jcarlberg
Super OPE Member
- Local time
- 6:00 AM
- User ID
- 28792
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2024
- Messages
- 186
- Reaction score
- 984
- Location
- Winnipeg

Sometimes ya gotta learn the hard way.
Sometime last year I picked up a "cheap" MS 201 off the local buy-and-sell. Guy was nice enough, said he had got it at an auction. Didn't REALLY need it but for $350 Canadian or whatever I paid I figured "why not?"
Brought it out one day to cut out some brush; saw ran well for 10 minutes then started powering out; difficulty restarting, etc. Local small engine mechanic took it in, had it for a couple of weeks, said he went all the way through it, couple new carb parts, would be good to go. Charged me an arm and a leg; pretty much doubled the cost of the saw. Oh well, still a good deal for what should now be a good-as-new 201.
Saw didn't get much use until this spring, was pulling wood out of the forest and had one of my boys trimming branches off fallen logs with the 201. Wouldn't run right again after it got hot. Fack. Talked to my small engine guy; he's like "bring it back, I won't charge you anything." Took it back to him eventually, left it there.
Other day he tells me "Oh by the way, your saw is all done. Grab it from my shop any time!" So I did; saw runs well (so far). Went out to see him and asked "Do I owe you anything for the repair?" He's like "Yeah, turns out it was the coil; very expensive part; there was a recall on that saw from years ago for the coil but you got it used and had no record of ownership so I had to pay full price for the part." Apparently a very expensive part!
So now I'm into this saw for almost to the dollar what I would have paid for a brand-new one. Lesson learned - avoid used, unless you know the person extremely well or they have a great rep (like many of the sellers on OPE Forum). Now my question is...assuming this saw is running well (no reason to believe otherwise though I haven't used it much) should I keep it, or consider it "cursed" and try to dump it and invest the cash in something else?
Sometime last year I picked up a "cheap" MS 201 off the local buy-and-sell. Guy was nice enough, said he had got it at an auction. Didn't REALLY need it but for $350 Canadian or whatever I paid I figured "why not?"
Brought it out one day to cut out some brush; saw ran well for 10 minutes then started powering out; difficulty restarting, etc. Local small engine mechanic took it in, had it for a couple of weeks, said he went all the way through it, couple new carb parts, would be good to go. Charged me an arm and a leg; pretty much doubled the cost of the saw. Oh well, still a good deal for what should now be a good-as-new 201.
Saw didn't get much use until this spring, was pulling wood out of the forest and had one of my boys trimming branches off fallen logs with the 201. Wouldn't run right again after it got hot. Fack. Talked to my small engine guy; he's like "bring it back, I won't charge you anything." Took it back to him eventually, left it there.
Other day he tells me "Oh by the way, your saw is all done. Grab it from my shop any time!" So I did; saw runs well (so far). Went out to see him and asked "Do I owe you anything for the repair?" He's like "Yeah, turns out it was the coil; very expensive part; there was a recall on that saw from years ago for the coil but you got it used and had no record of ownership so I had to pay full price for the part." Apparently a very expensive part!
So now I'm into this saw for almost to the dollar what I would have paid for a brand-new one. Lesson learned - avoid used, unless you know the person extremely well or they have a great rep (like many of the sellers on OPE Forum). Now my question is...assuming this saw is running well (no reason to believe otherwise though I haven't used it much) should I keep it, or consider it "cursed" and try to dump it and invest the cash in something else?