What's new
By:
Filters

Let’s talk chainsaws

Rugby said:
I just bought a husqvarna saw and it leaks all the bar oil out over a few days. Their response is don't store it with bar oil.
Click to expand...

Thats a husky:laughing:

Those tanks build up pressure. Pop the cap whe you are done using it. It dont fix it, but it helps
 
Rugby said:
I just bought a husqvarna saw and it leaks all the bar oil out over a few days. Their response is don't store it with bar oil.
Click to expand...
Bummer. I'm not familiar with huskys but make sure the oring is intact. I have an old saw that is missing an oring. Works fine for use, but storing it leaks all the oil and gas out.
 
I'd drain and put fresh fluid in(get the small ethanol free can usually 91 or higher. I would get new fuel filter and lines. Maybe carb cleaning if you're comfortable with it.

Check for spark, plug connection on both end. Could be power switch, connector came off loose. After all it'll be bit brittle


Brake off, choke on, pull cord til it almost runs. Choke off, pull cord usually runs

Once it's running, let it run couple minutes, adjust idle if needed

I'd usually have head between my leg(squeeze tight), left hand on handle, right hand on pull cord. With full wrap, then whichever is comfortable to put either handle on handle and other on cord.

If saw moves while pull cord, leg didn't squeeze hard enough. If uncomfortable, get second person. Saw on ground flat. 1 person push it down and ready for throttle and other pull cord.


Other thing would be flooded carb. You can burn off excess thru carb with air filter off if accessible or exhaust port if accessible. Otherwise let it sit a while for fuel to dry up and try again.
 
Last edited:
Rugby said:
I just bought a husqvarna saw and it leaks all the bar oil out over a few days. Their response is don't store it with bar oil.
Click to expand...

take the bar off and clean the inside VERY thoroughly. most of the time you have sawdust and other small wood pieces jammed in there and it will make the saw leak.

It isn't hard to sharpen a chain, but, if you can't do it, drop them at saw shop and they's sharpen them for you.

on the dying out stuff.

Get some good husky mix at Home Depot or lowes. drain out the old gas and use some good gas and I'll bet you'll run and idle.
 
Perfect noob thread for this noob chainsaw user.

Stihl 211 I bought new last year and have put less than 2 tanks of gas through it. I've started it successfully once, usually it is at least 15 min of yanking on it in various states of choke and throttle to find whatever magic combination this finicky pile of shit likes. Every time I attempt to start it I always use the procedure in the manual (full choke pull until it coughs, then half choke).

Last night was 2 hours of screwing around with it to get it started. Tried mixture screws in and out- zero change. Seems like it just floods out no matter what. Brake parts cleaner got it to cough a bit. Pull spark plug and air filter and yank on it for an eternity to clear it out, reassemble and it just as dead as before.

Pulled the carb off, looked immaculate (always ran the overpriced non ethanol stihl pre mix in a can), blew it out anyway and put it back. Yanked on it for another 20 min after that turning the LH screw in/out and finally the stupid thing lit. By then it was dark and I have no idea what if any changes I made worked.

I've got vehicles sitting for 10 years started quicker than this POS. What is the trick?
 
Steve300xcw said:
Drop it off at a saw shop an let them unfuck it
Click to expand...
Good advice that i'm probably too stubborn to listen to

I put everything back to factory settings after every change I made. If it had a Keihin PWK on it i'd be in business. I'd like to learn so I can be self sufficient.
 
We just bought an Echo CS-590 Timber Wolf, this thing is heavy but has plenty ass for some of the trees we get. I've never had an Echo before. Only thing is the chain sucked from the very first cut, took a HARD right in a 12" log. Its so bad I couldn't fix it and I'm pretty good at it.
 
mjlogan88 said:
Perfect noob thread for this noob chainsaw user.

Stihl 211 I bought new last year and have put less than 2 tanks of gas through it. I've started it successfully once, usually it is at least 15 min of yanking on it in various states of choke and throttle to find whatever magic combination this finicky pile of shit likes. Every time I attempt to start it I always use the procedure in the manual (full choke pull until it coughs, then half choke).

Last night was 2 hours of screwing around with it to get it started. Tried mixture screws in and out- zero change. Seems like it just floods out no matter what. Brake parts cleaner got it to cough a bit. Pull spark plug and air filter and yank on it for an eternity to clear it out, reassemble and it just as dead as before.

