Stihl / Gas / Homeowner

Stihl MS 170

Name: Stihl MS 170
Brand: Stihl
Price: 220 USD
Availability: Discontinued

30cc class

No longer sold new in the US. The maker's replacement is the Stihl MS 172 C-E.

30.1cc

Engine

1.3 kW rated

16 in

Bar

cuts to about 14 in

8.6 lb

Weight

powerhead only

~$220

approx., with 16" bar and chain

4.5/5 across 4,401 reviews on Ace Hardware. Nobody reviews saws here; that number is theirs.

The cheapest way to get a real Stihl in your garage, and the saw dealers hand to first-time buyers who need to clean up storm limbs a few weekends a year. At 8.6 pounds for the powerhead it's genuinely easy to run all afternoon, and the 4,400+ Ace Hardware reviews averaging 4.5 stars back up the 'thousands of happy owners' vibe you see in forum threads. But owners are blunt about the ceiling: this is a light pruning and limbing saw, not a firewood saw, and it gets slow and sluggish once logs pass about 10-12 inches. The cost-cutting shows up close — a basic carburetor, minimal anti-vibration, and a bar-swap chain tensioner instead of the side-access adjuster on pricier models. Stihl has also started rolling out the updated MS 172 alongside it, so the 170 is a proven but aging design. For under $230 with a 16-inch bar, most homeowners decide the limitations are a fair trade.

Best for: Homeowners who want a real dealer-supported gas saw for pruning, storm cleanup, and occasional small logs at the lowest possible price.

Specifications

Engine class: 30cc class (by displacement)
Engine: 30.1 cc
Rated power: 1.3 kW
Bar length: 16 in
Bar range: 12-16 in
Single-pass cut: about 14 in (bar minus 2)
Chain: 3/8" Picco pitch / .043" gauge (61 PMM3)
Weight: 8.6 lb, powerhead only
Power type: Gas
Use case: Homeowner
Warranty: 2-year consumer (1-year commercial)
Model: MS 170

Manufacturer figures except the engine class and single-pass cut, which are derived here. What each spec means

Cheapest gas Stihl at $219.99
8.6 lb powerhead, all-day light work
4.5 stars across 4,400+ Ace reviews

What owners like

Real Stihl build and dealer network at a $219.99 price that undercuts most big-box homeowner saws
8.6 lb powerhead is light enough for overhead limbing and long cleanup sessions without fatigue
3/8" Picco low-profile chain is cheap to replace and easy to sharpen for beginners
IntelliCarb compensating carburetor keeps it running as the air filter dirties
Massive verified track record — 4.5 stars over 4,401 Ace Hardware reviews
Sips fuel; a tank goes a long way in yard-duty use

Common complaints

Underpowered for firewood — owners report it bogs and slogs in logs over ~12 inches
No side-access chain tensioner; adjusting the chain means loosening bar nuts the old way
Anti-vibration system is minimal compared to the MS 250 and up, so hands buzz on longer cuts
Clamshell engine and plastic-heavy construction aren't built for rebuilds or hard hours
Newer MS 172 successor is already on stihlusa.com, so the 170's days look numbered

What owners say

Read from owner discussions, long-term write-ups and dated retail reviews; nothing here was measured on this site.

The MS 170 is the saw people buy as their first real chainsaw and then keep forever as the little one. Owner threads are full of homeowners with a few wooded acres saying it chews up everything they need and anything bigger gets hired out, campers who keep one in the truck, and carvers who run a 12-inch bar on it. The honest ceiling is about 10-12 inches: it will cut a larger log but you wait on it, and anyone who buys a 50-60cc saw next comes back describing the difference as night and day. One owner who had run three saws head to head put numbers on it — 0.390 PS/kg for the 170 against 0.511 for a Dolmar PS-390 — and said you feel it.

The complaints are consistent and mostly about the parts you touch. Owners who have had several hate the .043-gauge chain and the bar-nut tensioner, call the anti-vibration spongy, and note the air filter needs cleaning constantly. There are no carburetor adjustment screws, so a saw that drifts rich or lean goes to the dealer. The overwhelming majority of "my 170 is broken" threads turn out to be fuel: old mix, a flooded plug, or a gummed carburetor after months in a shed. The one that doesn't come back is wrong oil — an owner who mixed plain lubricating oil instead of two-stroke blew black smoke and ended up needing a cylinder and piston. Dull chains are the other recurring non-fault, with new owners posting about smoke and blackened wood after burying a chain in dirt a few times.

