pleasant

Well done. Having read your original post, going for any of those you mention above would be the way to go seeing as you have experience of the build quality of an 038. Now, I am in no way suggesting modern saws are build like a barn door 038, but at least you have gone for a pro range saw, insted of your earlier consideration of the 271/391. These are both OK saws in their own right, but are not full pro use machines- more landscaper/farmer/land owner saws ie, a saw that will get more use than a domestic user, but not as much use as a professional logger/suregeon/arborist. You would quickly notice the difference in build quality if you had gone for the 271/391 comparing it to your old 038. As has been mentioned, they are basically 'beefed up' domestic saws, using clamshell (pig to repair) engines and plastic crankcases. The 400 is a good choice from this perspective. The 038 would probably benefit from more than just a 'service' and I would advise you invest some money at least getting the crank seals replaced as a matter of course, because normally the first symptom of them failing is a scored piston and barrel. Well worth spending some dollar even to keep it as a back up saw.

Stihl did used to out source battery and charger manufacturing, but now have their own in house facility STIHL sets up in-house battery production line in Waiblingen WWW.STIHL.COM The STIHL Group is setting up an in-house production line for battery products at its headquarters in Germany. In doing so... They certainly were not originally made by Bosch.

Of course, in any walk of life there are ways around things...particularly if you are an individual not goverened by public liability and insurance, but as a business and a representitive of a product we have to abide by the 'correct' way of doing things- not 'bodging' or using non genuine parts, or being 'inventive' with repairs. We are repairing items to a high approved dealership standard which covers us should anything go awry and end up in an injury, a loss of income, damage or all three. I know there are ways around things and if it were my own machine being repaired in my shed, then of course I would probably find a cheaper way of doing things. I am sure, if you bought a big mac and the burger inside was made of pork instead of beef you wouldn't be happy, but does the same job and is cheaper., but McDonalds simply cannot let individual restaurants go out and source their own ingredients......for the same reason a dealer cannot do that. Has to be up to a global recognised standard the customer expects.

'Yes the main jet hole was closed in 30% of its area' That is pretty much the definition of 'hunting' as you mentioned your OP. The carb is hunting for extra fuel to compensate to the decrease in intake. Hunting is scavenging for fuel, so you can bet your bits to a barn dance it's always carb or carb jet related.

From our experience, cordless machines are going to add to landfill and not reduce it. We are now seeing first generation cordless stuff coming back with issues. Stuff that is now around 5 years old- predominantly domestic stuff used by homeowners. These people have purchased top quality cordless items which are around the same price as buying a decent petrol version- Sort of £350- £400 mark. Biggest issue are batteries and the replacement cost relative to the purchase cost of the machine 5 years ago. When we are quoting £200 for a new battery, plus diagnosis fee of £40 you are over half the cost of the machine.........you would have to cause some serious damage to a similarly priced petrol machine for it not to warrant repairing. And this is the thing.....you quote £240 to replace battery and customer simply buys a new machine even though it is only 5 years old and done low use. Whereas I can pretty much guarantee a petrol machine with an issue can be repaired a lot cheaper- £80-£100 as a ball park, in which case a customer is more likely to see that as a cost efficient option compared to throwing his 5 year old petrol machine away and starting again. As a dealer- that is exactly what we are now experiencing, and I dare say, most on here as a consumer would do the same

If there's nothing wrong with it, or IF there is something wrong with it, and it's actually 'pilot error' rather than a manufacturing fault, then maybe 'venting his anger' at innocent Stihl PR staff in the middle of a show is not the best course of action. Being aggressive, shouting and demanding are not the most productive techniques to get anywhere.....particularly IF the OP is incorrect.

I repeat, from my earlier comment. The OP has stated the saw gets overly hot WITHOUT the bar and chain fitted. Read his original post. This is the confusing thing...if it were just the one issue with the bar, then looking at the bar wear/blueing in the cutting area- combined with the bar getting hot, then I would suggest a dull chain with the operator having to 'lean' on it to get it through the cut- this can effectively squeeze out the oil between the bar and chain in that area, so it gets hot and doesn't lubricate that isolated area..or it's inferior quality chain oil being used or not even chain oil in the reservoir? Correct, decent chain oil not only lubricates but also cools. However, as the issue with with the oil reservoir getting excessively hot without the bar and chain fitted is either another issue or the op is mistaken?

'I have contacted the dealer who like I said was rubbish hence why I’m here asking for some help' As a dealer, I feel I must ask some qualifying questions as to your conclusion they were 'rubbish' A. Is the saw within 12 months of a pro user warranty or 24 months for a homeowner user warranty...ie, are you a pro user of the saw? B. If the saw is within the Stihl warranty period....are you the original purchaser, as warranty is not transferable C. Was the saw purchased from an authorised Stihl agent......or could it have been purchased new, from an auction site such as ebay from someone who is not authorised to sell new Stihl products, and therefore cannot register your purchase for warranty on the Stihl dealer registration site (only authorised dealers have access to this, and registration MUST be done by the selling dealer upon sale..not the customer despite what some dodgy ebay seller might tell you. D. Is the dealer who was 'rubbish' the same dealer you purchased it from? If so, did you state you have done your own investigation/repair work on the saw already? This could invalidate any warranty. E. If it is not the dealer you purchased it from, did you originally ask this dealer to quote for the sale, and then purchase it elsewhere and are now asking for help from this original dealer from which you didn't accept their quote, and therefore decided not to purchase from? We get this a lot whereby we try to be as competitive as possible, and we will fully assemble and fuel/oil machines prior to hand over and demo the machine to the new customer- this costs money, so we cannot beat online prices, but get as close as we can- with the re-assurance that if there is an issue, we are more than happy to look after 'our' customer. However when a customer who we have initially spent time with and offer advice and a quote to, goes elsewhere just to save ten or twenty quid on our price, and then brings in this 'third party' machine with a warranty issue- don't be surprised if we aren't all smiley and happy about dealing with you. F. For what reasons do you suggest this dealer is 'rubbish' any of the above??

