My 20+ year old Stihl chainsaw needs a rest.  It still starts first or second tug o' the line.. it's been used and abused.. and because if its reliability and robust liking for abuse and lack of maintenance... I'm reluctant to consider any other brand.  But in 20 years things change so I'm here for some chainsaw advice....

Are Stihl saws still as good today?  Anybody use anything else worth considering?  Other than Husqvarna (which I will not buy).

Stihl models I'm thinking about are:

MS 381 72cc w/20" bar (its an older design which I find appealing)
http://www.stihl.com.au/STIHL-Products/Chain-Saws/Professional-Chain-saws/21276-1573/MS-381-Magnum%C2%AE.aspx

MS 391 64cc w/20" bar (some fancy-pants new fangled design)
http://www.stihl.com.au/STIHL-Products/Chain-Saws/Landowner-Chain-saws/21615-1572/MS-391.aspx

Thanks  

I like my Jonsered, but it's 20 years old. They're all made by the same company now anyway.

Get the 381...more power with only slightly more weight.

Do you really need a 20" bar?

Quote from: ducpainter on August 18, 2013, 03:44:22 AM
I like my Jonsered, but it's 20 years old. They're all made by the same company now anyway.

Get the 381...more power with only slightly more weight.

Do you really need a 20" bar?

Need?  Um.. no.

My current saw runs an 18" bar, it's plenty for general firewood logging.....  but there are tree felling times when I wish.... as the bishop said to the actress.... that I had a couple more inches  .

$1200 is a lot for a saw.

Welcome to Australia.

381 is an outgoing model.....  might be able to track one of 'em down for a run out price....  maybe save a couple of hundred off the RRP.

I'm trying to work out if this is a Chinese fake or not...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stihl-MS-381-Chainsaw-/200953744741

It looks the part.

If it's a fake it's a 'good' one.

I have to recommend my Stihl 036 Pro. I cleared my land (heavily wooded) with it and will handle just about anything.
It is maybe 20 years old and is still one of the best saws out there. I also have a Stihl electric chainsaw for timber framing.
I see at least two nice 036 Pro's on ebay right now.
Stihl, Jonsered, Husqvarna all make nice saws.

Ung, my opinion may not be worth much these days, but I did use both Stihl & Husqy extensively in a previous incarnation of my current self. I was a log cutter for many years, & found both brands to be excellent  , but like many things it comes down to opinion & the Stihl/Husqy debate will endure for as long as the Ford/Holden debate no doubt. 

The saw I favoured was the Stihl 066 Magnum, which I would say was the predecessor of the 660 on the page you linked there. An excellent saw which gave many years of trouble free professional use. For that reason I would probably sway towards the MS381 out of those two choices, simply because it appears to have been built along the same lines as the 066/660 model so I wouldn't doubt it's reliability, so long as the maintenance is kept up to it of course, & also like ducpainter says... 'more power'!!!

With the modern Stihls I'm really not sure what's stamped on them, 'krafted en deutschland' or 'hecho en mexico',
but one would be an obvious choice over the other, if given the choice.

Whatever you choose, do yourself a favour & treat it like you do your bikes. Keep it serviced, keep the air filter clean, occasionally flip the bar over, keep the bar oil flowing, keep it sharp & keep it tuned. I'm sure it'll work hard for you if you look after it. Oh, also a small hint.... if you're cutting a lot of stringybark, messmate, blackbutt type of timber (I dunno where in Aus you are) with the bark still on it, grind off every third tooth from your chain & it will work through those really stringy barks much easier without bogging down & without compromising it's ability to cut the timber... & keep it sharp... keep it sharp!!! Did I mention keep it sharp?

Let us know what you choose 

Why don't you just get a new cylinder and piston ring set and just keep using it. Might as well treat yourself to a new bar and chain too.

BTW my Husky 365 works fine but Stihl makes a good saw too as you know.

