I thought Sthil made a good saw?

[studor]

The two "big box' brands you can get service for without question are Husqvarna and Echo -- both brands have other dealers and usually they have an arrangement to do warranty and service work. I have all three brands in various saws, trimmers mowers etc. varying in age from 30 to 2 years of age,. All require very little maintenance and have little "secrets" to starting that if not followed usually require setting it aside for a while and then following the recommended procedure. In terms of new versus old the most replaced parts in the older models seem to be fuel lines and tank grommets. Once replaced with newer lines I have not had further problems. I have have had two Stihl loose fastener problems (muffler and clutch) and one on a Husky (loose guard screw-- would not stay tight). The nice thing about the newer stuff is the weight (lighter) --- some of the older stuff requires two men and a small boy to carry after a few hours.
I too would try the easy out, then heli-coil then buy a new jug -- but as I get older my temptation is to opt for replacement rather than spend the time and still end up with the same solution -- your choice

 

[broadsword6]

Sorry to hear about your experience. Great suggestions from others and I really can't improve on them, except to say that I would be tempted to let the Stihl folks deal with it. Not wanting to worship at the alter of Andreas Stihl, the inventor of chain saws (You guys all knew that though right?) but I have to side with the Stihl boosters on this thread. My first Stihl was a 1996 038 Magnum with a 20 inch bar. There was not very much it would not cut through like butter. I got to test that after the devastation of the 1998 ice storm here. We (the gang of farming neighbors) spent a month or more clearing all manner of fallen trees in the dead of winter. It started every time and never quit. Of course I was younger and fitter then and could handle the weight pretty much all day. At 62 yo (and not quite so fit) I treated myself to a new 462. Same power, same Professional build quality but almost half the weight. Also had an 028 workhorse and replaced it with M261c. Same deal. Same power but much lighter. Apart from the bars, the weight reduction seems to come from lighter, higher strength alloys, not the substitution of plastic components. The new saws have hundreds of hours service on them now in a wide variety of conditions and show no signs of wear besides the bars and chains. Much less wear and tear on me however. Bottom line... Stihl does make a good chainsaw, but stuff happens. A shame that it happened to you.

 

[lpakiz]

Back to the OP:
I've removed dozens of bolts like that, usually successfully, a couple, not.
The most important step is getting your drill hole CENTERED!
Getting this right will give you options down the road. Use a center punch. If you see the bit isn’t exactly centered, lean the drill towards the correct center and move/drift the hole back to center.
Start with a smaller bit, to establish center and a pilot hole, then finish with the correct diameter for your EZ out.
I highly recommend square tapered EZ outs over the spiral one. The spiral ones can split the stub and put pressure against the threads.

One of the BEST EZ outs is a Torx bit. They come in different configurations, but I have a set of SnapOns that are just the bit and a 1/4” hex shank. Takes a wrench or socket to drive them. It looks like a 25 or 27 might be the size for you, maybe even a 30. Start with the 25, but make sure you don’t twist it off. If you wear the hole out as I’ve described below, you can move to the next bigger size.
Drill the hole the same size as the smaller dimension of the torx bit. Best if you can drill all the way thru the bolt, till you hit aluminum. The star part of the bit will broach a six-sided interface into your hole, better than a 4-sided like a tapered square EZ out. It should drive in with some resistance as you broach out the hole.
Penetrating oil may help some, heat helps the most, but when you apply pressure on the wrench, alternate between loosen and tighten.

I like to use a 1/4“ socket with a 1/4” breaker bar, and get a rhythm going, using the weight of the breaker bar and your hand, plus the momentum of the swing. Don’t overdo it, go gently at first, increase the force gradually. I’ve been known to swing that wrench back and forth for several MINUTES before I could feel a bit of give. When it breaks loose, keep up the back and forth, add penetrating oil or heat again if necessary. Just concentrate on getting the wrench to swing a wider and wider arc. If it breaks loose, emphasize the “loosen” force a bit more that the “tighten“force, but don’t rush it. Try to grind up the rust/corrosion between the bolt and the hole, until it gets looser and looser.
Ive found if I’m feeling impatient or nervous, it’s best to go do something else for a while, even a day. It works best if I’m completely relaxed.
If you cant get it to turn, don’t break off the EZ out!

