NEW STIHL MS461 CHAINSAW

Brad if I can justify a 880 you can certainly justify a 661.

 

Yep, at one time, I was considering a 170, but I don't know, I have found the 261 CM to be about as small a saw as I currently want. I kind of like a long bar for limbing because it seems like a lot of my trees have a canopy that is perceived by me, anyway, to be dangerous to get close to the trunk, a lot of the time. And I like to keep that little bit of extra distance away, in case the trunk rolls, or something under pressure jumps. And sometimes I will still be cutting up high on the canopy, and the longer bars give me the reach I like. Ideally, a 170 or even a 261 with a Lightweight 28" bar is something I would like, but I guess neither saw will pull it, although I am not entirely convinced that the 261 couldn't with skip tooth, square filed chain, but then I suppose you would still have the oil delivery to the bar issue.

Crazy idea's of mine, I guess, and probably not practical.

 

You cut a lot more wood than i do...and big stuff too! I see a lot of them for sale used around here on CL & FBM. If a "you suck" type of deal came along i could pull the trigger.
Stihl came out with the 661 Magnum non mtronic recently. Rumors say the pros didnt like the mtronic version. How often do you run your 880?

 

So far I really like the m tronic in my 661. Very predictable running and starting characteristics even playing in this -0° crap.
As for the 880 I've only used it 3 times the last being 7-8 years ago. I agreed to do 1 huge tree that fell across a fast moving creek far out in a muddy field. Basically had to cut it into cookies while standing on it.
As payment I got the saw, a 60" and 48" bar and 3 or 4 chains for each. Food and pretty much hypothermia to boot.
A tree company quoted almost 10 grand to remove it.
The other 2 huge trees were topped by the power company. But they almost touched a garage and a stone fence with no room to drop. So about a foot at a time I cut them away.
It's basically a shelf queen now all cleaned and polished.

 

I went ahead and mounted a Stihl 25" (24" really) bar on the 461 and fired it up. No surprises, it took 7-8 cranks on the pull cord to get it to hit the first time, and one more on half choke, and it was gone. It ran great, but I didn't get to actually cut any wood with it. I shut it off, adjusted the chain a little, and first pull on the run setting, she fired right off, again. Looking forward to getting it into some wood. Be glad when this snow and ice is gone.

 

Be great to have all the $$ that is FHC members have spent on new STIHL chainsaws in the last year. I got to admit that 461 is a handsome saw. Lastofmoheken are you gonna try it out with a 36 inch bar with full skip chain?

 

I love my 461 for anything over 15" log but if it's smaller than that it's usually the 361 on bucking and the 260 limbing. Anything more than those three is definitely in the I want it category.

 

I don't know, it would be hard to justify for the trees I cut, and the region I live in. The longest bar I own is 28" "lightweight" and it's currently mounted on my 462 CM. But I do have another "standard weight" 28 hanging on the wall. I do keep thinking about a 32" Lightweight, which I am liable to end up with, but I really don't see owning a 36" at this time. However, if I could find a good used Oregon Lightweight at a cheap price, I might get it, just for the heck of it.

I do love the long bars, or lets just say, I don't like the really short bars that much, although I must admit a good, middle of the road, 20" bar, is very likely the best all around bar and certainly the most popular bar in my neck of the woods.

 

I really do still like my 362 a lot. It's about my favorite sized saw, although I wouldn't mind if it had a little more power. It might be a good candidate for porting.

 

My 361 (precursor to the 362) seems to be my go to saw as of late. When my 460 went down in August i bought the barely used 361 to take its place. Came with an 18" and 22" Carlton bar. The latter handles most of the bigger cutting and the 18 the rest. What bar length do you normally run on your 362?

 

All of this snow and cold weather has restricted me from getting out and sawing, and trying out this new 461, but today late, I just couldn't take it, anymore. I had been wanting to get out and cut and sharpen some cedar fence post to drive into the ground, for an addition to my dog pen, so I loaded up the 461 and started driving the field edges looking for suitable trees to make fence post out of.

I found a fairly straight one without too much taper and delimbed it and cut it down and sharpened it and cut the top off and squared it up for driving. Then I found another one and cut it, The saw worked good, no problems and I remember thinking to myself, "I know this saw is my heaviest one, but it's not really objectionable to me, not bad at all. It felt good to get out and do some heavier physical labor. Then bad luck hit. I guess I got it in a bind cutting a small limb off, and threw the chain off the bar. And I was just going to cut for a few minutes before feeding cattle, and left my tools in the shop. But I never go out with just one saw, and my 261 CM, so I fired it up and finished that post and went and fed my cattle.

I got the cattle fed and still had 30 minutes before dark so I didn't go home and went instead, and cut a few more posts and sharpened them with the 261 CM. The 261 worked great, and I took note of how light it was compared to my heavier saws, which is pretty nice, when carrying a saw in one hand and a heavy fence post over the other shoulder, while wading through the snow. Still like my heavier saws, though, nothing like variety. It's the spice of life, I guess.

I put the chain back on when I got back to the shop, and fired it up, then had to adjust it again. It was a new chain, and was doing a little stretching on me, I recon. I can't wait to get some more trigger time in on the 461, maybe tomorrow. I figure that new chain got a little too loose on me, pretty quick, and I didn't notice it, soon enough for the cutting conditions I was in, frozen wood, small pinching limbs, snow and ice, too, I guess.

 

I am running a 25" lightweight bar on it.

 

Saweet! Now get rid of that flimsy, stamped, single dog and get some real double dogs and a roller chain catcher! Might I suggest the Pro Safety 5pts, or these from Ebay DOG SPIKE SET FITS STIHL 046 MS460 MS461 CHAINSAW NEW ------ BOX 1844 | eBay

 

It seems that Husqvarna has a similar chainsaw bar.

 

I now see that right in your sig line. Have you tried running it with a shorter bar when bucking smaller diameter wood? Makes a difference vs using the 261.

 

Yes, I like the Pro Safety dogs from Bailey's. That's what's on my 362.

 

No, I haven't, I know you loose a little power pulling a longer bar, but I really like the longer bars for the reach it gives me so I don't have to bend over very much. And right or wrong, I like to back bar a lot, and I can back bar, basically standing up, and my face is farther from the bar if I should mess up and get a kick back, plus I think if one does get a kick back, it quite often a milder slower kick back with a long bar. Not that I get many kickbacks, actually, I hardly ever do, even though I back bar a lot.

 

I ran the 461 some more today, cutting and sharpening cedar fence posts for driving in the ground with my post maul. Snow was still on the ground but it was warmer, then it had been. I am starting to really like the 461. It starts easily and I just like the power curve, I think. It's my heaviest saw, but I don't find it objectionable, in fact sometimes I like being a little heavier. It's just smooth, and has enough weight to dampen it if you experience a light kick back, etc. I will probably just leave that 25 inch bar on it most of the time, but might experiment with other lengths if get the urge. It looks like it's delivering plenty of oil to the bar, and I like that.

 

I broke down and went ahead and ordered a Pro-Safety full wrap handle bar for it and some Pro-Safety 4 point felling dogs from Bailey's. I really like the looks of that particular full wrap handle bar. I like it better then Stihl's offering and it's about a hundred dollars cheaper. That's the nice thing about the 461, there's quite a bit of aftermarket support for it, compared to some of the other Stihl saws, I have.

 

Nice looking saw!! Wish my dealers around here wouldn’t look at me like I have two heads when I ask if they have a 461?

I envy you guys that can find them at their local dealer....