Stihl MS180

[carlos]

a friend asked what small saw they should get for small felling and firewood. i thought the 180 would suit, their previous saw was a lidl job, figured the main makes would be easier to maintain and last longer.

any opinions.

thanks carl

[billpierce]

Are they wanting new? Ms170 is more or less the same and cheaper again. My local builders merchants sell for ms180 for 180 and ms170 for around 130.

They are ok. Oil pumps are wack. Personally I'd get a used GWO saw for same money. As you get a whole lot more saw.

[openspaceman]

57 minutes ago, billpierce said:

Are they wanting new? Ms170 is more or less the same and cheaper again. My local builders merchants sell for ms180 for 180 and ms170 for around 130.

They are ok. Oil pumps are wack. Personally I'd get a used GWO saw for same money. As you get a whole lot more saw.

Oil pump is the same as in the  pole pruner head isn't it?

[billpierce]

Oil pump is the same as in the  pole pruner head isn't it?

Dunno could be, I've been had 3 ms170 and a 180 and changed the oil pump or had to take it to bits to clean more times than I'd like to. Kinda given up on them

[lurkalot]

Oil pump in the 170 / 180  is the exact same pump as the 171  / 181 only difference is the latter suffers with oil pipe leaking like a b,stard. The 170 / 180 does suffer with oiling problems, blowing bubbles etc, but to be honest can normally be fixed by replacing the oil hose, even if it looks ok. (assuming the rest of the oil sys is clean of course).

 

180 / 181 has a proper chain instead of the orible skinny one fitted to the 170 /171. 

[stihlmadasever]

Bought a 2nd hand ms 180 off an old fella years ago and it ran sweet as a nut for ages-at least 3 years-didnt do a thing to it just sharpend the chain.

Great little saw..

Or maybe i just got lucky 

[bmp01]

11 hours ago, lurkalot said:

180 / 181 has a proper chain instead of the orible skinny one fitted to the 170 /171. 

Yep, that skinny chain cuts a narrow kerf, makes the most of the 170's power - but really fragile. Every thing is fine in clean wood but hit a stone and the teeth fall off. 

180 has a few more cc's and little more power.

Carbs have idle speed adjustment only.

Not had any trouble with oil pumps personally, but known to be weak, block up and wear out at high miles. It is the same pump as the Stihl pole saw.

 

bmp01

[openspaceman]

34 minutes ago, bmp01 said:

Not had any trouble with oil pumps personally, but known to be weak, block up and wear out at high miles. It is the same pump as the Stihl pole saw.

 

bmp01

Thought so, I replaced quite a few at 15 quid a pop on the 131s as they seemed to get blocked after a while

[tony_t3d]

I have a 181 and it has served me fine not had any issues with it. Little under powered in my opinion more of a DIYers saw. That being said I still use It on ever job. Alongside a ms 251c

[bmp01]

27 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Thought so, I replaced quite a few at 15 quid a pop on the 131s as they seemed to get blocked after a while

The thing is the oil filter is more of a rock catcher than a filter. And the stupid flippy cap filler hole -  is designed to catch (and trap) saw chips - its pretty difficult to imagine any oil pump having a long happy life. At least on the 170 / 180 you have an oil cap that covers the filler hole.....