Resource for used Chainsaw pricing/value

[Exmasonite]

Hey all... decided to try to "cheat" a little and ask the "pros".

So, i have my recently purchased used Stihl 260 pro... haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces even. Plan to give it a good few months of work before going up in size on another saw. Will likely look in the used market. I usually like to be pretty meticulous about these sorts of things and plan to be stalking evilbay and CL for the next few months to get an idea on pricing.

That being said, are there any good resources or guides on pricing for used saws? Or, if it doesn't take too much time, can somebody give a quick list on ballpark prices? Figured i'd just post this once as opposed to several threads over the coming months.

Mainly considering the following (gonna stick with stihl, mainly as i have the 260 Pro with 3/8" chain/sprocket to swap out bars, etc)

Stihl
036/360/361 (doubt there'll be too many used 362s yet but hey...)
044/440/441
046/460

Maybe consider the 391 but seems that the 360 line is the best/only saw to look at in the 300's from reading posts.

For example, had been tracking a few on ebay: (broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320650034141&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $299, (broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280621802522&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $280, (broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580532134&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $372

Thanks.

 

[HittinSteel]

If you go on ebay and select advanced search, you can then select completed auctions. This gives you a good general idea of the market.

If you have a 260, I'd skip the 036/361 range and look for a good 044/046 or their newer equivalents.

Only problem, is everyone is looking for a good deal on that series saw and they hold there value well. I'd expect to pay at minimum, $350 and up to $600 depending on condition.

 

[southbound]

If you go on ebay and select advanced search, you can then select completed auctions. This gives you a good general idea of the market.

If you have a 260, I'd skip the 036/361 range and look for a good 044/046 or their newer equivalents.

Only problem, is everyone is looking for a good deal on that series saw and they hold there value well. I'd expect to pay at minimum, $350 and up to $600 depending on condition.

+1

 

[Exmasonite]

Found a listing for a used 460... somewhat newer model as it has the twisty fuel/oil caps. Description to follow.... wonder what people think a fair price is for the package:


"Up for sale is a Stihl MS 460 Chainsaw. Included are 2 bars (one 24" & one 20"). Also included are 12 chains in good to great condition. Six chains are 24" and six are 20". The saw is very clean and starts with just a couple pulls. The chains are the more agressive square tooth. As you see in the photos, there is a crack by the nut in the air filter cover; also, a crack and chip where the cover comes around the handle. Those cracks are the only damage that I am aware of other than the normal wear. I am including two bottles of Stihl two cycle oil (enough for five gallons of gas). Mix one bottle with 2 1/2 gallons of gas for 50:1 fuel mixture. Also included is a socket wrench, two files, three empty chain packages, TWO tool boxes and an expandable chain guard."



Thanks in advance.

 

[smokinj]

Found a listing for a used 460... somewhat newer model as it has the twisty fuel/oil caps. Description to follow.... wonder what people think a fair price is for the package:


"Up for sale is a Stihl MS 460 Chainsaw. Included are 2 bars (one 24" & one 20"). Also included are 12 chains in good to great condition. Six chains are 24" and six are 20". The saw is very clean and starts with just a couple pulls. The chains are the more agressive square tooth. As you see in the photos, there is a crack by the nut in the air filter cover; also, a crack and chip where the cover comes around the handle. Those cracks are the only damage that I am aware of other than the normal wear. I am including two bottles of Stihl two cycle oil (enough for five gallons of gas). Mix one bottle with 2 1/2 gallons of gas for 50:1 fuel mixture. Also included is a socket wrench, two files, three empty chain packages, TWO tool boxes and an expandable chain guard."



Thanks in advance.

Show pic's if you can....Condition is everything....

 

[smokinj]

Cant send anymore pm's lol Its nice and you would be ok up to 700.00 some may say thats high but thats also alot of chains and extra's there....

 

[Exmasonite]

Jay-

thanks for the advice. Not sure i want to go that high yet but see if i can steal it for less than that. Need to spend a little more time with the 260 and see how much cutting i really need/want to do before getting further into it.

Then again, from what i can see, saws seem to hold their value pretty well and even if i put 6-700 into the 460, i should get at least 1/2 that back if i wanted to sell the 260 (which i don't).

 

[smokinj]

Jay-

thanks for the advice. Not sure i want to go that high yet but see if i can steal it for less than that. Need to spend a little more time with the 260 and see how much cutting i really need/want to do before getting further into it.

Then again, from what i can see, saws seem to hold their value pretty well and even if i put 6-700 into the 460, i should get at least 1/2 that back if i wanted to sell the 260 (which i don't).

Good 460 you can use for years and get 95 percent back.

