Used Stihl 241 value?

That's why I said -> I <- think the 241 makes the 201 obsolete.

 

None of the rear-handled arborist saws have been big sellers here in North America. Homeowners aren't interested in a $500+ "limbing saw" and commercial contractors looking for lightweight and maneuverable don't like the price tag either. We sold a LOT of MS180s and MS250s to tree crews looking for ground saws that nobody would cry over if backed over by the chip truck. If it made it 6 months, it had likely paid for itself 100x already. Repairs were simple. Saw broke, saw goes in the f-it bucket, and a replacement was purchased and in service within the hour.

Despite me insisting that we keep one in-stock, I think we sold two MS200's and that or fewer MS192's (sold a bunch of MS192T's though) in the 5 years that I worked for the dealership. Managed to give away (literally the only way to get rid of it ) a single MS191T too.

I think you're onto it...

So why do we have THREE rear-handled arborist saws (from Stihl) on the NA market and not the MS241? (facepalm) The only guess I could hazard would be that the MS151C-E, MS194C-E, and the MS201C-EM share engines with their top-handle siblings. The MS241's engine is only found in that specific model despite it's similarity with other professional saws. So, perhaps there is some cost savings or just less bureaucratic friction in offering up the back-handled arborist saws?

Side note: the marketing material for the MS201C-EM is hilarious as it shows a guy cutting up firewood in a sawbuck (who's buying this saw for that? ) and the model itself is NOT included under "Professional Saws" but instead shows up as the highest priced "Farm & Ranch" model.

Take away the private contractors that aren't likely to be willing to spend 2x for a saw that they assume will not have a birthday, and the only customer base left is the owner/operator/saw enthusiast (have to be all three) and that's a tiny population for sure that isn't likely to buy a new saw all that often. Another uphill battle is how many dealers (and especially their sales staff) are going to put in the work to promote a saw that doesn't sell itself. Even if the sales crew is educated and enthusiastic, as a society, we're trained to be pretty cynical of such, and setting up a first-hand demo to show off the MS241 is risky at best. It won't shine in a test log/cant outside the dealership, and sending them out as demo units, well, they'll be prone to theft and an "uncontrolled" test. The MS241 should have been stealing sales as an upsell from the MS250/251 and a little from the MS261 as a better-handling saw for some applications. But when you sit a whole lineup of saws on the shelf and don't talk to your customers, the only thing that matters is the price tag. Unfortunately, that exact situation is all too common here in the US, even in Stihl dealerships.

 

10 cord, all in the 2"-10" range? Why not?