OT/Chainsaw

bdunegan

Member
What is a good saw for just general farm use? No cutting wood or anything hard just an occasional downed tree and trimming. And please don't recommend Poulan pro. I have two 18" just alike and neither are worth throwing away. I have had them checked out and can't find anything wrong. They idle fine, but when giving throttle, they bog down and die. Have new carbs and coils on them and new plugs and fuel line and filters. No fix. Second is a stihl ms250. Runs when it wants to and not when I really need it. Has had very little use. Last time it pope and died, and now won't hit at all. Getting gas and good spark but won't run. Always been hard to start. What is a good reliable one to buy?
 
No matter what brand you buy if you feed it ethenol gas it is not going to run properly (just my opinion)

I have a husky ( can not spell that long brand name) And a stihl both have been good saws

Run and start good,

Saws are the same as tractors and trucks, all brands break down, it's the quality of your local dealer to service them when needed that keeps them running over the long haul,

Note: stihl is not sold in box stores still at local dealers in my area,

However I must agree with you to some point, as my friend has a stihl that the local dealer was never able to get to run properly, new carb etc,
He finally junked it and bought a different stihl model, runs great,
 
That 250 will work for your needs, being an 1127 series, they are not that bad to work on, it sounds like a bad fuel line, but of course all parts of the same material should be checked for holes/cracks etc. Fuel line should take an hour to replace. Look on you tube for videos on how to take these apart, any in that family will help, 250, 290, 310, 390 etc.
 
Yes there is a fix to the poor running Poulan Pro. The carburetors are EPA approved which means they are adjusted at the factory to run lean and clean, not for decent running or power. There is probably a plastic plug on the carburetor that hides the high speed adjustment. If you can find and remove that, the high speed can be adjusted for good running and power. The other option is to find out what carburetor is on the saw and replace it with one that has both low and high speed screws exposed so they can be adjusted.

The Stihl is a good saw but with any saw, it needs to be used regularly or the gas will go bad in the tank and then they won't run decent and be hard to start. Dump out all the old gasoline and put in fresh. It may take some cranking to get the old gas out of the carb and fresh gas in before it will start.
 
I run the Stihl and never have trouble. It sets for months and will start on second pull. I run real gas(no ethanol) there is a few stations that still has it.I'm with you on the Poulan there not worth your time.Also have Stihl weed eater--leave blower and no trouble. On your MS250 may be your electronic ignition. Easy fix.
 
Both Poulan saws have the adjustable jets exposed on the carbs. They have been adjusted every way possible and still no go. The one that I finally get started idles fine for a few seconds, then will speed up by itself till its almost wide open, then will slow back down and idle again for a few seconds then does it again.
 
Finally got the stihl started this morning so going at it again. I was so frustrated last night that I guess I flooded it which is easy to do but it cranked third pull this morning and runs fine, so we will see.
 
IMO, Stihl and Echo make by far the best two cycle engines for both saws and trimmers, etc. I have had both on various pieces of equipment for over 30 years and still going. When a friend joins me in the woods with a Poulan I know we will end up with just my saw working after a short time. So he gets to haul the wood. Stihl and Echo will tolerate ethanol better than any of the others I've tried, but best not to use ethanol gas in any of them.
 
my SIL who worked for a landscaper told me not to buy anything but ECHO. I have three different ECHO trimmers. happy with all of them.
 
Well I bit the bullet and bought a new ms251 stihl. Not much on easy start and quick adjust chain so I opted for basic model. Cut up a huge oak limb with it tonight that the wind got and so far, I am impressed. Went through like a hot knife through butter, never bogged down at all and first fill and start up went great. Started after 3 pulls. Got a big trailer load of wood cut with no problems. Trash man is gonna be surprised to find a Poulan saw in trash tomorrow! Lol. Thanks everyone for their input.
 
I have a MS 250 and it is the hardest starting of all my Stihl chainsaws and it does flood easy. But is a great saw once running. I have had mine back to dealer telling them it was had starting and the checked it out and said the engine has more compression now than when it was new.
 
That's the symptom of an air leak, commonly a seal on the crankshaft. That will also make the saw impossible to adjust right for power.
 
Echo is the super reliable small engine product not everyone knows about. Just as good as Stihl, just not as well known.
 
I purchased a used Stihl chain saw 11 years ago , I have no idea how old it was then but it's still going strong today . I also bought a used Stihl weed trimmer about the same time and it's still running while my brother n law is buying every other brand under the sun and throwing them away every two or three years. He's always wanting to barrow mine but I see how he treats his tools so he has a snowballs chance in heck of getting that done. Stihl is my choice . :)
 
If you can do your own repairs and maintenance, older Poulans are a heckuva value saw. Adjust the carb properly, use treated fuel, and put a decent chain on and they will keep up with any of the non-pro saws from Husky or Stihl. A few years ago I brought my $120.00 Poulan 2150 (36cc/16" bar) to help clean up a church campground. Another gent had his new homeowner Stihl of about the same size that he had paid over $200.00 for. My Walmart Poulan was leaving him in the sawdust. That is, until the Stihl was put out of action by the cruddy no-tools chain tensioner failing.

I'm an Echo man nowadays. Got a CS-400 and CS-3000, both purchased on Fleabay .for cheap needing basic repairs. Great saws that start easily, OEM parts are cheap and easy to find everywhere. Have less than $300.00 total in both of them.
 
(quoted from post at 13:08:45 07/25/16)
ethanol: when it comes to 2 cycle engines, JUST SAY NO.

list of stations by state selling E0 (ethanol-free) gas

I entered my state (IN) and scrolled down to the local gas stations. The New Paris, Sunoco Stop-N-Go, Hwy 15 does not sell ethanol free gas. To my knowledge it never has. I have not tested the fuel from the other local stations and can not comment on them.

If you want ethanol free gasoline I would recommend you - test it!

I find it interesting the number of poeple that comment how much better their truck runs on the gasoline from the ethanol (not) free pump.
 
The cheap gas stations here (Speedway, Murphy, Krogers, etc.) have always been blended with ethanol. Ethanol is a very good engine fuel as long as it is fresh. I always use ethanol treatment with fuel stabilizer in my farm and lawn machines. Star Tron and STP are my faves. I leave the treated fuel in over the winter and they always start up in the spring no problem. Even the TO-35 does great on this undignified unleaded with ethanol. I would take treated E10 over straight dino gas any day.
 
All the stations around here ethanol in gasoline. You can find ethanol free gas at airports and boat docks on lakes but is seasonal around lakes and not
always somebody around small air ports. I use Briggs and Stratton fuel stabilizer in every thing and it has a 3 year life in fuel.
 

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