Chainsaw advice

[Gordon Eyre]

Gordon, that was pretty impressive to cut up the whole tree with a bow saw - not something I want to emulate any time soon. I'll bet the problem with your neighbor's saws had nothing to do with what brand they were; rather, the way they were treated or, more likely, stored. I'll bet he hadn't used them in a long time, but there was still gas in the tank. That's a sure recipe for the carb. gumming up, and so easy to avoid if you dump out the tank whenever you're not going to use the saw for several days or longer, and then run it at low speed until the saw stops. Sometimes the problem is a collapsed fuel pick up tube, a real problem with my Shindaiwas and some Stihl saws after our gasoline went to 10 ethanol. Ethanol swells and softens the rubber that was used in them. Two solutions here - either use pure gas if you can find it, or dump out the fuel and run it dry as described above.

John

Your probably right John. So many people fail to take proper care of their tools. That is a good idea to dump the unused fuel.

Thanks for the compliment on cutting up the tree. Actually the exercise was probably good for me, especially since I have been on a weight loss kick the last three months. I am walking an average of 7 miles a day and watching what I eat. I have lost a significant amount of weight and look and feel much better.

[Gregory King]

Just a humourous quick note on my 266 Husky. Bought it new in 1987, cut on the average of 3 cord per year for my own use and the last few years my brother- in law and I have purchased tree length wood by the long trailer load for cutting, splitting and resale as a side job that we enjoy. Anyway, since the day I bought it new it takes 5 full pulls on the cord no matter how long it sits idle between starting times. Every spring when I get it out, there seems to be someone around at that time and I can't help but mention " 5 pulls and she'll start". And it always does. Greg

[Larry Edgerton]

Gordon, could I have some of whatever your drinking?

Really! I cut wood to heat my house with hand saws back in the 70's. People used to ask me what was wrong with my right arm it was so much bigger than the left. Now I use a pro saw and a tractor, and its still harder. Hats off to you Gordon!

Larry

[Greg Hines, MD]

I am also a fan of Stihl, though I do not have one. I bought a Husqvarna, with a 24" bar, off Amazon.com, and have had no problems with it. When I was at home, and also when I worked at the summer camp, we used Poulans and Stihls, and the Stihls were reliable and I had no complaints with them. Not the same for the Poulans, as they gave us all kinds of troubles.

That said, when we first got married, my wife gave me a Homelite el-cheapo saw with an 18" bar. And other than having to replace the sprocket bearing after about 12 years of use, it still works just fine. For a saw that I generally expected to last a year, it is going on 15 now and still works like a dream.

Doc

[Ed Edwards]

Jim Andrews

When you said, referencing Bailey's, "Their chains are much better than the Stihl replacement chains" which chains were you refering to ??

Not trying to steal the thread, just looking for good info

Thanks, Ed

[Matt Meiser]

You can't compare a 15yo Homelite saw to current production. I'm not sure if that's during the John Deere or Textron ownership period but they went rapidly downmarket during the early 2000's. I bought a string trimmer from the John Deere period that wasn't bad. Only reason I replace it was that it was a curved-shaft one and I couldn't trim around the pine trees at this house with it. Homelite is currently a Techtronics brand and I believe its a low-end Home Depot-only brand to supplement their line of Echo stuff. Apparently TTI doesn't support the old stuff either.

I was surprised (maybe disappointed is the word) to learn that Husqvarna owns McColloch, Poulan and Weed Eater. If they ever decide to sell them, I bet Stanley/Black and Decker would jump at the chance.

[Brian Brightwell]

I ordered a new 562 AutoTune yesterday for a logger friend. $600 power head only. I am anxious to see how it runs. However,Auto tune saws take about 5 gallon of fuel to break in.