Old Dirty Feta and the MS500i--the Hi-Tech Wood Lobotomizer

[dustinwilt68]

I've got a couple of complaints, which are common with Stihl saws--it's oil stingy and fines are getting past the filter seal.

Mandatory to "push the pin in" with the MS500i. Even with a 20" bar I wasn't happy with the oiling on max. Maybe it's just my saw...

Some fines...
View attachment 179373

View attachment 179374

Pushed in and ready to run...
View attachment 179375

Well there is always hope for the version II?

 

[BonScott46]

Those chains in the video looked night + day different. One was feeding, one was not.

Also, not sure what the oiler problem is, but my 462 does not have a oiler problem.

I was thinking the same thing. The 500 sounded like it was holding way more RPM than it should have for so slow of a cut, especially with an 8 pin.

 

[Stihl working Hard]

surprised you have a dirty saw dan from the pictures ive seen they are always clean

He has finally taken the blankie off the shelf queen

 

[Stihl working Hard]

View attachment 179392

Mine is here

Nice saw there Dallas

 

[Stihl working Hard]

lol dont you have a motorcycle to wreck ? lol

LMFAO

 

[Stihl working Hard]

Really enjoying your thread Dan thanks for sharing

 

[AlfA01]

Sneak peek at today's festivities....

 

[Wilhelm]

Here's the baseline cuts...you guys will tell me what you think. I haven't watched the vid, but I think 500 has a lot of gaining to catch that Dolly.

EDIT: Both saws were running 8-pins.

A ~1400$ highly praised novelty saw being out cut by a 20 year old saw design which can be had at half the price.
Let me think for less than a second . . . - I'll take two 7910's!

I do admit that the 7910 chain fed much better than the 500i chain.
I am curious to see further comparison videos but I am not holding my breath for the 500i to come out ahead in stock form.

 

[TreeLife]

I dont consider the 500i to be a novelty saw in the slightest. This is the future and what we will all eventually be seeing in saws.

As far as performance goes, it has to get broken in and it needs some heavy load to tune in. I wouldnt say its unimpressive out the gate just yet. I'd like to see it with a 7 pin and about 12 tanks thru it before I start judging its performance. Hard to gauge performance by a video anyhow other than engine speed.

 

[AlfA01]

Here's the skinny after spending some time with the MS500i. I put it through some decently tough usage today. The tree was already down so no felling action.

I got pretty good vids, I think, that will further give everyone an idea of where this saw is. It's through the 5th tank of fuel running 40:1 semi-synthetic and Oregon bar oil.

My point of doing the thread is to give everyone an honest bit of feedback. I don't like saw bias and I'm going to give this thing the same abuse I give my other saws.

Again, these are just my opinions for my cutting style. Both saws were ran with an 8-pin today.

My initial pros:
- Holds great RPM in the cut...it's got really good torque
- Doesn't seem to have AT/MT issues. In other words, if you run it out of fuel, it recovers instantly.
- Doesn't seem to have hot start issues. I got it HOT and no problem with restarts or leaning out. Weather was close to 85f today
- Ergonomics are good. You can work this saw for hours comfortably
- It's light for the displacement
- Fit and finish is clean
- Clears chips well

Initial cons:
- Still not liking the filtration...you'll see from the vids
- AV is on the soft side for long bars...24-25 is the sweet spot IMO...
- Fuel tank is small or it's not very efficient....gotta check the specs and see how much it holds
- Exhaust note is wicked annoying IMO

Grey area (time will tell):
- Durability--here because I haven't ran it enough to see what kind of abuse it can take
- Speed. Not the fastest saw....we may see it gain with break in time...
- Heat retention...it gets hot compared to other saws...excessive? We'll see...

This is not in anyway conclusive or scientific. The lists will grow with time......TBC

 

[DND 9000]

- Fuel tank is small or it's not very efficient....gotta check the specs and see how much it holds

Fuel capacity is 0,785l (MS 462 is 0,72l)

 

[AlfA01]

Fuel capacity is 0,785l (MS 462 is 0,72l)

Thanks Sebastian!

 

[Wilhelm]

Dolmar/Makita 64/73/79xx hold 0.75 liter of fuel.

 

[AlfA01]

Here's the baseline cuts...you guys will tell me what you think. I haven't watched the vid, but I think 500 has a lot of gaining to catch that Dolly.

EDIT: Both saws were running 8-pins.

Those chains in the video looked night + day different. One was feeding, one was not.

Also, not sure what the oiler problem is, but my 462 does not have a oiler problem.

I was thinking the same thing. The 500 sounded like it was holding way more RPM than it should have for so slow of a cut, especially with an 8 pin.

I dont consider the 500i to be a novelty saw in the slightest. This is the future and what we will all eventually be seeing in saws.

As far as performance goes, it has to get broken in and it needs some heavy load to tune in. I wouldnt say its unimpressive out the gate just yet. I'd like to see it with a 7 pin and about 12 tanks thru it before I start judging its performance. Hard to gauge performance by a video anyhow other than engine speed.

Scratch the video as the MS500 wasn't oiling right. I ran the same bar/chain on both saws today so we can all see what the differences are, if any, in the new vids.

 

[AlfA01]

Dolmar/Makita 64/73/79xx hold 0.75 liter of fuel.

Thanks Wilhelm!

 

[AlfA01]

Really enjoying your thread Dan thanks for sharing

Thanks buddy! How's the salt mine?

 

[AlfA01]

Here's the first vidja. Internet is slow to load YT vids taken with my camera.

Filter check after 2-tanks of fuel. What's that noodle doing on the butterfly?

 

[TreeLife]

Thank goodness maxflow exists...

 

[nohoff]

the noodle on the butterfly came there right in the moment you took the filter off.
You can see it after you took the air filter cover off on the middle hole of that filter.

 

[andyshine77]

Yeah I can see the noodle sitting on top of the filter and it falls in when you remove it. It's hard to tell from the video but I don't see much of anything inside the filter. It still looks like the setup on the 462 is superior.