spudulike

First of all, don't get hung up on bar length, a 14" bar on an MS260 would be nice, a 16" acceptable, 18" wouldn't be nice and remember, you can walk round the other side to complete the cut on the rare occasion you need to. An 18" on a small saw would be boggy and knock the balance off. A good MS260 would be a good hop up on the 181 as it is a pro saw and are generally pretty robust. You would need to ensure it has an OEM top end as many have been lashed with Chinese ones after seizing but I still get good ones in for service every now and then.

Sprockets last a long time and generally people are lazy or uninitiated and don't bother changing them until I get my hands on them. You can reduce the wear on the rim or sprocket by learning to adjust chain tension correctly and ensuring the oiler is putting enough oil on the bar. I usually change spur sprockets once the spur has indentations on the ends of the lobes - not really worth not doing whilst the saw is in bits!

Bermuda I reckon!

Worth trying pulling the kill wire off it then pulling it over again as £70 for a new one is a tad eye watering!

Where ya been bud, not Madera again? Been a long time!

I have had the blower coils fail, just make sure you try the spark with a big 5mm+ gap, a normal gap and always check the spark in subdued light with a bloody hard pull. If that doesn't work then it is new coil time

Pressure check the carb. The throttle being open or closed will have no effect on the carb leaking fuel through to the cylinder.

The port size would need to be made smaller with carbon - 1/4 of its size would make a difference - mostly an issue on hedge trimmers and strimmers. My bench is rammed and rammed full again!!!

Quite a bit: - Fuel starvation - carb issue, split fuel or impulse line, blocked fuel filter, blocked breather. Lack of compression through wear or partial seize Spark/coil/plug/HT issues, kill wire partially shorting Blocked muffler, carboned exhaust port Flywheel key failing causing ignition timing to be retarded slightly Blocked air filter Split inlet manifold Choke partially sticking on There may be more but there you go! If the saw has good compression, the carb is the next most likely failure but if it is a known good carb then it is a toss up between failed rubber parts and HT issues.

Change the 10mm ones far more often than 14mm ones as they seem to fail more often. I tend to replace if the plug is playing up or the aluminium connector thread has gone.

That's worn and needs replacing as the sprocket lobes are showing indentations, many run them further but that is their choice!

Not sure where that leaves us. The fault gets sort of better with swapping the carb but the saw has no power??? It is possible it has two faults, that one makes life interesting when diagnosing. Inspecting lines visually is pretty hopeless, you must plug one end and put a bit of pressure on them with a pop off gauge or pressure tester. if the impulse has come loose then that can cause this issue as can a blocked fuel tank breather and a split fuel line. If you move a good carb from a healthy machine and the revs race then it sounds like an air leak but am not 100% you have done this. You should have 95% of the carb set if set up on another machine. A bit random this fault! Those impulse lines can come off the union on the crankcase cylinder base.

The melting seal, you need to make sure the seal is driven home fully and the thin shim washer has to be fitted to keep the oiler pinion from contacting the seal.

Bark looks like Poplar to me but what do I know

OK, sounds like it is running rich, make sure the choke flap valve is opening fully, make sure the air filter is clean, the H screw should be one turn out if the limit cap has been removed and if it is still bad, I would suspect a leaking check valve so a deep Ultrasonic clean may be in order.

Just make sure you clean the bore thoroughly if there is any transfer build up on it if it has been seized.

Be thankful it doesn't have fuel injection and auto tune As others have said, check the impulse line as without it, there will be little fuel being pumped in to the carb. Check the pump diaphragm is in good condition, especially on the pump flaps that can get pierced by the hole underneath. The most common carb issue is the good ol gauze strainer. It can sometimes look clean but take it out and use a strong light and magnifying glass to look through it and ensure those open areas are OPEN! Check the tank breather, unlikely to be fully blocked but worth cleaning off. Make sure the fuel line is OK, not likely to fail on a 4 year old machine but you can be caught out. Change the plug, they can crack and do all sorts! When it starts: - 1) Are you able to rev it out to near maximum revs? 2) is the engine smoking and running like it is on choke? 3) is the engine screaming? 4) Will the saw idle but not rev? 5) Does the saw pulse and misfire? 6) Is the idle speed high if the saw can idle? Sometimes these carbs get some pretty strange issues and I have found that the only way to clear them is 1 hour in a dedicated ultrasonic cleaner on high heat and using a decent carb additive. I am guessing in these cases, the check valve or some of the hard to get to cavities have resin, water or debris in them and only a good boil will shift it as carb cleaner doesn't touch it. In this I am assuming, from your description, that the saw has decent compression!

Had the saw in, the helicoils the OP had fitted were OK and holding strong. Inserts are OK if there is a lot of land around the hole but not so good if there isn't. Helicoils are generally a good repair but do use solid inserts on plug holes. The carb had a small piece of random rubber, probably from the fuel/impulse line stuck in the impulse holes in the carb and should be running fine now.

Depends on the gauge and what it measures on a saw that runs well. All gauges are not equal! If it measures 150-170 on a good saw, 105 is pitiful as you should be looking at 150 bare minimum.

Another 357XP of course

For those wanting to test the operation of the brake guard handle, try operating it on both far top edges of the guard handle. I usually find that any saw with excessive wear in brake components doesn't operate well when you push forward on the top edge of the brake handle guard nearest the recoil cover. If it doesn't work as well as it does in the middle or not at all, you have issues. Seen this on a few models of different manufacturers saws and is a useful check.

65, got a muffler that sets dry grass in fire ? Heavy but well made and will cut your firewood!

If the issue is faulty manufacture, material or parts then it will and should be replaced, if it was down to the way you were using it, foolhardiness or forcing it then expect no replacement.

Not much you can do if it has been sitting in water for a few months?

It shouldn't and means either the throttle valve isn't held open sufficiently or the low speed fuel setting is far too rich. Make sure the L screw is one turn out and take a visual on the throttle valve with the choke setting on fast idle and make sure the valve is kicked open by a few mm.