Stihl

[Russ from MN]

Our son has a nice Stihl professional model of chain saw, with about a 18 inch bar, about 15 years old.
It's only been used to cut a few cords of firewood each year, so it's in like new condition. Would a saw
like this have a spark arrestor, and would it be approved for use in a national forest? He lives in
Washington now and you can get permits to go out and cut firewood, but the saw has to be fire safe. Thanks!

 

[moresmoke]

It should have a spark arrester. Probably a screen on the muffler outlet. Im not sure what the forest service requires.

 

[stevieb49829]

Russ, if the muffler has not been tampered with, it has an appropriate arrestor screen in it. If the muffler cannot be taken apart, the only way to check for the screen is to shine a flashlight down the exhaust port. Most screens are not really screens, per se, just a baffle with a bunch of holes in it. I never found a saw during FS timber sale inspections that did not have an appropriate spark arrestor, and those guys tend to modify their saws - a lot. What model Stihl? steve

 

[stevieb49829]

PS: the Forest Service has a manual that lists all the different power equipment, and what it should have for a spark arrestor. Call the local office, and ask the Sale Administrator to look up your Stihl, if you want to be certain.

 

[Russ from MN]

thanks so much, that's kind of what we thought!

 

[4play]

15 years ago or double that, should definitely have a spark arrester unless someone removed it. Depending on your model you might be able to peek into the exhaust outlet and see a metal screen, some mufflers have a little cover you unscrew to access the screen, some mufflers have screws that hold the muffler shell together and need to be removed to service the screen. The muffler itself should be engraved or etched to indicate it's equipped.

 

[Billy NY]

I would agree, the muffler screen it should have. Same screen is also suspect when a saw is not running right, they can get restricted or plugged up. I've never seen it happen on my old Stihl MS390, but certainly possible. It's amazing what a tiny spark can do, crawler undercarriage can generate sparks too.