I waited six years to buy a Skihl. Got the warranty. look on the bottom. Plastic handle. It’s held together with a tiny piece of plastic on a spring cracks easy cheap Chinese junk now. You’ve been Warned by if you’re an idiot.

Starts alright if you follow directions and use new fuel and Stihl oil. Full choke (lever to bottom) and few pulls till fires. If fires but not start, click choke lever up a notch. That usually starts after a few pulls and then blip to idle and off you go. Spoke to dealer and he stressed importance of fresh fuel if even 10 hrs old. Is a solid, reliable tool for price. Not meant for large trees but good for re-growth and branch pruning. Not too heavy for older man or fit female.

was ok to use at the start, used this chainsaw 8 times and nothing but troubles. under powered, no decent tuning ability and now it is not running in the high rpm range. it is unable to be tuned like most decent chainsaws and i have decided to bin it as the cost of repair does not warrant the return to service. i will go buy a decent echo next or a cheap bunnings chainsaw i think.

We purchased this little beauty as it was cheaper than having our 30 year old one repaired after lending it to friend. (it did not take to well being run over by a tractor and slasher)
We use this model to trim back the smaller branches and trees up to about 250 mm in diameter depending on circumstances. It cut very clean and quickly so long as you keep the chain sharp. Light and easy to manage and use. Ideal if you have to be up in a tree to drop limbs. the only negative is that it appears to use more chain oil than the old model. All in all a great little a great little machine and great value for the money.

Peaple when chain oil leak just open cap when done working to relieve pressure and won't leak much. Same with gas cap. Great little saw. Great for limbing but also for falling small trees and bucking up. Would buy another any time also own a 251 and a dolmar 7900.

Very easy to start, even after extended storage. You can double the warranty to 4 years, at the cost of buying a $15 (1L) bottle of oil when first purchased. Can feel a little under powered at times,especially if you haven't sharpened the chain in a while. Otherwise a perfect saw for home use. Pays itself off after 1 year vs a $99 throwaway saw just in its ease of use and reliability.

A great little chainsaw, unfortunately I found it a little under powered than what I expected for the job I used it for and the first time I used it, having said that I have only used it once and at this stage have no requirements to trim other trees. At the time of purchase I was given free chain

Have used the MS 171 in a commercial setting. Use the correct fuel ratio and follow the startup instructions on the Stihl website, you shouldn't have any issues. Save the cutting of stumps until the end as cutting dirty wood will result in a blunt chain. Generic chains are available on eBay at a cost of $10-15. Keep a few in your kit & change them over as soon as the saw stops pulling into the wood to avoid further damage. At this price, it is hardly worth the time of sharpening.

Fantastic Chainsaw.
Have owned it for 2 weeks and have used it for hours cutting up firewood.
The best thing I did was walk out of Bunnings ans givw the Stihl shop a go.
The price was not much more than the rubbish at Bunnings.
Easy to start and look after

got one of these when we built on 5 acres ,a great saw , starts every time,i have cut down 50m trees with this , shouldnt of really ,but it done the job and saved me hiring someone else with a big chainsaw...no complaints about this saw , as a carpenter i also use it a lot on roofing jobs and other projects along with the usual firewood duties....i have had many electric saws that only last a year or 2 but this has been going longer than that and is in great order.....

I have owned my ms170 for over 10 years now and I never have any issues starting it. I do treat all my saws like my children. It gets used at least twice a week and never lets me down. Keep the chains sharp and the bar oil topped up and i expect to be using it for another 10 years

Worked great3 times. Took in to the dealer they said i mixed the fuel too lean. And scored the piston took the spark plug out bought a new one plugged it the coil wire gripped it my hand and got a Very little tingle!! Called Stihl got no reply back from the West coast rep. I only run stihl oil and fuel so much for stihl they are now selling Chinese don't waste your money on this saw!! If you're going to buy a stihl. Find out where it was made!! I own many of their products and love them

I bought this chainsaw to process firewood for my fireplace. Only downside is that it can be a little hard to start. I mainly use it to cut gum branches and trunks. I probably should have gotten a model with a bigger motor but for the price, it’s good value.

Bought this saw as we had been quoted $1600 to cut down a tree. Wanted a light weight saw. It was a 14m tall claret ash. Wood not too hard. Saw worked hard for a good 8 hours. Pruned the main trunk then trimmed the main branches. Cut a number of branches that exceeded the 14 inch bar length. So happy I vent out and bought a second hand 660 to cut fire wood.

I have been using this saw almost daily for two months.
It takes a good few pulls to start it initially but, somehow you know that it will start and, after that, it starts first pull every time.
It is light enough to take up a tree yet it can tackle some really heavy jobs.
This is my favourite and I can highly recommend it.

Worked great the very first time I used it and that was it.been back to the shop twice since and the last time carb.was replaced and it still does not work well at all.has a brand new chain on it and I could cut a log faster with an axe then this thing will cut.been using saws for over 20 yrs. would not recommend this saw to anyone.hard to start, no power and stalls constantly.