Hello — about five years ago I bought a Stihl M5211C to replace my old Echo. I genuinely believed I was upgrading. Now, five years later, I’m writing this out of pure frustration.
I used the Stihl once when I first bought it. The second time I tried to start it, nothing. I took it to a certified Stihl shop, they called me to pick it up, and I specifically asked them to walk me through the starting procedure so I could be sure I wasn’t missing something simple. Even the tech needed about 9–10 pulls to get it going.
When I got it home and tried again — same story. No start.
Every so often (like this afternoon) I pull it out and give it another chance before grabbing my old Echo. And every time, the Echo fires up in 2–3 pulls, just like it did today. It’s a reminder not to be so quick to “upgrade” equipment that has been reliable for years.
Honestly, this Stihl has been a huge disappointment after all the positive reviews I read. I was excited about the extra 2" on the bar, but what good is that when the saw won’t even start? I have less than an hour of actual use on this machine, and it’s been a complete bust.
The last bit of advice I found suggested I might need to rebuild something internally. On a saw with under an hour of runtime? Really?
I used the Stihl once when I first bought it. The second time I tried to start it, nothing. I took it to a certified Stihl shop, they called me to pick it up, and I specifically asked them to walk me through the starting procedure so I could be sure I wasn’t missing something simple. Even the tech needed about 9–10 pulls to get it going.
When I got it home and tried again — same story. No start.
Every so often (like this afternoon) I pull it out and give it another chance before grabbing my old Echo. And every time, the Echo fires up in 2–3 pulls, just like it did today. It’s a reminder not to be so quick to “upgrade” equipment that has been reliable for years.
Honestly, this Stihl has been a huge disappointment after all the positive reviews I read. I was excited about the extra 2" on the bar, but what good is that when the saw won’t even start? I have less than an hour of actual use on this machine, and it’s been a complete bust.
The last bit of advice I found suggested I might need to rebuild something internally. On a saw with under an hour of runtime? Really?