Do you shake your chainsaw?

[LD48750]

Just to satisfy your curiosity, pour some gas & oil into a clear glass jar & sit it on a shelf for a year & see for yourself if it separates.

 

[Bird]

I know I do everything wrong. I never thought to shake my chain saws. And I KNOW gasoline and oil mix can get old and need replacing. Sometimes the problem is finding a place to dump the old gas/oil mix, so I don't. Now I've mentioned before that I had a 2 hp Johnson outboard motor in 1971 and had a full tank of gas/oil mix (one quart) when I learned that I was being sent to Northwestern University for the school year. So that little boat motor sat in the garage for well over a year without being started or having the fuel changed in any way. And the first time I used it, no problem at all starting it, and it ran just fine (I thought). But when that gas ran out and I dumped in a quart of fresh gas/oil mix, I could easily tell from the sound that it picked up several RPMs over the old gas. So fresh gas does work better, but is not absolutely necessary.:laughing:

And now . . . . I bought a new Mantis tiller on February 7 of this year, gave my old one to my grandson. Naturally, I bought gas and added the usual oil for the new tiller, and I used it that day, then put it away. On June 1 (less than 4 months) I started it up and let it run just to see if it would; no problem at all. So on September 3, (only 3 months later), I started it and ran it again; no problem. Than 3 days ago, I ran it again; still no problem. And still using the gas/oil mix that I bought and mixed in February.

 

[Deere Dude]

If I had to shake my saw 100 times I would be ready for a siesta. I would never take my saws out.

If in doubt give it a yank or two and that will be enough, same with cans. It won't hurt anything but will make you sleep better at night.

 

[MossRoad]

....I also do a silent prayer to the Wood Gods prior to pulling the cord. I found this reduces the amount of pulls and my right shoulder appreciates the gesture as well.

NICE! :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

If my chainsaw has sat for more than a couple of hours and definitely overnight I shake it or at least rock it 100 times on the theory that the oil and gasoline have begun to separate. I also do this with my fuel can. I don't recall ever seeing directions to do this and don't even know whether two cycle oil and gasoline do separate. Am I wasting my time?

Reminds me of this story.... and no, I’d never shake my saw. I do give the mix can a swirl or two though before each use. Don’t know why. But I do.

A young girl was watching her mother bake a ham for a family gathering and noticed her mom cutting off the ends before placing it in the oven.

“Mom, why do you cut the ends off before baking the ham?” she asked.

“Hmmm…I think it helps soak up the juices while it’s baking. I’m actually not sure, though. That’s just the way your grandma always did it, so I’ve just always cut them off. Why don’t you call grandma and ask her?”

So, the little girl phoned her grandma and asked “Grandma, mom is making a ham and cut off the ends before placing it in the oven. She said that it’s probably to help soak up the juices but wasn’t sure. She said you’d know because she learned how to cook from you.”

“That’s true. I do cut off the ends of the ham before baking. But I’m actually not sure why either. I learned how to cook from my mom. You should ask her.”

So, the inquisitive little girl called her great grandmother and asked “Great grandma, mom and grandma said they learned how to cook a ham from watching you. Do you cut off the ends of the ham to help it soak up the juices?”

The great grandmother chuckled. “Oh, no sweetie. I just never had a pan big enough to hold a whole ham, so I always had to cut off the ends to make it fit.”

 

[Doofy]

CRAP, now I'm hungry!

 

[Doofy]

Interesting tidbit: I blew an intake gasket on my work trucks 350 engine at 285K miles. When I drained the oil and anti freeze, I filled a glass jar for some unknown reason and left it sitting on the work bench. I retired 10 years later and noticed the glass jar still sitting there...The oil and antifreeze mix had still not separated. I was impressed and use Mobil 1 synthetic oil to this day.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Spanner,
Maybe someone will invent a sticky oil just for the bar and I can quit using motor oil.

You must really be behind the times because quality bar oil is sticky so it does stick to the bar/chain. Cheap bar oil doesn't seem to have the necessary additive to make it sticky so it is more like motor oil. I ran out of bar oil and had some 50 wt motor oil that I used temporarily. I could see it slinging off the bar of my pole saw in a fine mist when it was running. It still seemed to work OK though. The pole saw just has a hose running to the bar so there is no metering like a normal chain saw and it uses more oil than fuel.

 

[motownbrowne]

I think most modern 2-stroke oil is pretty good at staying mixed. Must have emulsifiers or something. That said,i always give my can a quick couple of shakes before filling a saw or other piece of OPE. I don't shake the saws, other than picking it up, looking it over, and pulling the cord.

 

[Oldpath05]

If I had to shake my saw 100 times I would be ready for a siesta. I would never take my saws out.

If in doubt give it a yank or two and that will be enough, same with cans. It won't hurt anything but will make you sleep better at night.

Me too and only after 10 times . I have been know to throw my saw in the brush pile when it wont start thow. I've noticed on my (2013) 550XP if I leave it vehicle for long period/week of time it floods out on first pull and what a hassel, I now stow it on a self, starts lot better, my previous 446 Husq. it didn't matter.