You can drill the hole bigger, size by size until you just see threads, and sometimes you can “grab” the end of the thread with a good needle nose and pull it right out of the grooves, like pulling a spring out. Or you can “pick” the threads out of the grooves, then clean it up with a tap.
When reassembling, rather than a bolt, I like to use a stud, so I can insert it all the way to the bottom of the hole, to utilize every thread available, especially if you have compromised the top several threads. Insert the stud kinda loosely to arrive at correct length, and cut it off as necessary, then double nut it and take it to the bottom of the hole.
(A nut on a stud treats the soft aluminum better than the twisting and pulling of a cap screw).

Good Luck!

 

[5030]

The "professional" line of Stihl saws still use magnesium case halves. The "homeowner" models use plastic.

Didn't matter on the older ones, they were all alloy, homeowner owner commercial

The case halves on all of the modern ones are alloy. Never seen onw with a plastic case...it would melt.

I'm referring to parts like the recoil housing and handle. Old ones were alloy. New ones are I presume plastic.

 

[grsthegreat]

my stihl 029 farm boss is 25 years old or so, as i purchased it when i was building out my property. i have never had any issues with it. original bar.

do regular maintenance on it, and use the heck out of it. i have 20 acres of trees i have to manage. it is taking longer to start nowdays, maybe 4 pulls instead of the 1 to 2 it used to take. but still runs great. once its warmed up its almost always just 1 pull restart.

i only keep it and dont upgrade cause i feel all new stuff is cheap plastic junk.

 

[5030]

On a whim, I did purchase a Stihl top handle Arborist saw but returned it. Way down on power and it was expensive. Bought a cheap Tanaka (Makita's Chinese brand) and it will run circles around the Stihl and it was only 110 bucks on Amazon, shipping included. The Stihl was almost 400.

The Tanaka is plastic but for 110 bucks I expect that. It does come with an Oregon chain and guide bar with a greaseable roller nose, something else I don't like about late model Stihl bars. You cannot grease the roller nose.

 

[ArlyA]

When we go into the field to do work, we need tools that will work. Or can be repaired when something does fail.

Discount tools don't cut it, Stihl does.

 

[5030]

i only keep it and dont upgrade cause i feel all new stuff is cheap plastic junk.

Not cheap but certainly plastic. Must be something other than ordinary plastic though. Probably the one thing that bugs me about the new saws is how chocked up the mufflers are. If you go to a Stihl forum, there will be many posts about reworking the mufflers. My old girls sound like chainsaws.

I believe Husky's are as well (plastic).

I could have probably reworked the muffler on the Arborists saw and made it run better, but for 400 bucks, I just returned it and I'm sure it would have cancelled the warranty.

 

[John_Mc]

Not wanting to worship at the alter of Andreas Stihl, the inventor of chain saws (You guys all knew that though right?)

Actually, Andreas Stihl did not invent the chainsaw. He did make some significant improvements to earlier designs (including the switch to lightweight 2 cycle engines, which made his saws more easily portable.) The first "portable" gas powered chainsaw is believed to be a patent held by Canadian farmer and millwright James Shand. In the early 1930s, the Reed Prentice company in Worcester, MA had several gas powered models, but they weren't widely adopted due to their heavy weight. Andreas Stihl was the one who put a lightweight 2 cycle engine on a chainsaw. So I guess you could say he was the father of the "modern chainsaw".

 

[ArlyA]

Not cheap but certainly plastic. Must be something other than ordinary plastic though. Probably the one thing that bugs me about the new saws is how chocked up the mufflers are. If you go to a Stihl forum, there will be many posts about reworking the mufflers. My old girls sound like chainsaws.

I believe Husky's are as well (plastic).

Plastic is not bad and in this case, its hdpe and its found on many saws. It can take a beating , bending and not break where as magnesium does no like to bend and will break. Plastic is great for some parts, steel is best for others.