Trailoftears

Love it,rhubarb leaves are poisonous -if you ate say the amount a determined hungry elephant might eat.Equally,privet is technically poisonous to sheep-how many thousand's of sheep-infested fields abutt onto privet hedges?As to smoke from Prunus species-I suspect Cannabis smoke has done me more harm than disposing of prunus waste 😁

I was taught-many years ago now admittedly, the hierarchy is/was,there are engineers,then there are mechanics,and lowest of the low-the chuck the old bits away 'part fitters',however that shows my age and pertains to a golden age long gone in today's throw-away society.We are where we are now.No real mass car makers/shortly no real base steel producers.Our 'industries' now are mcdonalds/k.fried chicken/shitty service stuff.Once upon a time,we were pretty decent at MAKING stuff-now, we're just china-on sea with everything foreign owned-airports/utilities etc,etc 😬

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As an afterthought,the longer the bar length you put on this torquey little saw-the more it can find you out,I think its due to the relative lightweight power unit and monster acceleration- It will flip back at you pdq.I treat it with a lot more respect compared to my 441 thats for sure.

A good topic from the o.p. this. Its like this mate,most American chainsaw users who comment on forums are over 60,more pertinately,most of them are hugely fat and unfit-hence why they feel the need to stick (at least)a 25" bar on a 50cc rated pro chainsaw.Plus you have to add in their desire to fit 'big dawgs',port their saws,endlessly cookie cut bits off logs-you've no doubt watched the mind-numbingly boring vids where they show off their 'bark boxes',all v.tedious and predictable.Meanwhile,back in the real World-The Ms261 is a very flexible and forgiving saw-given its a 50cc saw-a 4hp output is really impressive.Its best place is a 16" bar,but-it will run a 18" bar happily too when broken it and keeping to Stihl's recommended .325 setup.However,and this shows Stihls rather cynical knowledge of the markets they sell to-in the uk-max bar length suggested=18".In the States=20".So make your own mind up...20" bar for this saw is beyond stupid-and will shorten its useful life significantly.If you need to run a 20" bar-go 362/400/441 etc.

How dare you refer to my testicle issues...

Yep,Stihl are good at what they do for sure and brilliant marketeers to boot!If I was young 🙄 and starting out,I would certainly look at the kombi range.But,As I'm not,I doubt the kombi range would stand my regular use/abuse tbh.But if I was young (sigh),I would worry about having all my eggs in one basket/engine unit,also I would see more joints as more potential failure points-if you see what I mean? Traditionaly,I like the idea of a clutch/gearhead,both with a square female aperture mated to a solid square shaft.Tho,I note Stihl are increasingly using 10/12? Star type splined shafts now,which fills me with no confidence from an engineering point of view-much easier to strip the shaft ends in my book?🤔

In truth,the 4 stroke m/c is probably better re: vibrations too.But whats great now is I keep both gear heads on board,one has the guard with heavy duty sq.line on for summer use.The other has a brushknife with no guard on for winter h.duty b/cutting,can whip either over by loosening a screw or two-no more cleaning/ undoing the manky screws holding the guard on plus putting the screws back in to keep the threads clean.Happy days 👏

Yep,I completely take your point.I agonised over whether to replace my fs240-c with like for like,or dare I try the fs 131 I think it was,and in truth,it was both a tad lighter and the power output was also a wee bit better.But the 240 won the battle, Partly because I could recycle the old one for parts,also the throttle response/acceleration is superb.Also of course I simply couldnt afford to drop £700 on an unknown quantity and possibly hating it!

Someone far more knowledgeable than myself might like to start a post on pros and cons of both systems?Would be v.interesting to a lot of us I'm sure.Leaving aside the idiosyncratic stihl system-still mixing fuel/no sump-i.e.is that the best or worst of both Worlds? 🤔 With 4 strokes I'm thinking added weight-sump/valves/springs/more moving parts/more potential for problems-plastic cam lifters etc-so all the 'bad bits' there.On the other hand-more environmentally friendly/quieter/more durable/more torque and so on.

