How many "miles" in this saw? ms390

[Logging logginglogging]

So before people give me the whole "its not a pro saw so it sucks stuff" I want to say I bought the MS390 Bran new and it has been amazing and has been running amazing, it has never failed me. I have cut roads with it, cleared house lots and cut 14+ cords of wood a year for the last 10+ years or so. I diden't have time to do any service on it this week so I dropped it off at the chainsaw shop /  dealer (usually i just always service it). When i dropped it off, they said "we will call before we do any work" because a lot of saws have had major engine damage lately and were not worth fixing. They said they noticed the cylinder walls have some scoring "called it major engine damage". The saw still runs fine but is probably getting tired. I intend to go pick it up today and continue using it as always. I have rebuilt these "non pro saws" before but it was a pain and i don't plan on rebuilding this one.  

Does anyone have any experience with how much wood these MS90's cut before they are just worn out? Just wondering if i got fairly normal life out of it thus far? I have no complaints and have worked this saw very hard year around. I always mix on the rich side and have babied the saw in that respect.

[Logging logginglogging]

One other thing, I truest this dealer / Shop... But i do find it interesting they said they would call because a lot of saws are not worth repairing lately......

[btulloh]

Sounds to me like you got your money's worth out of that saw and then some.  

[Pine Ridge]

Exactly what btulloh said.

[Al_Smith]

Well all I can say is it will run until it won't .

[celliott]

If you're cutting that much wood with it, you obviously know how to keep a chain sharp and do basic maintenance on a saw. 

I would say most of the plastic case "farm/ranch" quality saws meet their end through user error, likely due to inexperience. Pushing a dull chain, not cleaning air filter, improperly/poor mixed fuel, etc etc. 
seen many pictures of that series of Stihl with the clutch side melted because they ran with brake on, or pushed hard on a dull chain.

I also believe more pro saws meet their demise under a tree or skidder tire or dozer track or get stolen, long before a professional wears one out. 

[Logging logginglogging]

If you're cutting that much wood with it, you obviously know how to keep a chain sharp and do basic maintenance on a saw.

I would say most of the plastic case "farm/ranch" quality saws meet their end through user error, likely due to inexperience. Pushing a dull chain, not cleaning air filter, improperly/poor mixed fuel, etc etc.
seen many pictures of that series of Stihl with the clutch side melted because they ran with brake on, or pushed hard on a dull chain.

I also believe more pro saws meet their demise under a tree or skidder tire or dozer track or get stolen, long before a professional wears one out.

Yeah I take decent care of it, I never melted any clutch parts, in fact its all the original clutch parts. I have never purchased anything for this saw other than a bar and many chains. well i did replace the recoil cover when a log rolled onto the saw. but that was it. Reallys its been a great saw

[HolmenTree]

I remember when this saw started out as a 039 back in the 1990's and it surprised alot of local cut and skid loggers. Was definitely not a 044 or the newer 046 but the 039 held its ground very good cutting 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

[Al_Smith]

I've got a box full of 029 and 039 saw parts .The saws were purchased by two tree service companies after a massive ice storm because of the amount of extra ground crew help they hired .I'm not so sure any of them lasted much over a year .However considering the rough usage they encountered and the hours they ran it's not too bad .
I did however get one or two 039's  running and most likely traded them off  .They actually did okay as far as cutting .One had believe it or not been ran  with the -E-clip missing and the roller bearing missing from the clutch drum .It kind of krispy crittered the plastic.and broke one clutch segment .It's a wonder it didn't snap the crankshaft stub  end .

[Southside]

I brought a saw to a shop once because I had adjusted the carb to where it would not run and I could not get it back to the factory setting - the saw was fine otherwise and I had not run it to damage it when I was adjusting the carb, I knew it was just me paying my annual stupid tax.  So I get a call from the shop - saw has no compression and is not worth fixing, but they will hook me up with a new one - guess the guy at the counter never bothered to tell the guy out back why it was there.  I picked up my saw and brought it to another place 30 minutes away - cost me $15 for a new plug and carb adjustment, saw ran perfect until I traded it in on a 372 - at that new shop - a couple years later.  I would be leery of the place you are going to given what they preemptively told you.  