Pulled the carb off, looked immaculate (always ran the overpriced non ethanol stihl pre mix in a can), blew it out anyway and put it back. Yanked on it for another 20 min after that turning the LH screw in/out and finally the stupid thing lit. By then it was dark and I have no idea what if any changes I made worked.

I've got vehicles sitting for 10 years started quicker than this POS. What is the trick?
Click to expand...
Steve300xcw said:
Drop it off at a saw shop an let them unfuck it
Click to expand...
mjlogan88 said:
Good advice that i'm probably too stubborn to listen to

I put everything back to factory settings after every change I made. If it had a Keihin PWK on it i'd be in business. I'd like to learn so I can be self sufficient.
Click to expand...


I once fucked around with a sithl string trimmer for a good 5 hours. Pulled and cleaned and adjusted the carb, changed plug and filters. Practically dislocated my shoulder from pulling on it so much. Brought it down to the local small engine place and was waiting at the counter for him to finish with the guy in front of me when I noticed a little orange shit in the muffler. Turned out a mud dobber had build a nest in the little choked down muffler and had completely blocked it off. Since I was already there I just bought a new one and he threw it on for me and the damn thing screamed to life on the first pull. :laughing:


It's probably something stupid. Suck. Bang. Blow. Are you sure it's getting fuel? Air? Spark? And is its asshole clean?
 
bgaidan said:
It's probably something stupid. Suck. Bang. Blow. Are you sure it's getting fuel? Air? Spark? And is its asshole clean?
Click to expand...
Its getting fuel, the main issue i believe is it is getting flooded almost immediately. Filter is clean and spark is good. Good call on the muffler, I'll give that a look tonight now that I have settled down a bit.

I drug 2 small dead trees across the driveway with the truck around 530pm assuming this thing would start. My troubleshooting started getting a little sloppy around 7pm so I'll give it a fresh look tonight. With things starting to get green soon I'm going to need it to be reliable before my yard turns back into a rainforest
 
mjlogan88 said:
Its getting fuel, the main issue i believe is it is getting flooded almost immediately. Filter is clean and spark is good. Good call on the muffler, I'll give that a look tonight now that I have settled down a bit.

I drug 2 small dead trees across the driveway with the truck around 530pm assuming this thing would start. My troubleshooting started getting a little sloppy around 7pm so I'll give it a fresh look tonight. With things starting to get green soon I'm going to need it to be reliable before my yard turns back into a rainforest
Click to expand...
Throw a $12 amazon carb on it and see what happens. I'm at the point where I just replace carbs ever other season or so on most of my shit. Even with running non-ethanol gas.
 
mjlogan88 said:
Good advice that i'm probably too stubborn to listen to

I put everything back to factory settings after every change I made. If it had a Keihin PWK on it i'd be in business. I'd like to learn so I can be self sufficient.
Click to expand...

I get it. Still, I have other things I can be fucking with. If they wanna be stubborn they can be somebody else's problem:laughing:. Expecially considering how little I use a saw anymore
 
Steve300xcw said:
I get it. Still, I have other things I can be fucking with. If they wanna be stubborn they can be somebody else's problem:laughing:. Expecially considering how little I use a saw anymore
Click to expand...
That was the point of buying a brand new saw. Yet here I am. I have the same curse with vehicles.
 
if you are already using Stihl premix, then I think your carb either has a problem or your timing is not set correctly.
If the saw was bought at a big box store, then it needs set up. If you bought it from a saw shop then you'll have trouble free operation as they will set it up. There are videos on setting timing on a Stihl... I am a husky user, but I think the Stihls set up at 30º advanced from tdc.

If you haven't been running stihl gas through it, flush it and switch.

Also, you mentioned you aren't good at sharpening chains. you CAN drop them at a saw shop and they'll do them all for you and much cheaper than replacing. But, with a little practice getting a sharp chain is not difficult.

If you are using a 14" bar, sell your stihl and get an electric saw. It will be a delight.
 
Jbevs said:
Bummer. I'm not familiar with huskys but make sure the oring is intact. I have an old saw that is missing an oring. Works fine for use, but storing it leaks all the oil and gas out.
Click to expand...
You may want to consider just spraying silicone lubricant on your bar prior to use and every hour or so while you use the saw. Put in ¼ cup of cooking oil instead of bar oil... much less mess.

Your gas should not leak at all, so, something needs fixing if you are leaking gas. Take it in and get it fixed.

