I bought recently entry level Stihl chainsaw.
At $299 it was surprisingly great chainsaw until after few hours of use suddenly lost power completely.

I brought to the dealer on warranty claim but they found that air filter is clogged and I need to pay $110 service fee and new filter.

Since new filters are available on eBay at $3 I think that charge is a bit excessive. We could have complete car service with oil change for this price.Should I pay tomorrow that amount or try to dispute?

Tell em you'll cut their arms off

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cauncy said..
Tell em you'll cut their BLOODY arms off

Fixed for you.
Just pay it you asked them first then found a cheaper option from their info.

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cauncy said..
Tell em you'll cut their arms off

I am afraid Stihl guy can say " blow me"
Faulty chainsaw will not cut a flower and he knows it.

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cauncy said..
Tell em you'll cut their arms off

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hilly said..

cauncy said..
Tell em you'll cut their BLOODY arms off

Fixed for you.
Just pay it you asked them first then found a cheaper option from their info.

that must be a frame from Lantana cleaning instructional video

no surprise that bloody air filter may get clogged sometimes.

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Macroscien said..
I bought recently entry level Stihl chainsaw.
At $299 it was surprisingly great chainsaw until after few hours of use suddenly lost power completely.

I brought to the dealer on warranty claim but they found that air filter is clogged and I need to pay $110 service fee and new filter.

Since new filters are available on eBay at $3 I think that charge is a bit excessive. We could have complete car service with oil change for this price.Should I pay tomorrow that amount or try to dispute?

How did you clog the filter after only a few hours. I have a cheapy, and I can't even say for sure it has a filter, but it must.

Isn't the $110 for figuring out what is wrong with it?

It is strange that it went from working fine to losing power completely.

Have you ever thought about getting one of those new fangled electric chainsaw things?

P.S. with your $110 car service, you are probably only getting an oil change, so don't assume its anything special.

Have the 009 , so easy to look after yourself , lesson learnt,
carnt understand how some businesses can charge such over the top rates on simple jobs, once bitten twice shy, I'd say you won't go back

Use a genuine stihl filter.

Don't use $3 chinese fake rubbish. If you want to save money then just use an old sock.

Then when you take it back in another 3 hours they will laugh even more and triple the cost instead of doubling it.

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Carantoc said..
Use a genuine stihl filter.

Don't use $3 chinese fake rubbish. If you want to save money then just use an old sock.

Then when you take it back in another 3 hours they will laugh even more and triple the cost instead of doubling it.

Now the chainsaw is at Stihl shop.
Agree, my fault not to checking on air filter first, but claiming warranty service.
But again $110 per 5 min job, seems more than brain surgeon these days. At least I did save a little bit on refusing to sharpen my chain at another hundred or so. Funny is that the same shop did previously service on my Aldi chainsaw twice.
ALDI chainsaw 52cm was going strong till the pull starter rope brake down. Looks like nobody has been able to repair it than with the new rope. I wish the same could apply to windsurfing mast extension base - you brake a downhaul and have the new extension. On my suggestion that I could probably replace rope myself with strong windsurfing line _ I was warned that any attempt will void warranty.
After their advice, I did return Aldi for a full refund and bought their indestructible Stihl.At least ALDI had some conscious to offer a full refund.


For the cost of replacing Stihl $3 filter, I could have brand new chainsaw every time.
But I must say that once is working properly nothing will beat Stihl convenience and power to weight ratio.

Mac I bought a 2nd hand Stihl c/s many years ago, I had a rainforrest block in FNQ and I've worked the guts out of that thing, I have only ever sharpened or replaced chains. It has never let me down but then now I'm thinking a $3 air filter might not hurt, I'll change it myself of course. Oh same goes my Stihl wipper snipper bought new in 85, but I do remember changing filter once and removing the spark arrester, only problem are those pesky hornets who like to block the exhaust with mud n young.
Get it back off them and try a new filter yourself, if still no good take it to (another) a small engine repairer.

Edit, I'm crap at sharpening, I had an old guy in Cairns in a little workshop who did a great same day job and was so cheap I could not but give him a tip every time, they're around.

It probably is a blocked filter.

The reason they quote $110 is there is a minimum fee for cleaning it (you'd be amazed how many people drop off a dirty POS instead of just cleaning it first) and stripping it down (just the couple mins to remove bar and chain) then to remove your filter and replace, then start it, warm it up, then adjust high end, low end and idle - we're up to 20mins already.....

They want to be safe - if they quoted everyone $20 to replace a blocked filter but then it is actually a small carb adjust also , and the customer dropped the saw off so filthy you could not tell if it s a Shihl or a Husky......... then the store has made very little money. When they charge more, customer gets ****ty and posts vitriolic reviews all over the internet. Easier to just quote a minimum fee, just like applicance repairer's minimum to open it up and quote. Not uncommon.

