pleasant

Dont bin it yet.....lets see more pics of components like i posted earlier....it would help to confirm either way

Like i say....its surely always had issues so given the poor tolerances of manufacture if it is a copy then he may never get it to start

I am wondering whether this is a chinese 361 clone. There were a load about around 10 years ago until stihl started getting sniffy and took court action. Effectively they were very good fakes of the 361. I noted the cylinder gasket and piston like you. Also no stihl markings on the clutch drum. Interested to see the starter recoil...the inside and the 361 badge. Do the orange engine covers have stihl numbers moulded on the underside i wonder? If it is a fake, them most likely it has never run of if it did ever start then not for long hence the unreasonably clean condition. Its probably been knocking around in someones garage until recently...maybe. I dont know how poster came about it. You dont invest in a pro ms361 then dont use it...unless theres an issue and you would take it back to stihl under warranty if there were...not, not use it and store it

Well done. Show us some pics or a video when its done.

If you are prepared to spend serious money on it such as you suggest, then go to the best there is...not someone who happens to be closest. You are obviously willing to spend more than its worth, so money would appear to be no object, so someone who is an expert in their field will expect to have machines sent to them for porting, re building etc. No, I am not touting for business....I fully admit i am not expert in improving on what comes out the factory. I can repair a machine to factory standards ready to be reused, but specialist stuff is best left to those who specialise in that. I would hope you really love that saw though.it already has a pre existing problem that needs addressing, then you say you want a complete re build....so is that all new parts, re use old parts but replace seals gaskets etc? One persons idea of a rebuild is anothers refresh. I often get people in asking me to 'overhaul' their machines. To my mind that is a restoration back to as new as you can get.....what most people mean when pressed is get it going and let me know if theres anything serious.

I wouldn't clean a carb in petrol. Use a proprietory cleaner specifically made for the purpose. Did you take the carb off and just put it in the cleaner 'as is' or did you strip it down to component form so it was just the alloy block plus separate parts in the cleaner? Generally (depending on the ultrasonic cleaner, the temperature and the cleaning liquid) I usually 'cook' mine for 30-40 minutes.

Esso super, although marked as e5 actually doesnt contain any ethanol at all so that probably helped. So if you want ethanol free fuel without going down the more expensive aspen route there is an option. Here you go; read esso synergy supreme. Synergy Fuels | Esso WWW.ESSO.CO.UK Esso branded service stations have a variety of Synergy fuel blends (grades) to help you get to where you're going...

Flat out at the moment, earning lots to cover for the July and August period when people go away for half term and the grass stops growing, so it's generally quiet and we can then allocate staff holidays during that time. If I could work 24 hours a day 7 days a week I could it's that busy with weekend warriors, dragging their mowers out with stale fuel in them ringing me up on Thursday morning before Easter weekend and want it serviced and repaired for the Saturday morning!!! When I point out we have a two nearing three week workload in at the moment...oh and it's Bank holiday Friday and Monday, I'm often met with ok, but I need it for Saturday I'm having a party. 'Are you off over Easter sir?' 'Yes' 'Well, so are my staff' Same people that want to end Sunday shops and supermarkets opening to give 'hard working staff a break' yet are the same people who drive out on a Sunday to a pub for lunch, wander around a garden centre or go to the beach for an ice cream, fish and chips and go to the amusements, then stop for a costa coffee on way home whilst topping up the fuel tank in a petrol station......all premises of course staffed by people working on a Sunday. Idiots

The stihl ms211 is the bigger brother of the ms181. Same chassis, just a bit more output, which means it will occasionally cope with a 16" bar if you need it. Standard is 14" . Parts are pretty much available on the moon, and stihl tend to continue spare parts once a model is discontinued for many more years than most due to their global reach. The 026 for example is still made for certain countries in south america due to less restrictive emissions, so parts are still readily available even though in the uk the model was discountnued around 2000. I sell loads of 181 and 211's to gardeners and man in a van types which the saws are not really designed for that type of regular usage (they are home owner saws) yet they dont break them despite getting little or no maintenance. Echo are good reliable well built saws, but we have always had issues with parts availability and dealers are generally few and far between. As for husky, I can't really comment as its been over 20 years since I was a main dealer for them...I was selling 136, 140 and 340's back in the day. However you do find pro users are either stihl or husky generally, and they don't normally recommend the 'opposition' they are very dyed in the wool when it comes to either of those brands tbh 😁

