The chainsaw thread...

[rbtree]

I've never had a clutch slip to the point of overheating all the components. They either engage or they don't....and only a broken clutch spring or a worn out drum would cause slippage, which would smell -just like an automotive clutch slipping.

Also, when reassembling the clutch drum, take note of the notch on it, which must engage the oil pump drive mechanism. It can be a bit delicate to get them lined up.

[XXX-er]

Try cleaning all the shit out of there, it could be just jammed with sawdust/oil that is burning?

It's a Hi perf engine, I clean off all the sawdust from under the covers, swap out/clean air filter, sharpen Chain after a day of cutting

[Meadow Skipper]

To check oil flow (every tank full), I hold the saw so that the bar tip is pointed at something a couple inches away that will show oil, and rev it up. Oil should splatter off the end of the bar and show on the surface of whatever the bar is pointed at.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks. I should get some time tomorrow to thoroughly look and wrench but it appears that the crankcase around the clutch drum has melted a bit....

[twodogs]

My old mans 028 Super that I've now been running for 10+ years seemed really tired last year. It's a great saw, I would love to revive it.

[bodywhomper]

This is getting fun

[bodywhomper]

Back in its native habitat

[Meadow Skipper]

What was the problem?

[bodywhomper]

The overheating issue was my operator error, I think, with chain brake on at "warm start" idle. Hopefully only a mistake made once. I've never made that mistake before.

I disassembled and heavily cleaned the clutch and brake. The worm screw and spring were not installed correctly, which explains the oil smoke issue, as rbtree diagnosed. I put everything back together the way it is supposed to go. Seems to oil good now and no smoke.

It wasn't firing up right after that work and I troubleshooted it to a potential carb issue. I couldn't get to the carb because the cotter screws that the carb is skewered/mounted on were bent (wtf?!). After getting some free help at the saw shop prying things apart, I got the carb and the adjacent plastic bits (eg baffle) off and bought some new cotter screws. I disassembled the crank case from the tank to get access to removing and reinstalling the cotter screws. I also disassembled and cleaned the carb, replaced the fuel hose, cleaned a lot of other bits, and replaced several random screws that were missing.

I now know a lot more about that saw! And it's getting closer to a good baseline condition.

When I can track down my friend, the arborist, with some free time, I'm going to get his help fine tuning the carb.

Until then, it seems like it's running pretty well and I can get back on with my thinning and then firewood work.

[Meadow Skipper]

The overheating issue was my operator error, I think, with chain brake on at "warm start" idle. Hopefully only a mistake made once. I've never made that mistake before.

I disassembled and heavily cleaned the clutch and brake. The worm screw and spring were not installed correctly, which explains the oil smoke issue, as rbtree diagnosed. I put everything back together the way it is supposed to go. Seems to oil good now and no smoke.

This place is pretty good sometimes.

I now know a lot more about that saw!

Yep.

[bodywhomper]

Argh

That saw is still misbehaving. Fired it up today during a lunch break to cut down some "weeds". The thing was running pretty erratically when the throttle was open and no oil was hitting the bar. I removed cover and bar to see if oil was coming out the "port" that reaches the bar and I could not get the thing to fire up. Without diving too deeply yet, it seems like something is going on with the oiling system and the carb. I actually saw my friend who is a career saw wielder, but forgot to talk about the saw (I had not experimented today's problem yet). coordinating our schedules has been pretty tricky. We are both busy parents with jobs that are more than full time.

[~mikey b]

You guys should look at Chainsaws & Forestry on Facebook

[Meadow Skipper]

^Liked!

[sb]

Rideit, what ever happened to that guy.

[~mikey b]

Got a saw show going on at my house today.

[Peruvian]

mikeyb - they toppin' or droppin'?

[~mikey b]

Droppin'

Most of it free to me paid for by PG&E for power line safety.

Got a couple of the boys coming back this weekend to do a side job. $100/tree to climb and drop a few right by the house.

[bodywhomper]

Those all beetle kill, Mike?

[~mikey b]

Yes

[bodywhomper]

Going to mill them?

[~mikey b]

Maybe some of it. Too small for the 372 and mill I have access to, but if I can find something appropriate I might. Plenty I can do with just the logs.

Either way I've got another metric shit ton of pine on the ground.

[bodywhomper]

I've got another metric shit ton of pine on the ground.

yep, me, too. more to come, too. my big living (keeper) pines are all looking good so far. no evidence (sawdust) of boring that i've noticed so far.

both of my saws are currently out of commission at the moment due to oiling issues. my nicer saw (one pictured earlier) has a clutch that i can't seem to get loose. i need to borrow the neighbor's impact wrench for a shot or two. i haven't started troubleshooting the other one. it's oiling more as an ooze and not getting much oil to the bar (i've cleaned up as much as i can w/o removing the clutch or cleaning out the oil tank. regardless, before the second one started to be a problem this weekend, i cut down about 30 "trees"; doug firs, almost all under 4 inches dbh.

i look where i did the work and can hardly notice a difference in the tree density - ugh.

[~mikey b]

Yeah this is actually going to really change the canopy around the house quite a bit. A few big pine and cedar and one giant redwood still towering over the compound, but much tree cover gone. Should improve garden sun exposure and certainly reduces our fire hazard. Ground fuels and ladder fuels I took care of, now the canopy is better.

[riser4]

Idle curiosity. In areas where it is encouraged to remove trees from around dwellings due to fire danger, what is the approach to preventing soil erosion especially since the areas are often prone to drought followed by heavy rain cycles?

[LightRanger]

^^^ Not an expert, but the root systems are usually left in place to rot out, so that holds the soil in place for quite a while on its own.

This sucks...
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/cal...e85312432.html