So lesson - service your stuff like filters and oil change. Then no need for $100 to another bloke....

3 things you buy and never replace (and your son uses it and never replaces it too) - Stihl, Sidchrome and a CZ .22

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Mark _australia said..
It probably is a blocked filter.

The reason they quote $110 is there is a minimum fee for cleaning it (you'd be amazed how many people drop off a dirty POS instead of just cleaning it first) and stripping it down (just the couple mins to remove bar and chain) then to remove your filter and replace, then start it, warm it up, then adjust high end, low end and idle - we're up to 20mins already.....

They want to be safe - if they quoted everyone $20 to replace a blocked filter but then it is actually a small carb adjust also , and the customer dropped the saw off so filthy you could not tell if it s a Shihl or a Husky......... then the store has made very little money. When they charge more, customer gets ****ty and posts vitriolic reviews all over the internet. Easier to just quote a minimum fee, just like applicance repairer's minimum to open it up and quote. Not uncommon.

So lesson - service your stuff like filters and oil change. Then no need for $100 to another bloke....

3 things you buy and never replace (and your son uses it and never replaces it too) - Stihl, Sidchrome and a CZ .22

To be fair I did suspect some serious fault or damage. Coincidently lost of power did happen when my chain falls off and broke the single chain.I did replace the chain for brand new one, and saw was working but only for a while after.
So I did suspect some more serious problem like a broken crankshaft or bearing or so.Apparently the most difficult and dangerous to cut are small, thin springy branches that could take the chain of the bar in second.

I don't think loss of power will have much to do with the chain jumping off, unless you destroyed the drive sprocket on the clutch somehow

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Carantoc said..
Use a genuine stihl filter.

Don't use $3 chinese fake rubbish. If you want to save money then just use an old sock.

Then when you take it back in another 3 hours they will laugh even more and triple the cost instead of doubling it.

Just blow it out thoroughly with compressor, all I've done for 12 years on the 009

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Macroscien said..

Mark _australia said..
It probably is a blocked filter.

The reason they quote $110 is there is a minimum fee for cleaning it (you'd be amazed how many people drop off a dirty POS instead of just cleaning it first) and stripping it down (just the couple mins to remove bar and chain) then to remove your filter and replace, then start it, warm it up, then adjust high end, low end and idle - we're up to 20mins already.....

They want to be safe - if they quoted everyone $20 to replace a blocked filter but then it is actually a small carb adjust also , and the customer dropped the saw off so filthy you could not tell if it s a Shihl or a Husky......... then the store has made very little money. When they charge more, customer gets ****ty and posts vitriolic reviews all over the internet. Easier to just quote a minimum fee, just like applicance repairer's minimum to open it up and quote. Not uncommon.

So lesson - service your stuff like filters and oil change. Then no need for $100 to another bloke....

3 things you buy and never replace (and your son uses it and never replaces it too) - Stihl, Sidchrome and a CZ .22

To be fair I did suspect some serious fault or damage. Coincidently lost of power did happen when my chain falls off and broke the single chain.I did replace the chain for brand new one, and saw was working but only for a while after.
So I did suspect some more serious problem like a broken crankshaft or bearing or so.Apparently the most difficult and dangerous to cut are small, thin springy branches that could take the chain of the bar in second.

Chain tensioner

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Mark _australia said..
3 things you buy and never replace (and your son uses it and never replaces it too) - Stihl, Sidchrome and BRNO [not just .22]

Hi Mark, fixed it for you!

and don't forget, SAKO, Enfield and anything 762 x 54r

^^^ you and your bloody Russian moist nugget.

My L461 would make you hard.

I've got the same chainsaw and it's awesome. Done about 30 hours and haven't even looked at the filter.
Don't bother getting the chain sharpened, waste of time and/or money when a new one is only $30. I keep a couple of spares in the shed and swap them out as soon as the saw starts to struggle.
Also got one of their extending chainsaws, goes out to about 4m, that's also been great. Use it a lot more than I thought I would.

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stoff said..
I've got the same chainsaw and it's awesome. Done about 30 hours and haven't even looked at the filter.
Don't bother getting the chain sharpened, waste of time and/or money when a new one is only $30. I keep a couple of spares in the shed and swap them out as soon as the saw starts to struggle.
Also got one of their extending chainsaws, goes out to about 4m, that's also been great. Use it a lot more than I thought I would.

When you build up a pile of worn out chains take them to a sharpener and you are good to go. $30 a time adds up pretty quickly.

I think the local place does them for $14 a chain.

