Stihl Ms400 Purchase ?

[Mick Roseblade]

Hello Guys & Gals, 1st of all Merry Christmas & a healthy/happy new year to you all.

Now to business, I am considering purchasing a saw to replace my now ageing  Husky 455 and 570 saws. As I am now also ageing, saw weight is becoming an issue for me. I am thinking about getting a stihl ms400. I had a an old 038 back in the day and it was great. However more recent stihl saws have dissapointed me with dodgy caps (new style) and oil leaks from very early stage (just out of warranty).

As far as I can see Stihl seem to have made no attempt to modify or improve the caps and seem to be in denial that there is a problem. They have been around for quite some time now so if there is/was a problem they have had plenty opportunity to correct it.

So I guess my question is, do you folks still have problems with these or has the issue been quietly rectified?

This will probably be my last saw, so I want one that will see me out. Any other specific issues with these saw's ?

On paper the specs are good for what I am looking for, but as we all know, whats on paper can be very different to real world use. 

 

As for Husqvarna, my now 20 year old 570 has been an excellent work horse, but is now to heavy for me. The 455 rancher which is a much more recent saw has been ok, but feels fragile somehow and has failed far to soon. its not done that much work and light work at that, yet the oil system has failed. when I looked at how the oil pump and hoses are put together I felt the build quality was not up to the job. When the delivery hose is only held on to the pump port by a thin steel sheet that in turn is held in place by only one screw when the clutch cover is off, I feel is asking for trouble.

So my dilemma is that both makes now seem to have issues around oiling. It makes me nervous to be paying out almost a grand on something that might give me problems from the start and maybe wont last anywhere near as long as it should. Failure due to wear and tear from use is one thing, failure from poor design and bad build quality is just not acceptable for high priced equipment. 

[Stubby]

17 minutes ago, Mick Roseblade said:

Hello Guys & Gals, 1st of all Merry Christmas & a healthy/happy new year to you all.

Now to business, I am considering purchasing a saw to replace my now ageing  Husky 455 and 570 saws. As I am now also ageing, saw weight is becoming an issue for me. I am thinking about getting a stihl ms400. I had a an old 038 back in the day and it was great. However more recent stihl saws have dissapointed me with dodgy caps (new style) and oil leaks from very early stage (just out of warranty).

As far as I can see Stihl seem to have made no attempt to modify or improve the caps and seem to be in denial that there is a problem. They have been around for quite some time now so if there is/was a problem they have had plenty opportunity to correct it.

So I guess my question is, do you folks still have problems with these or has the issue been quietly rectified?

This will probably be my last saw, so I want one that will see me out. Any other specific issues with these saw's ?

On paper the specs are good for what I am looking for, but as we all know, whats on paper can be very different to real world use. 

 

As for Husqvarna, my now 20 year old 570 has been an excellent work horse, but is now to heavy for me. The 455 rancher which is a much more recent saw has been ok, but feels fragile somehow and has failed far to soon. its not done that much work and light work at that, yet the oil system has failed. when I looked at how the oil pump and hoses are put together I felt the build quality was not up to the job. When the delivery hose is only held on to the pump port by a thin steel sheet that in turn is held in place by only one screw when the clutch cover is off, I feel is asking for trouble.

So my dilemma is that both makes now seem to have issues around oiling. It makes me nervous to be paying out almost a grand on something that might give me problems from the start and maybe wont last anywhere near as long as it should. Failure due to wear and tear from use is one thing, failure from poor design and bad build quality is just not acceptable for high priced equipment. 

I am a Husqvarna man but the Stihl MS 400 has had good reviews from peeps that have one .

Edited December 21, 2021 by Stubby

[Svts]

I've found the ms400 to be bullet proof. 18 months old now and has cut a couple of thousand plus meters without a hitch. I did give it a fresh sprocket etc a while back. Bit not because anything had failed I just thought I shod show it some love! My 462 purchased at the same time is still yet to give any trouble, although it's probably not cut as much as the 400 to date. 

And the 400/462 are possibly the best saws I've used in 30 years to boot. 

[Moose McAlpine]

2 hours ago, samurayjack said:

If you like it, I recommend this chainsaw to everyone LOL

 

Why do you keep bringing back old dead threads?

 

Are you searching for old stuff to revive?

[Dan Maynard]

This is why I suspect not a real person. That and the fact he doesn't come back with a stupid joke when I say it.

[Moose McAlpine]

1 hour ago, Dan Maynard said:

This is why I suspect not a real person. That and the fact he doesn't come back with a stupid joke when I say it.

 

A spammer/bot i suspect. Only seems to endorse Stihl too, so more likely a spammer.

Edited June 26, 2022 by Moose McAlpine

[GarethM]

I'm not sure if the Turing test for internet bots includes cheesy jokes. I guess that would be one step up from asking alexa to sing you a song 🙂