Best non computerized chainsaw.

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.

Have you thought about mailing it to the dealer ?

Another thought...........maybe there is another size Stihl with a regular carburetor that will fit your saw ??

Trade it in on a bigger, non-computerized saw.

Lesson of life in bush Alaska. KISS.

NEVER buy stuff like the Etech outboards, snowmachines or computerized chainsaws. And..........when you find a good product buy two more before they quit making them

Not supposed to send a used chainsaw through the mail, only new ones. Wish I could go to a pawnshop and pick up an older noncomputerized Stihl, but I won't be flying to the road system till December.

Who told you that ? As long as the gas and oil is out of it there should be no problem. Maybe check the postal regs. to be sure

Found this.

Items possibly containing hazardous materials

Hazardous materials include any matter having a clear potential for causing harm to the mail, persons, or property involved in moving the mail. However, many commonly used items contain materials that are considered hazardous by U.S. Postal Service standards. Some fuel-containing items commonly found in the mail are:

Chainsaws
Lawn trimmers and edgers
Small motors and engines
Used fuel tanks (motorcycles, lawn mowers)
Small generators
Camp stoves
Gas lanterns or lamps
Model cars or aircraft

Each of the items listed is potentially mailable but only under one of the following conditions:

The item has never contained fuel, or
The fuel and all vapors have been completely purged from the item.

Note: If the item emits a fuel odor or if any residue is present on the outside or inside of the item, then the item is not completely purged.

Items containing fuel or fuel vapors are not mailable under any circumstances. Simply removing the fuel from an item does not make the item acceptable for mailing. Fuel tanks containing only vapors can have a greater explosion risk and thus become more hazardous than tanks that are full or partially full of fuel. The fuel must be removed and all vapors must be purged to allow these items to be safely mailed.

Yep, I've had two postmasters in Bush Villages, Kiana and Wainwright, tell me I couldn't ship any used small engines, only new ones, due to gas vapors.

Not true obviously if the saw is free of vapors and liquids

My opinion too, White, but I've never won an argument with a postmaster yet.

LOL I have. Many in rural AK don't know what they are talking about.....but they are still sure of it

Someone on the forum actually runs a Stihl shop in OK or KS. I can't remember who.

I have 2 huskys. Not too sure the carb is "computerized"! Or electronic.

Run some mechanic in a bottle through it. Amazing stuff. Your can find it most places and on Amazon. Cleans all motors right up.

when I sold my MS260 for parts I shipped it just fine

you clean the saw up well, flush the oil reservoir with gas , then leave both caps off for several days in a heated area or not mid winter , then replace the caps , wrap it in plastic bags and box it up.

it shipped fine

you might check out Arboristsite there are guys who collect to many saws over there that might be a good source for older huskies that you can keep rebuilding

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/forums/chainsaw.9/

some one over there might also know if you can put a 260 carb on a 261 Stihl and how to do it.

I have ran the marine sta-bil in my saw and weedeater for years now and never have carb issues anymore. It is good stuff. I also run it in my 4 stroke engines as well

shipped a Suzuki 4 wheeler all over Alaska with reeves.they drove it onto the airplane.that was in the 80's.

have 3 computerized husky 562xp's, not a lick of problems in 7 years, best running small saws I ever ran, that includes stihls, echos, shindawas, and a couple more
RR

I dont know about 261 on the 661 there is a screw inside the throttle body that we arnt supposed to touch that will adjust the idle a little. . My first 661 was horrible about idling . The last two 661s i bought are awsome saws that will idle as long as they got gas and out cut my old 880

Gotta be KS. There's no trees in OK.

I assume you have poured out the old fuel and replaced it with fresh.

I know a two stroke outboard will start, then cut off when throttle is increased, it water is in the tank. Seems you have the opposite problem.

Stihl makes the 261 in a standard carb configuration, looks to be available in Alaska also.

I'm not a huge fan of the CM versions as I witnessed multiple seizures when they first rolled out. In fairness, Stihl did replace those units. I love my Stihl 362 and 660.

Like BG10 said, Stihl still advertises the ms261 with and without the M-tronic system. Might be worth trading in.

Another option could be converting it to a conventional carb. I found this thread on the Arborsite forums:
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/362-change-m-tronic-back-to-non-mtronic.292336/

The gist of it seems to be you need a few parts but it can be done.

For more help with troubleshooting and repair, just search for "M-tronic" on Arborsite. There are lots of threads.

Thanks, KenaiKid, I may go that route. Sounds interesting. Definitely going to have two saws in the future. Thinking about getting a 60cc in addition to a 50cc. The folks that attend church let me borrow a saw if I need one, so I'm not without. I plan on camping out with my boy next week for three days, go upstream always, then drift down looking for moose sheds, and when we get closer to town, get a bunch of drift logs together into a raft, and bring them back with us. Be some good father son time.

Reading up on there are two Stihl re cal procedures. I wonder if you need the other (the 2nd) procedure.

It looks like the first procedure says not to rev your saw during the 90sec either... but if your saw wont idle???

Cal procedures are particular like that. You can't skip a step.

https://blog.stihl.co.uk/perform-m-tronic-reset/

They point out some particular points in the manual I see... pages 44 & 45. Make sure you are doing this exactly.

https://m.stihlusa.com/webcontent/c...ms-261-c-m-owners-instruction-manual.pdf