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Who thinks that Stihls are the best machines ever made.


Anything: trimmers, chain saws ...

I know I do

stihl is a popular recognizable name in ope among other names that have served people for years with good service.People buy a lot of different brand ope for several different reasons,...money issues, features, handling, available nearby dealers, spur of the moment purchases, and the list goes on and on. A person might get a good buy on a used piece of ope and turns out to be a lemon,so he curses that brand name for life, when another guy buys the ope new or used and praises it for life,I have bought the cheapest garbage imaginable and fully expected it not to last, and i have bought a popular name brand ope and fully expected it to last and it did. i think its most important for a buyer to do a lot of homework before purchasing any ope and see that its right for them. cars and bikes and boats are all the same issue.:smile: just for the record,my sister has two stihl blowers my folks have echo ope and my neighbor has a mix of everything,and i have ...........:biggrin:

jteuban said:

Who thinks that Stihls are the best machines ever made.


Anything: trimmers, chain saws ...

I know I do

Click to expand...

I have never understood why Stihl never expanded into the mower business, their reputation for 2 stroke engines is so great if they built a mower they would practically sell themselves. But maybe they want to stay with what they already know.

I love Stihl, I just bought one last mowing season and it is the best. LOTS of low end torque and high rpms its the best of everything. I think it is prob the best thing I personally have ever bought, but like people say it all depends on your personal preference. I got a trimmer with Stihls 4 mix, sure I did not need it but I am sure I will own it for years to come.

LandN -- maybe I'm just ignorant, but what is ope ? Outdoor Power Equipment ?

BTW - I'm happy with all my Stihl Equipment -- others swear by whatever brand they prefer.

I believe it boils down to what you prefer, how much use will it get, and if you have a dealer near you.

If this info is correct Stihl products are manufactured in 3 places.
If the first digit in the serial # is a :
1 - Germany
2 - USA
3 - Brazil

All mine are 2s :biggrin: :thumbsup:

BKBrown said:

LandN -- maybe I'm just ignorant, but what is ope ? Outdoor Power Equipment ?

BTW - I'm happy with all my Stihl Equipment -- others swear by whatever brand they prefer.

I believe it boils down to what you prefer, how much use will it get, and if you have a dealer near you.

If this info is correct Stihl products are manufactured in 3 places.
If the first digit in the serial # is a :
1 - Germany
2 - USA
3 - Brazil

All mine are 2s :biggrin: :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

HI BKBROWN, yes ope is outdoor power equipment

OK -- just took my old brain a min. to catch on ! :wink:

LandN said:

HI BKBROWN, yes ope is outdoor power equipment

Click to expand...

:thumbsup::smile:

I'm a huge fan of Stihl -- with three of their saws. I'm also in the market for a pole saw and a concrete saw. I would also buy a string trimmer of theirs if I got a great deal.

jteuban said:

Who thinks that Stihls are the best machines ever made.


Anything: trimmers, chain saws ...

I know I do

Click to expand...

I think Stihl chainsaws are the best based on my own decades of experience and the fact they are the number one selling brand in the world.

I own the Stihl BR 550 / Blower and Stihl BR 380 / Blower
Stihl HS-45 / Hedge Trimmer
Stihl HT-75 Pro Series / Pole saw... Stihl FS -75 Pro Series / Edger... and a Stihl FS 110 / Trimmer
Stihl, is the only way to go :thumbsup:

I've owned Stihl products for over 20 yrs, I have a chain saw, weed wacker and a back pack
blower.

With very little maintenance they have not given me any problems at all.

I do use their oil for the fuel mix and they start every time.

They got my vote their the best!.....cubby

From a repair center standpoint that works on all brands Stihl for me is on about the same repair percentage compared to all other brands. Meaning that the number of Stihls I work on are about the same as other brands when compared to units sold, the main issue I see with Stihl (cracks above the fuel tank were it bends), poulan,husqvarna, and echo is fuel line and carb problems. Poulan has a problem with oil pumps from people running summer bar oil in the winter. Shindaiwa fuel lines can't handle ethanol nor can poulan fuel caps.

I cut with a sthil chainsaw and have a sthil weed wacker.both are good machines.the only thing I don't like is the oil and gas caps. the last time I was at the dealer I saw a tiller which for me was a new item.I just glanced at it as I was in a hurry. russ

Hard to beat Stihl, if your working it hard... :smile:KennyV

Can't beat Stihl chain saws. The rest of the line not so great.

I've used Stihl for years, 029 saw, FS76 trimmer, don't remember the # of my blower. I'm changing over to Husqvarna, not because of the quality of the product, but because our dealer lost his repairman a year ago (health reasons) & the dealerships time is limited (again health reasons). This dealer is a very good man & has always treated his customers well, but with his age & the unlikelyhood of anybody buying the business, it doesn't look like we'll have a Stihl dealer too many more years.

