Huztl MS660

[Chris3558]

Well the nitpicking continues...LOL The Huztl 660 missing parts package arrived today and was still short: two heat foils, winter/summer slide, 3 cylinder cover bushings.

I agree, they call it "Complete Repair Parts For Stihl MS660". I ordered 3 "Complete MS660" kits back in mid- February. Once I received them, it took a while to really get my head into what might be missing, damaged, etc. One of my case halves had a crack where the cylinder mounts, missing one case half gasket...missing one top cover vibration grommet....several carburetors, the mixture screws bent with damaged o-rings (common). One of my air cleaner covers, the the threads are destroyed....the piston skirts hit the crank counterweights on all 3 and had to be modified.....the new style chain brake handle was missing the flywheel side bushings on all 3 handles.
I understand this is part of the challenge, but myself along with others are trying to help get these kits to a "reasonable quality level". For the most part, it is a decent saw once you get all the correct parts to put it together. There is no way the people at Huztl with some simple hand tools could take one of these "Complete" kit saws out of the box and end up with a working saw!
Huzlt has always been decent about returning my emails, asking for pictures of the issues, they say their manager is working to resolve these issues.

I asked them about the missing winter/summer shutters, missing top cover brass inserts, missing foil, missing felling spike nuts that are typically missing from all the kits and they said they won't be sending them? I assume that means they are not included in the kits. We have all excepted that, its the other items that usually hold us up and we either have to visit the dealer or wait several more weeks for Huztl to hopefully send the correct parts.
They also offer coupons on their website: Example, $40.00 coupon on $800.00 order. $20.00 coupon on $500.00 order. Anyone ever get one of them to work?? That is a whole another topic.

 

[Bedford T]

FYI the shutter and the bushings were discussed months ago in this thread. On the shutter I argued that it was necessary they pointed to an asterisk that shows it was deleted on a IPL they had. Defective parts are another thing entirely and am sure they will address with you. My kits have been great and the saws that rose from them. I had a carb without a jet, a bum coil a missing screw and a throttle rod, piston bearing. Little things. Aggravating.

 

[Chris3558]

It is frustrating when you patiently wait two - three weeks for your kit to show up, start assembling things and find parts are missing. You would think that would be an easy problem to correct? Its been an issue since this thread started long ago. We all have different skill levels, and know going into these saws, there are going to be issues. But, when you start to assemble the crank and case halves, go to install the piston and see clearly the counterweights are hitting the piston skirts....really?? Then its time to get some answers. The consistency in quality and verification of all parts present in each kit is the main issue. Earlier, my first 2 MS660 kits had small damage, scraps on painted items, etc. that most of us have experienced, but went together pretty decent. All parts came in the plastic Farmertek bags and positioned in puzzle form packaged inside a thin cardboard box. I had some damage during shipping and mentioned it to them. They responded with a credit. I had mentioned to Huztl management, until you improve your packaging of parts, I am on hold for placing any future orders. They said, they were working on it. After their long New Years holiday, they emailed me, they had improved their packaging, so I placed an order for 3 more kits. The kits arrived with bubble wrap around the cylinders, crank, clutches, cases, carburetors, felling spikes and few other parts. They do listen, just that their vendors building piece parts quality procedures are not consistent. Also, the packaging of piece parts are not consistent. Hopefully, from each of us voicing to them whats not right, whats missing, what doesn't work, they will continue to improve.

 

[Johnnybar]

I had a few small items missing and emailed Evie and Lynn about them. A few M4 & M5X12 screws, foil, W/S slide, CB handle bushing, cover bushings were on the slow boat from China while I ran to Fastenal and grabbed some button head metric bolts and made a slide from a doubled over butter tub lid, to get the thing running for break-in. First re-ship had everything but the foil, slide and cover bushings...Lynn said sorry and they will get another package out ASAP. I think the fact that I let them both know, especially Lynn the Manager, that I have many active saw building friends that I visit with regularly and that I would like to see the little issues resolved on the potentially numerous future orders I place, went a long way to getting the very cooperative response on the items they usually never send. We now wait..............

 

[Johnnybar]

FYI the shutter and the bushings were discussed months ago in this thread. On the shutter I argued that it was necessary they pointed to an asterisk that shows it was deleted on a IPL they had. Defective parts are another thing entirely and am sure they will address with you. My kits have been great and the saws that rose from them. I had a carb without a jet, a bum coil a missing screw and a throttle rod, piston bearing. Little things. Aggravating.

I had them try to tell me that eBay sellers list the MS360 clutch drums as compatible for MS290/390 saws so it is OK for Huztl to ship them as 290 drums. LOL, It's OK if you never want to run .325 chain which is OEM. They refunded me and didn't return ship the 360 drum. BedfordT, I'm not sure where they found that * but, Stihl shows nothing, which indicates it is still a current item (#18).

 

[Johnnybar]

They also offer coupons on their website: Example, $40.00 coupon on $800.00 order. $20.00 coupon on $500.00 order. Anyone ever get one of them to work?? That is a whole another topic.

Log in, select "Shopping Cart", select "Add a Coupon", select "Select In My Account", select appropriate coupon based on $ amount of order. Note: You must have already filled your shopping cart with the intended order so the $ amount is equal to or exceeds the coupon value or the code will be rejected.

