Two years ago, a brand new Stihl 261 was acquired to cut wood for the church I pastor in a Bush Village. It ran excellent until about March, now it will not idle, have to keep my finger on the trigger to keep it going between cuts. It is the professional model 50 cc from Stihl, and has the electronically controlled carburetor. The air filter is cleaned regularly, the spark arrestor is clean, I put a new spark plug in, it's getting spark, I replaced the fuel filter. You cannot manually adjust the carburetor on this saw, I'm at my wits end. We live in a Bush Village 400 miles or so off of the road system. To get it to the dealer to fix it is 110 dollars round trip on Lynden Air Cargo everytime it needs fixing. With the logs floating down the Yukon after breakup, I cannot afford timewise for the saw not to be here, it will be a two to three week trip for it to fly to Anchorage, get picked up by a friend, dropped off at the dealer, picked back up, dropped off at Lynden, and then flown back out here. Considering buying a chainsaw that is not computerized so I can work on it myself. I've always been a Stihl or Husqvarna owner, but they are both computerized now. Does anyone have any experience with other brands that are not computerized?

My Stihl 250 is doing the same thing but I don't think it's computerized. You definitely need a second saw!

Check the fuel line for cracks and the filter

Sorry, I forgot to mention I've already replaced the fuel line, hoping that would be it.

Echo 501P is a non computerized pro 50cc. Mine starts like a dream.

have you calibrated it ??? The procedure how to do it is in the manual and Stihl has a how to online as well.

Done that too, run it on cold start for 90 seconds.

Yeah, I've been looking at the Echo line. Thanks for the info.

Make sure you start it with the chain brake on when you calibrate it. its not just running it on cold start for 90 seconds there is a little more to it than that or it will not work.

Check the fuel tank vent, blow air into the tank or if you can clean it. Some are super hard to get at. I am not familiar with this saw but I would bet the vent is plugged a bit. Did it loose a little top end power too?

I did not have it locked the first time I tried to calibrate it. Just did it the correct way Scuba 1, still won't idle.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Sounds like it could be an ethanol issue. Never had a lick of problem with my Stihl 261, but I only use non-ethanol fuel in it. Ethanol gums up tiny jets like nobodys business. Might be hard to get rec fuel in your neck of the woods...hope you get it figured out. That 261 is one of the best saws Ive ever run, light with a ton of torque...good luck

I always run nonethanol gas.

No non ethanol fuel out here. 87 octane, diesel, and fuel oil at the pump, barged in by Crowley Fuel in the summer and fall. Right at 6 dollars a gallon just now.

Cat catcher, the vent is not plugged up. Has. Plenty of top end. Power

Well if ya figger it out I'd sure like to know the malfunction!

i replaced my MS260 with a Jonsered cs2255 in an orange case it is a Husquvarna 455 rancher it cuts everything the 260 ever did

I prefer it with .058 3/8 chisel chain 18 inch bar. you can tune it with a screw driver , and ear or wireless saw tach

but if you have any place that sells chain you might want to see what they carry and get set up for that

with husky you can buy most of the parts on baileys online

my other saw is a CS2166 this is the the non computerized 372XP but is a larger heavier saw I bought it because I was getting into felling a bunch of trees that were 30-48 inches on the stump.
it shares a lot of prts with the 372 xp and many of them can be purchased online

what is the most common saw in your village or are there not enough to be a most common?

I have heard good things about the Echo 590 but you want to have a saw tach to tune them from what I hear they often come to lean. I just don't have any time with the echo.

The most common saws here are older Stihls and Husqvarnas. The Alaska Commercial Store sells a few new Husqvarna, but they have not been too reliable, again, they are computerized. We've got friends out here who are gurus when it comes to non computerized ones, they've been working on chainsaws since they were teenagers, due to there not being any dealership you can reach except by plane.

Thanks for the info on the Jonsereds.