New MS400c

A friend of mine snagged the display unit from our dealer about a month ago, he said they won't have any more till early 2022. Apparently all manufacturers are having trouble with supply, my Husqy/Pfanner dealer told me the other day. This is in Germany btw.
I was really surprised how light it felt, I couldn't tell the 400 apart from my 026 weight wise, but is is quite a bit more bulky. It was slightly front heavy with a 18" bar on it, not enough to matter much I think, but for a 20" bar I would go with a light bar. My friend wants to put a 20" regular bar on there that he has lying around, but hasn't changed from the stock one yet. Stihl Germany says max length is 18" for that saw, but their recommendations are always very short...
Neither of us has used it much yet, we did notice it has super fast acceleration, a benefit of the lighter piston.
Looking forward to trying it, especially climbing, but on the next tree I'll have to choose between trying the 400 or the new full wrap handle I put on the 026...
 
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climbstihl said:
A friend of mine snagged the display unit from our dealer about a month ago, he said they won't have any more till early 2022. Apparently all manufacturers are having trouble with supply, my Husqy/Pfanner dealer told me the other day. This is in Germany btw.
I was really surprised how light it felt, I couldn't tell the 400 apart from my 026 weight wise, but is is quite a bit more bulky. It was slightly front heavy with a 18" bar on it, not enough to matter much I think, but for a 20" bar I would go with a light bar. My friend wants to put a 20" regular bar on there that he has lying around, but hasn't changed from the stock one yet. Stihl Germany says max length is 18" for that saw, but their recommendations are always very short...
Neither of us has used it much yet, we did notice it has super fast acceleration, a benefit of the lighter piston.
Looking forward to trying it, especially climbing, but on the next tree I'll have to choose between trying the 400 or the new full wrap handle I put on the 026...
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18” seems small
We run a 20 on a 362 and have no issues I’d hope the 400 would do even better
 
Chaplain242 said:
Magnesium piston makes it a no for me.

Stihl MS 400C Chainsaw Review – Forestry Reviews

Starting from May of this year, we have been conducting rigorous testing on the Stihl MS 400 C with our primary testers. They have been thor
www.forestry.com www.forestry.com
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They have to be chromium electro-plated or something for wear... Otherwise I would share the same concerns.

Looks like a great crane saw on paper, anxious to hear your review!
 
Jonny said:
I want a full or 3/4 wrap for my 026, where’d you find that?
Only one I’ve ever seen was one made for 044 and modified a little to fit. I might just do that. A full wrap is so nice for spar work sometimes.
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Yeah, that's what I did, needed to drill a second hole on the bottom, and grind the ends of the tubes a millimeter shorter, they wouldn't fit in the recesses, I think that was due to poor tolerances, it was a cheap aftermarket one. Feels sturdy though. I knew there was going to be a lot more clearance between the handle and saw, but it was much more than I expected, not sure if I'm going to like that.View attachment IMG_20210407_185925.jpg
 
27RMT0N said:
I can't even get a 500i from my local dealer, I've been asking for like two months now... I'll certainly be curious where the 400c fits in to the range of new saws power-wise.
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Our dealer has around 100k in saws on order. Dealership just changed hands as the owner retired but it’s been around 35 years. Excellent place. They do husky and stihl.
Ordered a 500i myself about a month ago. They had 15 of them on order and I was number 11. Yet to get a call it was in. If you see one available or this 400 buy it. Even if you don’t want it can sell it on the internet for more.
 
I can see paying a premium for a saw that's hard to find, except I'd be hesitant about buying a "new" saw with no warranty. How would the warranty be affected if you bought a new saw secondhand?
 
I’m not sure on that end. There’s a stihl chainsaw Facebook group. Guys from all over the world have been raving about them. Each will post if they see one in a dealer or if they grab them. For the most part these saws have been flawless.
 
I had an opportunity to run the 500i for a few hours this week falling and bucking some Firs...An interesting saw that seems a little overpriced for its capabilities. The 500i did ok with a 36" bar, but it just couldn't keep up with a stock 395 (which is cheaper by the way) with a 36". The 395 literally beat it down like an unwanted orange and white stepchild.

One thing that none of us like was the av system on the 500i. This saw flops around like a fish on a line to the point where it was fucking annoying and distracting. Not really sure what Stihl was thinking with that av setup?

Also had more time with the MS400. As it has broken in it has shown itself to be an extremely lightweight screamer, and a very nice mid-size climbing saw. I would probably buy one if it had a little more low end grunt, would pull a 28" bar, and came in a full wrap model. Folks who need a 60-70cc saw that is gonna pull a 24" or less should give the 400 a serious consideration.
 
rico said:
I had an opportunity to run the 500i for a few hours this week falling and bucking some Firs...An interesting saw that seems a little overpriced for its capabilities. The 500i did ok with a 36" bar, but it just couldn't keep up with a stock 395 (which is cheaper by the way) with a 36". The 395 literally beat it down like an unwanted orange and white stepchild.

One thing that none of us like was the av system on the 500i. This saw flops around like a fish on a line to the point where it was fucking annoying and distracting. Not really sure what Stihl was thinking with that av setup?

Also had more time with the MS400. As it has broken in it has shown itself to be an extremely lightweight screamer, and a very nice mid-size climbing saw. I would probably buy one if it had a little more low end grunt, would pull a 28" bar, and came in a full wrap model. Folks who need a 60-70cc saw that is gonna pull a 24" or less should give the 400 a serious consideration.
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Thank you for the reviews! The 500i does seem a little too expensive to me. I wouldn’t expect it to keep up with a 395 since it is a little smaller, but I’m still not sold on a fuel injected saw anyway.

The 400 does sound like a great saw, we just might have to pick one up when it becomes available in this area. It sounds like a great match for a 20” bar to run with a crane. Less weight and more speed is always a great combination, especially in the air!
 
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really get the 500i vs 395 comparison even though it's interesting. Although the hp rating are almost the same (for what that's worth), the 395 is 15cc larger and 2.5 pounds heavier, it had better be more powerful! I just feel like they are different types/class of saw. I'm still interested in getting a 500i to exclusively run a lightweight 28" since I keep the 36" on my 661. I do wish I had a Husky dealer around me...
 
rico said:
I had an opportunity to run the 500i for a few hours this week falling and bucking some Firs...An interesting saw that seems a little overpriced for its capabilities. The 500i did ok with a 36" bar, but it just couldn't keep up with a stock 395 (which is cheaper by the way) with a 36". The 395 literally beat it down like an unwanted orange and white stepchild.

One thing that none of us like was the av system on the 500i. This saw flops around like a fish on a line to the point where it was fucking annoying and distracting. Not really sure what Stihl was thinking with that av setup?

Also had more time with the MS400. As it has broken in it has shown itself to be an extremely lightweight screamer, and a very nice mid-size climbing saw. I would probably buy one if it had a little more low end grunt, would pull a 28" bar, and came in a full wrap model. Folks who need a 60-70cc saw that is gonna pull a 24" or less should give the 400 a serious consideration.
Click to expand...
Spoke to the local Stihl shop about it and the AV system is really targeted at cutting logs on the ground, and their customers really liked the AV system for that.

The AV System is articulated and would likely need maintenance in my mind as it would likely soften up even further.
 
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