So they guy has run it with no bar and chain fitted and the oil tank is still getting hot, so asking if oil holes line up, oil getting to bar or any suggestion relating to bar/chain isn't going to solve that issue if they aren't fitted. I am scratching my head on this one, as the only thing that can influence the heat of the chain oil if no bar fitted can only be heat from the engine, exhaust, clutch or oil pump??

We have had one of these back with exactly this issue. Checked battery and connections all fine. Put battery in and squeeze trigger to start and all you get is a very faint high pitch squeal for a millisecond and the sprocket moves slightly by a few millimeters. Take battery out and sprocket will not move manually. We took it apart and was a failed motor bearing. This was under warranty, so they must have an issue, although this is the first and only one we have sold of this model, so I many be wrong and it's a one off issue- for us anyway.

Agree with Spudulike. If you are confident enough, once you have checked fuel lines start it up, get it warm and put it under load in some wood- if it loses power and dies, take it out the cut and give the H screw a quarter turn anti clockwise (this will richen it up a bit at top end- then re try in the same cut. It will either be the same -in which case do more in depth checks as mentioned above, or it will improve things- in which case a carb clean/new diaphragms may well be in order, or it will cure the issue.

errr... I was actually responding to an earlier post from terrytibbs who said he had been charged £100 from a dealer for a service. It certainly wasn't me who was or would charge that figure for an annual menu service. I am certainly not suggesting everyone should use a main dealer (we are a main dealer for certain brands, but we are happy to service/repair other quality brands that we are not a dealer for- which I suppose could also classify us as an independant as well. In the nearly 13 years I have been running my family owned business we have seen the decline of at least a dozen main/independent and fred in a shed repairers which were my direct competition in my catchment area. If my business has seen other businesses fold that are from all of the repair spectrum, then I must be doing something right to still be here. We are not silly, and neither do we think our customers are. We treat all our customers failry, politely and with integrity. We treat each job on its own merits and should there be a return problem then we are happy to put it right at no further charge. In my time I have only had to politely tell some one not to come back on two occasions- and both due to "pilot error" rather than anything we have done. We get customers coming to us who have had someone else have a go at repairing their machine and we end up putting it right. Sure we charge a bit more than some others but our guarantee is we fix it correctly or you get your money back and there aren't many people who offer than guarantee. Sure there are dealers who are pretty poor (we have had more new customers coming to us this year due to being dissatisfied with their more local main dealer) but there are main dealers that are pretty good. There are independents and the fred in the shed who are poor or good. No different to any aspect of life really.

We use the Stihl EDT7 (earlier version of the current models) and the refresh is very slow IMO.

According to Stihl, the MS260 was offered with a 3/8 (9.32mm) 0.63" chain option (not the 3/8" low profile). Naturally this necessitated a different sprocket and maching bar. It could be possible the previous owner specified 3/8" chain as spares and ended up with three low profile narrow guage chains instead of the large size.

WOT = wide open throttle. Watch the video posted on here- it's an excellent example.

...and they've declined an offer!

Well, the largest chain oil qty Stihl produce is 20 litres which would last you a bit longer. Does it necessarily need to be Stihl. Stihl don't actually product their own oil it is produced for them by a proprietory refiner, so if you are open to suggestion then any good quality chain oil would be fine and you may find that more local to you.

Don't really understand the question TBH. The best in terms of what? The nearest or the one that has some or the cheapest or.....whatever?

what if their kids start eating the seeds and top soil??

Certainly not- but neither was your plug and fuel filter in the same condition as new ones, so I don't see the analogy. Plugs and filters have a service life- generally annually or x amount of hours depends which is sooner. Irrelevant of whether they are working at that point or not. Your fuel filter could plausibly be on the verge of clogging completely or your plug could be on the verge of breaking down. Surely if you've been charged £100 for a service you wouldn't want to bring the machine back after it let you down on a job two weeks later, only to be told it needs a new plug or filter? False economy IMO.

Including service parts as part of an annual preventative maintenance service is not "up-selling" parts, but replacing items that should be replaced at an annual or hourly basis whether they have failed or not. Hence the term preventative maintenance. All my hand-held machinery that is in for a menu preventative service has a new plug and fuel filter fitted irrelevant. Foam filters are only replaced if they are split, excessively contaminated or deteriorating. Paper filters are automatically replaced if contaminated. If someone brings a machine in for an annual service, then it is perceived it is running fine, and they want it serviced for another year to keep it that way. If it has an underlying problem, then initially it is treated as a repair, with the possibility of a full service once the problem has been diagnosed and rectified with the customers' consent. (certainly wouldn't change the carb diaphragms as a matter of course on a service though) I took my car to service last month. It was working fine- the oil, the oil filter, the plugs and the air filter, but they still changed them.

Here you go- part number for oversize bar stud for 039. 1127 664 2410 Just order from your Stihl dealer. Job done.

If the drive sprocket is rotating at running speed, then yes oil should trickle out irrelevant of whether the bar is fitted or not.

From memory Stihl do produce over sized bar studs for exactly this eventuality. Same size as original for the bar nuts, but larger diameter for screwing in to the body. Simple fix if you can get one.