Stihl MS 880 Magnum

The next best thing to the Stihl 090 – It is easy enough to start although I feel the cord is a bit short and I keep pulling it right to the end which must shorten the cord life. I bought this to replace the loss of my 090 I do not think it is as good as my 090 but it is 5 kilos lighter, do not kid yourself the 880 a man's machine waving 10 kilos around is not easy. I am using it as a… Read more ·  3

slab milling machine with a 50 inch bar, you have to sit back and coax the machine along you cannot push it too hard. It's nice to have the chain brake, the auto oiler doesn't push out enough oil for the big bar you have to stop cutting and let the oil get around. It is a good saw but I would still swap it for an 090 you cant compare 9hp to 14 hp.

January 6th 2019 Update: Excellent for slabbing

I've had it for some months now, cut a few 39 inch slabs 9 metres long, I have to stop and have a spell every so often. It generally starts well but on the odd occasion it has brought me to my knees and once I walked away from it, only to come back later and it just started. If I can use my Mccullock 10 10 (35 years old) I will every time but it only has a 16 inch bar, so for the big stuff it's the 880 and give it hell.

I have a skip tooth supposedly a ripping chain which is sharpened to 30 degrees and I get a lot of dust but with each sharpening I am changing to 10 degrees and th cut is improving, fuel does not last long but you have to expect that. All in all I'm pretty happy with it.

If you need a chainsaw for really big logs this is the one for you – I've had my MS880 for over 2 firewood seasons and can not fault it. Yes it's heavy and definitely not a saw for first time chainsaw operators and novices but I'm yet to find a log that it hasn't ripped through with easy. Like others on here I'm also an Aussie and I find that it does get a build up of fine saw dust on the air filter but with… Read more

regular cleaning (about every second or third use) and an in-expensive pre-filter it's not really an issue. It has been a reliable saw starting on about the forth or fifth pull from a cold start and nearly always first pull when hot. I would definitely recommend a longer bar than the 25 inch bar that comes standard as it is in big timber where the saw really shines. Obviously this is not a saw for cutting up limbs and small timber but paired with 60-70cc saw for the smaller limbs/logs you'll have a great duo capable of tackling any size timber your find.

Apposlutly brilliant!The monster of all saws – I bought my 880 brand new about 3 months ago and with out a doubt its one of the best tools I've ever bought... its really easy to start and has so much power it brings a smile to your face in the tuffest conditions. Eg: will drive a 42inch skiptooth chain though rock hard dry timber of that size or bigger almost as easy a my ms381 cuts green two… Read more

foot rounds ;)... I also use the 880 for milling and with a ripping chain I can easily cut about 9-12 foot a minute green and about 6-9 foot a min in dry... to sum up if you want a good fallers saw for mobility and power up to 25inch get a ms381 pro if your looking to cut bigger or mill get a ms 880 magnum its only 3 kgs heavyer then the 381 with almost twice the power!

Does exactly what it's meant to do!! – Have had my 880 for around a year now, running a 36inch bar with full chisel and skip tooth chains, a 42" bar and a 25 for smaller rounds. First thing is first, before you buy a 880 go into stihl hold one and get a feel for it. I'm sick of people whinging about its weight, it's like buying a V8 and whinging about fuel economy, it's irrelevant it's… Read more

a 121cc! It's a big burley saw, I've run around 70L of fuel through it now and have zero problems, as long as you keep an eye on the air filtration system. I cut red gum, red box, yellow box, iron bark, these rounds are often wider than my bar, it cuts with ease. Also have felled some massive trees with it and done a bit of milling.

Starting it is a breeze, generally around 4 pulls, let it warm up, away you go. People saying it's hard to start need to get to a gym or practise on their wipper snipper, honestly it's a breeze.

All in all I love the saw, I have owned a 660, used multiple 460s and farm bosses, all great saws, the torque of the 880 in big wood is amazing.

Admittedly you have to be pretty strong to handle one but one the saw is in the wood, it pulls its self through.

Unbeatable big saw, starts easy, cuts everything looks ridiculous, just don't buy one unless you've handled it in the flesh I love it, and after the run in service and tune it has even more guts!!

Great job

Good – This saw is not for the weekend warrior or faint hearted, this is the most powerful commercial chainsaw currently available and takes a little getting used to. This saw is heavy particularly when used with extra long guide bars where it excels, however becomes very nose heavy. It will handle a guide bar longer than most people are tall ( up to… Read more

84" or 2.13mtr ) when used with skip or extended skip chain.

I have compared this saw with both an MS660 Stihl and a Husky 395XP, the big 880 will cut at exactly double the speed of both when the same bar lengths are used. This is the saw to use where high production is required and weight is not a limiting factor.

There have been considerable improvements on this current model, although it looks the same, amongst other things the ignition system & flywheel, carburetor and crankcase have been changed.

It is a pity that the air filtration system has not been improved. Under certain circumstances the air filter will not seal on the base mounting plate and fine particle of dust can enter through the carburetor which acts like grinding paste on the cylinder bore. The air filter also has to be cleaned or changed very often. There is a severe service air filter kit sometimes available from Stihl which consists of a heavy duty flock type filter with an outer foam pre filter and cover plate ( rear cover is removed ) This should be a standard fitment in Australia as we mostly cut seasoned hardwood which generates a lot of fine sawdust, not green pine or softwood as they do in Europe or North America.

I have used this saw with bars up to 72" ( 1.83mtr ) bar cutting River Redgum up to 2.7 mtr diameter where it performed flawlessly.

Overall though this is the saw for the big timber/high production, it would rate 5/5 except for the poor air filtration system.

This review is for the latest model 880 with the stainless steel 2 piece muffler, not the model with 1 piece cast alloy muffler. fairly reliable, big power, very robust, side chain adjuster, inertia chain brake air filtration system is poor, vibration damping, quick fill oil and fuel caps

Very unreliable – Had very high hopes when we brough this saw that it would be as good as the Stihl salesman said it would be but the saw sadly spent more time back at the dealers workshop than what it did cutting wood. The saw had plenty of grunt and felt nice to cut with when it wasn't broken. The engine siezed up on me after its 5th tank of fuel, got it back… Read more

from the dealer and the saw would stall out and wouldn't rev, another trip back to the dealer there. Got it back off them again and the bar lube oil pump all but stopped working, wrecking a 30" bar and chain, the saw also started to idle at about 1/3 throttle on and off when it felt like it, making it unsafe and awkward to use. The Stihl dealership ended up giving us our money back after quite a few long and heated phone discussions. Would deffinetly NOT recomend anyone buy one of these saws.

Unreliable, constantly broke down.