Bottom line; dealers play a big part in any product! ~~ grnspot

I used to have a stihl chainsaw for 20 yrs,was always a b'tch to start. i was glad when it blew up. :tongue:
got a husky now for 10 yrs,much better saw all around. :thumbsup:

Parts for both brands are idiotly expensive

I had a stihl weed eater as well,I gave the useless contraption to my brother.:thumbdown:

I prefer to use the old scyte, faster and no noise.It can't blow the engine or run out of gas either:wink:

I am glad all you guys are happy with you Stihl chainsaw. Mine was junk from the day I got it. I paid $578.00 because I wanted one that would last awhile longer than my old one did. After 6 trips to the dealer to be fixed and they never really got it fixed. It would not stay running longer than 15 minutes.
Finally when they said it's a lemon they got Stihl to give me my money back. Stihl is still what I think as a good one but I will not buy another on, I bought a Husky yesterday and cut 2 tanks of gas with it so far so good. I hope it last a few years.

RTSB said:

I am glad all you guys are happy with you Stihl chainsaw. Mine was junk from the day I got it. I paid $578.00 because I wanted one that would last awhile longer than my old one did. After 6 trips to the dealer to be fixed and they never really got it fixed. It would not stay running longer than 15 minutes.
Finally when they said it's a lemon they got Stihl to give me my money back. Stihl is still what I think as a good one but I will not buy another on, I bought a Husky yesterday and cut 2 tanks of gas with it so far so good. I hope it last a few years.

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I think that's an unusual case -- I would give the dealer credit for admitting that there's a serious problem and giving you a refund.

I have to second the thought that Stihl is way over rated
Much better luck with a cheap Homelite from Kmart 20 years ago along w/ the three or four other saws. Yes I do have two purchased new Stihl chain saws all with problems including;
Very poor bar and chain oiling systems, plugs that foul quickly, etc.

I happen to love Echo. I worked in a cemetary when I was 16, and that's all we used for trimmers and saws. Day in, day out, for years on end.....not so much as a carb adjustment.

I have a 14" Echo for cutting up crap mother nature blows down/overweighs with nasty, wet snow.......never a problem. In it's fourth year of service here.......not even a spark plug.

Mind you, I could get a '78 McCulloch to run, and STAY running....but I like not HAVING to ever mess with it......:thumbsup: Not that I don't like Stihl.....just have exp. with Echo - and stuck with it. (as far as a saw....for a trimmer....I run Weed Eater.....no trimmer is worth $250 - with only the trimmer attachment!)

I won't say they are the best, but one of the best. The other one in the mix for best is Echo. There was a time when others were in the running but no longer because they sold thier sole for corporate greed and began using cheap overseas labor. Mac comes to mind , as does Poulan and Homelite.

Like I said earlier in post Stihl didn't work out for me I bought a husky 3 days ago I have use 4 tanks of gas so far I cut more wood in 3 days than my Stihl cut in a year. I hope it holds up ok.

Stihl chainsaws are good but they have their downside too. The have good power, are reliable, but when they do break down they are harder to work on than many other models and the parts prices are much higher than other saws. Some of the older Stihl saws are getting hard to find parts for because they are not available from Stihl any more.

I never knew that there was anny outher brands lol If it aint a stihl get it off anny of my properties

JDgreen said:

I have never understood why Stihl never expanded into the mower business, their reputation for 2 stroke engines is so great if they built a mower they would practically sell themselves. But maybe they want to stay with what they already know.

Click to expand...

Viking is the Stihl mower brand, but seems they do not offer them in the USA:

VIKING - Lawn mowers - Ride-on mowers - Shredders - Tillers - Petrol lawn mower - Electric lawn mower - Accessory

not me. A few years ago I bought a new MS210C from the local dealer. I believed all the on-line reviews about how great Stihl is. Problems started the day I took it home. It has been very finicky all the time. I've rebuilt the carb about 7 times since. The air vent for the fuel pump diaphragm sucks saw dust in and jams up all too soon. Stihl has used many hundreds of different carb models in their chain saws. the MS210C model got a new carb every few months during production. I checked with a former dealer and his huge manual collection and it was just crazy how many. I'm positive some carbs are better than others, perhaps some are just lousy. I think If you have a great Stihl, 6 months later it will have a different carb and will behave quite differently. I also think the lack of a primer bulb is a big problem. I see most other brands have them now and they work just fine on my non-chainsaw power equipment. The only plus is you can change out the bar & chain without any tools.

Another oddity. The particular chain needed for my Stihl was not carried by any of the local box-marts or hardware stores for years on end. They weren't "out of stock", they just didn't have a spot for them on their shelves. It was like they all subscribed to the same inventory service and that service omitted the one model. They carried every other size for Stihl and every other brand in that size. So I learned to sharpen my chains. Not hard to do once you find the proper size file(s).

My ex-Stihl dealer friend laughs at me when I tell him my favorite chainsaw of all time is a McCullough Eager Beaver which I wore out. Small and under powered but nothing that could get me in trouble either. Yeah, it had a vapor lock issue but that's okay. Run a tank of fuel and I'm ready for a break anyhow while it cools down. I'd buy another if they were still making them. Another company bites the dust.

Thanks for letting me vent.
rick

I will say Stihl makes the best chainsaws, but I like Echo for everything else.