Stihl 500i damaged housing

[Soren Conradsen]

Hi forum

I'm a full time timber faller and I run a Stihl 500i as my primary chainsaw. I recently discovered that a piece of the housing had unfortunately cracked off.
One of the bolts in the handlebar goes through the handle, into a rubber bushing that then rests in a "bowl" in the housing.
It is this bowl that's been damaged. As this housing is cast, I don't see how it's potentially fixable - but then again, I'm not a very big expert when it comes to repairs.

The saw has become more shaky, and I feel like my aim has been a bit of since this occurred. I'm also guessing that the excessive strain this will put on the springs on the saw will decrease their life span quite a lot.
It's is only about 1.5 years old and other than this damage, it still runs great. I find it a bit wasteful having to retire it due to this issue.
Do any of you have potential solution?

 

[northmanlogging]

Hard to tell, but it looks like the spring that holds the handlebars to the frame is missing too?
in a pinch you can probably replace the spring?
if it won't stay put you'll have to have it welded and machined, they are die cast and probably magnesium so make sure the welder knows that
OR you might have to settle for finding a new case half.

 

[Tobystihl]

Use it as it is, as long as you don't pull too hard on the back handle it will be fine, the saw handle doesn't connect at this point with the engine, it's just a limit stop peg screwed through the handle

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Many fallers here have swapped out their stock suspensions with the west Coast Saw kit and have had great success getting rid of the mushy feel of the saw. There are a couple threads on the kit via search.

 

[Soren Conradsen]

This might not look pretty but it actually seemed to work
Using a defective band from a chainbrake, I made this ugly ass thing. Only question is if will last but the handlebar seems to lock it in place. If nothing else, it will work as a temporary fix.