I have used Huskys all my life and I have had great luck with them and great performance. If you are using a pro saw (an xp) having the bar oil 'over oil' is not a curse, but if you are doing more DIY stuff, try what I suggested.
 
More than likely a carb issue. Echo CS400 owner here. I run the premixed TruFuel in mine. It starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull every time (5 pumps, choke/pull, choke off/pull. Worth the money for sure and fuel could be relatively expensive if I ran it all the time. I always had issues with other saws using the mix because they weren't ran often enough. I only break out the gas axe when doing heavy cutting (mainly Mesquite and Post/Live oak. I sharpen my chains when bored but also keep new ones on hand for when I don't want to fuck with sharpening. I have a Milwaukee 18v for minor tasks which gets used more often than I originally intended when I bought it.
 
Last edited:
gladman said:
if you are already using Stihl premix, then I think your carb either has a problem or your timing is not set correctly.
If the saw was bought at a big box store, then it needs set up. If you bought it from a saw shop then you'll have trouble free operation as they will set it up. There are videos on setting timing on a Stihl... I am a husky user, but I think the Stihls set up at 30º advanced from tdc.

If you haven't been running stihl gas through it, flush it and switch.

Also, you mentioned you aren't good at sharpening chains. you CAN drop them at a saw shop and they'll do them all for you and much cheaper than replacing. But, with a little practice getting a sharp chain is not difficult.

If you are using a 14" bar, sell your stihl and get an electric saw. It will be a delight.
Click to expand...
I'm running the Stihl premix

I bough it at a local Ace hardware with a Stihl shop in the back. It seems to run fine if I can get it started, but all I can compare it to is 2 stroke dirt bikes. I've lived in the desert my whole life up until about 2 years ago and had zero reason to run a saw up until recently.

I think its a 16 or 18" bar. I've never even tried to sharpen the chain, thing hasn't run long enough to need it. Have zero interest in tinkering with stuff like that so i'll probably just grab a new one or farm it out.

I'd probably be fine with an electric one, but with the intent to own some property soon up here I need to develop some proficiency with one. I could have done the work i needed to last night 10 times over with a sawzall in the amount of time it took me to fire up this thing.
 
Boomtacoma01 said:
More than likely a carb issue. Echo CS400 owner here. I run the premixed TruFuel in mine. It starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull every time (5 pumps, choke/pull, choke off/pull. Worth the money for sure and fuel could be relatively expensive if I ran it all the time. I always had issues with other saws using the mix because they weren't ran often enough.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I've got one of those cs400's as well. Pulled the carb stops and drilled out the muffler a tad, and its a running SOB:laughing: Has been frozen solid more than a few times and also trashed on a dirtbike and it still runs better than my 362 does:shaking: I havnt ran it in a year, no doubt in my mind that it would fire up in 3 or 4 pulls, that stihl gets kinda prissy if it doesn't get ran on a regular basis


mjlogan88 said:
I think its a 16 or 18" bar. I've never even tried to sharpen the chain, thing hasn't run long enough to need it. Have zero interest in tinkering with stuff like that so i'll probably just grab a new one or farm it out.
Click to expand...

Good call. When they are sharpening the chain see if they will fix the fucking thing too :flipoff2:

It just sounds to me like you might have fiddle fucked with the thing enough that its not even close to being set right. Nothin wrong with dropping it off and getting the thing dialed back in to where it is supposed to be. Yanking on a pull cord for an hour will piss you the fawk off:laughing:
 
Gave it a rip once I got home and the damn thing lit right off. Either I fiddlefucked it into submission or it just knows I don’t need it right now :laughing:
 
mjlogan88 said:
Gave it a rip once I got home and the damn thing lit right off. Either I fiddlefucked it into submission or it just knows I don’t need it right now :laughing:
Click to expand...
like most small engine stuff, the more you run it, the better and more it runs.... things like use... use it 3 times a week for awhile and it will work everytime.
 
blakes said:
Get an electric saw if you can't start what you have. I know the Dewalt one is good and I think the Stihl electric is good too.

I always start saws the wrong way - by holding it with one hand and pulling the rope with the other.
Click to expand...
People who think there’s a right and wrong way to start a chainsaw have owned too many saws that start easily.
 
