Thread: Stihl chainsaw choice

We’re living on 1/2 acre with plenty of hedges and small trees on the boundary, so I’m looking to buy a pruning/trimming/small-tree-felling Stihl. Shortlist based on T/M and other places is:

MS170 with 14” bar (seems a very basic 32 cc unit)
MS180 with 16” bar and 32 cc motor
MS211 with 16” bar. 40cc

Possibly an 023 model with 16” bar

I’m used to operating a Husky 20” unit but a son thought it would be better living in Auckland and I feel it woukd be far too heavy for the type of work I intend doing.
Any own one of my shortlist models and prepared to comment on degree of performance/satisfaction please? Many thanks in advance.

Unless you're cutting a winters worth of firewood I'd get a Sthil battery MSA 200 with 2 or three batteries. I use mine everyday in my fencing business and have only used my big saws once or twice a year in the last 5 years. As a fencer I get quite a bit of tree work and the battery saw handles it all. They do need to be kept razor sharp and consequently I'd say chains only last about 2/3s of a normal one.

Pretty sure the MS 211 is only 35 cc .
I like the ms 230 and ms 250 over those smaller ones , I've had a couple and they have decent enough power for what you want. I think with the purchase price of the smaller ones if anything needs fixing out of warranty you're going to weighing up whether to fix it or spend a little bit more on a new one.

How tall are your hedges trees etc? Are you going to need a pole saw too?

Ms 180 is a good saw.
I've been using it to drop trees, cut branches off fence lines, cut fire wood.
If I use the bigger saw to fell a larger tree way out of side of its capabilities, its the saw I grab to go up the trunk delimbing after I've felled the tree.
Put it through mac, manuka, eucalyptus, pine and motor has pulled fine. Light enough to swing all day. Though my all time favorite was a stihl 025 for a just dam handy saw.

If you’re only buying one saw go for 211. I have an old 027 that does everything well but I’ve bought a top handle Ozito that I use the most.
I wouldn’t swap the little saw for the big one but only use the big one for logs.

If you could find a MS260 or a good cond. low hour 026 in all honesty that would be my choice, 16" bar is the same fitting as the bigger stihls which is a lot more beefy than the open tail small bar. Better oiler, and the .325 chain is a good size in terms of easy sharpening vs size. These saws run on RPM, mine if it's kept sharp is like the finger of god and anything you point it at falls over. I have a few bigger saws, but the 260 is the pick in terms of weight vs cutting performance for the majority of what I do on my block (not much bigger than yours from the sounds of it). They are the smallest of the magnesium crankcase "Pro" series saws, and you feel it - they piss all over the MS311 saws which I've used side by side with mine. Also the pro grade saws are bloody near indestructible if you do your bit right, mine is second hand from a garden maintenance guy and it's done a lot of hours in specimen palm trees which is one of the most ugly stringy BS things to cut. The crank case around the clutch area is flogged hard but it still goes like new...

I had a 170 and it fell over fairly quickly so would not recommend

My go to combination would be an electric for day -to-day and a 16" (or better 18") bar larger one for felling and bucking

Thinking about that a bit more, I'll expand my answer a touch - the guys talking about the cordless saws have a good point and if you're only cutting a bit here and there they are a really good option. If you plan on doing an IBC cage (modern term) of firewood or a lot of work I think you still need a petrol unit or a minimum of three batteries and two chargers which unfortunately makes the cordless saws bloody expensive to buy. Otherwise you end up having to take a lot of breaks while you wait for the battery to charge, although to be fair fueling and oiling a petrol saw and checking and giving the chain a lick up isn't as much of a time saver over charging batteries as people make out. My experience of the cordless saw was that you get about 1.5 equivalent sized petrol saw tanks worth of cutting out of it, which is interesting because the oil tank is usually smaller than the equivalent saw and you have to really remember to keep checking it so you don't run the bar out of lube!

If you are used to petrol saws, the battery jobbies do need a little more care and attention to detail as a lot of them are one button firing - and they sit there silently but live and ready to go which is not what we are used to coming from petrol saws... I take the battery out if I'm not using them, having given myself a dumb moment fright when I first used one.

Originally Posted by paremata

Pretty sure the MS 211 is only 35 cc .
I like the ms 230 and ms 250 over those smaller ones , I've had a couple and they have decent enough power for what you want. I think with the purchase price of the smaller ones if anything needs fixing out of warranty you're going to weighing up whether to fix it or spend a little bit more on a new one.

How tall are your hedges trees etc? Are you going to need a pole saw too?

Got a pole handsaw. Got a pole hedge trimmer that would take the very short ‘chainsaw’ attachment, but the product looks pretty weak.

They aren't bad if you get a 'name' branded one. Need to be very good with your cut placement as they are a pest to retrieve if you jam them! I've had to rescue two now, I can attest to that. Was'nt me that jammed them too! Also have a tiny oil tank, same issue as the cordless saws as you easily forget to refill it.

+1 for the MS180. Flogged mine hard for the last 6 years, and other than a new bar and a couple of chains, it's in perfect nick. I replaced the bar with a 14" Sugi Hara, and put on a slightly more aggressive chain.
Have a MS500i for the big stuff, but find the little MS180 gets the most work.

025 or 251 are a great handy sized saw that wont die in a hurry and will handle the slightly bigger stuff too.... the 251 I have has ergo start...too easy to use,it also has chainbrake on the rear handle,I let go and chain stops dead,two awesome features,make things lots easier and safer to use.

[QUOTE=Ingrid 51;1401464]We’re living on 1/2 acre with plenty of hedges and small trees on the boundary, so I’m looking to buy a pruning/trimming/small-tree-felling Stihl. Shortlist based on T/M and other places is:

MS170 with 14” bar (seems a very basic 32 cc unit)
MS180 with 16” bar and 32 cc motor
MS211 with 16” bar. 40cc

Possibly an 023 model with 16” bar

I’m used to operating a Husky 20” unit but a son thought it would be better living in Auckland and I feel it woukd be far too heavy for the type of work I intend doing.
Any own one of my shortlist models and prepared to comment on degree of performance/satisfaction please? Many thanks in advance.[/QUOTE



MS170: good little saw but when it plays up buy another. Don't take into shop as the repair bill soon gets more than the saw is worth. Applies to most little saws.
Out of your picks I would go for an 023. I've had one for 30+ years and apart from new bars,chains and drive sproket/clutchs havn't done a thing to it. It's done 40+Ha of serious scrub cutting, min. of 5 cord of firewood per year, general hack-about saw and 20+ years orchard pruning work. It's been a reliable little saw.
Battery saws, Some people have a good run with them. We run 5 Stihl units on 2 orchard/vineyard properties (20Ha cherries and 40Ha vineyard).They are friggen good for the job they do as long as you keep the batteries up to feed them.But they're by no means maintainance free. And I wouldn't use them for serious firewood work.
To qualify my last statement, I work 4 days a week as mechanic in a Stihl dealership so get to see a lot of gear going through w/shop. I've personally tested a couple of customers top of range battery saws. 7-12 minutes per new battery on as new saws doing proper firewood cuts SAF doesn't equate to 1.5 tanks of gas in petrol saw. Batteries and saws tested OK on test equipment. Make of it what you will.
As previously stated they work great in orchard but they're not used continuously. Just my 2 cents.

7-12 mins is a lot less than what I got out of them - that's interesting. Bit like EV cars haha...

9.4 a/h battery easily lasts as long as a tank of fuel