Husqvarna 350 - bar bolts pulling through the case? What the?...

[PhilthyMills]

Howdy All,

I recently picked-up a used, nicely running Husky 350 from my local dealership. I was looking for a project, and this saw had been traded as the owner couldn't get the bar to stay tight.

Turns out the previous owner had been over tightening the bar bolts, causing the bolts to protrude out further from the case than they should. This meant that the bar and chain brake cover came loose easily as there was too much bolt and not enough bolt thread (does that make sense?). It also meant a slight oil leak near the bar bolts.

For short periods of cutting, the saw performs beautifully. But after awhile, the bar and chain do start to become loose.

The shop were going to "fix it and resell it", but decided to sell it to me for a song instead. They were planning on going in to the case through the oil cap hole and putting a collar or a shim (read 'big washer') to bring the bolts back to their right spot, then seal up any gaps.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Should I replace the bolts completely? Should I split the case? :msp_confused:

I'd love to hear your experiences with anything similar!

It is a project, so I'll take as much time as is needed.

Thanks in advance!

Phil :msp_thumbsup:

 

[treesmith]

G'day Phil

it's worth checking the bolts aren't just stretched, empty the oil tank and punch them through into the tank. if the problem is the bolts they're an easy fix and cheap to replace, I just did mine on a husky and they were $6 Aus each but my problem was the thread. To refit bolts you can wrap thin wire round the thread and draw the bolt into the tank, they need to line up square in the seat or use skinny long nose pliers

 

[PhilthyMills]

G'day Phil

it's worth checking the bolts aren't just stretched, empty the oil tank and punch them through into the tank. if the problem is the bolts they're an easy fix and cheap to replace, I just did mine on a husky and they were $6 Aus each but my problem was the thread. To refit bolts you can wrap thin wire round the thread and draw the bolt into the tank, they need to line up square in the seat or use skinny long nose pliers

Thanks for your reply. When I removed the bar bolts, I also removed the c-channel steel bracket that houses the bolt heads. The bracket was bent, and in one place, had a hairline crack. The bolt heads had actually snapped-off! The previous owner had REALLY been yanking hard on those bar nuts!

Went into my local shop and it turns out this bracket is a part of the case, and isn't sold separately. So I did some meatball panel beating and straightend it back almost to shape.

Shone a torch into the oil tank and noticed that the steel bracket had also pulled slightly into the tank on the front bolt.

SO, the photos below (if they work) show what I've done to fix the problem. I used new bar bolts, two (2) fibre washers to assist in 'moulding' to the inside case around the bolts (& to also stop any bar-oil leaking), and also made a small washer/spacer to sit inside the case in the front bar-bolt hole. This thickness of this little spacer is roughly the same as the amount that the case has been pulled in, so when the bolt is in properly, it protrudes out of the case hole pretty much how it should.

One photo shows the parts I've used, and another photo shows the order in which the bracket, bolts and washers will go in the case. I used a small amount of silicone in around the fibre washers, and also in the very small gaps on the outside of the case where the bolts protrude.

The saw is back together and... So far so good! The bar stays tights and chain runs smoothly. The oil leak has also improved considerably.

This all might not make much sense to those who don't own this saw, or a Husky saw like it, but I hope it might be helpful to anyone facing the same issue in future.

Thanks for reading.

 

[treesmith]

good job Phil, nicely done

 

[BobL]

Phil - you should post stuff specifically about chainsaws over in the chainsaw forum. There will be a lot more folk reading that forum that are likely to have the saws you are referring to. This forum is for milling (not just CS milling) and so has a much smaller following than the general CS forum