I did buy a 4 stroke mak petrol handheld blower just for summer use clearing up lawn edges/lanes post strimming etc.What can I say?Its ok,does the job,ok I know its got a BLUE livery 😘,but seriously, the fact that its wee sump only takes 70ml! Of engine oil stresses me more than mixing 2 stroke oil thats for sure!Had a couple of the better stihl 2 stroke av equipped hand-held models-but they constantly ripped out the electrical leads within the handle for fun.

Yeh-stihl have gone their own road re: 4 strokes I believe-no sump etc.Which Is interesting to me in that advocates of 4 stroke tech all over the internet forums seem to swoon at being relieved of the (apparently) awful stress of filling a can with 5 litres of petrol after pouring in 100-120ml of decent quality 2 stroke oil....

Absolutely-I'm glad the 4 strokers work for you.I just want the CHOICE to be honest.I would say tho,given the stratified newer 2 strokes-they are incredibly more fuel efficient/cleaner-also the mtronic system again is a game changer too-each to their own I say 👍

Absolutely-I'm glad the 4 strokers work for you.I just want the CHOICE to be honest.I would say tho,given the stratified newer 2 strokes-they are incredibly more fuel efficient/cleaner-also the mtronic system again is a game changer too-each to their own I say 👍

Ooh,bit harsh that! as a trained engineeer a lot of my training involved problem solving and repair-rather than accepting a critical machine was now 'down' which meant the entire factory production line was down and therebye losing thousands of pounds whilst waiting for a new part-also of course,that meant close to a Hundred piece-work employees would be told to 'walk' unpaid for 24 hours.

Hear hear!

Just fired off an email to stihl suggesting a new rainbow livery would increase sales.Also saw a post on an American forum from a guy who had his 261 ported and polished up-he reckoned it really WOKE it up 😘

If only the O.P. had known what an absolute furore would ensue from a casual enquiry about a cheap top handled saw! We've whipped our k.scales out,mocked tasteless carpet designs,insinuated blue livery guys have sexual issues etc.YOU gotta love forums like this-keep it UP folks-ooer missus💅

One of things everyone should keep handy-a mixed box of s.tapping screws,they solve so many problems.Most motor factors sell a mixed box pretty cheaply.While your'e there pick up a mixed box of split pins,washers,nylok nuts etc,etc 😁 So sad to see wilkos go.My not so local store did a pick&mix gig-you picked a plastic bag and could fill it with nuts/bolts/washers/split pins etc. Absolute Heaven.

Oh God,given all my carpentry/decking construction tools are solidly Makita-I'm deffo a raving homosensual!Thought my Customer was giving me funny looks out of her window when I was 'Erecting' her new shed-now I know...

I suppose most of us are conservative with a small c,and tend to stick with stuff we know and trust.I've not bought any echo stuff over the Years,but come close a few times.I will say,I have rarely-if ever heard anything bad about them.Most of my stuff is Stihl and I've probably spent say 10 grand on their small engined stuff and (generally) its been pretty good.However,I dislike the way more and more of their brushcutter/big backpack blowers are going 4 stroke-they may well be perfectly fine-but I simply dont want them.If I'm left with no choice of 2 stroke options-then husky/echo will get my business.

Hardly a new or novel item,but well worth keeping in your glovebox-its earned its keep and got me and others out of jail,pretty much makes full size jump leads redundant.In particular it saved me so much hassle when returning from 14 days in Greece to find my elderly golf cabbies battery totally flat in the long stay airport car park.This one will start a 2l diesel at least twice and a 2l petrol mebbie 3 times I would guess.

I do hope you cleaned up that k.scales like I hurriedly did! 🤫

Self-tapping screws approx same length They'll bite really well into plastic given their coarser thread.

Assuming you're referring to the bar studs-I think that stihl do a self tapping oversized replacement stud-I'd be surprised if Husky dont offer the same.