Stihl chainsaw

[jo1010]

....Most people would have no problems with a cheapy import saw.....

....until they need (unobtanium) spares for repairs

at least most (but not all) spares are available for older stihls

 

[aidank]

They are living off reputation now, quality is not what it used to be and hasnt been for a long time. The only real benefit of a pro saw now is the power to weight ratio.

However China has stepped up its quality. Most people would have no problems with a cheapy import saw.

What brands would you recommend

I have a long reach hedge cutter in mind......

 

[frank horton]

should have bought an Echo......

the petrol saw from Lidil's is very good and only 99euros......so much better than my tiddler stihl, which went in the scrap years ago.......
the only reason I bought the Lidil saw was waiting for a carb gasket set from Athens (wrong one sent) and had a guy here working so needed a cheapy...
A load of work done and strill starts easy....the orig chain lasted well.....would I buy another......OH yes....
My Echo was over £400.........

 

[GRW]

I just bought this.....

Only needed for 1 proper tree job & lopping it into Firewood length sections really - so at £80....

 

[Kram]

What brands would you recommend

I have a long reach hedge cutter in mind......

I recently bought Makita UX001G split shaft and 196256-2 EN401MP hedger attachement, it is excellent, same performance as petrol without the noise or starting, both very nice particually if working with others and up a ladder.

They have an offer at the moment, fill a form, after 30 days a free 4Ah battery (£160) in the post.

As for saws, the Parkside seems to do well, mine was £60, it gets abused.

....until they need (unobtanium) spares for repairs

at least most (but not all) spares are available for older stihls

Spares are all over ebay/amazon, actually much easier to get!

 

[mtt.tr]

If you are having tuning issues more often than not it's an air leak

 

[Keith 66]

I have an Echo grasshopper (HCA2400) My father in law bought it new about 15 years ago, it was used twice a year cutting long hedges & well maintained. Never ever failed & was easy to start.
Until last week. Its a Walbro WT 424c Carb, It Just wont run more than a couple of seconds, bought a carb rebuild kit & have stripped & cleaned it ten times at least now, even to the extent of pulling the welch plug & check valve cleaning out all the jets. Checked lever height etc, Last chance was the tiny accelerator pump that works off the throttle shaft. Took that out today & cleaned as it was sticky.
All back together, still wont run.
Meanwhile a replacement carb turns up ordered of ebay, Try that one, just the same. Strip the "new" carb, typical crap chinesium passageways full of drilling swarf & a throttle shaft with twice the play of the one that is playing up. Put the old one back on
I have looked at vids on you tube until im square eyed, there is no reason it should not work but the pox ridden thing wont go.
Its beaten me.
Top tip dont waste your money on cheap replacement carbs they will be worse that the old one.
Meanwhile i need a long reach hedge trimmer like yesterday, thinking of going cordless, what make Stihl? Im sick of petrol ones. Life is too poxy short.

 

[angellonewolf]

have you got a sonic cleaner ?

 

[Keith 66]

No. I have spent enough on it already, It is cleaner than clean. Not wasting one more minute on it.

 

[jo1010]

I've done 3 carb overhauls this year so far. First honda gx35 that had been sat with fuel in it for 2 or more years. No chance of repairing that so Haishine replacement for than £20. Good carb, ran well. Second Stihl ms441, 11yrs old, nice saw so did carb gaskets on that and ran well thereafter. Third was a zama carb on a Stihl strimmer. Tried gaskets for that but still wouldn't run (sat over winter with fuel), first cheap replacement carb no good so returned...next one was good from Hippotech (branded Hipa in US) less than £20. Excellent runner. The problem is knowing which Chinese brands are good - some of the online UK garden spares people sell these too, but around £40 which isn't bad, only they know the chinese brands they sell. At least if you buy from UK suppliers they probably work,- they've done the quality assurance on them...

 

[Keith 66]

In the end i asked a local lad who services lawnmowers, he doesnt hold any parts & is too busy on mowers to look at it, he recomended Rowena motors who were very helpful. It seems the common issue with the specific version of walbro wt carb i have is the accelerator pump, He had no new replacement carb otherwise i would have bought one. He also said many of the chinese replacement carbs are barely fit for purpose if that.
Then i had a lightbulb moment, I have a good runner Stihl strimmer, swop the shaft & drive over onto the Stihl powerhead, gotta be a very similar drive connection? It will have to wait for a winter project.