Gunwalls_Buckthorne said:
People who think there’s a right and wrong way to start a chainsaw have owned too many saws that start easily.
Click to expand...
I believe he's referring to the nerds that think "drop starting" a saw somehow assures that either the recoil will break or you will immediately cut one of your limbs off. They will assure you that the only way to start a saw is by putting it on the ground and putting one of your feet inside the loop of the rear handle so that you don't die.
 
mjlogan88 we've got a MS211, it's "Jewels' saw," took her to the Farm & Home store to pick one out, expecting to come back with a MS171 or MS180. She looked at them and said something like, "what do you expect me to do with one of those little things?" She picked up the 211 and some larger saws, then came back to the 211 and decided it was the one she wanted. 18" bar and toolless maintenance. It's been a decent saw. It's a little under powered for the 18" bar, sure wouldn't want any bigger on it. I've used it quite a bit myself, it's a lot lighter than my early '90s Husqvarna 51/55.

We got a case of Stihl synthetic 2 stroke oil with it. There was some kind of promo, I think if we bought the case of oil with the saw we got the Stihl sharpener for free.

Until very recently, the only oil it'd ever had in it was that Stihl synthetic and ethanol free 87. I needed to mix up some 2 stroke gas, and just grabbed a bottle of oil. Couldn't even tell you what it was, I think it came with a Homelite leaf blower I bought years ago. Maybe 2 tanks of that stuff was all it could do before fouling the plug. Talk about hard to start!

I poured that can of 2 stroke gas in the "stump burning & fire starting can," mixed up some fresh 2 stroke gas with the Stihl synthetic and it runs great. Had to take a wire brush to the spark plug of course.

I'm still on the fence about the toolless chain tensioner, but I like the toolless side cover removal and the Easy2Start. First time using the Easy2Start was a trip, I thought the recoil spring was broken.

Speaking of shaprners, I was trained to use loose files at the NPS, I used to be half way decent with them, but I got these things, and these things are like cheating. I have 3/8 I got with the Stilh & bought a .325 for the Husqies.

 
TrikeKid said:
I believe he's referring to the nerds that think "drop starting" a saw somehow assures that either the recoil will break or you will immediately cut one of your limbs off. They will assure you that the only way to start a saw is by putting it on the ground and putting one of your feet inside the loop of the rear handle so that you don't die.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered who has feet that tiny?
I'd have to do that barefoot. No way a normal person is fitting a work boot in the loop.
 
Lee said:
mjlogan88 we've got a MS211, it's "Jewels' saw," took her to the Farm & Home store to pick one out, expecting to come back with a MS171 or MS180. She looked at them and said something like, "what do you expect me to do with one of those little things?" She picked up the 211 and some larger saws, then came back to the 211 and decided it was the one she wanted. 18" bar and toolless maintenance. It's been a decent saw. It's a little under powered for the 18" bar, sure wouldn't want any bigger on it. I've used it quite a bit myself, it's a lot lighter than my early '90s Husqvarna 51/55.

We got a case of Stihl synthetic 2 stroke oil with it. There was some kind of promo, I think if we bought the case of oil with the saw we got the Stihl sharpener for free.

Until very recently, the only oil it'd ever had in it was that Stihl synthetic and ethanol free 87. I needed to mix up some 2 stroke gas, and just grabbed a bottle of oil. Couldn't even tell you what it was, I think it came with a Homelite leaf blower I bought years ago. Maybe 2 tanks of that stuff was all it could do before fouling the plug. Talk about hard to start!

I poured that can of 2 stroke gas in the "stump burning & fire starting can," mixed up some fresh 2 stroke gas with the Stihl synthetic and it runs great. Had to take a wire brush to the spark plug of course.

I'm still on the fence about the toolless chain tensioner, but I like the toolless side cover removal and the Easy2Start. First time using the Easy2Start was a trip, I thought the recoil spring was broken.

Speaking of shaprners, I was trained to use loose files at the NPS, I used to be half way decent with them, but I got these things, and these things are like cheating. I have 3/8 I got with the Stilh & bought a .325 for the Husqies.

Click to expand...
First one of those that came in the shop I about punched myself in the face.
So used to pulling on saws like I intend to rip the cord right out. The 2100 I had would bite HARD if I didn't.
 
AKnate I taught Jewels to start her 211 with it on the ground, her foot is small enough, and Easy2Start system, she doesn't have any issues.

I don't think she could start the Husqvarna (it's a 51 with a 55 jug) if her life depended on it. She simply doesn't have the upper body strength or wing span to pull and/or drop start. I'm not sure I could start it on the ground cold, after warmed up maybe, big maybe though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh