Farmertec MS250 complete engine possible problem

[Definitive Dave]

DISCLAIMER: I sell stuff from Farmertec

I had a recent conversation through Ebay about a Farmertec MS250 complete engine I sold, it is posted here in it's entirety (I gotta figure out how to get the pics from Ebay to here, but they are not very clear), I have redacted all identifying info about the customer.
I have seen a recent similar thread here on Arboristsite and gotten a PM from a Huztl (Farmertec) customer about the same issue.
I have sent Farmertec the details and am awaiting a response.
I recommend NOT BUYING this kit from anyone right now. I am not aware of other kits for this saw that are great other than OEM, I have sold well over 100 of these with no issues until this instance. I have refunded his purchase price and cancelled and refunded two others that were purchased last night. I also sent a message to 6 other people who bought the same product from the most recent shipment.

Buyer beware, this seems like a manufacturing defect rather than a simple finishing error.
DD


Customer 8/14
My name is XXXX and I bought a complete engine for a MS250 and installed it on a customers saw it started to run bad the first time he used it so he brought it back. Upon inspection I noticed that there was play in the crank bearings. The bearings are fine but the play is from the entire bearing moving inside the cylinder housing itself . The bearing fits the lower housing just fine but it has a lot of play in the upper cylinder side. Its like it was made wrong and once the crank seals started to wear it started to act up and you can notice a lot of movement like the bearings are out. I installed it on 06-19-15 , the saw only has about an hour run time on it. I did not buy the three year warranty . The saw is not blown up he was smart enough to stop running it as soon as it started to act up. What do I need to do to resolve this problem it is clearly a defect in the part. Please contact me at your earliest convenience either by email or call me at xxxx.Thanks xxxx

Me 8/15
if you can send me a pic that would be great
I can get a new set out to you in Mondays mail, just curious if you used Loctite 518 or something similar on the bearing races before bolting it all together?
I will check out a few of them in the garage to see if there is a problem with the run of parts or hopefully just the one you got.
thanks for the detailed explanation, that is very helpful
Dave

customer 8/15
Yea I used Loctite on the races but that's not the problem, it looks like the cylinder side of the race housing has been formed about fifteen or twenty thousandths to deep allowing the entire bearing race and all to move up and down. I can send you a picture in the morning or I can send you the engine back for you to see for your self if you want. Thanks for the quick reply sorry I didn't get back to you sooner I have been covered up all day. I have been in the business long enough to know that some times you get a bad part some times, it is just one of these things, anyway I hope to do a lot more business with you in the future. Thanks again, xxxx, From xxxx.

Me 8/17
a new one headed to you today I opened it and everything seems nice and tight
I am guessing it was just a problem in the finishing on the one you received.
Please keep it and send me a picture that I will forward with my next order for credit on that unit from the vendor.
Sorry for the problem, this is the first issue we have had with these kits
Dave

Customer 8/30
You can see where the bearing was moving in the bottom and cylinder by the shiny spots in the bearing housing. The new one you sent me is the same way but I took it to a machine shop and had the cylinder side shaved .004 and the bottom plate .002 and they work fine now. If you replace the bolts in one of your new engines with shorter bolts and tighten them down you will see what I am talking about , you will be able to wiggle the crank shaft up and down.Thanks for your patience I have been trying to find out if there was any fix to the problem other than you having to send me another engine and shaving the block worked fine. I wanted to let you know what I done to fix it.Thanks XXXX

Me 8/30
Hey XXXX, thanks for letting me know, I will let the vendor know and stop selling those until they get it corrected.
I will send you a full refund as well.
Sorry you had to go through so much BS to use this unit.
I hate clam shell saws with a passion
But I want to make sure I understand so I can let the vendor know.
The area that you had shaved was essentially the mating surfaces between the cylinder and bottom plate right?
So the seat for the bearings is too deep on each piece.
Again my thanks and apologies for your hassles


Customer 8/30
The main surface that I shaved was the cylinder side it was deeper than the bottom side .004 on the top and .002 on the bottom. Its just one of those things that happen, some one probably just wasent paying attention when they was milling the cylinder base ,no swet wasent your fault.xxxx

 

[Definitive Dave]

this thread also seems relevant to this issue
DD

 

[Stihlofadeal64]

As you said, sounds like the thread posted here in the chainsaw forum.

 

[idiotwithasaw]

hey dave, im gonna be honest with you i purchased a ms250 farmertech top end from you earlier this year. i ended up taking it out of the saw that i had it in because the casting around the intake was so bad that i was unable to get the boot to seal. i ended up having to use gasket sealer and a zip tie to get it to pass the vac/press test. needless to say i just didnt trust it and put it back on the shelf. i know if i had notified you of this problem you would have taken care of me, but i didnt want to come off as one of "those guys."as i had already contacted you about faulty seals on the same kit and didnt want you thinking i was just trying to get stuff for free. i know guys have used farmertech stuff in the past with no issue, heck so have i, it just seems that their clamshells leave alot to desire.
Also dave is a stand up guy and does right by you, as evidenced by this very post, i will continue to give you my business and hope others do too.

 

[Definitive Dave]

Firey Balls of Doom, this may have been an issue longer than I realized.
Shoot me a PM Ben with your ebay ID please.
If anybody here got one of these from me, send me your Ebay ID by PM if you have had any problem with it, that will make it easy to look up and refund.
If you can briefly tell me what the problem was I would appreciate it.

On my second post I tried to link to the other recent post about the 250 kit, but somehow only got my comment which seems very odd without context.

If any of you guys know of a decent AM 250 engine please let me know, so I can at least give customers a referral.
DD

Tickhounds thread here:
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/chinese-parts-on-the-way.284973/

 

[idiotwithasaw]

Hey Dave, I'm not worried about a refund. I just wanted to let you know about the issues I had with farmertech. And let others know incase they did too, I suspect there are people who put one in and never vac/press tested and didn't realize there was a leak

 

[idiotwithasaw]

Here are some pics of the farmertech next to oem. As you can see the casting at the intake is poor and would not seal.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

On mine I had a problem with the brass nozzle for the pulse hose being too loose on the cylinder and falling off. I notice one of the pics here show some kind of epoxy or JBWeld around that nozzle. I had to JB Weld mine on, hope the heat doesn't get to it and loosen it again..

 

[idiotwithasaw]

I had to do the same to my 039 cylinder. The rest looked good tho

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Sounds like they need to get their stuff to fit before shipping it out to us. It might make us want to go elsewhere for our parts. I had that on a 390 also, they must have had a run on loose fittings.