Is this the worst STIHL Chainsaw? New model gets mostly bad reviews

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A couple of years ago, we put together a list of the worst STIHL Chainsaws—those chainsaws aren’t necessarily bad; they’re just not as good as other STIHLs.

But since then, STIHL has released a new chainsaw, and it’s not looking good at all.

Here’s a typical review pulled from STIHL’s own product listing (we have copied and pasted the text below the screenshot to make it easier to read on mobile).

Not a Good Chainsaw

So bad I wrote a review. Not a quality product, do not buy.

It stalls constantly and difficult to get started again once stalled. It can run 10 maybe 15 minutes before it stalls. The one I have will stall soon after starting for several minutes. After about 5 minutes you can run it, until it stalls again.

Do you recognize the saw?

Have you guessed what model it is?

It’s the STIHL MS 162, the 30.1 cc entry-level homeowner saw replacing the discontinued MS 170.

Here are some more reviews.

Horrible saw

First off the chain gets dull incredibly quick. The bar never stayed tight i always had to tight it it after about 2 minutes of run time.

Second this saw had a very difficult time cutting through a 10 log that took me way to long to finally get through.

Third this saw I have had for two weeks. I went to take the bar and chain off to clean it and the entire stud that holds the bar and cluch cover pulled from the housing. The bar was stuck to the clutch cover I took it to a certified tech who repaired it and filed a claim for warranty. I get home to clean it after just picking it up. And the same thing happen. The stud pulled from the housing. And now the bar is stuck to the cover again.

This saw it made of cheap plastic. And ace will not except a return of the saw because it was used. Do not buy this saw!

This thing is getting worse reviews than the very unpopular STIHL MS 441!

Very weak saw

Saw is extremely weak and chain stops moving at the slightest pressure in wood. Takes awhile to get up to full rpm.

I get this is a homeowner saw but even for those purposes Stihl went too weak on this saw. I’ve been very disappointed by it.

Even had dealer look at it to see if something wrong with clutch that chain stops so easily. They said nothing wrong and that I needed to lower my expectations.

Yikes, you know it’s bad when the dealer tells you to lower your expectations… though it is now STIHL’s smallest chainsaw (not counting the GTA 26), so how much can you expect?

Small saw small performance

It’s a fine little saw I really wish I would have bought the the ms182 I have only had it 2 weeks. Just not powerful enough for me. It bogs down so easy.

We always recommend that people go bigger than they think they will need. Everyone always wants more chainsaw at the end of the day, right?

Weak and broken.

Very weak and breaks easy.

Honestly this chainsaw is not that good. I bought one of these and tried to cut a tree and immediately after use it stopped working, not to mention how It literally fell apart inside of a block of wood it just doesn’t cut well and it’s a cheap product.

We got our chainsaw replaced with another after the ace hardware guy told us the carburetor was bad out of the box. I just tried to start up the new chainsaw to use on some branches but guess what… it didn’t start I never write reviews for products but this is just ridiculous.

Could it be worse than the MS 391?

Poor Quality Controle

Sure it’s a low power saw that bogs down just by looking at it wrong, but I can work around that.

What I can’t accept is a saw that wont stay running the second day I own the thing. It dies as soon as I give it any throttle.

I was concerned about this saws pitiful reviews before I bought it, but decided to trust the Stihl name. That’s not a mistake I’ll be making again.

This thing is Garbage!

terrible chainsaw

Got 8 great cuts and then the engine shutoff. filled the fuel and bar chain oil tanks (with stihl oil and fuel) waited 20 minutes and started again when i tried to rev it stopped stared again same results. waited 20 minutes and then would not start.

Chainsaw not working!

I bought the homeowner model last year. First use it stalled off intermittently, barely finished the job.

Took to a dealer, they serviced the saw. Tried to charge for a chainsaw service. Stihl overrode and paid the charge.

Took saw out to use a few weeks ago for first use after dealer serviced last year. Chainsaw exhibited the same stalling.

I have a Stihl Weed Trimmer that is excellent! That is why I bought chainsaw.

Knew it was a mistake to buy the low end model after first problem. Tried to get the dealer to let me return and I would pay for a more expensive model that I could start and run easily.

Those are some of the bad reviews of the STIHL MS 162. You can see them on STIHL’s listing here, along with a handful of positive reviews.

Overall, it has a 2-star rating, making it the lowest-rated chainsaw on the site.

If you were looking for a small chainsaw, would you risk it?

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