So my parents bought the stihl ms211cbe in 16" this fall. My dad has ALS, and can't chainsaw anymore. Mom is 70, like Dad, but she is able to cut wood. I'm not a huge fan of her cutting wood with a saw, as she is injury prone, and well, let's say not the best at making swift decisions. They moved into the family A frame cottage up in the northwoods 2 summers ago, and heat with wood as much as possible. There's a lopi endeavor upstairs and a wood boiler downstairs. They also have a lp boiler tied into that wood boiler for when they don't want to load the wood boiler. She bought the saw based on light weight, and easy start system. But what is your guys opinion on this saw?
The 211 is a nice, lightweight little machine. It's not going to set the world on fire powerwise but it's more than adequate for it's intended purpose. Some have raised durability concerns with it's stamped steel connecting rod but the golf course I help out on has had one for a couple years now and they are not nice to it. No issues that they didn't create, it just got a new back handle.
Tell me about it. She's very stubborn. But she wears safety chaps when cutting at my request. I've got a feeling I'll be inheriting this new stihl in a couple years though. I've been trying to get them to be snowbirds. No luck this winter or last winter. But mom always makes it more difficult than it needs to be.
Naw. 'member, this thing ain't pullin' a 36" bar and for the price of the saw, it gets hard to justify doing much work inside the engine should something go wrong.
I suppose. Keep the chain sharp and let the chain spin. They have a lot of pine, spruce, tamarack, poplar.. Soft wood for the most part. Speaking of a sharp chain, mom's bad, always had been with keeping the chain of of the sand.
Sounds like a perfect saw for the application. Lightweight, easy to start, soft wood. Should be fine. Rock on mom