Ditto on the Husky 365.  I bought one used and abused at an auction years ago and it still is my goto saw.  I have a 357XP and a 339XP also.  The 357 is just about the saw that the 365 is but not quite and I really don't care for the 339 - just seems gutless or maybe its not set up right? 

I ran a small Stihl for years, an 028 I think and it was a great saw too. 

One advantage locally is that we have an excellent dealer with real good service. 

One old guy I knew said about the Stihl/Husky debate -"If you leave either of them in the back of the pickup they will disappear and if you drop a tree on them, they will both break."
I heat about 95% with wood and cut about 10 - 12 full cords of oak firewood a year, to give a reference to usage.

What issues have you had with the Huskys, Ungerhauer?

My parents and I both rely on wood heat.  We don't normally have to drop trees since we have plenty of acreage and there is always a tree or three that falls over the winter that is useable firewood.  Between my dad and I, all we have are an antique Partner (I'm and don't remember this chainsaw NOT being in the garage) and three Huskys. 

I can say the Huskies are a pain (though not quite as bad as Poulan) to start, we've abused our modern (<15 years old for Dads, <5 years old for mine) Huskies a lot with no noticeable issues. 

My biggest complaint about a Husky is they'll leak bar oil when left sitting.

JM

Quote from: the_Journeyman on August 18, 2013, 06:27:08 PM
My parents and I both rely on wood heat.  We don't normally have to drop trees since we have plenty of acreage and there is always a tree or three that falls over the winter that is useable firewood.  Between my dad and I, all we have are an antique Partner (I'm and don't remember this chainsaw NOT being in the garage) and three Huskys. 

I can say the Huskies are a pain (though not quite as bad as Poulan) to start, we've abused our modern (<15 years old for Dads, <5 years old for mine) Huskies a lot with no noticeable issues. 

My biggest complaint about a Husky is they'll leak bar oil when left sitting.

JM

I have California Huskys, not sure what the difference is but they have a start procedure.
1. Pull choke all the way out and pull two or three times until it tries to start.
2. Put choke half way in, pull once and it starts and runs at high idle.
3. Run it that way for a few seconds until you can run it with out the choke, then cut wood.

Storage. Turn saw on its side so that oil cap faces up, thus reducing oily mess.

The Stihl I had would almost always start in 1-3 pulls.  The Husky instructions with my newer 357XP said for a cold start, full choke, pull 8 times till it fires, turn off choke and pull 1 or 2 times to start.  Works just like that every time. 

Quote from: Mendo Dave on August 18, 2013, 06:42:26 PM
I have California Huskys, not sure what the difference is but they have a start procedure.
1. Pull choke all the way out and pull two or three times until it tries to start.
2. Put choke half way in, pull once and it starts and runs at high idle.
3. Run it that way for a few seconds until you can run it with out the choke, then cut wood.

Storage. Turn saw on its side so that oil cap faces up, thus reducing oily mess.

My Stihl starts the same way.  Couple of pulls on full choke (no starty).  Then 1-3 good yanks on 1/2 choke and it zings to life.  Drop it to no choke in less than 15 seconds and it runs just fine.  Once it's warm, it restarts with a single pull (no choke).  I have the MS 362 R.

I went for the low-end of their "professional" range because they're engineered to be rebuildable.  Some of the "farm & ranch" units are supposed to be more powerful or easier to use, but I viewed this as an investment in long-term capability.  Living on 600 acres with a bunch of white oak and Ponderosa pine means there's downed trees to deal with every spring.

Thanks for all the valuable advice fellas (and girls, if you are one) 

smalltorque, I'm in SE VIC, so mainly Blue Gum, Manna Gum....  nearly all smooth barked Eucalypts, some Blackwood. 

I'm leaning towards the Stihl MS 381 coz of it's established reputation... but it's a model at the end of sales life and I'm having trouble finding one other than the ebay one I linked to earlier, but that seller isnt answering any of my questions... doesnt help me feel good about chasing that one  .