Stihl cs500i is it worth it

[gand]

12 hours ago, JBH said:

There is a reason professional warranty is shorter on saws, that 562 will have had an uphill paper round.

 

It is an okay price for a brand spanking 500i

 

Jury is out on durability.

 

I think most tree firms could probably do 90% of their work with just a 201 and 500i nower days

 

Argument ensues...

Main problem we've seen with the 500i is the clutch. It's been the folk who can be a tad lazy basic maintenance checks. A quick check would of saved them blowing through the clutch drum and cracking the crankcase. IMO the clutch isn't big enough. 

[JBH]

20 hours ago, gand said:

Main problem we've seen with the 500i is the clutch. It's been the folk who can be a tad lazy basic maintenance checks. A quick check would of saved them blowing through the clutch drum and cracking the crankcase. IMO the clutch isn't big enough. 

Do you find any correlation with bar length and the clutch issues?

 

We were just discussing it today whilst felling

 

 

[gand]

3 hours ago, JBH said:

Do you find any correlation with bar length and the clutch issues?

 

We were just discussing it today whilst felling

 

 

It's been a mix of the 20 and 25" bars. Not seen it with the one's running a on a 28" but who knows what combinations people are running. I've heard about a bloke running every bar from a 16" to a 30" the former being absolutely ludicrous 

[5thelement]

7 hours ago, gand said:

It's been a mix of the 20 and 25" bars. Not seen it with the one's running a on a 28" but who knows what combinations people are running. I've heard about a bloke running every bar from a 16" to a 30" the former being absolutely ludicrous 

What, like this you mean? Blows out nose sprockets for fun, the 500I, 90% too much saw for 90% of its owners 😂

[Ledburyjosh]

The 500i is great. I would say its durable to its been out for a while now with no major repeating issues.

 

It can runs bars nicely up to 30" with skip chains. So really versatile with what you can with it. And light to. 

For me its superceded the need for a 661 for the majority of UK trees.

[handcutter]

462 is a better saw if your Stihl preference or your husqvarna equivalent , I’ve used 460, 461 and 500i of the Stihl and 375 372 576 572 of the husqvarna 

The 500 is all or nothing!  seen and heard of far too many being crushed when people have wiped out hinges.

 

I won’t be purchasing another 500 as the air filtration system is shocking even if you put an aftermarket one on it 

[Ledburyjosh]

49 minutes ago, handcutter said:

 

The 500 is all or nothing!

I really don't get this viewpoint on it. It has ample throttle control. Not once have I ever ripped through a hinge due to it being all or nothing. 

 

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Ledburyjosh said:

I really don't get this viewpoint on it. It has ample throttle control. Not once have I ever ripped through a hinge due to it being all or nothing. 

 

Exactly . Some peeps say the same about a ported saw . Sometimes you need something that will cut fast when chasing that back cut .

[5thelement]

10 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Exactly . Some peeps say the same about a ported saw . Sometimes you need something that will cut fast when chasing that back cut .

How much trigger time have you put on a 500i?

[handcutter]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

Exactly . Some peeps say the same about a ported saw . Sometimes you need something that will cut fast when chasing that back cut .

If you’re chasing a backcut you’ll end up another statistic!!!