It was a bad year for all my saws

[pdqdl]

I have not tracked down the culprit, but it sure was a bad year for all my saws. We mix our 2 cycle gas 50 gallons at a time, and I may have had some 2 cycle gas mixed with 80-90w axle grease for some of the problems. Since it went on all year, and I didn't get around to fixing them until recently, it couldn't have been just one batch of bad gas. Besides, not all the saw or string trimmers got damaged

All this happened last year!

Husqvarna

3120xp; 13 years on it's original piston & cylinder, a brand new cylinder & piston failed after 2 hrs run time. No, it wasn't burning lean, and it looked like it was good gas. I think we had a ring failure. New again, I haven't had any tree work to test it on.
372xp: Gone, mysteriously. Left out and stolen on a job, most likely, but the employee that is suspected never reported it.
365xp: roasted cylinder, we tried to save it with lye scrubbing out the melted aluminum. Big bore kit still on order.
359xp: new piston, we saved the cylinder.
268xp: Not even my saw, it was abandoned here by one of my climbers who returned to Michigan. I think he left it with us to pay me back for the ms-200t that disappeared on his watch, as well as some other climbing equipment. New clutch, some screws, and servicing: it's running great. He foolishly left it at our shop with my mechanic (now gone) under the presumption that he knew how to fix it. The latest mechanic got it running real good on about $50 worth of parts.

Stihl
066 #1: Well used when I bought it, it roased the cylinder & piston. New parts now, it seems to run fine.
066 #2: purchased almost brand new, it didn't last long. Still in pieces, it needs a cylinder kit. I have been waiting to see how our other rebuilds last before wasting more money on parts.
029: new piston & cylinder. Another meltdown back in service.
200-T #1: mysteriously absent after a good day in the tree.
200-T #2: junk, many parts taken to replace fuel tanks and other parts for keeping the others going. Initially dead on low compression.
020-t: Similar to #2 above, this poor saw got broken, salvaged, melted down, and finished off. Not worth fixing for all the missing parts.

Shindaiwa
757: long a problem with the muffler bolts, the piston finally died. New cylinder and piston, everything seems great now.
577: a new piston seems to have put it back with fine compression, running great now.


I have been through several mechanics, and I hope I have eliminated any tendency to adjust the saws to burn lean. The current mechanic is well versed in pressure & vacuum checking the crankcase, so I hope we won't have wasted our efforts.

I have always insisted on mixing the gas myself, but I am going to go back to buying "no alcohol" fuel from a distant location. It's pretty hard to find in our area, and I got a bit cheap and lazy. That won't happen again!

Throughout all the saw problems, my little Echo CS-4400 ran great. It got so bad, the tree crew wouldn't take anything but that little saw to go to work with. Right now I am flush with big, bad chainsaws, ready to work.

Nothing to do, the phone has been dead, and people don't seem to even be price shopping. If it wasn't for all the snow removal, I would be out of business. Never underestimate the amount of damage that a poor employee can inflict on your business & equipment.

 

[treeslayer]

dam, bro. I feel your pain.

springs right around the corner, hold on.
my phone is ringing, and I'm selling work finally, your turn will come soon enough. keep the faith.

 

[lone wolf]

I have not tracked down the culprit, but it sure was a bad year for all my saws. We mix our 2 cycle gas 50 gallons at a time, and I may have had some 2 cycle gas mixed with 80-90w axle grease for some of the problems. Since it went on all year, and I didn't get around to fixing them until recently, it couldn't have been just one batch of bad gas. Besides, not all the saw or string trimmers got damaged

All this happened last year!

Husqvarna

3120xp; 13 years on it's original piston & cylinder, a brand new cylinder & piston failed after 2 hrs run time. No, it wasn't burning lean, and it looked like it was good gas. I think we had a ring failure. New again, I haven't had any tree work to test it on.
372xp: Gone, mysteriously. Left out and stolen on a job, most likely, but the employee that is suspected never reported it.
365xp: roasted cylinder, we tried to save it with lye scrubbing out the melted aluminum. Big bore kit still on order.
359xp: new piston, we saved the cylinder.
268xp: Not even my saw, it was abandoned here by one of my climbers who returned to Michigan. I think he left it with us to pay me back for the ms-200t that disappeared on his watch, as well as some other climbing equipment. New clutch, some screws, and servicing: it's running great. He foolishly left it at our shop with my mechanic (now gone) under the presumption that he knew how to fix it. The latest mechanic got it running real good on about $50 worth of parts.