Neither- they are all old now. It was an observation rather than an appraisal. Although, what I will say, it is the super version which means a larger cc engine so more powerful than standard model

Thats an early one...pre 1990 as it has the metal name tags

The GX engine range you will only find on the 'top price mowers' because the GX is a pro user engine, so only fitted to pro spec machines. The GCV range engines are domestic product, now made in China to Hondas spec. Yes, a good engine (now superceeded by the GCVX range) that runs on less oil that a briggs engine with a neoprene timing belt running in the sump lubed by the sump oil.so oil level is critical. Yes, oil change after first 5 hours...using 10/40 10/30 15/30 or 15/40....any of those grades are fine in the uk with our temp range. Dont use briggs sae30 single grade oil though...must be a multi grade. Unlike a briggs engine, oil level is checked by dipping the dipstick, not screwing it back in to check. So unscrew it, wipe clean then dip it back it but dont screw it in. If you do you will get a false reading. Only big issue with these engines is the carbs...both earlier manual choke and later auto choke. They hate anything but fresh fuel....preferably aspen 4 or pump e5. They are notorious for needing carbs for machines that have had fuel left in them.....pilot jets gum up really easy and are a pig to get right ....and the carbs are a pain to remove and replace unlike a briggs. Run your engines dry of fuel when storing longer than a month and if you can, get a 10mm spanner and loosen the float bowl screw to drain it down. You will be doing yourself a favour if you do.

Yup.....he resigns a few weeks ago after being responsible for the finances since 1999, and she resigns as party leader a couple of weeks ago...and now this happens. Coincidence or pre_planned? You work it out.

You haven't got a banana conrod throwing it off have you?

Agree....and the market for used stuff when battery is the norm, will be virtually zero. Who wants to risk buying used when the batteries cost 75% of the saw- especially if you rely on it to earn money. I am seeing it already- I don't even take battery stuff in on p/x as there's no market.....to risky. At least with a petrol saw you can run it up, and listen and see potential issues. Not with a battery.....like a light bulb. One day it will work, and later the same day it may not. No preventative maintenance with a battery. Just be a load of three or four year old ex pro stuff thats been written down and no market for it, so more landfill.

Yes, they were/are both farmer grade saws, but when the 038 range was made, they were based and designed on a more basic pro saw chassis and engine, rather than the newer/current 280/370/371/390/391 etc range which, as I say is based on a beefed up domestic design, so the quality of the old 038 is far and away better than the current farmer range- even though they are considered for the same usage.

Rest assured the MS391 is nothing like the 038 range. The MS391 is a landowner or farmer range chainsaw, designed for more intensive use than a domestic users saw but not for arborists and full time chainsaw professional users. The design is basically a beefed up domestic range chassis with the cheap to make clamshell engines fitted. Power to weight ratio is not good either. They are fine if you need a saw for use as part of your work, but not if you work is solely chainsaw based, so someone like a gardener who has multiple tools for multiple tasks during a working week.

The briggs and stratton quantum single cylinder vertical crank series engines have been the most reliable engines i have come across in nearly 30 years of repairing....far more reliable and forgiving of a lack of maintenance than say the honda gcv engines.

.404" chain IS 0.63" already. What do you mean?

Yup, I had that forearm affliction yesterday after the first cut of my own (very damp) grass!

😁How much you paying for this valuable data content?👍

ompression and leakdown tests then

Or a porn star 😁

.....just dont blame the mower for not filling the grassbag right up and clogging and throwing uncollected grass out the side of the deck when you cut in anything other than dry grass and weather. If cut grass sticks to your boots when you walk on the lawn then it will stick to the surfaces of the mower when cutting. The votrex effect of a blade to lift the grass prior to cutting it also compromised due to grass being wet and heavy. Had many people complain about their machines not being efficient collectors, then when you actually get to the root of the problem they've either used it whilst raining or after several days of rain and the grass is still wet through.in effect all the mower has become is a petrol driven kenwood juicer.