Stihl MS 171

Oil leaking – 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.  Show details

Stihl MS 171 – 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… Read more

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.

Great Saw .Be Sure to learn how to start it – Like my title says, this is a great 16" saw. I used it as one of my primary tools over the course of 19 months ( 14-16 hours per day, 7 days per week) while building a 45 ft wooden cruisng/liveaboard boat. This model , now discontinued, wasn't built with a fuel bulb so one really needs to rely on choking it properly to start it..I didn't bother… Read more

to notice that and spent an hour or so thinking it was junk/broken, Before I realized I was doing it all wrong(choke wasn't locked into start position with trigger) .After I corrected that it started up easily and continues to start easily to this day - its one of the few tools I use precious space for on my liveaboard cruising boat. However, for that that one hour of confusion I almost brought the saw back to the dealer before I realized what I was doing wrong...They would have been happy to charge me to replace the carburetor, or etc., etc.,...DON'T do this until your sure something is seriously wrong,(be triple sure in that case) and if you do, don't tell them you left it sitting with gas in it for a year, because that invalidates the warranty..One last thing...DO clean the saw every time you use it..DON'T let the wood chips and oil to dry into a cement that blocks the bar oiling system, prevents the blade from turning freely etc.,, chainsaws have to be cleaned with every use. Use the tools that came with the saw to remove the chain cover and chain bar to clean and oil it every time.

Do not waste your money – 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.  Show details

Waste of Money – This is the most unreliable chainsaw I have ever known. The only good thing I can say is that it starts easily. I have owned it for only 2 years and it has been back to the dealers for repairs 3 time now, and the repair total costs are now just over 50% of the purchase price. My previous chainsaw was a husqvarna of similar size but not only was… Read more

it cheaper to buy but in 10 years it never required any more than routine services. Regret now I was talked into "trading up"