My Stihl 017 is still going after 29 years. Used it today to take down an Asian pear that would not produce much. The off switch stopped working years ago, so I choke it to stop it. Works fine.
I used to carry it in a backpack for trail maintenance before I got a Stihl arborist top handle pruning saw. I took the brake off for smaller footprint in the backpack. Same with the pruner. They are both low power, not much kickback issues.
Even so, will probably get rid of the 017. I’m old and going mostly electric now. I still got my gas top handle pruner and a big farm boss. But none of my trees need the Boss. Both of these saws have been in storage for years since I got out of trail maint.
If the switch functions anything like the modem saws, there is likely a buildup of sawdust covering the contact or the spade connector/wire which diverts to ground the electrical pulse that would cause the combustion spark has failed in some fashion. If it is worth the roughly 20 minutes of diagnosis and repair then I’d urge you to poke around behind the shield.
I was given an old Mac 610 a decade ago that has to be at least 30 years old. Putting a 24” bar on her for some big work I have coming up! It can cut faster than a helper can move the rounds.
