$200 Running Stihl MS660 - Now What?

[bulletpruf]

Newer mahle made Stihl cylinders don't have chrome. They are nikisil. I know its been since the 026/036/066/088 came out in 1988. Possibly earlier?. Muriatic acid cant creep under it, and if its chipped it already screwed. Still dont want just dump acid in however, just touch the spot with aluminum with a q tip soaked in it.

That's generally what I do - apply it with a q-tip.

 

[1Snowcat]

Makes no matter chrome or nikasil one little defect it's under it, and eating away aluminum cylinder behind the coating. Tread lighty, I worked for Yamaha i know how easy it is to go from yep it's working, to well it's now scrap pile material bad part about chainsaw cylinders most places won't re chrome or replate chainsaws...

 

[bulletpruf]

Cleaned up the jug with some muriatic acid on a cotton swab, then 400 grit sandpaper by hand, scotchbrite on the drill, and finished with 1,000 grit by hand. Good to go.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Now you need a back brace to handle that thing for a couple of hours!

I rarely use my 660 just because of its size but its nice to mill smaller logs for lumber or cut big 50" logs. If I remember correctly I spent about 200 dollars on my 660 and it was in a lot nicer shape on the outside but needed a new piston/cylinder as it was seized so i probably have 500 dollars in it.

Every thing else i use my ms361 because of weight, and more recently been thinking about getting a ms 261

Even if it runs well i would put new seals in it and a new fuel pickup and filter

We run a 261CE at work and I love it. For about 80% of what we do it is absolutely perfect. The other 2 saws we run are 25" bar saws for laying down large trees. They are beasts and do their job well, but they are heavy and get old on smaller stuff.

 

[bulletpruf]

We run a 261CE at work and I love it. For about 80% of what we do it is absolutely perfect. The other 2 saws we run are 25" bar saws for laying down large trees. They are beasts and do their job well, but they are heavy and get old on smaller stuff.

50cc saw is enough for just about anyone who doesn't have a lot of property and doesn't heat with wood.

 

[jabberwoki]

Somewhere there's a tree guy missing a saw

 

[bulletpruf]

Somewhere there's a tree guy missing a saw

Seller was a lady in her 50's or 60's; said she was selling it for her brother, who had a stroke. Met her at her house; she seemed legit.

 

[Kscardsfan]

50cc saw is enough for just about anyone who doesn't have a lot of property and doesn't heat with wood.

I run a 1200 acre state park that is littered with 4' basal diameter cottonwood trees, so big saws are the moneymaker for us lol. But after good wind or to limb up the tree after it's felled, you absolutely can't beat that 261. We also have a top handle, I can't remember the model number, we use as an in tree saw for pruning with the bucket truck that works great as well.

 

[bulletpruf]

I run a 1200 acre state park that is littered with 4' basal diameter cottonwood trees, so big saws are the moneymaker for us lol. But after good wind or to limb up the tree after it's felled, you absolutely can't beat that 261. We also have a top handle, I can't remember the model number, we use as an in tree saw for pruning with the bucket truck that works great as well.

What do you run for big saws?

 

[bulletpruf]

660 cleaned up nicely. Parts are starting to arrive; time to start with reassembly.

Not sure if I'm going to wait for the new OEM fuel tank to arrive from Oz. Might just stick with the original tank, which looks much better now that it's clean.

Also ordered a Max Flow air filter setup for it.

 

[dutchgray]

50cc saw is enough for just about anyone who doesn't have a lot of property and doesn't heat with wood.

I heat with wood (and do logs as a side gig for 5 others) and only own an MS261c
That saw will cut larger rings than my back can handle getting on the log splitter, is light, smooth running, reliable.
95% of what I'm cutting at the moment is dead ash from ash dieback, mostly pretty small.

We just cleared felled 4 acres (with a tree shear on a 13t excavator) that was planted 2004, mostly ash, there wasn't more than about 30 ash trees in the patch that didn't have ash dieback, it's all going through a chipper then into a power station for electricity generation, such a waste of what would be good firewood, but there's so much about and relatively few who use it nowadays.

 

[Firebrick43]

I heat with wood (and do logs as a side gig for 5 others) and only own an MS261c
That saw will cut larger rings than my back can handle getting on the log splitter, is light, smooth running, reliable.
95% of what I'm cutting at the moment is dead ash from ash dieback, mostly pretty small.

We just cleared felled 4 acres (with a tree shear on a 13t excavator) that was planted 2004, mostly ash, there wasn't more than about 30 ash trees in the patch that didn't have ash dieback, it's all going through a chipper then into a power station for electricity generation, such a waste of what would be good firewood, but there's so much about and relatively few who use it nowadays.

All the dead ash here is worthless as firewood by the time where it needs to come down. Sort of odd as even black cherry that’s been down for a few years and a little punky, is still ok as firewood.

