Giving up was the key to saving my chainsaw

[Car Jack]

I've got a 25 year old chainsaw that's had a ton of repairs, been rebuilt (by me), has stuff that doesn't work and odd things that aren't right.  But it's my "big" saw and I do forest management, so I do need this thing.  Lately, I burned out the clutch.  Completely my fault and a learning experience (don't do that again).  Anyways, I first bought a replacement clutch spring ($7) as the saw kept the chain always engaged.  With the new spring, the thing slipped like crazy.  I ended up buying a new clutch ($50) and it worked great for about 1/4 tank of gas, then started slipping.  I gave up and put the saw on craigslist.

Well, this changed my way of looking at things.  I figured I have nothing to lose as it's advertised with a slipping clutch and all the other things that aren't right.  I pull out the old clutch from a box.  Pull the new one off.  Sand down the inside of the drum and then install the old clutch.  The way this works, that spring keeps the shoes from engaging until the saw motor is spinning fast enough.  Since it wasn't engaging and I got nothing to lose, I put in a screw driver and pull the spring to loosen it up.  Put the saw back together and what do you know.  It works.  I've taken down one tree with the saw and gone through a couple tanks of gas cutting up the wood to firewood size pieces.  The thing is working great.  Still has all the other quirks, but I can live with them all.  Pulled it off of craigslist and put off my purchase of a new $600+ replacement saw.  In the end, I sort of wasted $50 on a new clutch, but it was worth it to learn how to get the thing going once again.

Next project is going to be a "little" saw that I rebuilt years ago but never could get running right.  I know there's an air leak somewhere but really didn't want to pull the thing completely apart again.  I bought a replacement saw about a year ago, but you know, having another running saw would be really good to have.

[Fishindude]

While I appreciate anyone handy that can fix and repair things, I think it's insane to fight these problems very much and / or to be using a tool like this that has other issues or problems.   If you are truly doing forest management, time should be very important to you and downtime with broken equipment is not only frustrating, but costly.   Also, a chain saw is a very dangerous tool, so if any of the "other quirks" are something that would affect safe use, it needs to be taken out of service anyway.

You got your moneys worth out of that saw (25 years).  Break down and buy yourself a new one.   Keep that old beater around for an emergency extra.

[lthenderson]

While I usually agree with just about anything FishinDude says, I would much rather fix up an old chainsaw than buy a new one. The reason being is that I think most of the new chainsaws these days are junk. They are full of plastic and are very finicky to tune. I have a Stihl that is around seven years old and it feels like I am constantly having to fiddle with it to get it started (and keep it running) whenever I use it. Yet I can go down to the farm and grab any of the 40 year old Stihls and they fire right up and work flawlessly. The plastic parts is economy savings and the finicky starts/running is due to EPA emissions regulations on small engines.

[Car Jack]

Thanks for looking out for me.  I should have explained the quirks a bit.  All the safety features of the saw do work.  The biggest thing is that there appears to be a missing piece in the choke linkage so when I go to start the saw, normally when the choke is pulled, it locks in place.  With the missing piece, it doesn't lock, so I use something to hold the choke handle out.  The other thing is that over the years, a number of screws have gone missing.  Not a big surprise with all the vibration these things generate.  So the nice hex screws that cost an arm and a leg from Husqvarna are replaced with pedestrian philips head screws.  This is a 51, so a good size engine in a "farm" type saw.  I don't do this as a job, it's managing my own property.  And I do always have a backup saw, which is my "little" Husky 440.

Maybe I'll set up my work bench and take another crack at the old "little" saw, a Husky 435 that was completely rebuilt, but never ran right.  Seems to have an air leak.  New cylinder and piston plus carb and all the fuel lines and filter, so I have to think I missed something during assembly.  It starts and runs but won't run off choke.  Nothing to lose.  If I can't get that one going, I guess it can become a parts saw or get craigslisted.

[Paper Chaser]

While I usually agree with just about anything FishinDude says, I would much rather fix up an old chainsaw than buy a new one. The reason being is that I think most of the new chainsaws these days are junk. They are full of plastic and are very finicky to tune. I have a Stihl that is around seven years old and it feels like I am constantly having to fiddle with it to get it started (and keep it running) whenever I use it. Yet I can go down to the farm and grab any of the 40 year old Stihls and they fire right up and work flawlessly. The plastic parts is economy savings and the finicky starts/running is due to EPA emissions regulations on small engines.

