Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Jstpssng]

I have not found a definite "this is what did it in" yet. Other than running it too lean like you said an air leak is another common cause for over heating. I have had and used this saw for over 10 years and always set it a little on the rich side. The only suspect so far was restricted cooling air flow during steady cutting of firewood. I had cut a log with quite a bit of rot and the wet sawdust clung heavily to the cooling intake holes on the starter side. Some fir pitch in that area didn't help me.

gg

Somebody on Craigslist or in Uncle Henry's had a 346 for a decent price in southern Maine last week... supposedly barely used. I almost went to look at it but already have my two Echos and am not sure that I need another saw.

 

[Jstpssng]

I got a Stihl MS290 that had been run on straight gas and the damage was catastrophic. Ate the rings down to the piston, I mean they were gone. Metal bits and shavings everywhere, oh did I mention the giant hole in the side of the block? I yanked the engine and used the case in my older MS029 that had cracks in spots. Bonus, I got flip caps!!

I had to look and see where you are from. My father lost 2 saws that way toward the end of his life. My mother tried to explain to him that he had to add oil to the gas but it said right on the saw; "Gas goes here, oil goes there." It's hard to argue with that, when all of his life he could do anything from rebuilding an engine hook up a hot water heating system.

Alzheimer's sucks.

 

[Skeans1]

@Jstpssng
A person can never have too many, got to have at least one per size with good over lap that way if something goes wrong you can finish out a day.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I had a Stihl MS250 with similar damage, maybe even worse. The general consensus was it was run on straight gas. It’s certainly possible but I was never convinced that’s what did it.
View attachment 792744

That reminds me of a story. At the time I was using a 350 for small firewood. I had a bunch of limb wood I wanted to do up quick and asked my wife to help. She held a stick over a saw horse and fed it towards me as I cut off 18" pieces. I ran out of gas and went into the garage to get the can and we started cutting again. A short time later the saw started smoking then seized. As I stood there thinking about it my wife said "How come you used the lawn mower gas....." Duh

gg

 

[dodge man]

I have 2 gas cans, ones 2 gallons and has 2 stroke oil in it, the other is 5 gallons. In my case it would be difficult to fuel the saw with my 5 gallon can.

 

[K5lwq]

I have used Amsoil 2 stroke oil quite a bit. It’s worked fine in everything else. I did rebuild my MS250 that I showed a picture above, new jug and piston, about a $100.

Glad it has worked out for you. I have rebuilt several model aircraft 2 stroke engines for folks and every one of them that used the Amsoil had significant scarring. They showed more wear than ones that just used Pennzoil. The ones that used Red Line I have been into show very little wear. The Amsoil produced a very hard carbon crystals. That is my experience with it.

 

[cmyoung2]

Just lost my Husky 562XP, bearings went, probably piston also. Dealer said it would not be worth it to repair, replaced it with an Echo 620. Some things I like better than the Husky, will wait and see. The Husky was 6-7 years old, fair amount of firewood. Now I just need to get all the XP body parts cleaned up and sell them.

 

[hosspuller]

Finishing up firewood for the season... 1/4 cord of oak.
100 gallon sprayer full of water as ballast.

 

[Loaderman22]

Stihl had a 1 year warranty when you bought their new saws and trimmers etc. But will up it to 2 years if you also bought a 6 pack of their synthetic 2 stroke oil (grey bottles) at time of purchase. Not sure if they still do this, but for the extra couple bucks, it seemed like a good deal to me. Of course I've never needed the warranty, nothing broke that fast, but I do still run their synthetic oil in all my 2 stroke equipment with ethanol free high test gas. I don't run my saws out of gas for storage, because I never know how long storage will be, they're always ready to go. They can sit for months and start right up. I do let all the small engines idle for a couple minutes to warm up each time tho, even in summer. At the RPMs saws run, it's just a good idea...

 

[groundcover]

My saw guy has me run 40:1 . He sees way too may 2 strokes with shortened live spans running 50:1 . Good for the environment, not so great for the engine.