- HOW TO LOCATE SERIAL NUMBER ON STIHL CHAINSAW SERIAL NUMBERS
- HOW TO LOCATE SERIAL NUMBER ON STIHL CHAINSAW FULL
- HOW TO LOCATE SERIAL NUMBER ON STIHL CHAINSAW SERIES
The first 4 digits of the number are essential: these leading digits identify the saw series and are the same for all (or at least most) parts on a given saw. Modern Stihl Part numbers consist of 11 digits in the format 12. Brake lever part number (on a sticker on the inside of the lever).Handle assembly part number (on the bottom of the saw).Basically, many cast metal parts and almost every plastic part on a Stihl saw have a part number on them. Disassembly reveals more part numbers.Ī single Stihl chainsaw has part numbers on many of its parts. Where to find the Part number (P/N)? Some exposed part numbers on your Stihl chainsaw: bottom of handle, inboard side of blower housing, muffler left flank. It is good for giving you a quick estimate, but if you need certainty, I recommend you contact Stihl. That said, the lookup machine is made by a hobbyist (me) and comes with no guarantees. The only exceptions are the early Stihl BL and BLK from 1950s and 1960s, which used their own system. The serial lookup machine works for all Stihl chainsaws produced from late 1950’s to 2020’s. While the scatter prevented me from making the manufacture year predictions 100% accurate, the large number of cases helped me to discard obvious outliers as false data points and make the final prediction reliable. (It looks like Stihl has batched the serials to different saw models.)
HOW TO LOCATE SERIAL NUMBER ON STIHL CHAINSAW FULL
This is enough for most purposes and about as good as you can get without access to the full Stihl factory records.Īt a detailed level, there was some scatter in the the serial numbers, caused either by inaccurate dating of some of the saws in the database or by Stihl not actually assigning the numbers in strict chronological order. The relationship I finally came up with actually seems precise to +/- one year. This means that predicting the manufacturing year from the serial number is possible.
HOW TO LOCATE SERIAL NUMBER ON STIHL CHAINSAW SERIAL NUMBERS
I built the Stihl serial lookup machine on more than 100 identification cases for Stihl chainsaws which I assembled, plotted and analyzed.Īpart from coding changes, Stihl chainsaw serial numbers increase predictably from late 1950s up to the present day (2021). These small programs incorporate majority of the open information available and give you the best guesses for the saw model as well as the manufacturing year and site that you can get without Stihl manufacturer data. This article gives quick lookup tools for both the part and the serial numbers, which tell you the likely saw model, the manufacturing year and the manufacturing location.īelow, you find instructions on where to find the serial and part numbers on your Stihl and the two lookup tools I programmed. The Stihl saw serial number (S/N), by contrast, carries little information as such, but can be used to look the saw up in Stihl’s databases. Summary: The Stihl chainsaw part numbers (P/N) are useful in saw identification in that they indicate the saw series and narrow the saw model identity down to 1 to 6 options. These numbers actually tell a lot about your saw, and in this article, I will give you the tools to decode them. But with many Stihl saws having carried this info only on a sticker – all too often unreadable or missing – telling these essential specs is not always easy.įortunately, Stihl chainsaws carry two types of identification numbers permanently marked on the saw body: the Serial number (S/N) and the Part number (P/N). These pieces of info are critical, for example, for knowing which replacement parts are going to fit.
When dealing with older Stihl chainsaws, you often need to find out the saw manufacturing year and model number (i.e.