For small jobs, battery saws are getting pretty good. I can't run my 80V Kobalt flat out for more than about 25-30 minutes, but with a spare battery I can keep working with minimal downtime. I've used it to take down a couple of ~18 inch diameter maples recently and cut up some 24-36" diameter ash that others felled for me. It works really well. No gas or premix, no pull starting, no loud saw noises to annoy my spouse or the neighbors if I'm working early in the morning, or later in the evening. I just pick it up, push a button, and pull the trigger. For normal homeowner use I think it's great.

[lthenderson]

As a small town homeowner with a 3 acre lot, I think my next chainsaw is going to be electric. But I'm fresh off of spending an hour last week taking my gas Stihl chainsaw apart, cleaning, polishing, checking, just to get it started. I never found anything wrong but when I put everything back together it fired right up. On the farm, we spend a week every spring cutting sprouts and carry both an electric and gas chainsaw. The electric makes quick work of the small sprouts, but for the larger stuff, I definitely prefer the gas for the extra horsepower, especially in denser woods that we often get into like Osage Orange.

[ender]

I was shocked how well my Milwaukee chainsaw went through a tree we had out front here.

[sonofsven]

My work partner and I joke about it whenever something goes wrong with a tool, vehicle, house, etc: "MAINTENANCE!", or lack thereof.
It's really the core of our being, as humans, maintenance...
I too run a 51. But if I can get away with it a Shindaiwa top handle is my fave. There's a 038 magnum 2 on my bench, that one scares the trees into quick submission but it scares my back even quicker.

[joenorm]

While I usually agree with just about anything FishinDude says, I would much rather fix up an old chainsaw than buy a new one. The reason being is that I think most of the new chainsaws these days are junk. They are full of plastic and are very finicky to tune. I have a Stihl that is around seven years old and it feels like I am constantly having to fiddle with it to get it started (and keep it running) whenever I use it. Yet I can go down to the farm and grab any of the 40 year old Stihls and they fire right up and work flawlessly. The plastic parts is economy savings and the finicky starts/running is due to EPA emissions regulations on small engines.

You have to buy the right saw. Stihl has a professional and a homeowner grouping to their saws. The professional saws are not junk and I would argue they are better than ever. Plastic also equals lighter weight. I agree with you if you're strictly referring to the homeowner line.

[Car Jack]

Update: I found that one of the screws that holds the carb in place had pretty much stripped out the plastic housing between the carb and cylinder.  I put in a slightly bigger one that tightened things down and the saw is running better and the choke pull-to-lock works again.  Another little win!  Worked with it for about a tank's worth over the rest of the weekend.

I also went into my local chainsaw dealer and found a knowledgeable guy there who was able to go through both Husqvarna and Stihl's lineups.  The wife was happy to give me the go-ahead to get a saw for father's day.  Although it's going to take some time to come in, I'm set to buy a Stihl MS261 CM, which is a 50cc saw in the professional series.  It's maybe a hundred bucks more than the Husky version of my 51 (450), but I'm pretty well convinced that for all the work I do, I really should be using a pro saw. 

So the 51 will become a backup unless I decide to craigslist it with my 440 as my "little" saw.  I do still have that 435 that's completely rebuilt that I'm going to take back apart and carefully put back together, hoping I can get it running correctly as it's got a completely new top end, carb and fuel lines.  If that works out, either I have yet another backup or craigslist it.  I'd likely keep them all.  I do enough work that having spare saws isn't unreasonable.

[sonofsven]

Congrats on the new saw!

[roomtempmayo]

That old 51 is worth fixing.  Yeah, it's been around, but it's still a better saw than anything new from the homeowner line.

I've been using a 445 for the past decade or so, but this spring I blew it up for the second time.  I really wanted to find a 272 in good condition at a good price, but in March or April that's basically impossible around here. 

With time to cut and no saw, I ended up going to my local saw shop and picking up a 562xp.  Not very mustachian, but I haven't regretted it even a little bit.



I've come around to the idea that saws are the sort of tool you either buy the bottom of the line and treat them as disposables, or you buy a really good one and fix it forever.