Neighbor tried milling some standing dead ash into lumber that seamed excellent and solid. It was so brittle that it was junk.

 

[dutchgray]

All the dead ash here is worthless as firewood by the time where it needs to come down. Sort of odd as even black cherry that’s been down for a few years and a little punky, is still ok as firewood.

Neighbor tried milling some standing dead ash into lumber that seamed excellent and solid. It was so brittle that it was junk.

Most of what is being cut over here isn't dead yet, along the roads, anywhere with public access gets cut almost as soon as the dieback starts showing, nobody wants to get sued by someone who had a tree fall on them.
I do agree that they seem to rot quickly.

 

[Kscardsfan]

What do you run for big saws?

I'd have to double check, but maybe 462s? We use the absolute hell out of them without incident. I'm also very serious about staying on top of maintenance with them and only using real gas in the mixed fuel.

 

[bulletpruf]

Had a bit of a scare this morning. Was getting ready to use the blower to clean off the garage floor and saw something familiar - one of the little #^$(&*# clips that hold the piston wrist pin in. Ruh-roh. I was thinking it might have been one from the old piston so I checked the ziplock bag with the original piston. Two clips. Damn. Took the jug off and sure enough, I was missing one. That would have been an expensive f*ckup.

 

[bulletpruf]

It's alive. Sounds good with a gutted baffle and an extra port on the muffler. Still need to tune it.

It still has limiter caps on the carb. I'm inclined to leave them in place if it will let me richen the mixture up enough to where I like it - four-stroking at WOT, but cleans up in the cut.

 

[bulletpruf]

Well, it's done. Idles at 2,500 and I have it tuned to hit 13,800 at WOT, four-stroking. I need to sink it in some wood to verify that it cleans up under load. Also need to do a compression check; curious to see how much it picked up with a new piston and cleaned up jug.

Everything OEM except for the bar plate and the oil cap. Next time I pass by a Stihl dealer, I'll see if I can pick up new OEM stuff.

Total investment is $1,270. Breakdown: $250 purchase price, $75 West Coast clutch cover, $10 oil cap (not OEM), $75 Max Flow air filter setup, $15 muffler port, $30 Elasto Start, $10 screw for rear handle, $115 piston, $15 bar plate (not OEM), $25 clutch drum bearing, $20 chain catcher, $40 skid plate for bottom of the saw (not installed yet), $170 wrap handle, $15 impulse hose, $10 fuel filter, $15 carb kit, $20 handle cover, $15 trigger and throttle rod (used OEM), $60 gasket set, $215 fuel tank, $70 top cover.

I threw on my spare 044 bar; it's 25" and I prefer a 28" bar on an 064/066/660. I do have a few 36" bars on the shelf, too, if needed. FYI - the bar it came with was an OEM Stihl 25" and as expected, it was in need of TLC. Spent a lot of time dressing it before I was happy with it.

So, to answer the question posed, $200 MS660, now what? The answer: spend a bunch of time and $$$ so you can spend $1,270 on a saw that's worth about $1,000.

To do it all over again, I'd skip the new fuel tank for $215; mine looked fine after it was cleaned up. I could have kept the original 1/2 wrap handle, too, I guess.

 

[RyanE]

Looks great!

I too went down this path with an 044 last year. It was cosmetically challenged and the rear handle was cracked like they all are. So naturally I spent way too much and split the cases, all new bearings and then a new piston/rings. Should last me a long time now though.

That Oz fuel tank/handle. Was it made it Oz or an Asian import?

I'm not really happy with my import 044 tank/handle. The first time I filled it, it leaked at the seam. I left it for a few weeks and it seemed to stop leaking. It's been like that for 6 months and no leaks now?

 

[bulletpruf]

Looks great!

I too went down this path with an 044 last year. It was cosmetically challenged and the rear handle was cracked like they all are. So naturally I spent way too much and split the cases, all new bearings and then a new piston/rings. Should last me a long time now though.

That Oz fuel tank/handle. Was it made it Oz or an Asian import?

I'm not really happy with my import 044 tank/handle. The first time I filled it, it leaked at the seam. I left it for a few weeks and it seemed to stop leaking. It's been like that for 6 months and no leaks now?

The tank from Oz is genuine Stihl. There's an eBay seller - Outbushman - who has a bunch of OEM Stihl stuff that no one else has.

FYI - I've done the same thing - get 'em minty and then sell for break even $ - with just about every model of Stihl saw - 020 AV, 026 Pro, 028, 036 Pro x2, 038 Magnum x3, 044 Magnum, 046, 048, 056 Magnum, 064 x2, 066, 075/076 x6, Contra x3, 070, and 090.

Pic below is in my temporary garage in VA a few years ago with my 044.