Twice bitten finally shy

[Hoosierhunting]

I'm sharing this as a cautionary tale, I purchased a Stihl MS271 chainsaw about two years ago, that saw had trouble with the oiler. Was repaired by Stijl dealer and failed again. The second time it failed I let Stihl know my displeasure and they offered to swap it for a new MS271, which I've had since 11/16. Went to use it today and it wasn't throwing any oil off the bar. There's no adjustment on these saws. My uncle had the same issue with a MS291. I generally hold Stihl in very high regard but this has done it for me. I think these farm boss saws aren't worthy of the orange. Everyone I know with a Stihl pro saw has no complaints buts I have no faith in the farm boss saws. This is just my (very frustrating) experience. YMMV but thought I'd share if it saved someone else the frustration I've had with them.


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[Mennoniteman]

I'm sharing this as a cautionary tale, I purchased a Stihl MS271 chainsaw about two years ago, that saw had trouble with the oiler. Was repaired by Stijl dealer and failed again. The second time it failed I let Stihl know my displeasure and they offered to swap it for a new MS271, which I've had since 11/16. Went to use it today and it wasn't throwing any oil off the bar. There's no adjustment on these saws. My uncle had the same issue with a MS291. I generally hold Stihl in very high regard but this has done it for me. I think these farm boss saws aren't worthy of the orange. Everyone I know with a Stihl pro saw has no complaints buts I have no faith in the farm boss saws. This is just my (very frustrating) experience. YMMV but thought I'd share if it saved someone else the frustration I've had with them.


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I like Stihl pro saws, our carpenters use them by the dozen, with no major issues, except wearing them out. Even good tools wear out, and we have a dozen worn out Stihls in a box under the workbench. But I get what you are saying, and I feel your pain. If you paid good money for a brand name product it better work. Stihl took an age-old marketing risk when they decided to sell both pro and homeowner models under the same name because of greed for greater market share (John Deere anybody?) and now they are going to pay the price. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[j-bird]

Having been in the retail products biz before - it happens all the time. A good solid company gets too big for it's own good. This especially happens when they go from a niche/trade type market to a public/retail type market. The price pressures of a retail setting is crazy and they get spread too thin and as such they outsource and the like to make it all work for various reasons and the end result is quality suffers. That oiler was once more than likely actually made by Stihl.....now it more than likely is made in China or India by the millions and millions where if there is an issue with them they are so cheap they scrap the entire lot and start over vs trying to sort/salvage them because the labor to do so exceeds the value of the part itself! I saw it everyday. These companies go from "Made in America" to "assembled in America" so to speak.....and trust me there is a difference. Mass production, globalization and the ever increasing pressure for the all mighty dollar have led to many brands suffering. This is why we see all the plastic and flimsy sheet metal stamped parts or cheap pot metal parts.....they work.....for a while, and all they care about it that it gets off the shelf in the store. Many of these companies then only focus on a few core abilities and then farm out the need for investment and skilled labor to sources further down the food chain. Automotive market has been doing it for decades! Couple that with the whole "planned obsolescence" that is designed into a product and most things will never last a lifetime any more......they simply are not designed to!

 

[Blizzard Ridge]

I know Stihl saws are not even close to the same saws they were in the 90s and early 2000's. Back in 92' thru 95' I ran the same Stihl 44 everyday, all day for those 4 years. And when I say all day I mean from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. with an hour lunch and a 5 minute break each time I ran out of fuel. When I say same saw I mean exact same saw. Outside of normal maintenance, changing worn out sprockets, bars, etc. I never had to do a thing to that saw. The only reason that saw finally met it's demise is it got ran over by tractor and bush hog. FYI, bush hogs are hard on chainsaws.

My point to all this being nothing is made like it used to be. And until they start using real metal parts it never will be.

 

[TrampledbyTurtles]

Love their chainsaws, but am living proof of the OPs title.

Their weed trimmers r junk. Got a 111 for a little over $400 for trimming brush around new tree plantings.
Well that one has a messes up carb, they replaced the carb, that didn't work.

Told them to take th POS back I was done with it. Agreed to pay more for an upgrade to 141 for another $60 bucks. At least this one runs. But not like a $550 dollar weed trimmer should.

Chance to do it again, I would look at huskvarna an never look back.