Stihl
066 #1: Well used when I bought it, it roased the cylinder & piston. New parts now, it seems to run fine.
066 #2: purchased almost brand new, it didn't last long. Still in pieces, it needs a cylinder kit. I have been waiting to see how our other rebuilds last before wasting more money on parts.
029: new piston & cylinder. Another meltdown back in service.
200-T #1: mysteriously absent after a good day in the tree.
200-T #2: junk, many parts taken to replace fuel tanks and other parts for keeping the others going. Initially dead on low compression.
020-t: Similar to #2 above, this poor saw got broken, salvaged, melted down, and finished off. Not worth fixing for all the missing parts.

Shindaiwa
757: long a problem with the muffler bolts, the piston finally died. New cylinder and piston, everything seems great now.
577: a new piston seems to have put it back with fine compression, running great now.


I have been through several mechanics, and I hope I have eliminated any tendency to adjust the saws to burn lean. The current mechanic is well versed in pressure & vacuum checking the crankcase, so I hope we won't have wasted our efforts.

I have always insisted on mixing the gas myself, but I am going to go back to buying "no alcohol" fuel from a distant location. It's pretty hard to find in our area, and I got a bit cheap and lazy. That won't happen again!

Throughout all the saw problems, my little Echo CS-4400 ran great. It got so bad, the tree crew wouldn't take anything but that little saw to go to work with. Right now I am flush with big, bad chainsaws, ready to work.

Nothing to do, the phone has been dead, and people don't seem to even be price shopping. If it wasn't for all the snow removal, I would be out of business. Never underestimate the amount of damage that a poor employee can inflict on your business & equipment.

are you on the job with the:deadhorse: that do this to these saws?

 

[tree md]

Well, this past year was a lot more gentle on my saws than the previous year. Mostly because they didn't get used as much or worked as hard...

 

[treemandan]

That is a lot of damaged saws for one year.

 

[pdqdl]

are you on the job with the:deadhorse: that do this to these saws?

Not that often. I try to be a business manager more than a worker. Silly me, I should just fire everybody and work for myself.

On the other hand, I was running the 3120xp when it went bad. I wouldn't let anybody else use it. It started chirping and I parked it. Later, at our shop, it finished melting down in 30 seconds of run time. Until it started chirping, it was running very well, cutting up a 3' elm tree that I had dropped.

I was on the job that lost our 200t. I supervised the climber on the tricky parts (he wasn't that experienced, and wasn't that talented, either) and then let the crew wrap up the details. What is the point in hiring people if you have to do everything yourself?


Let's face it: I suck at managing people. If my employees did everything I told them, I wouldn't have many problems.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

A couple weeks back one of my guys "forgot" to check water level in the truck he uses. Had a small leak in radiator that we didnt know about. Bingo, 6k in repairs.

 

[KD57]

Sorry about the saw problems, I know how you feel. After having employees for 35 years, I have found that nobody that you hire will treat your equipment the same way you would. Fixing stuff employees tear up is just a part of doing business it seems.
My latest issue last month cost me $5K to fix a truck that was driven into hig water. It just never ends..

 

[pdqdl]

Well...I feel a little bit better now. All of my chainsaw problems didn't add up to $5k. It's just that there were SO many that got roasted.

On the other hand, I didn't tell you about the other stuff my guys screwed up, either.

 

[tree MDS]

Well...I feel a little bit better now. All of my chainsaw problems didn't add up to $5k. It's just that there were SO many that got roasted.

On the other hand, I didn't tell you about the other stuff my guys screwed up, either.

This is not helping me feel anymore positive about hiring a :monkey: or two for the new season.

Maybe things will be easier for a change this year...

 

[tree md]

I have had a couple of problems this year but my most costly have been with the infernal Hayauchi!!!. I have had to buy two this year. One was damaged on a job and the other was left on a job.

Had a gas line problem with my 361. Thought I had a hairline crack in the gas tank but it thankfully turned out to be a gas line. One of the members I met through this site (046) fixed it for me but he still had to tear it down to get to the line and check it. I can't afford to hire a full time mechanic. I'm not a large service so I have to either fix my own saws or pay someone to do what I don't know how.

I have got a carb problem with my 260 as well. I'm pretty sure it just has a piece of trash in it but I am still going to have to take it apart. That should be a fun project...

I always mix my own gas. Wouldn't take a chance on one of my guys mixing it too lean. But again, I am a small service.