucking. Route B is a healthy combination; big enough to mill with, yet small enough to be able to swing around all day. Plus, I can continually swap between the 661 and 461 based on what’s being cut.

Heck, why not both? Lord knows it will probably come to that some day soon. But I digress, back to the topic at hand, the new 661’s are truly beastly, especially if you open them up some and let them breathe. Keep the chain sharp and file those rakes down to .030 or .035 depending on bar size and burry her, she’ll love every second of it on those long bars.

 

[CR888]

I’m guessing you’re joking, but if not,
you’re right, I’ll see much more diversity driving an hour north and hour south of me. 48,000 km around the whole of the country and in the centre really isn’t enough time to get a feel for a country and what it has to offer!

You have NO idea. Tom you are one of very few who could drive 48k and not see much.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

You have NO idea. Tom you are one of very few who could drive 48k and not see much.

Hahah your comment is literally laughable. I’ve travelled over 80,000 km by vehicle around over 15 different countries in 2015-2016, not to mention all the other countries I have travelled over the years prior and you’re telling me I have no idea about diversity ok mate... I doubt you’ve gone further that your local IGA and the biggest difference in diversity is the new adverts you see in the shop window or flicking through tv channels arm chain travelling. Give me a break mate.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Hahah your comment is literally laughable. I’ve travelled over 80,000 km by vehicle around over 15 different countries in 2015-2017, and you’re telling me I have no idea about diversity ok mate... I doubt you’ve gone further that your local IGA and the biggest difference in diversity is the new adverts you see in the shop window or flicking through tv channels arm chain travelling. Give me a break mate.

Only break you will get with comments like that...... is your nose!

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Only break you will get with comments like that...... is your nose!

Meh, the truth hurts sometimes! I regret wasting my time entertaining such a silly post of his in all honesty. I’m not here to waste my time on silly comments and forum bravado, I want to spend my time learning, over and out!