Stihl Came Unglued, But Fixed, Then Came Unglued Again.

In 2019 I bought a new Stihl MS251 Wood Boss. I heat entirely with wood, and have a lot of oak on my place, as well as friends' places. I am frequently being offered large oak trees to take down. Right now I have 3 on my plate, that friends want me to fell. I'll take them down and process them for my stacks. Now I also have a spare MS251 that I bought new a few months ago. But this is about my original saw.

So something happened to my original MS251 in Sept. I had not used it since the previous winter, and I had the air intake flap set to winter instead of summer. The saw overheated and died. I figured out what the problem was and flipped the flap, I let the saw cool down and it started up and ran just fine... for a few hours. But after a few hours of use it was unable to build power or speed. I took it to my buddy's saw shop. There are two little covers that are literally glued on to either side of the cylinder of the Stihl. When my saw over heated, it weakened the glue bond, and the cover loosened, which killed the power. My buddy said Stihl used to machine this part into the cylinder, but cheapened out and began glueing them on some years back. So my main saw was useless. He tried some JB Weld to glue it back in place, and that worked for a few hours, but the cover came unglued again.

Here is a picture of the cover. There are two--one on either side of the saw.



So my MS251 was useless. But I found a new Stihl engine on ebay for around $200 and it came today. So as soon as I install it, I'll have basically a new saw. For $200. I'll take that deal.

The box says MS194 T, but the data tag on the new engine says MS 251

 

It sucks that Stihl is cheaping out like that.
You said big oaks with a 251? 251 is a fairly small homeowners saw. How big are these oaks?

 

Not cool Stihl. This reminds me of some oring issues that Husky had on their transfer covers some years back. The covers were fastened down, but the oring seals were deformed or improperly installed IIRC.

 

Thought the same thing. Sounds like he should be looking for at least a 60cc saw given size of trees and frequency of use.

 

Unfortunate that happened. If you are going to continue to cut larger wood another, higher CC saw maybe in your future. Perhaps a 311 or 391 in Stihls farm/ranch saws or a 59CC 362 in their pro model line. Not knocking the 251...a decent saw for what it is.

I owned a 290 (in the farm/ranch level) for years and it served me well, but once i went to a pro model saw i never looked back. Very reliable and hold their resale value. Its also nice to have a choice of different sized saws for different sized wood.

 

Glued on transfer covers, that's a new one on me.

 

Don't you know that the cost of screws due to supply chain issues have gone through the roof ?

I can't believe that they would rely on some amazing stickie" stuff to hold engine parts together.
Talk about a cheesie way out.
Everyone is cutting corners wherever they can so be prepared to pay more and get less.

 

Noticed the bold about 10 years ago honestly. The money I earn is worth less, and the products that it buys are of lesser quality.

 

I'm 76, and need a lighter saw. I take my time and try not to overload the saw. The present oak I'm working on has 130 growth rings and is 20-22 inches in diameter 4 feet above the ground.

 

I believe its not a new process gluing the covers on. Even some of the professional saws have this too I believe. The 201 comes to mind.

 

I have never had to use the winter shutter position on any saw and I'm in Michigan.

 

Yeah, it started a while back but all the covid BS seems to have sent it into a tail-spin.

I had a saying in the shop one day and it has kind of stuck ; " Prepare to be Disappointed".
It isn't far from the truth.

 

Heck, that'll still buy you a new Poulan Pro 4518!
https://www.google.com/url?q=https:...g5BPEQsDwIHg&usg=AOvVaw2jwvvrv5FpHJuSOvQKFMIM

 

Actually that’s how they’ve been built since this saw model came out on the older ones, 271/291, 311/391 is the same way. The newer updated versions are different if I remember right. The cylinders are easier to make with transfer covers.

 

new version has solid transfers no covers, the 271/291, 311/391 were updated also. The cheaper ones are usually the old style.

 

Your best bet is to buy a ms 261 next, full on pro saw with removeable cylinder. This will also weigh about the same as a ms 251 but have way more power even stock. Ms 271 is kind of the homeowner version of the 261 but less power and heavier. If you buy a 261 it will probably be the last you have to buy.