Yep, I've got a Stihl MS180 too, it's an awesome chainsaw. I sharpen the chain myself but that's because I'm too much of a tight@rse to buy new ones all the time but I probably should. A quick blowdown with compressed air, squirt all over with WD40 and whack the air filter on the side of the workbench to clean and she's ready for next time.

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Mark _australia said..
Then no need for $100 to another bloke....

This is always the main thing for me - giving another man money to do something you can do yourself - I absolutely hate that. You've got to have some self-respect and manly man-skills, even in the 21st century.

You wouldn't see Barry Dawson at the Stihl Shop getting a filter replacement on his chainsaw, he'd just use some woman's under garment

Who has some experience with pole prunner?
I bought a cheapy to clean Lantana and other small bushes.
Works so far the best from any other hand tools I did try. Trimmers, blade and triangle cutters on brushcutter.

With one small problem only. The chain is falling frequently. Usually after every 3-5 minutes. I am used to it and carry wrench and screwdriver to put in on in 1 min again. So the whole cycle works like that 5 min work 1 -2min brake for chain reinstatement and oiling bar.
Usually, I could refit chain 20 - 40 times in one day.
I believe than not the poor cheapy pole pruner is at fault but springy brushes at different angles could take any chain of any saw.
Unless something is specifically designed not to fall at all.If there is any chance the Stihl pole pruner do any better? Before I do spend around 1K on cheapest Stihl as against cheapy $150, it is worth to ask an opinion. Not to waste money and good equipment on cutting brushes. I am afraid that those tricky brushes could take any chain from any saw....
the things I try to cut here are usually 1 to 2 meters toll brush like trees with very thin surprisingly strong and springy.
0.5 to 1 cm diameter.

Hey Macro, my mate's cheap pole saw has the same issue. He uses your method and just carries tools on him and tensions it up all the time because for the amount it gets used it's hard to justify an expensive one.

I'm wondering what you were asking your entry level Stihl to cut if you managed to kill it within a few hours use. Stihl are rock solid bits of kit and you would have to try exceptionally hard to kill one that quickly.

This your entry level pruning?

Don't feel too bad Macro, I bought a Stihl a couple of years ago, and after only light use for 6 months it suddenly wouldn't start one morning. I tried everything I could think of, but still no joy.

Took it to the dealer, expecting the worst, got a call in an hour saying that it was fixed. You know what was wrong? It was flooded. How TF can a 2 stroke get flooded? I have no idea. Anyway it was only something like $30 for that diagnosis. Money well spent in my books -- treat it as a life lesson. It's only money.

Stihl and Husqvarna are great machines, if you buy anything else then you'll have ten times the problems.

Word of advice, when you go back to the dealer, get a squeeze spray bottle of filter cleaner. It's amazing stuff. If you're cutting a lot of jarrah or other wood that releases a lot of dust then the air filter can get clogged pretty quickly. This stuff really does a great job, way better than a compressed air gun. You won't believe how much crud comes out of the filter with it. I also use it to clean the Dyson vacuum's filter. Works a treat.

My pole saw is the Stihl HT131 and I've never had the chain come off. Looking at that picture you posted, the nut holding the bar in place is half the size of the one on the Stihl. Probably why it keeps coming loose.
Yes the Stihl was pricey but I bought mine during a sale and got a small discount.
I also bought the 2 chainsaws and paid 2 people to help me do the job for less money than the tree lopper was going to charge, so it was well worth it!

I bought a Ryobi pole pruner attachment, and then another one, and a bunch of extension poles.

I have never tried any others, but you need to run it for a little while, and then re-adjust the chain tension. I am assuming that a new chain stretches initially and then settles down until it stretches enough again to require adjusting.

You can usually tell when its too loose before its loose enough to jump off, but its a pain to keep adjusting them.

I am sure there are better ones around, but for what I did it seems to have done the job.

^^^ I bet you are right too

Macro, just a Nord-lock washer or an external toothed spring washer that is in contact with the bar would possibly be enough.


EDIT - replying to stoff :)

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stoff said..

Don't bother getting the chain sharpened, waste of time and/or money when a new one is only $30. I keep a couple of spares in the

Well nothing like a factory sharpened chain, but after half an hour working within rain splash of the ground a hand sharpened one is just as good. I've heard tree loppers need sharpen chains only once a week if working up high where the wood is clean.

Get yourself set up with a comfortable vice at working height and you'll soon be able to whip a chain into shape in 5 minutes. Just use a file, you'll soon dispense with guides and electric grinders.

You'll throw the chain a few times a day working amongst light stems. Filing the burred drive links so it'll run again takes more time than sharpening. Husqvarnas also last forever. Original air cleaner after 5 years clearing woody weeds. Just wash them out and use a bit of compressed air.

Don't use it anymore, but if I needed another I'd go electric. I've heard they are pretty good. Two strokes are a pain, though nothing beats petrol for energy content.