 

[blsnelling]

It is frustrating when you patiently wait two - three weeks for your kit to show up, start assembling things and find parts are missing. You would think that would be an easy problem to correct? Its been an issue since this thread started long ago. We all have different skill levels, and know going into these saws, there are going to be issues. But, when you start to assemble the crank and case halves, go to install the piston and see clearly the counterweights are hitting the piston skirts....really?? Then its time to get some answers. The consistency in quality and verification of all parts present in each kit is the main issue. Earlier, my first 2 MS660 kits had small damage, scraps on painted items, etc. that most of us have experienced, but went together pretty decent. All parts came in the plastic Farmertek bags and positioned in puzzle form packaged inside a thin cardboard box. I had some damage during shipping and mentioned it to them. They responded with a credit. I had mentioned to Huztl management, until you improve your packaging of parts, I am on hold for placing any future orders. They said, they were working on it. After their long New Years holiday, they emailed me, they had improved their packaging, so I placed an order for 3 more kits. The kits arrived with bubble wrap around the cylinders, crank, clutches, cases, carburetors, felling spikes and few other parts. They do listen, just that their vendors building piece parts quality procedures are not consistent. Also, the packaging of piece parts are not consistent. Hopefully, from each of us voicing to them whats not right, whats missing, what doesn't work, they will continue to improve.

QC is a lot of what you're paying for with an OEM saw. You're not going to get OEM quality for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Chris3558]

Thanks Johnnybar, that is where I messed up. I did get them to credit me the coupon amount after a week worth of emails.

 

[emanaresi]

I measured the inner bore of a clutch drum. Mine is .6215" on my digital caliper. I put an oregon drum on and it went on fine. I didn't measure it before I put it on. Maybe I will later.

 

[Johnnybar]

QC is a lot of what you're paying for with an OEM saw. You're not going to get OEM quality for a fraction of the cost.

Fortunately, my only small QC issue was with Huztl's shipping department not packing a full kit. Quality of the parts received were actually much better than I expected for the price of the kit and I did get all the major components required to have a running saw after buying $1 worth of nuts and bolts locally. On second thought the oil line was a little too stiff but a little extra weight near the pickup screen fixed that.

 

[Johnnybar]

I measured the inner bore of a clutch drum. Mine is .6215" on my digital caliper. I put an oregon drum on and it went on fine. I didn't measure it before I put it on. Maybe I will later.

Well the bearing is 10X16X13 so that ID would have to be closer to .640" to have any chance of fitting.

 

[emanaresi]

I guess that explains why it is so tight! The oregon drum I put on was still snug, but it slid on by hand.

If You have a brake cylinder hone, it may work you hone out the drum some...

 

[blsnelling]

I guess that explains why it is so tight! The oregon drum I put on was still snug, but it slid on by hand.

If You have a brake cylinder hone, it may work you hone out the drum some...

That won't come close to leaving the proper bearing surface.

 

[grizz55chev]

That won't come close to leaving the proper bearing surface.

Agreed, it'll go on but probably won't last long.

 

[Johnnybar]

I guess that explains why it is so tight! The oregon drum I put on was still snug, but it slid on by hand.

If You have a brake cylinder hone, it may work you hone out the drum some...

Just have them reship...no charge.

 

[dswensen]

That won't come close to leaving the proper bearing surface.

I spent quite a bit of time polishing the inside of the clutch drum center hole after opening mine up a bit. I think it's better than most new clutch drums I have seen, but who knows if it's slightly out of round (without the right measuring equipment) or if it's smooth enough to act as a bearing race for the long term life of the drum. The good news is that I can't detect any vibration resulting from the metal work.

We'll see.

In the meantime, I know I will be checking frequently for wear on the crankshaft.

The up side is - if I have to replace a crankshaft, I now know I can do it, thanks to this project.

 

[emanaresi]

I got an oregon drum off of amazon for $19 shipped. Seemed like the best solution to me.

I got the tubing to shim the chain adjuster today and put that all together, it works really well with the shims on it, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

My saw is running despite some small issues still outstanding with huztl (heat shields, air shutter, some missing hardware, etc)

I plan to put a 20" bar and chain off my 038 on it tomorrow and tune it and break it in a little. Any thoughts on proper break in procedure and rpms to shoot for on the tune?

Once it is broken in a little it'll get a 36" bar and ripping chains and it will probably spend the rest of its life attached to a mill. We don't really have a lot of trees in southern NJ that need a 92cc saw Really my 038 is overkill and my 028 is right at home most of the time.

 

[Johnnybar]

Never used a tach...adjust it to a heavy burble using 32:1. Make sure you are still getting a little burble in the cut on the first few tanks. Get a 42 inch bar or you will never be able to use the capacity of the 36-inch Mill. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Guys that say, " 24 inch is the biggest around here" wish they had more when they want to include that burled knot, limb junction or fork for a special project. Shop around and be patient...42" bars are not that expensive.

I got an oregon drum off of amazon for $19 shipped. Seemed like the best solution to me.

I got the tubing to shim the chain adjuster today and put that all together, it works really well with the shims on it, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

My saw is running despite some small issues still outstanding with huztl (heat shields, air shutter, some missing hardware, etc)

I plan to put a 20" bar and chain off my 038 on it tomorrow and tune it and break it in a little. Any thoughts on proper break in procedure and rpms to shoot for on the tune?

Once it is broken in a little it'll get a 36" bar and ripping chains and it will probably spend the rest of its life attached to a mill. We don't really have a lot of trees in southern NJ that need a 92cc saw Really my 038 is overkill and my 028 is right at home most of the time.

 

[Wood Chopper]

I started another 660 build tonight. I just buttoned up the the cylinder. For the first build I got a OEM decompression valve I just installed the one that came with the kit on this one I tried pulling the black button off and it seems pretty secure. If it does come off what is the worst thing that happens does The valve actually drop down into the cylinder?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[grizz55chev]

I started another 660 build tonight. I just buttoned up the the cylinder. For the first build I got a OEM decompression valve I just installed the one that came with the kit on this one I tried pulling the black button off and it seems pretty secure. If it does come off what is the worst thing that happens does The valve actually drop down into the cylinder?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not sure that's what happens, I think the problem with non OEM valves is vac- pressure leaks causing lean run.