Clone ms660

[Hotrod]

Does anyone have any input on the clone ms660? I'm thinking of buying the kit it's not very expensive and I can't afford to buy another big saw. I had a ms660,ms171,and a husqvarna 372ex that got stolen. I can have the kit delivered to my house for 285$ and I've seen them on ebay for 600-900& assembled but for that price might as well get the real deal. Any info will be appreciated.

 

[huskihl]

@Ethan Hamby

 

[CR888]

As a backup firewood saw I'd buy one and have some fun with it. But having had all your saws taken, I am not sure a Chinese 660 is money well spent, you need a saw you can depend on without the luxury of backups if something goes wrong. There are some extensive threads on them if you search. If I was you I'd only consider one once you have a saw that is dependable first. Sorry about ya saws being stolen, that sux.

 

[Dub11]

@Ethan Hamby

Yup that's who I was going to say.

 

[Ethan Hamby]

Don't buy it to use daily. It needs a lot of work to be capable of that. I have a list of parts I replaced with Stihl to fix all the issues lol

 

[Ethan Hamby]

It's not just a build and go kind of deal

 

[Definitive Dave]

The other thing to remember when buying and building a kit saw is that any information you get from online forums or from the "manufacturer" could be completely wrong as the companies that sell the kits will buy parts from whoever is cheapest and an change the parts included at any point and wont tell you.
Case in point is the Huztl/Hutzl MS660 crankcase that was completely changed recently and now doesn't work right with the tensioner and brake lever.
I sell lots of aftermarket parts and have sold and built clone 660s in the past, they are better than buying one preassembled overseas but not a viable substitute for a real saw without a good deal of tinkering.
They are fun and can be made to run well, but I wouldn't own one as my only saw, period.

Capitalist pig update: i still have at least a dozen of the pre-changeover good clone 660 crankcases in stock
shill, shill, shill
Dave

 

[Hotrod]

The other thing to remember when buying and building a kit saw is that any information you get from online forums or from the "manufacturer" could be completely wrong as the companies that sell the kits will buy parts from whoever is cheapest and an change the parts included at any point and wont tell you.
Case in point is the Huztl/Hutzl MS660 crankcase that was completely changed recently and now doesn't work right with the tensioner and brake lever.
I sell lots of aftermarket parts and have sold and built clone 660s in the past, they are better than buying one preassembled overseas but not a viable substitute for a real saw without a good deal of tinkering.
They are fun and can be made to run well, but I wouldn't own one as my only saw, period.

Capitalist pig update: i still have at least a dozen of the pre-changeover good clone 660 crankcases in stock
shill, shill, shill
Dave

I still have my old trusty ms290 I've had for about 12 years. I'm thinking about buying a hot rod kit for it so it will cut faster but back to the clone I appreciated the feed back and figured it wouldn't be as dependable as a real sthil but would like to build one for the fun of it. If nothing else I can sell it so Ethan if you can send me a list of parts you changed that would be greatly appreciated

 

[stihl_head1982]

It's not just a build and go kind of deal

Is there a thread where you documented the things you had to do to make yours run well? Curious.

 

[Ethan Hamby]

There is a thread with it all posted in it as I struggled with the issues it had day to day. But it's way back pages ago. Lol

 

[Ethan Hamby]

Honestly it was a fun project and I got my kit just a few weeks ago so if you order one now you should have the same issues as me

 

[Ethan Hamby]

Would you like a list of the issues and parts I replaced with Stihl? Currently waiting on Stihl to reopen so my metering lever spring is here and I can see if that fixes the idle/case pooling issues.

 

[stihl_head1982]

Would you like a list of the issues and parts I replaced with Stihl? Currently waiting on Stihl to reopen so my metering lever spring is here and I can see if that fixes the idle/case pooling issues.

Sure. Is it possible to get a link to the thread where the details are as well?

 

[Ethan Hamby]

You will have a hell of a time finding the details there is 562 pages of comments and I don't know how far back it is.

