Shocking Result – Stihl 500i VS 661 Chainsaw Comparison
All right Hey it's Brock here with Rock Hill Farms And today we're going to do a real world Test between this steel 500i and the 661. And I've actually done this test before but The way I set it up wasn't a really fair Way to compare these two saws I actually had these two and a 461 and I Think those are three of the most Popular saws out there for people who Actually are running saws every day But the test I did on them was cutting a Very small log and that only measures Speed and not torque And the 500 cut faster than the 661 on That small log and I'm confident that that's not an Accurate assessment of these two saws so Now we've got this log here that's like 40 inches and we're going to cut it And I think we'll get a different result So I've got two brand new chains so we Can do a controlled test we'll get those Put on and get to cutting I've done a Lot of these time tests and everyone Wants to talk About the chain being used so Some of the comments will tell me I'd Cut faster if I'd file the rakers down Or different things like that I'm not Trying to see how fast I can cut what I'm trying to do
Is set up a scenario where neither saw Has an advantage because we're doing it Exactly the same way so we have two Identical brand new chains here they are 3 8 And 0.63 with They are the yellow chain I prefer the yellow that cuts more Aggressive but has more chance of a Kickback And that's what we're going to run on Both of these Another comment I get a lot is Why don't you use a husky well these are High dollar saws I don't have a it's a Big stack of them laying around matter Of fact I'm doing this today because the 661 Has to go back To the guy that owns it this isn't even My saw I just run the 500. But I borrowed this with the chainsaw Mill And both of these saws were originally Bought for Milling so if someone within An hour or two drive from me has some Nice husky saws I would absolutely make The drive down there to do a little Comparison from watching videos and Reading on forums from people who have Ran both a lot of people say the Huskies Can be sometimes a more powerful saw But I think where steel wins is they make a
Lighter saw With the same power or similar power the Other comment I get a lot is that That's nothing my old o44 Or 036 or 066 or whatever your older saw Is We'll out cut these new ones And I've watched some videos on that too I don't believe that's true Now I will say there's a chance That your old saw That you've been running for 20 years Wins because of that Because it's still running 20 years Later And I don't know if the new computer Chip saw is like these will still be Running that well 20 years from now I'm Pretty sure it was Mike from outdoors With the Morgans who had a saw he'd been Running for 20 plus years It was one of those models that starts With the zero that everyone's still so Fond of and he loved that saw Has it been so reliable for so long And that's an impressive thing But then he he compared it to a new saw With the same CC rating and the new saw cut faster You would expect it to because the other One might You know it's old it's it's lost a Little bit maybe of its juice But
That's just that conversation that's Going to happen in the comments so we Might as well have it here now we got The chain on the 661 had to get bar oil And fuel in both saws And then I've got one other issue With trying to do a fair comparison Between these two saws on this log and That's the length of the bar So take a look at that in just a second I hate these safety cans So obviously this 25 inch bar Is not just cutting all the way through It And if I walk around the Log to make the cut from the other side That introduces a variable or makes it Harder to compare So I'm thinking That if I cut down through it From the top here Run down through I'll be able to get right at the edge of That huh And then come down it To there We'll see if I can make the whole cut in One one cut or not And that's the reason I have a second Way I want to measure this just in case I have a hard time getting cut all the Way through the fact this is not a Straight cut introduces a variable of The way I handle the saw I'm going to
Try to do it the same way both times That's why I normally do these cut tests With a small log the problem with the Small log and a big saw is that they Don't require you to use up all the Torque that the saw has so you're not it Doesn't work very well to measure a big Saw this is the 661 I always start the Saw rev it a couple times and let it Warm up for a full minute before I do a Cut test Hahaha All right That was 54 seconds And there was One sliver across the bottom of this That my bar wouldn't reach And it's going to be the exact same Thing with the other saw it's going to Just not quite reach that bottom corner And that's all right I don't think it's Throwing off the test I might have Thrown the test off a little bit because I think I could have pushed harder on That saw With the 500 If you push it I think it it'll bog down A little bit and I let the saw just pull Itself in I think in general Because people tell me like you know if You dig your your dogs in there and push It'll cut faster I think it's pretty Good just to let the saw work you know But neither one of these saws has dogs
On them because they were both removed For For Milling I can put the dogs back on my 500 but I Don't have them for this other saw so We're doing it exactly the same When I do that second test I'm gonna push down harder on this on The 661 see how much difference it makes Foreign Mmm By the time this as I go And I got 53 seconds with the 661 and 51 Seconds with the 500i It didn't feel like it necessarily but It seems like the 500 cut faster on this And I think the big variable is the amount Of time I spend bringing it back this Way before switching and coming this way So now We're going to bury the entire length of The bar into this log and cut straight Down and see How long it takes to make that cut that Might be a better test 661 is going to go first And Foreign hahaha Wow Man Foreign Mmm Foreign
All right All right So I've ran that test twice First time the 500 cut a little faster On a small log S like it cut a little faster On this log On the big one I don't know if I controlled all the Variables Now what I learned on this second test Is That it's not a smart thing to do So having that buried right up against It was causing the the shavings in their Long shavings To suck back in around the chain Sprocket And actually stop the saw which is hard To do with these and If that's not a natural cut you're going To be making ripping down it like that Unless you're going to split a log in Half So My take is don't don't do it like that If you're ever needing to cut like that Pull the saw out and let let that chip Circulate and get dumped out properly But The real big takeaway is that those two Saws feel about the same to me as far as Actual practical power for working I Don't think you're going to notice a
Huge difference between them But the 500i weighs Like three pounds less and if you're Gonna be carrying it around that's a lot So for my money on two saws that are Priced within the same ballpark I would buy the 500i and I When I turned the camera on I thought I Know what the result of this is going to Be it's going to be the 661. the other Caveat is It's possible that that exact 661 Needs a tune-up or something you know These are both used saws I think we've Each had these saws for maybe two years So they're about the same age So maybe his saw has got more hours on It needs a tune-up or something But if I was buying a saw today out of The entire saw market for what I'm doing I would still buy the 500i I love that saw the only other Difference between them the 500i has the Bark Box on it now people tell me online People tell me the BarkBox doesn't make Any difference But That's the only other explanation for Why the 500 can match the 661. Anyway I appreciate you taking time to Watch this video I'll put links on the Screen to more of our videos and I'll See you next time
