Stihl MS 260 Review

“I have worked with chain saws for over 20 years as my...”

Written on: 23/09/2010

I have worked with chain saws for over 20 years as my main occupation. I bought a MS260 as the work I was doing didn't require the larger saws I was used to. It was great at first as the smaller size and less weight made my work much easier. I was cutting trees about two to three inches, clearing around smaller planted trees. I realize that doing this all day might be hard on a saw but my larger ones never had any problem doing the same sort of work with much larger trees, up to ten inches, so I expected, that considering the price and the fact this was advertised as a "professional" model that it would be able to handle the job. I have one Husky 266 that I bought in 1989 and used for years until I retired it for fire wood. It still starts, idles and cuts acceptibly. The MS260 worked okay for a while. I did keep it clean and know how to operate and maintain a chain saw after years of experience. First the bottom end of the crank went and was replaced, about 150 dollars. After getting it back and using it for a while it wouldn't idle. I cleaned the carb and did all the servicing I would with my larger saws which seem to keep them running okay but i just can't get it to run properly. I now use a brush saw with a blade on it to do the work I did with that saw. I would say that this saw, the MS260, is overpriced for what it can do. It would be okay for an aborist or for someone who would have a little clean up to do on smaller trees but I think a much cheaper saw could do these things just as well.