 

[Exmasonite]

Jay, et al-

Well... got a little crazy on the e-bay.

Ended up winning the following auction, an 066 for $402.

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290530658742&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&autorefresh=true)

Any opinions? Know i'm going out on a limb. Little bit of an impulsive bid and starting to have a little buyer's remorse.

Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[smokinj]

Jay, et al-

Well... got a little crazy on the e-bay.

Ended up winning the following auction, an 066 for $402.

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290530658742&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&autorefresh=true)

Any opinions? Know i'm going out on a limb. Little bit of an impulsive bid and starting to have a little buyer's remorse.

Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

I think you did well...Thats a whole lot of saw there. PPE.......................................Once you get it start a new post for cleaning it up and raising the vaule of the saw by at least 200-300 bucks. Even more if you want to put a little into it.

 

[Exmasonite]

Jay-

Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully it turns to be a good decision. I'd been looking more in the 4--/04- line but when I came across that auction with <10 min left and still under $400, i went for it. Didn't really expect my bid to stand. I immediately thought i'd missed some obvious problem with the saw.

I'll get pics when i get it in and cleaned up. Will probably still spend the first 8-10 hrs using the 260 primarily before picking up its big brother just to get used to cutting, saw handling, etc.

Thanks again.

 

[Exmasonite]

One other quick question for Jay, the room, etc-

My 260 Pro was upgraded to a 3/8" sprocket... probably so the previous owner could swap bars between diff saws, etc.

So, i'm assuming i'll be able to do that with this 066 and the 260? Does sprocket tooth number come into play at all? (I think the 260 has a 7 tooth while 066 has 8 tooth from what i'm reading).

Thanks!

 

[HittinSteel]

That will be an absolute beast! I think you did well and if you want to, you can spend some time cleaning/sprucing up the cosmetics or just run it!

I think you'll find your 260 has a small mount and the 066 a large mount pattern, so the bars won't interchange. I can't see running similar size bars on those 2 saws though. Nothing more than 18" on the 260 and nothing less than 20" on 066.

 

[smokinj]

That will be an absolute beast! I think you did well and if you want to, you can spend some time cleaning/sprucing up the cosmetics or just run it!

I think you'll find your 260 has a small mount and the 066 a large mount pattern, so the bars won't interchange. I can't see running similar size bars on those 2 saws though. Nothing more than 18" on the 260 and nothing less than 20" on 066.

I think the 066 is same mount. 880 is the large mount

 

[Exmasonite]

yeah... i'm kinda confused on that. are there 2 mount sizes "small/medium/large" often referred to as medium, large, largest which makes no sense to me.

oh well... like Hitingsteel said, probably won't be an issue. likely to get a 16-18 on the 260 and a 20-28 or thereabouts for the 660.

Sound like a plan?

 

[HittinSteel]

yeah... i'm kinda confused on that. are there 2 mount sizes "small/medium/large" often referred to as medium, large, largest which makes no sense to me.

oh well... like Hitingsteel said, probably won't be an issue. likely to get a 16-18 on the 260 and a 20-28 or thereabouts for the 660.

Sound like a plan?

Yes it does! I like a 16" on the 260

 

[Exmasonite]

well... Evilbay strikes again.

Knew it was too good to be true.

Got the 066 last week. Wandered down to the local stihl dealer and was talking about it. They took a quick peek and offered to have a tech do a quick over, 1/2 hr bench time, $35. At the least, needed a new sprocket.

I figured it was the prudent thing to do. Only problem is that they were running 4-5 days behind b/c one of the techs got hurt.

So, i left the saw, same day as it had arrived. Hadn't tried to start it up.

Got the call today: Can't get the saw to fire. Good spark, carb seems a little dirty but even squirting a little gas in there, it wouldn't start up. He's concerned about a week in the crank case. Saws the cylinder and piston look good but didn't tear it down too much. He says there's some exposed wiring that could be grounding out but he consistently got good spark so doesn't think that's it.

So, now am going to have to fight with ebay seller. He said "No returns, no crying". (dirtydeedsdonecheap is seller on ebay). Has > 98% positive feedback. But, he also said in his posting that the saw ran, idled, and cut well.

Not sure if it's worth putting $$ into the saw or fighting to return it to him.

Any thoughts?

 

[smokinj]

well... Evilbay strikes again.

Knew it was too good to be true.

Got the 066 last week. Wandered down to the local stihl dealer and was talking about it. They took a quick peek and offered to have a tech do a quick over, 1/2 hr bench time, $35. At the least, needed a new sprocket.

I figured it was the prudent thing to do. Only problem is that they were running 4-5 days behind b/c one of the techs got hurt.

So, i left the saw, same day as it had arrived. Hadn't tried to start it up.

