Zig
ArboristSite Member
Hello, everybody! Got some questions about my Stihl HT131..here's some background;
I bought this saw, new, from a dealership in town over four years ago. It got worked on, once in shop, otherwise, taken care of by me with lil input, other than changing out my filter, plug(although it didn't really look bad) and adjusted the carb. once, about a year ago...haven't even cleaned spark arrester screen..doin' that now...
anyway, about two weeks ago I was on a job and ran it for about 2 1/2 hrs, cutting some Live Oaks, cleaning away dead that would hit my client when they were on their tractor. I noticed the shaft was more bare than usual above the trigger, meaning the shaft was coming loose...so, I stopped, tried to tighten down screws at clutch housing, trigger & plastic bands, at the base of the shaft, but at least 2 at the trigger & 1 at the plastic collar were stripped & the trigger handle was carved up a bit so I used loctite on the screws & gorilla tape on the handle, so it wouldn't slip while I was using it. It was going fine for about a half hour til the chain stopped. I should have just put it down & waited to work on it when I got home & did my research
Thanks to kind hearts & much help from manual donations I've taken apart the shaft & have the poor girl spread out in the hallway...the shaft seems ok...I took off the cutting head, to see if the shaft would move, while attached to powerhead, it didn't when I pulled the starter rope...I took off the shaft from the clutch but when I put it back on & moved the spur gear(?) the star shaped collar moved, I stuffed a tissue into to see movement from the other side & it spins it just fine. Only other issue could be the base tube that connects into the body/clutch housing is bent, say about a few degrees, probably from the one good boo-boo I had with it. Will that bend affect performance, should I replace it & does Stihl sell it by itself? Should I just put the shaft back together, closer (at the specific gap the manual provides)& buy a new trigger assembly/collar? I can't afford a new shaft(350-400 is what dealers quoted, already thought about worst case scenario). I want to hope it was just spread out too far. My clutch & the overlapping part that connects to the driveshaft is rusty too, could that have gone out? How can I easily test that?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you throw my way!
I bought this saw, new, from a dealership in town over four years ago. It got worked on, once in shop, otherwise, taken care of by me with lil input, other than changing out my filter, plug(although it didn't really look bad) and adjusted the carb. once, about a year ago...haven't even cleaned spark arrester screen..doin' that now...
anyway, about two weeks ago I was on a job and ran it for about 2 1/2 hrs, cutting some Live Oaks, cleaning away dead that would hit my client when they were on their tractor. I noticed the shaft was more bare than usual above the trigger, meaning the shaft was coming loose...so, I stopped, tried to tighten down screws at clutch housing, trigger & plastic bands, at the base of the shaft, but at least 2 at the trigger & 1 at the plastic collar were stripped & the trigger handle was carved up a bit so I used loctite on the screws & gorilla tape on the handle, so it wouldn't slip while I was using it. It was going fine for about a half hour til the chain stopped. I should have just put it down & waited to work on it when I got home & did my research
Thanks to kind hearts & much help from manual donations I've taken apart the shaft & have the poor girl spread out in the hallway...the shaft seems ok...I took off the cutting head, to see if the shaft would move, while attached to powerhead, it didn't when I pulled the starter rope...I took off the shaft from the clutch but when I put it back on & moved the spur gear(?) the star shaped collar moved, I stuffed a tissue into to see movement from the other side & it spins it just fine. Only other issue could be the base tube that connects into the body/clutch housing is bent, say about a few degrees, probably from the one good boo-boo I had with it. Will that bend affect performance, should I replace it & does Stihl sell it by itself? Should I just put the shaft back together, closer (at the specific gap the manual provides)& buy a new trigger assembly/collar? I can't afford a new shaft(350-400 is what dealers quoted, already thought about worst case scenario). I want to hope it was just spread out too far. My clutch & the overlapping part that connects to the driveshaft is rusty too, could that have gone out? How can I easily test that?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you throw my way!
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