Stihl MS460 mag advice

hoffy85 · November 07, 2013, 04:49:06 PM

I've been looking for a saw to buy lately. Ideally I wanted to find a stihl ms440 but haven't came across one yet. Yesterday I found an stihl MS460 mag for sale. It has a max flow system, and duel port exhaust. It also comes with a new 32" bar and chain for $600. The guy told me it has new piston, rings, honed head, and that the saw is about 5 years old with all new moving parts inside. The guy said he builds saws and that this was his personal saw. I was wondering if this would be a good buy or if it would be a little sketchy due to all the new rebuilt parts? I was also curious how the 460 is compared to the 440?

lone wolf · November 07, 2013, 04:53:34 PM

If they told you it has a honed head run away from that deal!

tlandrum · November 07, 2013, 04:59:28 PM

any time you are going to buy a saw that's been rebuilt,you may want to check into the builders rep. see who he has done work for and who can vouch for the quality of work. does he have proof of whats done? i sell rebuilt saws all the time and stand behind what is done to them. will he do that,if not than $600 is ay way high.

hoffy85 · November 07, 2013, 05:16:23 PM

ya from what he sounds like he will stand behind his work. all the rebuilt stuff makes me skeptical though. and yes he did say it had a honed head. Im not positive what that means....

lone wolf · November 07, 2013, 06:08:39 PM

It means the saw was seized and he cleaned and honed the cylinder. That is not a good idea those cylinders are not made to be honed they have a thin plating. In other words don't buy it. Just the fact that he called a cylinder a head tells me something.

ZeroJunk · November 07, 2013, 07:14:17 PM

Well there is honed and then there is honed. If he didn't wear the plating off the downwind side of the ports and transfers a little honing isn't going to hurt anything. I have rebuilt a few 046's and got about $400 out of them. If I got $600 for one I would probably have a stroke.

JohnG28 · November 07, 2013, 07:28:47 PM

If this guy knows his stuff and this was his personal saw, I would question how he roasted a 5-6 year old 460. :

5000+ · November 07, 2013, 08:57:30 PM

Quote from: lone wolf on November 07, 2013, 06:08:39 PM
It means the saw was seized and he cleaned and honed the cylinder. That is not a good idea those cylinders are not made to be honed they have a thin plating. In other words don't buy it. Just the fact that he called a cylinder a head tells me something.

Yes the plating is very thin, but it is also very hard. Take a junk nikasil cylinder and hone it with the proper hone and report back how long it takes to go thru the plating. Yes excesive ball honing will beat up the ports, but only if way over done. Honing should not be used as the primary method of removing transfer. Acid and some wet/dry sand paper will do the job. Some choose to give a quick hone as a final clean up. That said, unless you know the sellers rep and quality of his work I would not count on a proper job.

jhellwig · November 07, 2013, 10:02:42 PM

Quote from: JohnG28 on November 07, 2013, 07:28:47 PM
If this guy knows his stuff and this was his personal saw, I would question how he roasted a 5-6 year old 460. :

It kinda sounds like the next guy that buys a saw from his will also be buying his personal saw.

ZeroJunk · November 08, 2013, 12:06:58 AM

Well, if it is just a stock piston replacement and it runs good about the only thing the tech could do wrong is bend the pin clips or not get them seated correctly. Now, if he says he has shaved the cylinder, or cut the squish band, or changed the port timing, yeah, it would be good to talk to somebody who has used his saws. But, anybody half way mechanically oriented should be able to swap the top end on a saw and it run until they are sick of it.