Got the call today: Can't get the saw to fire. Good spark, carb seems a little dirty but even squirting a little gas in there, it wouldn't start up. He's concerned about a week in the crank case. Saws the cylinder and piston look good but didn't tear it down too much. He says there's some exposed wiring that could be grounding out but he consistently got good spark so doesn't think that's it.

So, now am going to have to fight with ebay seller. He said "No returns, no crying". (dirtydeedsdonecheap is seller on ebay). Has > 98% positive feedback. But, he also said in his posting that the saw ran, idled, and cut well.

Not sure if it's worth putting $$ into the saw or fighting to return it to him.

Any thoughts?

Oh, I would get the saw in your hands and try to fire it. Cylinder good and spark I not trust other people work bench...Plug fule filter would be my first guess.

 

[TMonter]

If it just needs a new coil to get running you wouldn't be much more money into the saw. I think you can fix it without breaking the bank. Have they run a compression test?

This is why I don't buy saws on ebay, too much risk. I prefer to wait for craigslist where I can go see the actual saw and run it.

 

[HittinSteel]

It won't start, so it must be crank seals? Hmmmmm, seems like a pretty big leap.

The tech wouldn't have to guess if he took 10 minutes and press/vac tested the saw.

 

[smokinj]

It won't start, so it must be crank seals? Hmmmmm, seems like a pretty big leap.

The tech wouldn't have to guess if he took 10 minutes and press/vac tested the saw.

LOL My Thought's too!

 

[Exmasonite]

Oh, I would get the saw in your hands and try to fire it. Cylinder good and spark I not trust other people work bench...Plug fule filter would be my first guess.

Jay-

Well, you pretty much nailed it on the head. I'm not much of a small motor person (probably dumb to be buying used chainsaws on ebay but looking to expand my horizons). Figured i'd have the Stihl "experts" check out the saw first...

Well, got the saw back....

Fired up on the 2nd pull. Not sure if the guy didn't engage the chain brake or what.... maybe the car ride home jostled an air bubble out of the fuel line or something.

Regardless, pretty psyched to have a running 066. Just need some snow melt so i can get out and buck the 2 big trees that are down.

Need to get a new sprocket for it and spent a few days delving into manuals and figuring out what to check but figure if it's running, gotta be 80% of the battle.

Last question: is there a resource for checking serial numbers to figure out age on this beast?

Thanks again for all the help. Will work on updating sig and getting pics up.

 

[HittinSteel]

Oh, I would get the saw in your hands and try to fire it. Cylinder good and spark I not trust other people work bench...Plug fule filter would be my first guess.

Jay-

Well, you pretty much nailed it on the head. I'm not much of a small motor person (probably dumb to be buying used chainsaws on ebay but looking to expand my horizons). Figured i'd have the Stihl "experts" check out the saw first...

Well, got the saw back....

Fired up on the 2nd pull. Not sure if the guy didn't engage the chain brake or what.... maybe the car ride home jostled an air bubble out of the fuel line or something.

Regardless, pretty psyched to have a running 066. Just need some snow melt so i can get out and buck the 2 big trees that are down.

Need to get a new sprocket for it and spent a few days delving into manuals and figuring out what to check but figure if it's running, gotta be 80% of the battle.

Last question: is there a resource for checking serial numbers to figure out age on this beast?

Thanks again for all the help. Will work on updating sig and getting pics up.

Your dealer can run the serial number...... but, do you have any other stihl shops in the area? Might want to try a new one.

 

[smokinj]

Oh, I would get the saw in your hands and try to fire it. Cylinder good and spark I not trust other people work bench...Plug fule filter would be my first guess.

Jay-

Well, you pretty much nailed it on the head. I'm not much of a small motor person (probably dumb to be buying used chainsaws on ebay but looking to expand my horizons). Figured i'd have the Stihl "experts" check out the saw first...

Well, got the saw back....

Fired up on the 2nd pull. Not sure if the guy didn't engage the chain brake or what.... maybe the car ride home jostled an air bubble out of the fuel line or something.

Regardless, pretty psyched to have a running 066. Just need some snow melt so i can get out and buck the 2 big trees that are down.

Need to get a new sprocket for it and spent a few days delving into manuals and figuring out what to check but figure if it's running, gotta be 80% of the battle.

Last question: is there a resource for checking serial numbers to figure out age on this beast?

Thanks again for all the help. Will work on updating sig and getting pics up.

Your dealer can run the serial number...... but, do you have any other stihl shops in the area? Might want to try a new one.

YEA! sprocket a 2 min. job!

 

[Exmasonite]

HS- my thoughts exactly... gonna have to see what my options are.

thanks for all the help again, everyone