MS 250

Hitchcock Woods · August 12, 2014, 05:02:09 PM

My buddy is looking to get a chainsaw for home use on around 3 acres. He is looking at buying from a local guy, in Greenville, SC, a MS 250 that he says was used 5 times in 5 months for $200. I told him i thought that was a pretty good deal if the saw wasn't dogged too much. What are yall's thoughts?

isawlogs · August 12, 2014, 05:53:55 PM

I have one and it is a great little home owner saw. I carry that saw on the bike on the farm as it is light and will cut what ever needs be cut along the fence. You can't get much now a days for 200$, he is basicaly getting a new saw, I don't think it is broken in yet with only five tanks gone through it. If that same deal came up for me, I would buy the saw ( after trying it out first ) ;)

msjdgman · August 13, 2014, 04:49:33 PM

I've got a 250 thats well over 10 years old now. Great little saw for limbing and smaller work. It goes to the woods with me every time I go just because it's so light, and has been dependable period. Yes, I only cut for firewood, and it is up to that task.

SawTroll · August 13, 2014, 05:07:26 PM

Someone said it is a great model - but it is very far from that. At least make sure you avoid any variant with a "C" after 250 in the model designation!

It is a cheaply made "homeowner" class saw, with quite excessive vibes for its size, and a bad air filtration system. A pain to work on as well - but still a servicable model for the intended purpose.
Its best feature is the light weigh.

isawlogs · August 13, 2014, 06:15:15 PM

I said it was a great home owner saw , and still beleive it to be so.

celliott · August 13, 2014, 06:31:54 PM

Quote from: SawTroll on August 13, 2014, 05:07:26 PM
with quite excessive vibes for its size, and a bad air filtration system.
Its best feature is the light weigh.

I ran an MS250 for a fellow doing some brush\small tree work. His saw. I have to agree with these points. It is a light saw, but the vibes bothered my hands even wearing padded leather gloves. Excess vibration fatigues you faster as well. I did not like the saw and would not buy one solely for the AV issue.
I'm sure they work fine for many people, any may for your friend, but it's not for me.

WmFritz · August 13, 2014, 11:13:35 PM

I don't notice the vibration in my saw.
I use it for limbing and bucking firewood. I work that saw hard and its held up.

HolmenTree · August 13, 2014, 11:56:03 PM

I did some treework for a customer a while back who brought out his MS250 for me to give him a few pointers on. He had a hard time starting it seeing it had no decomp, so I showed him the ground technique with foot on the rear handle.
Also found his fuel was bad as he mentioned he gets 2 years out of a gallon jug. So I steered him to the Stihl premixed fuel that come in the quart cans that the dealers sell now. Years of shelf life after opening and very high quality .
I was impressed with that little part time saw when I tried it out in a log, it had a new Stihl .325 chisel chain on and it cut very nice.
Great saw , more then enough quality for the amount of wood he cuts, good value too.
Don't remember any bad vibration.

H 2 H · August 14, 2014, 01:06:56 AM

MS 250 are great for what there made for

Working on them is NOT a problem

With a few simple mood's they will run with most 50 cc saws

With anything that has Stihl on it Saw Troll will say the worst about it (just look at the history of his post about Stihl products)

I have a couple MS 250 and they have been ran hard and are still running just fine

SawTroll · August 14, 2014, 01:47:29 AM

Quote from: H 2 H on August 14, 2014, 01:06:56 AM....

With anything that has Stihl on it Saw Troll will say the worst about it (just look at the history of his post about Stihl products)

.....

Not true at all, but I do dislike a lot of Stihl products for good reasons, and like others - as I do with all brands that count.

On the flip side, you have a notorious history of saying "great" about any Stihl model, regardless how bad it really is. I believe most reasonably regular members on the forums you post on have notised that.

I dislike many models from all brands that I know, but you only notise it when it is about a Stihl model.

There is nothing "great" about any plastic cased Stihl chainsaws - they are cheaply made, even though the price doesn't always reflect that.

celliott · August 14, 2014, 05:59:22 AM

I'm not one to get into Stihl VS Husky. I have mostly Huskies, but certainly respect that both manufacturers have good and bad models. There is definitely some Stihl's I would like to add to my fleet.
Maybe the MS250 I ran had worn out AV mounts. Don't know. It's the only one I've ran and I wasn't impressed with the vibration. YMMV ;)

SawTroll · August 14, 2014, 07:03:54 AM

No surprices here!

joe_indi · August 14, 2014, 07:21:27 AM

On the 250 it is better for bar lengths over 16" to use low profile chains such as the 63 Picco, or the newer 63 PS. good cutting speed with low vibes. If you use .325 chain on the 250 stick to the semi chisel RMC chain.

beenthere · August 14, 2014, 09:51:00 AM

I sure don't notice any bad vibration (was going to say any vibration) with my MS250. I really like it for a second saw that I go to quite often. Starts, runs, cuts, and handles 19" bar very well.

7sleeper · August 15, 2014, 11:15:45 AM

What I always find funny with the discussions including ST is that the words low quality, cheaply made etc. come up. But to be honest I have never seen one of these low quality machines worn out! NEVER! And you see them quite often here on the bay and otherwhere. Those that have them and use them have never complained about them dying from regular use. I mean obviously all these guys are idiots because they never noticed that the machine in their hand is already dead...
Well I guess a lot of things made today out of plastic must be cheaply made and low quality, like the firearms invented by that austrian guy, who revolutionized the firearm market. I mean they must really be junk! Wonder why all those idiotic users and goverment agencies are buying that stuff.
Well as usual, if you are unhappy with the material and design involved, it sure makes it easy to fit into the world where only black and white exist....

This sure is, as usual, an annoying discussion.

7

CTYank · August 20, 2014, 03:16:31 AM

I, too, find it difficult to categorize a 250 as "great" except in terms of the marketing that has them selling locally for $350. Stihl's power rating of 3 hp is ludicrous. Bar studs that thread into plastic are not even funny.

A friend was steered into buying one some years back by buddies he characterized as "stihl-heads". While we were clearing some storm damage at a couple of parks, he tried my GZ4000 RedMax and commented about its AV and power well beyond the 250; later he tried my PP4218 and again commented about the same- AV and power relative to the 250. That one cost $94 delivered.

Compared to many other competitor's saws, the 250 is mediocre. You should be able to get a decent price for a used one, because of the name. For the same price, you can gat a Dolmar PS-421. No comparison, IMHO.

rasman57 · August 21, 2014, 10:47:37 PM

While I do not have any other small homeowner saw experience other than a cheap Homelite they replaced, my 025, then 250 (16)have been up to anything I tackled. I have found that the old rule about sharp chains is a must to let the saw work and keep going. I would not hesitate to recommend it for what you have described. My buddy and I bought the 250's at the same time a few years ago and he has done lots of Oak....some bigger than he ought to with that size saw and it is still in top shape. No complaints for the money.