 

[Ethan Hamby]

Parts list.
1. Chain tensioner
2. Chain brake linkage
3. Woodruff key
4. Possibly need an OEM carb. I have a new metering lever spring on the way to see if it fixes this one.
5. You will want to bevel the intake, exhaust, and transfers.
6. Definitely will want to go without a base gasket as the squish without it even is .028

 

[Definitive Dave]

There are several good aftermarket carbs out there for the MS660/066/064 in the 12-20 dollar range and the OEM Tillotson carb is the best of the official carbs.
Dont confuse this with a Tillotson Exchange carb which is a Chinese cheapo walbro knock off, like all the others.
I would almost say that any aftermarket carb from anywhere else will be better than one sourced through Farmertec.
Farmertec is a large aggregator so they try to find out which little factory in China makes the best carb for a given model and then offers to pay them half of what they are asking in exchange for a big order.
Instead they tend to get large batches of the marginal carbs that don't pass any quality control standards.

For all the faults of the cylinders and control levers or the recent goofy cases that don't fit the tensioners and brake spring lever, those are either super cheap swaps or at least work "OK".
I think a good carburetor is probably the best upgrade to these saws.

Farmertec sent out a dealer email with a list of new models they were hoping to have complete parts lines available for this coming year.

I'm not too enthusiastic about the 028, MS251, MS192T, MS362 Husky 142, 262, 272, 445/450/455/460.

I'm looking forward to complete parts for MS440, MS4650, MS200T that they have been talking about for more than a year already.

Also hoping they are really going to have all the parts for the Husky 281/288 , 357 and Stihl MS461, and TS400, TS410/420 this year, those would be strong sellers, if decent, for me.

They also announced they would be making clones of more specialty tools and are opening a new division for that goal. These might be good tools for the guy who works on his own saw to save big money over the high end stuff.

They also said they are planning chains, bars, chainsaw mills, and files all of which I can't imagine will be worth diddly squat, though there are a couple decent chain manufacturers over that way.

 

[Hotrod]

Thanks guys for all the information I think I will order the kit just to have something to play with and maybe even order a crankcase from dave ai chainsawcc I wish I would have joined this forum sooner and I could have ordered parts from him and dave can you put together a full ms660 kit and if so how much thanks guy's

 

[Definitive Dave]

my price would be a lot higher than theirs for sure, I sold these kits a couple of years ago for @550.00, I think I ended up replacing some cylinders and a good number of pistons that had skirts too long
there were a good number of OEM parts in them though because they weren't available Aftermarket at that time

 

[BedfordT]

I am going to tell.

Looks like I am a few weeks behind. it has been shown that the kits do not have a case problem generally, not to say someone did not get one or two. What the problem is and its been documented today it is the brake assembly and you can find lots of information about the various kits there at arboristsite the huztl ms660 thread is one. we plan on doing some kit building here so you will not get the wrong information again. photos below on the brake problem. advice always welcome in a build.

Do not worry the sky is not falling. farmertec is a product DD handles and its sold here also by arbortec.net, you might notice their ad up there with daves, but they do not have the kits, but do sell the exact stuff that's in them kits, so when you see these noses growing just follow the money.

the gentle people from the land far away assure me that they love the saw builders in this land and they have pledged to be responsive. up until now you have been dealing with resellers who handle lots of different brands. two seller i just mentioned only sell farmertec. if you want a saw kit go to huztl.net and if you want to buy some good aftermarket parts go to arbortec.net or stop by big daves. but again the kits are only at the one with the H in the name. bet you buy one and you will consider another. there are guys buying 6 at a time. get home from a hard day @ work kiss the wife huge the kids get a glass a tea and go out in the garage and build saws and when they go to bed they are not dirty, until they finish it anyway and work them. the cases are magnesium and with a little love make a good saw. folks here improve cylinders, so buy you get a good cross and go cut wood. and again the sky is not falling. we find a problem, solve it, share the solution with each other. god bless america

 

[stihl saws]

I really want to try one of these kits. Just something to play with this winter.