[Al_Smith]

Without casting stones I've landed several saws from a dealers "dead pile " with basically nothing wrong with them .These are all "pro" grade saws .Nothing wrong with consumer grade but I stay away from them .Truth be known I just think the people wanted a new saw .Different strokes for different folks I guess .

[bulldozerjoe]

I'm no logger, but I cut my fair share of fire wood, 30 plus face cord of wood for my family, I still run a 029 farm boss...  it was my grandpas probably purchased on the middle late 90s. He died in 2004... that thing won't stop, iv also got a 028 super, 021,
066... all run great, I'm happy with the 0 line from sthil 

[OddInTheForrest]

I got myself a 039 from the year 1994 for next to nothing a few years back, when needing a larger displacement saw for my treecare company. And man, what a brilliant saw. I mean, its not the same as my 660 (that I got after needing a even bigger saw), but the 039 pulls a NK (Narrow Kerf) 25" B/C all day without hesitation. Pulls a 20" B/C 1,6 (.63?) all day as well. This migth be partly wrong, but one of the Stihl representatives in our part of Norway was talking about the build quality of the early 300/030 saws - 036/039, and mentioning that they would be more than suitable for pro/commercial work back in the day due to build quality. More then than now, with 391`s beeing marketed as a large "around the house" saw here in Norway. Anyone else offered this some thinking? Is there some to it? Great saws anyways ;)

Best Regards
Odd H.

[doc henderson]

even a trustworthy shop can get a new tech. or mechanic that has a different threshold for repair.  I trust my mechanic at my Stihl shop, but he will tell you that muffler mods make no difference and uses a tach to get dealer specs.  He also worked through his lunch break to fix my saw one time to get me up and running in the middle of a job I was on out in the country.  so you still have to use your own brain on these decisions.  sadly all the name brands are leaning toward disposable products.  Stihl does a good job of training so it may be outside their specs, but if it runs and you are happy, run it till it dies.  

[luap]

I have had two 036's That I was given after my self employed logger cousin passed. Still running strong but I switched to Husqvarna's for something lighter as I got older.

[Al_Smith]

An 036 is a different breed of cat than an 039 .

[Tropical Sawyer]

My daily driver saw is an MS310 which is pretty unbeatable. I believe it was purchased new by my father in around 2005 and its so far cleared acres of land and cut tons of firewood. Only things i've replaced are the worm gear for the oil pump twice (I believe due to wrong oil) and the muffler due to corrosion from humidity and salty air. The saw even spent time on a chainsaw mill cutting ~16" mahogany slabs. 

Even while running ethanol gas the carburetor has never needed to be cleaned and it was still on its original spark plug until a year ago. Probably not a selling point but it even has the original air and fuel filters.

Even after years of use I was looking in the cylinder the other day and it has no scoring, the original milling marks are still visible. The only major complaint I have would be how difficult they are to disassemble. To rebuild one takes hours of disassembly as opposed to pro saws where you can just take the top cover off. Obviously it is not as good as a pro saw but it is brilliant overall, I would highly recommend it.

[doc henderson]

welcome to the forum trop saw

[kenskip1]

Personally I would take off the muffler and have a look at the condition of the piston.Next I would purchase a compression tester.Personally I do not trust small engine mechanics that I am not familiar with.How did the mechanic come to the conclusion that he claimed to?How many years has he been doing this on chainsaws?Anyway I think that you will see my point of view.Ken

[thecfarm]

Won't hear me give you no guff about a pro saw. I won a Efco on here,50cc. Ran that thing for 8 years.The crank shaft just broke on it. I am looking for another small saw now.