Stihl MS 261 misbehaving, advice please?

[WoodED]

my advice, bin it

[Bryapatch]

Ha, i think my boss would have a thing or two to say about that.

[WoodED]

Ha, i think my boss would have a thing or two to say about that.

 

haha i bet

[R0B]

Yep as much as it pains me to say & I know its not constructive but 'bin it' is probably the best advice.

 

Symptoms on my 261 werent quite as bad as yours (I just had increased vibrations and squeeks from the clutch) went back to the dealers. Was told its a problem that wont get sorted until Stihl do some redesigning. Until this time the dealers will just repair and replace - very very bad me thinks!! I got my money back. I want my saw in the woods not the repair shop!! Oh and this was only after a couple days of light coppicing on a 13" - no big timber. Shocking quality on this saw, Im going over to Husqy.

Edited February 16, 2012 by R0B

[spudulike]

I've seen the future and the future is ORANGE:thumbup:

[R0B]

indeed. Orange and silver.

[WoodED]

I've seen the future and the future is ORANGE:thumbup:

 

agreed, orange and silver tho, not orange and white

[Stubby]

I have heard that the cage is plastic ? ? I could be wrong . ( Husqvarna man my self ) but maybe there is a bearing from another saw , be it Sthil or whatever , that has the usual metal cage tjat would fit/have the same dimension ?

[Tom D]

Just had the same thing with mine, so the replacement parts are just the same? not improved? doesn't sound good. It had knackered the drive on the worm gear for the oil pump and put started to score the oil pump casing. If it happens again at least I'll know the symptoms and react earlier.

[monkeybusiness]

A couple of my mates bought 2 ms261s and we all thought they were great at first. However, they have both had new crankshafts under warranty because of the needle roller bearings failing, and are about to go back a second time for the same problem. It is basically a major design fault with no current fix - they are simply put back to standard. The lads are trying to get their money back whilst they are still under warranty. Do not buy these saws would be my advice, and if you've got one that has gone wrong whilst still under warranty then do what you can to get a refund.

I have always been a Stihl fan, but bought one of the first Husky 560xp saws on a whim (which subsequently went wrong, but is now fixed). It is the best saw I have ever used - it is supposed to be the Husky equivalent to the Stihl ms362 but it is miles better. The ms361 was a mega saw but I reckon that this is even better than that. All the new Stihl kit I have used is pony compared to their older machinery, and as far as I can see Husky have upped their game. Now they need to get the long promised climbing saw to market...