The John Deere store (of all places) advertised a 170 for 169.99 on Craigslist friday. I thought that didn't sound too bad, so picked one up. Got it out to Dad's yesterday to limb some of the down stuff in the southwest corner of his woods. I gotta tell ya, after being spoiled by my 290 for the last season or so, I was a little disappointed. But then I realized that I was comparing apples and oranges and reset my expectations. It's a lot more persnickety to get started than the 290, and anti vibration is something it just doesn't have a lot of, but for 1.7 horses it sure does eat some wood! The weight is so much nicer, too. More later.
It is what you say. A 290 could be looked at in the same way if comparing it to a much better suited saw for weight versus power output too. Not knocking your saw. I had several 290's. Good saw. But, in an apples and orange comparison, not in the same universe as others. I like the little stihl saws though. They will flat out run. God Bless
I've had a 170..180...023...025. My favorite...the 180 ! What a zippy handy lil saw. Wish I would have kept it !
I know what you mean about the 290, Mountaineer. It is, however, a pretty fair compromise. And boy, do I miss Morgantown. What a gracious place.
It is easy to have high expectations of those little saws after running something larger. My brother and I just got my dad a 36cc Shindaiwa saw. He's been cutting with an MS310 for 10 years, and when he first started running the Shindaiwa he stalled the chain several times. I felt a little bad when I noticed he quietly put the smaller saw down and started limbing with his Stihl again. So I picked up the Shindaiwa and started using it. I had the same issue for several cuts until I forced myself to use light pressure and let the high rpm's do the cutting. After changing his technique I don't think Dad put that little saw down for the rest of the day, even for logs as large as 12-14"!!
Yeah, that was pretty much my experience. Just had to back off on it a little and it did fine. I think an adjustable carb might be just the thing. Time will tell, I guess.
I haven't run a 180 or a 170, but my parents bought a new ms211cbe last winter. I have an 029 super, so I know the weight issue, and I've run my buds ms460 recently. I've run a wide range of stihls. The 460 was only slightly heavier than the 029s, but that 211 was a huge difference weight wise . That little 211 rips though. Light, and more power than I thought it would have. Keep the revs up and it eats wood.
A short update. The dealer overcharged me when I bought it, so I took my money back in canned premixed fuel. This led to MUCH better performance, which led to me paying 20$ for a five gallon can of 90 octane no ethanol gas at the local oil and fuel wholesaler. I originally was using 87 regular, and one could definitely tell the difference, though to be fair my 290 is far less picky. I never even fired the 290 up yesterday, and cut a BUNCH of wood, so my estimation of the little saw has improved tremendously. Still too much vibration, but a solid little performer.
