Have any of you recently bought one of the little low priced chain saws and gotten really ticked off with it? I sure have. I did some research on the net yesterday on the particular model I got and was shocked to hear how so many other people were as frustrated as I am with the same model. In fact I couldn't find one good thing said about it except in the store reviews from places that were selling them. Makes you wonder.
I had an old Poulan that was nearly 20 years old till last fall when it finally wore out. I went out looking for another one but couldn't afford much so we got one of the 100 dollar ones from wally world. It has a 14 inch bar and was the same brand so I figured it must be good. The first time I used it it cut through limbs like they were butter. When I was done for the day, I cleaned it up, sharpened the chain and put it away like I always did with the old one. Then I had to use it again to clear a tree off our driveway that was blown over about a month later.
I filled it up with fresh oil and fuel and went to cutting and every time I put it down it would shut off. What a pain that is to restart the motor every time I pick it up.
I looked at the adjustment screws and they are some proprietary design and even with 20 years experience as a mechanic on everything from aircraft and steam engines to modern car engines, I couldn't come up with a tool to adjust it without firing up the lathe and making one. That was my first big disappointment with it. I wasted about 2 hours that day making a special tool and adjusting the carb. I did that after calling the customer service number in the owners manual and getting told they did not sell the tool or the shop manual for it. They said it had to go to an authorized service center. Also that since I did not fill out the warranty card that it was out of warranty so I'd probably be paying for it. Yeah right. I'm not spending more to have something fixed than I paid for it in the first place. I just junked my wifes car for that reason.
I got it to idle ok and went back to work but I have to say that idle adjustment screw is touchy. It's either too slow or its so fast it turns the chain. There is no in between no matter how precisely the mixtures are set.
I finished up the job that day, did my routine of cleaning it, sharpening the chain and putting some fuel stabilizer in the gas and put it up untill yesterday. About 9 months or so.
I had to drop a big honey locust in the yard and got it out. At first it was hard to start but I got it finally. I didn't readjust anything and it was running as close to perfect as it gets when I put it up last time. This time it wouldn't hardly cut through a 2 inch thick limb without bogging down. My chain was very sharp too. The high speed mixture was off I figured. I spent another 2 hours looking for that special tool I had made and readjusted it to work on the high end and then the darn thing wouldn't idle again.
Now I have rebuilt well over a thousand carburetors in my time and I know what I am doing. This thing is a piece of trash! I've done carbs on antique tractors, motorcycles, 2 cycles like this, hot rods and all kinds of stuff and I have never seen one that wouldn't get through one use without needing to be adjusted.
That tree was only 15 feet from my house and between it and another building so I was up in the thing with a harness on limbing it from the top down untill there was no danger of it falling on something. Imagine my frustration having to restart it every time I got done with a cut while hanging on to the tree in a harness 30 feet above the ground.
When I had to restart it probably for the fifth time I threw it as far as I could across the yard. Then I went in to tell my wife we're going to the store to buy a real saw! I came home with the biggest Husquevarna saw I could get. It's a 20 inch with almost 4 HP and is very nice. I don't care if it's a little heavy. At least it's working. The reviews all seem good on them and I don't think I'll have a problem with it.
I will never buy another cheap tool as long as I live! That little Poulan was a piece of junk!
I had an old Poulan that was nearly 20 years old till last fall when it finally wore out. I went out looking for another one but couldn't afford much so we got one of the 100 dollar ones from wally world. It has a 14 inch bar and was the same brand so I figured it must be good. The first time I used it it cut through limbs like they were butter. When I was done for the day, I cleaned it up, sharpened the chain and put it away like I always did with the old one. Then I had to use it again to clear a tree off our driveway that was blown over about a month later.
I filled it up with fresh oil and fuel and went to cutting and every time I put it down it would shut off. What a pain that is to restart the motor every time I pick it up.
I looked at the adjustment screws and they are some proprietary design and even with 20 years experience as a mechanic on everything from aircraft and steam engines to modern car engines, I couldn't come up with a tool to adjust it without firing up the lathe and making one. That was my first big disappointment with it. I wasted about 2 hours that day making a special tool and adjusting the carb. I did that after calling the customer service number in the owners manual and getting told they did not sell the tool or the shop manual for it. They said it had to go to an authorized service center. Also that since I did not fill out the warranty card that it was out of warranty so I'd probably be paying for it. Yeah right. I'm not spending more to have something fixed than I paid for it in the first place. I just junked my wifes car for that reason.
I got it to idle ok and went back to work but I have to say that idle adjustment screw is touchy. It's either too slow or its so fast it turns the chain. There is no in between no matter how precisely the mixtures are set.
I finished up the job that day, did my routine of cleaning it, sharpening the chain and putting some fuel stabilizer in the gas and put it up untill yesterday. About 9 months or so.
I had to drop a big honey locust in the yard and got it out. At first it was hard to start but I got it finally. I didn't readjust anything and it was running as close to perfect as it gets when I put it up last time. This time it wouldn't hardly cut through a 2 inch thick limb without bogging down. My chain was very sharp too. The high speed mixture was off I figured. I spent another 2 hours looking for that special tool I had made and readjusted it to work on the high end and then the darn thing wouldn't idle again.
Now I have rebuilt well over a thousand carburetors in my time and I know what I am doing. This thing is a piece of trash! I've done carbs on antique tractors, motorcycles, 2 cycles like this, hot rods and all kinds of stuff and I have never seen one that wouldn't get through one use without needing to be adjusted.
That tree was only 15 feet from my house and between it and another building so I was up in the thing with a harness on limbing it from the top down untill there was no danger of it falling on something. Imagine my frustration having to restart it every time I got done with a cut while hanging on to the tree in a harness 30 feet above the ground.
When I had to restart it probably for the fifth time I threw it as far as I could across the yard. Then I went in to tell my wife we're going to the store to buy a real saw! I came home with the biggest Husquevarna saw I could get. It's a 20 inch with almost 4 HP and is very nice. I don't care if it's a little heavy. At least it's working. The reviews all seem good on them and I don't think I'll have a problem with it.
I will never buy another cheap tool as long as I live! That little Poulan was a piece of junk!