 

[lakngolf]

We had Stihl chainsaws on farm while I was growing up. Never, never never could I get the darn things cranked. Several years back my brother and I bought together an extender pole saw Stihl. It gave me trouble too.
But now I know to push the gas bubble a few time, hold down the throttle and pull the cord. It typically cranks full speed and I don't let up.
Now my Troy Bilt weed eater, which has been steady eddy, is giving me some cranking problems. I am headed for a new spark plug and hope that helps.

 

[Booner21]

We had Stihl chainsaws on farm while I was growing up. Never, never never could I get the darn things cranked. Several years back my brother and I bought together an extender pole saw Stihl. It gave me trouble too.
But now I know to push the gas bubble a few time, hold down the throttle and pull the cord. It typically cranks full speed and I don't let up.
Now my Troy Bilt weed eater, which has been steady eddy, is giving me some cranking problems. I am headed for a new spark plug and hope that helps.

Are you running ethanol free gas and emptying the tank if the saw will sit for a period of time. I started buying ethanol free gas and that fixed my issues. Have a stihl 110 weed eater, husky 550xp, husky 350 leaf blower and a little dolmar ps40 that have been trouble free. I use seafoam or Startron and 100 percent gas.

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[Hoosierhunting]

Having been in the retail products biz before - it happens all the time. A good solid company gets too big for it's own good. This especially happens when they go from a niche/trade type market to a public/retail type market. The price pressures of a retail setting is crazy and they get spread too thin and as such they outsource and the like to make it all work for various reasons and the end result is quality suffers. That oiler was once more than likely actually made by Stihl.....now it more than likely is made in China or India by the millions and millions where if there is an issue with them they are so cheap they scrap the entire lot and start over vs trying to sort/salvage them because the labor to do so exceeds the value of the part itself! I saw it everyday. These companies go from "Made in America" to "assembled in America" so to speak.....and trust me there is a difference. Mass production, globalization and the ever increasing pressure for the all mighty dollar have led to many brands suffering. This is why we see all the plastic and flimsy sheet metal stamped parts or cheap pot metal parts.....they work.....for a while, and all they care about it that it gets off the shelf in the store. Many of these companies then only focus on a few core abilities and then farm out the need for investment and skilled labor to sources further down the food chain. Automotive market has been doing it for decades! Couple that with the whole "planned obsolescence" that is designed into a product and most things will never last a lifetime any more......they simply are not designed to!

Sadly J-Bird you're spot on. Wish Stihl hadn't gone down this path of cheapening their product. Oh and planned obsolescence... today I threw out a 13 month old HP printer/scanner so I'm on a roll. There's a great documentary about planned obsolescence called The Lightbulb Conspiracy, real interesting watch. Also, since so many brands have cheapened themselves if you're looking for honest and hysterical in depth, real tool reviews (actually take it apart) check out this YouTuber called AvE. Canadian guy who does awesome tool reviews.


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[H20fwler]

Sorry to hear of your saw trouble. My wife bought me a MS271 Farm Boss last fall and I have run the hell out of it...no complaints here it does everything I want good saw to do.

 

[H20fwler]

Sorry to hear of your saw trouble. My wife bought me a MS271 Farm Boss last fall and I have run the hell out of it...no complaints here it does everything I want good saw to do.

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Sorry to hear of your saw trouble. My wife bought me a MS271 Farm Boss last fall and I have run the hell out of it...no complaints here it does everything I want good saw to do.

Glad you got a good one H2Ofwler. Wanna trade?

 

[H20fwler]

Nope...I'm happy with mine!

 

[Drycreek]

We had Stihl chainsaws on farm while I was growing up. Never, never never could I get the darn things cranked. Several years back my brother and I bought together an extender pole saw Stihl. It gave me trouble too.
But now I know to push the gas bubble a few time, hold down the throttle and pull the cord. It typically cranks full speed and I don't let up.
Now my Troy Bilt weed eater, which has been steady eddy, is giving me some cranking problems. I am headed for a new spark plug and hope that helps.

I have a Stihl pole saw also and the little primer bubble has been fixed twice. I'll guarantee that saw doesn't have ten hours on it. Nothing except Trufuel has ever been used in it. My opinion is that Stihl quality is in the toilet. I have a Stihl chainsaw that's probably 20 years old and still runs well. They keep telling me it's about worn out and I just keep using it.