Stihl has replaced it with the MS 172 C-E, so from here the 170 is a used purchase — and that changes the comparison. The debate owners actually have is a $200 new-ish 170 against a $125 used pro-grade 026, and even the people voting 170 concede the old 026 is more durable and easier to work on. Buy a used 170 if you want a known-quantity limbing and cleanup saw with parts at every dealer and you are happy to clean a carburetor; skip it if the plan is firewood, where owners send you to the MS 250 class, an Echo CS-590, or a used 50cc pro saw instead.

What owners like

Owners who love theirs love it as a small-wood saw, and most of them have hung a 12" or 14" bar on it instead of the stock 16" — carvers, campers and truck-box owners all describe the short-barred 170 as something they can swing all afternoon
It cuts above its displacement because of the chain, not the engine: a dealer who sold piles of them points out Stihl spec'd a thin-kerf low-profile chain (the same low-drag idea used on its pole saws) on the 170, so it bites better than 30cc should
Ubiquity is the real selling point — as one owner put it, the 170 is not winning any competitions but it is reliable and everywhere, and owners are still dropping new cylinders, cranks and bearings into decade-old ones
Cheap enough that owners abuse them without flinching: one has been noodling bowl blanks out of very hard wood with his for five years and still uses it for limbing, and more than one admits to owning three

Common complaints

Slow is the unanimous verdict past roughly 10-12 inches. Owners say it will cut a bigger log, you just wait on it, and everyone who steps up to a 50-60cc saw describes the change as a world of difference
The chain tensioner and the .043" gauge chain are the two things multi-saw owners single out as hateful, and the bar-nut setup is confusing enough that owners post asking how the bolt is even supposed to come loose
Anti-vibration is described as spongy, the air cleaner needs service constantly, and the carburetor has no adjustment screws — so a saw running rich or lean is a dealer trip, not a screwdriver job
Starting and running faults dominate owner threads: floods and won't fire, dies off throttle, won't idle after sitting. It is nearly always stale mix or a gummed carb, but the little clamshell engine is unforgiving about it
It is discontinued in the US in favour of the MS 172 C-E, and owners were already reporting empty dealer shelves before that — new buyers get pushed to the 172, 180 or 162 instead

Questions owners ask

Now that it's discontinued, is a used MS 170 still worth buying?

Owners think so, with eyes open. Parts are at every Stihl dealer and people are still rebuilding top ends on decade-old ones, and non-runners turn up around $100 and usually want nothing more than fresh fuel, a plug and a carburetor clean. The comparison worth making is the one owners argue about: a used pro-grade 026 or 260 for similar money is more durable and easier to work on, so if you find one in good shape, take it seriously.

What's the biggest wood an MS 170 should see?

Comfortably 10-12 inches. Owners are blunt that it will cut bigger — one says he has felled giant oak with one — but it gets slow and you are working the saw hard to do it. The usual advice is to treat the 16-inch bar as reach for limbing, and to hire out or borrow for anything you couldn't safely handle anyway.

Should I run a shorter bar than the stock 16 inches?

A lot of happy owners do. Carvers run 12-inch bars, and the common advice given to first-time buyers is to fit a shorter bar than the maximum on a small saw so the engine isn't fighting the chain. A 12-14 inch bar makes the 170 noticeably quicker in the small wood it's actually suited to.

Why is mine smoking and burning the wood instead of cutting?

Almost always a dull or rocked chain, and it's the single most common thing new 170 owners post about. If you've touched dirt a few times, the cutters are gone and no amount of pushing will help. Owners' standing answer is to learn to sharpen with a file — as one put it, you can run any saw you want if you can sharpen it — and to check the bar oil is actually reaching the chain.

What actually kills an MS 170?

Fuel mistakes. Straight gas or the wrong oil is the one failure owners can't talk you out of: one owner mixed plain lubricating oil instead of two-stroke, got black smoke, and ended up needing a new cylinder and piston. Everything else in owner threads — won't start, dies on throttle, won't idle after storage — comes back to stale mix, a flooded plug or a dirty carburetor, and owners do fix those at home.

Drawn from 6 owner threads and long-term reviews, kept on file with this entry.