Free Farmertec MS660? (Chinese Stihl MS660 clone)

Hi folks,
A local tree service guy is giving me all his Bradford pear logs. I use Bradford pear on my wood lathe as it’s a really good hardwood for wood turning that finishes really nicely:

I picked up a small trailer load on Tuesday and we stood around chatting for more than an hour.

I told him we have about 8 large white oak trunks we’re thinking of milling for rough lumber, and asked him if the blue Chinese Stihl clones were worth looking at, as we don’t currently have the funds for an OEM saw big enough to mill with.

He said a friend gave him two of the Farmertec MS660 saws a couple years ago. He ran one of them hard and it ran good, but it seized up on him after initially running it for five hours straight, so he threw the other one in a shed and hasn’t touched it since as he has plenty of reliable Stihl professional saws.

He offered to give it to me if I want to try it for milling. He said not to run it hard for long periods and it might work fine.

I know nothing about these saws.

Can anyone offer any input on what to look out for or replace or upgrade prior to attempting to use it for milling? Since I’m getting it for free, I don’t mind investing a couple dollars in it up frobt if it will make it more reliable.

I don’t even have a chainsaw mill yet, but I’m looking at options on Facebook marketplace.

There’s an unused Granberg Alaskan 36” mill still in the original box listed locally for $185, which seems like a decent deal.

 

I've worked on just one. I also read on them as well as watched some vids. I guess the chain adjusters are prone to failure. Oil pumps too. Guy's that build them from kits often replace the bearings with OEM. If milling, open up the muffler to get the heat out. The one I had my hands on was the grey carbon fiber looking "pro" model. It had a massive air leak and bar oil leak because all the crankcase bolts were loose. It sucked the case gaset right in. It also had loose cylinder bolts and a blown base gasket. The owner had already put in an OEM oil pump and chain adjuster. It didn't have much run time on it.

 

I have an MS290 I did a moderate muffler mod on. It really improved the saw.

Is a muffler mod on the Chinese 660 muffler similar?

I found a couple lists of things to upgrade to oem on these Chinese saws, including clutch and controls, possibly carb and fuel lines, but wasn’t sure which ones were necessary and which optional.

 

I forgot about the clutch. The one I worked on had a broken clutch spring. Lol. This one supposedly has a real Walbro carb and said so on the carb body but the chicoms might be fibbing lol. It ran fine once the air leaks were fixed though. As to the muffler, I don't believe they are the same as a 290. The front cover comes off on the 660. This one actually had a dual port cover on it. Not sure if it's a factory Farmertech part or after market. It definitely wasn't done by the owner.

 

One of these?


Has his many Chinese parts is my other two steals do

 

Yes, but I think it’s a blue one. I’ll know more tomorrow.

 

I put a high output oiler on it specifically for milling purposes. I can now use my bar oil up before my gas is gone.

 

Some people have good luck with them, some don't...I built one from a parts kit some years back, replaced the wrist pin bearing with OEM, and had to clearance the piston skirt a bit because it hit the crank at BDC. Also replaced the chain tensioner because it was slipping...turned out it just needed shimmed because the new one also slipped, until shimmed.
I think they can be a good enough saw if gone over with a fine toothed comb, and kept an eye on...for milling run 32:1 synthetic oil, and let things cool a bit during refueling...an auxillary oiler is a real good idea on a milling bar too.

 

Seems like they can be very hit or miss, with miss being more common...

I met a guy last year with a blue 660. He was cutting on a pile of delivered logs. I stopped to chat and see what he thought of it. It looked pretty new because it was still very clean. He let me run it and it felt and ran just like a stihl 660. If I was blindfolded, I wouldn't have known the difference. He said he got it to cut up the firewood. I drove by a week later and he had not cut up much more than when I was there before, maybe a couple of logs. It has now been a year and the pile has not been cut on. I don't know if the saw quit or if he just doesn't need to cut any more right now.

I have heard from a lot of other people that they need a thorough going-through before using. I would definitely do that if I were to get one (it would have to be free), but once you consider the cost of a good carb, all the parts that need replaced with oem, and the time and effort, you would be better off with a new oem saw. I priced out the "pro" version with the "real"carb and added the oem cost of all parts to be upgraded and it was around $1000. Not worth it.

I found an "almost new in box"/"barely used" 372xp oe for $650 locally and went that route. The guy said he only cut 5 trees with it, and it looked like it. It had been sitting under his bench for 17 years! It fired right up on the old gas that was in it! I paid him and beat a trail for home, dumped out the old fuel and refilled it with fresh mix. The first tank was a little bit of a disappointment, but everything cleared out and it runs like new.

Keep an eye out and let people know what you are looking for. It's out there. I try to stay away from chicom stuff as much as possible, especially with 2 stroke stuff. You would be better off selling the blue saw and using that money to make up the difference on a real one.

 

I decided not to go with a Chinese 660 clone.

But I found a used Stihl 660 in good shape with 20” bar and chain for $525 and picked it up yesterday.

It was the first time I ever started a chainsaw that big. What a beast and awesome sound.

 

you’re still going to want to put a high output oiler on it.

 

Yep, you can turn a high output oiler down, but you can't turn a stock one up....not without modifying it.

 

I plan on putting a 42” bar and chain and an external oiler on it for milling, with a 36” Granberg mill.

 

I’ve seen videos where an oem oiler was modified to increase its output but it looks a lot simpler to just install a high output oiler.

 

It is easier to install a high output oiler. Modding an oiler is detail oriented.

 

Any links to instructions? The MS290 wasn’t hard but I only did a moderate mod on it.

Or is it easier to just buy an aftermarket dual port cover for the existing muffler?

 

The easiest thing to do is cut fish gills.

 

Is that a simple muffler mod with crescent shaped holes instead of round? I’m not familiar with that.