starting a Stihl saw

[hobbyfarm]

OR, just buy an ECHO. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
They ALWAYS start.
If for some reason it does not, it is something YOU did during the starting procedure!

End of story.

 

[SWB]

I know you can get Echos at Home Depot, but who do you get to service them? Echos haven't been mentioned here very much.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

<font color="blue">After they've "kicked", I usually drop start them because you can squeeze the throttle as you're pulling, which usually makes for easier starting. IF you do the drop start method, MAKE SURE you have engaged the chain brake first by pushing the guard forward. This will keep you from cutting your leg off, and having to sue me. </font>

DrRod, I am a fairly vocal safety advocate, but I also like to "keep it real". I never would have signed a statement saying I would never drop-start my saw, nor will I stop doing it. Especially when done with the chain brake engaged, as I recommend in my post. I think we can all cite examples of safety precautions cited in manuals to which we say, "Yeah, right". Again, I am NOT advocating "unsafe" practices, just trying to keep it real. Chain brake on, drop-starting fine IMO.

Lastly, I keep seeing "high-test" gasoline being advocated. We always use middle grade. There are (too) many octane rating systems out there, but here in CT, "regular" = 87, "middle grade" = 89, and "high-test" is 93. Bear in mind that if your chain saw, car, truck or any other engine is designed to run on octane X, using a higher octane will NOT improve your performance/power. Higher octane gasolines burn more SLOWLY than lower octane gasolines, and are only required with higher compression engines that would otherwise "ping" as a result of the air/fuel mixture exploding too quickly.

I hate to think how much money is wasted on "high-test" gasoline every year. Take that money and buy the best engine oil you can get (synthetic or dino).

We mix a 6.4 oz. bottle of Stihl low-smoke formula 2-cycle oil with 2.4 (not 2.5 - heaven forbid /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) gallons of 89 octane middle grade and our saws start just like we need them to.

I'll recheck my manuals (I'm not at my shop now), but if they say to use 93 octane, I will be VERY surprised.

 

[turnkey4099]

I have had many saws over the past 30 or so years. Most used, some new. Homelite (in their day), Poulan, Stihl, Husky. Currently running 2 Stihl (one new - 3 years), 1 Husky.

All of them cold started the same way. Full choke, switch on, pull till it fires (4-5 should be all that is needed) - half choke, or no choke, 1 or at most 2 pulls and they run.

My current newist, Stihl ms310, gave me a few problems new but that was due to the "master control lever". I had a problem hitting the 1/2 choke position.

Warm starts - just pick it up, switch on an one or two pulls. The 310 needs a bit different. For shut off, hit switch while it is still at hight rev - it then starts one pull. If not done that way it take 2-3 pulls to restart warm (no choke).

Drop starting - NO! No matter how you do it, you wind up with a running saw dangling off an outstretched arm at best.

Ever since the ground has receded greatly with the passage of years, I have taken to the "behind the knee/thigh" method. Before someone kicks in with "ball buster" let them come up with just -one- instance of that ever happening. The saw does not 'go between the legs' - the point of the handle goes behind the right knee (or thigh), the left knee props the power head just under the starter, the left hand has the front handle and the right one does the pulling. That way you have 3 points of control. I have never ever even come close to the saw slipping.

Harry K

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

<font color="blue">Drop starting - NO! No matter how you do it, you wind up with a running saw dangling off an outstretched arm at best. </font>

I am starting to wonder if I have failed to properly convey the fact that with the chain brake engaged, the chain cannot possibly turn? The fact that the saw is running is largely irrelevant if the chain cannot turn.

On Echos: I once asked a very respected chain saw mechanic to please settle the Stihl/Husky "debate" for me. His answer: "If I had to walk a mile into the woods with a saw that I needed to start and run, it would be an Echo".

I have an Echo PB-750 backpack blower, an Echo PB-210E handheld blower, and an Echo PPT-2400 power pole pruner. I have never seen an engine that starts, runs and lasts like an Echo. As much as I like Stihl chain saws, I don't think you could go very far wrong with an Echo.

Lastly, on safety precautions that are just slightly "over the top" - the Echo saw question reminded my of an ad I saw for Echo saws that shows the saw being used with the tip-guard in place. A tip guard covers the nose of the bar, where kickback forces are greatest. How many of you out there have a tip guard on your saw? How many of you are going to go out and buy one, now that you know it will reduce potentially fatal kickback forces? I wouldn't put one on my saw if it were mandated, and I don't employ or advocate unsafe operating practices.

*** Here's a link to Echo chain saws. Notice that on the main page showing all the saws, they all have their tip guard in place. Click on any of the individual saws and they are shown without the tip guard in place. Note that the truly useful safety features like the hand brake to not disappear from page to page. ***

This also reminds me of Norm, on the New Yankee Workshop, where when Norm is cutting something on his table saw, they put up the little disclaimer "Blade guard removed for photographic purposes". How about, "Blade guard removed because Norm thinks it hurts more than it helps?" Splitters are of course a different matter - highly recommended.

 

[Theowegian]

I have a MS260 PRO and I start it between the knees as you said, </font><font color="blue" class="small">( the point of the handle goes behind the right knee (or thigh), the left knee props the power head just under the starter, the left hand has the front handle and the right one does the pulling. That way you have 3 points of control. )</font> .

This is a method I started using recently and like it better than any other Ive used. I will add that the decompression valve is a nice feature and combined with the "knee method", starting a Stihl is a good way for me.

dwight

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Hiya Dwight -

Your post has prompted me to note that the logger friend I referred to in my earlier post favors the "between the knees" method, and I respect his opinions very highly. I'm going to back off from appearing to advocate drop starting. If it's something one feels comfortable doing on occasion (with the chain brake engaged), fine. If it's not, fine too.

 

[Shimon]

This has been an informative thread and I'm still curious to hear about CT_Tree_Guy's chain saw sharpening method! Please, do share. You've had me salivating for a while now....

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Shimon -

Sorry, I changed my mind, my secret is going to the grave with me. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Just kidding of course, I'll be writing it up ASAP, but I have to keep stopping to actually go cut TREES! Sheesh, that is SUCH a distraction!

Here's a little something to whet your appetite though - one jig is a little rubber-rollered thingie about 2 x 2 inches that sits on the chain and holds the file at exactly the right height via the rubber rollers. Then all you have to do is follow the proper top angle of about 30 degrees, often (usually?) laser-etched on the cutter. It's distributed through Husqvarna dealers and many True Value hardware stores. I will include links to where to get them and pictures, part numbers etc.

The other is the raker gauge, a flat stainless steel tool about 4 inches long and one inch wide. It has two slots in it through which the raker sticks up, one slot for hard wood and one slot for soft wood. Just file off anything that sticks up through the slot, and the raker height is PERFECT, .025" in most cases. Most new chain has the rakers set at .011, detuned and dumbed-down for liability purposes I would imagine. With the rakers taken down to where they should be, the difference in performance is truly remarkable. More to come.

Hey, by the way, you look kinda "down" in your picture - try to cheer up, will ya? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Take care, John

 

[escavader]

My 028 and my new sachs are choke until it fires,let it run a second on choke until it starts sounding different then take it off,and feather the throttle.The stihl will sometimes take 8 to 10 pulls,if its been awHile,and the air filter aint new,but it always starts and runs.
ALAN