 

[mtt.tr]

In the end i asked a local lad who services lawnmowers, he doesnt hold any parts & is too busy on mowers to look at it, he recomended Rowena motors who were very helpful. It seems the common issue with the specific version of walbro wt carb i have is the accelerator pump, He had no new replacement carb otherwise i would have bought one. He also said many of the chinese replacement carbs are barely fit for purpose if that.
Then i had a lightbulb moment, I have a good runner Stihl strimmer, swop the shaft & drive over onto the Stihl powerhead, gotta be a very similar drive connection? It will have to wait for a winter project.

Some walbro wt carbs have a one way valve that fails.

These can be replaced but the valve can be an **** to get hold of. I personally recommend Chinese carbs for older kit

This a Chinese 660 with some upgrades parts, it runs as well as OEM

 

[Smallfry]

I used to work at a Stihl, Husqvarna, and Sachs Dolmar dealer some years ago. That was caused by chain and bar overheating. Blunt chain, wrong/no oil, wrong chain (too wide)
Dolmar were the best IMO. Most reliable. Then Husqvarna, Then Stihl, as they were very heavy then.

Still got a small Dolmar, and a Stihl MS181 to do our felling and firewood. Its about 20 years old and still (see what I did there) starts second pull.

 

[Migmac]

Thinks it’s vintage engine repairs that has a video on how to deal with the pump in the Walbro carbs

 

[Talk]

Hmm, I've never seen anything like that....even the home user saws don't normally have faults like that unless there is serious wear/looseness..... Chain and bar need inspection after every long cutting session really

Me either. I would look for what caused this first. Not sure even a loose chain combined with it being mounted wrongly to the inside of the sprocket, seen that done, but I doubt even then it would scrape the frame of the saw like that.
The bar could be twisted like a propeller which would add to it.
No poiint in fixing it until what caused it is corrected, and that could cost too much, might be better buying an ECHO CS 352
for a couple of hundred new, a little less power, but depending on what you need doing its a good option.

Epoxy as other said will fix it, but it needs cleaned well first, leave it a little high and use a sharp wood chissel
or plainer blade to trim it down later.

 

[Talk]

They are living off reputation now, quality is not what it used to be and hasnt been for a long time. The only real benefit of a pro saw now is the power to weight ratio.

However China has stepped up its quality. Most people would have no problems with a cheapy import saw.

That stihl was made in China, they have been there at least since 2014.
I would not mind a nice MS400 though.

 

[Talk]

I just bought this.....
View attachment 498382
Only needed for 1 proper tree job & lopping it into Firewood length sections really - so at £80....

It has paid for itsself now. Strip it down and port it, that would be fun.

 

[Talk]

I have an Echo grasshopper (HCA2400) My father in law bought it new about 15 years ago, it was used twice a year cutting long hedges & well maintained. Never ever failed & was easy to start.
Until last week. Its a Walbro WT 424c Carb, It Just wont run more than a couple of seconds, bought a carb rebuild kit & have stripped & cleaned it ten times at least now, even to the extent of pulling the welch plug & check valve cleaning out all the jets. Checked lever height etc, Last chance was the tiny accelerator pump that works off the throttle shaft. Took that out today & cleaned as it was sticky.
All back together, still wont run.
Meanwhile a replacement carb turns up ordered of ebay, Try that one, just the same. Strip the "new" carb, typical crap chinesium passageways full of drilling swarf & a throttle shaft with twice the play of the one that is playing up. Put the old one back on
I have looked at vids on you tube until im square eyed, there is no reason it should not work but the pox ridden thing wont go.
Its beaten me.
Top tip dont waste your money on cheap replacement carbs they will be worse that the old one.
Meanwhile i need a long reach hedge trimmer like yesterday, thinking of going cordless, what make Stihl? Im sick of petrol ones. Life is too poxy short.

 

[Talk]

Does the engine have spark at the plug, how about the fuel line and filter, any holes or could it be collapsed
due to ethanol damage, nothing shorting out the coil, using good fuel, carb set right and linkages working.