Suspect clutch?

[ag Ed]

I've got a stihl ms181 c-be in from a customer to sharpen and thought I'd try to diagnose an ongoing nagging issue on it

It starts cuts and runs fine but with any pressure put into the cut (such as using the dog) and it just stalls the chain, slipping the clutch I assume 

It's only a couple of years old or so and not in daily use but imo it's underspecced for his level of usage (a very large garden/small estate and doing a lot of firewood as the primary heatsource of a large 15th century house)

 

I reckon the clunch I'd knackered, thoughts?  

Oh and it's on a 16 inch bar which I feel is a bit big on a 30cc saw    

[ag Ed]

I did take a video to show you but it's 70mb and the site only allows 7mb and photobucket no longer supports videos, any suggestions?

[Khriss]

Was gonna say try a smaller bar - I like 14" ( missus ) on that size of saw , cuts faster K

[ag Ed]

Yeah that would be my thinking that even if the clutch isn't knackered yet a 16 is just too heavy on that engine and clutch 

Just a shame he's currently got a good 16 bar and about 4 chains

 

My old man has an identical 181 c-be which suits him perfectly, he does a bit of firewood, clears the odd bit of brush etc and takes a few branches off etc and it's only used half a dozen times a year if that but he's got his on a 14 inch and it does definitely pull it better. Then again he hasn't used it enough to touch the clutch!

Customers saw is going back tomorrow morning but next time I've got it I'll stick my old man's 14 inch bar and chain on it and do a few cuts to see if it is a bad clutch or if it's just too big a bar 

[Khriss]

Def find 30cc saws bog down, using the dogs in the wood , on 15-16 inch bars ( Not used Spuds tho' ! ) so yr clutch may be fine ? K

[bmp01]

Length of bar might be an issue but only if your using the full length of bar.  If it's a 10" diameter log, I can't see the bar length makes any difference.

Assuming the engine speed is not being dragged down near to stalling, then I'd guess the clutch needs a good clean out. Some of these saws can get a bit oily or maybe the clutch bearing has had a dob too much grease in the past.

The 181 uses the same clutch as the bigger 211 - assuming genuine parts.

 

BMP01

[ag Ed]

8 hours ago, bmp01 said:

Length of bar might be an issue but only if your using the full length of bar.  If it's a 10" diameter log, I can't see the bar length makes any difference.

Assuming the engine speed is not being dragged down near to stalling, then I'd guess the clutch needs a good clean out. Some of these saws can get a bit oily or maybe the clutch bearing has had a dob too much grease in the past.

The 181 uses the same clutch as the bigger 211 - assuming genuine parts.

 

BMP01

That's the thing, it won't hold on to dragthe engine down to it's knees, the chain stalls and the engine spins freely, slipping the clutch 

I think that could be a good shout though to pull the clutch out and clean it all up. Not sure if it's ever been done as I haven't been solely responsible for the maintenance of this saw from new 

And yeah being a fixed rate oiler this one does seem to be rather oily