9 Years of No Maintenance… My Stihl Farm Boss Finally Gave Up

Today’s project started—give my Stihl MS271 Farm Boss its first tune-up in almost nine years. Air filter, spark plug, fuel filter, fresh gas… easy, right?

Well… it snowballed fast.

After a complete cleanup, replacing every maintenance item, draining two-year-old premix, and even installing a brand-new carburetor, the saw still wouldn’t fire. That’s when I pulled the muffler… and found out why.

The piston is trashed, compression is only 55 PSI, and this Farm Boss finally gave up after a hard life and zero maintenance. Now I’m at a crossroads — rebuild it, hand it off to a mechanic with the proper Stihl tools, or upgrade to a new saw entirely.

In this video, you’ll see:
✅ Full time-lapse teardown & tune-up
✅ Cleaning, installing parts, and a new carburetor
✅ Grinding a custom thin-wall 8mm socket
✅ Compression testing
✅ Piston inspection & the final diagnosis
✅ The decision: rebuild vs replace

I want to hear YOUR thoughts — what would you do?
Drop a comment below.

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New videos every week — from tractor revivals, field work, repairs, and farm life to whatever project breaks next (because something always does).

Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!

— Rob @ Richwine Garage