husky 281- hard to start

[Mike Dempsey]

I've had my husky 281 for a couple of years now. It was an ex army surplus purchase and although only a few years old, it only had probably less than a couple of hours use.

The difficulty with it is that the compression seems too much and it is quite difficult to pull the start cord without jerking up the saw. Most times I have to place the saw in front of me and put the front of both my feet in the back of the handle to keep it on the ground when starting this. Now I know about having good compression etc but this actually seems like too much compression! This is the third husky that I have had and definetly the most difficult to start. My mate has the same one but as he is a six foot six ex marine he doesnt have any problems. Is there anything I can do about it to ease it up or do I have to just live with it?

 

Mike

[spudulike]

I've had my husky 281 for a couple of years now. It was an ex army surplus purchase and although only a few years old, it only had probably less than a couple of hours use.

The difficulty with it is that the compression seems too much and it is quite difficult to pull the start cord without jerking up the saw. Most times I have to place the saw in front of me and put the front of both my feet in the back of the handle to keep it on the ground when starting this. Now I know about having good compression etc but this actually seems like too much compression! This is the third husky that I have had and definetly the most difficult to start. My mate has the same one but as he is a six foot six ex marine he doesnt have any problems. Is there anything I can do about it to ease it up or do I have to just live with it?

 

Mike

 

The 181/281 are not the easist to turn over, I have the 181SE ex army and it takes a bit of doing. When I got mine, the fast idle wasn't working - can't remember what had failed but think it was the thumb latch just in front of the throttle lock bar on the top of the handle.

 

One sure way of testing is to leave the fast idle on when saw starts to make sure the saw races with it on.

 

The other things are typically to make sure the choke is sealing, sounds like compression isn't lacking and lastly that the inside of the carb is clean and the fuel filter and lines are in good condition.

 

Make sure the L screw in particular is set at around 1 turn out as you may be running it a little weak and that could cause starting issues.

[Breezeblock]

i fitted a decomp valve to mines cause they are a pain in the **** to start made a hell of a difference my arms are now the same lenght

[Chris Sheppard]

There's definitely a knack to starting them. On my 181, I pull it over til it's just before fully compressed and then give it a good go. Usually fires first time and starts second or third.

 

Trying to start it like a little saw just makes hard work and sore fingers