spudulike

Found a Tanaka in a ditch in front of a hedge once, bit of a state and will never run again....the wife spotted it, the training is paying off?

Grounds for divorce or the rule of thumb to be invoked!!

I would suggest that in trying too many times to start it, the crankcase is filling with fuel causing it to lock. You only need to pull it over a maximum of around five times on choke before it pops. When the saw has popped and starts on the fast idle, does it spin over fast or does it run at pretty much normal idle BEFORE pulling the throttle and the idle settles to normal. No saw should need over 15 pulls to get it going and a lot less if it has run in the last week.

Use Parcel Monkey, they are a broker and offer cheaper rates for the same service from the big couriers. Parcelforce and UKmail are good in my experience and take saws, Hermes can take forever if you don't use a 24/48 hour service - I only use commercial couriers, Hermes are a bit eBay cheap and not really cheerful. Drain the saw of fuel and oil, usually better to let the fuel tank dry as couriers don't like the smell of petrol in their vans...for obvious reasons. Wrap the saw in a bin liners as it will seal any residual oil and smell in. Place in a well padded box, strengthen the sides top and bottom of the box with extra board and ensure the dogs and saw body are padded from direct impact on the box outer. You should be able to drop the box from head height on any side with no fear of breakage. Make sure contact details are inside, you would be amazed at the number of times I have to phone round asking if the £700 saw is theirs? Make sure the lids AND bottom are securely taped, a this is damn obvious but the packing on some of the kit I get in is laughable!!!

Just check the serial plat for the date of manufacture.....assuming it has one!

You won't see the crank wobble with a damaged big end bearing but expect big knocking and loss of compression. With worn crank bearings, the crank will wobble and is likely to scuff the plating off the bore if run for a while.

The colour doesn't matter, the size does in this case. The seal size is often moulded in to the rubber part!

You need to start with a budget, the latest version is the MS261CM but you are looking at Mtronic and something like a £550price tag. Just depends on what you actually need and what you can get hold of. You can still get hold of decent MS260s and are a decent saw.

I think you will find that a flanged bush pushes in to the seal and then has a shim washer that fits over it like this: - Parts 3 &4

The Picco can be a 3/8th low profile chain which is typically the chain fitted to the 135! The 135 is pretty much a Husqvarna version of the Stihl 171. I would be looking at something like a MS260 to make a big difference rather than just swapping brands like your present suggestion is doing. If you want a Husqvarna then a 345/350 may suit - these are old models and may fit in with a smaller budget!

I think you need a new screwdriver, looks like the dog has been using it as a chew

It is pretty much a standard strato type piston, there are other systems based on reed valves (Dolmar) and other strange diverters used with windowed pistons as in the MS461 but this type of piston is typical on modern full strato saws!

Coffee drinker on the A1m. Breakfast used to be a seat at the breakfast table but is now a car drivers seat and cup holder at 70mph on a major road. I really don't get this coffee thing where everybody has to drive, walk, run with a Costa/Starbuck/etc paper cup full of coffee glued to their hand

Firstly check that the flywheel and coil are a correct pairing with your crank. Makita and some other manufacturers like to swap the flywheel and coil combinations so worth checking all are all the correct parts otherwise you may have some weird ignition timing. Other than that, if the spark and compression is good, make sure the needle valve in the carb is holding pressure OK as if it is leaking, the saw will have fuel but just won't work due to it not supplying the correct amount of fuel.

Bit of carb cleaner and a compressor will see ya fine!

You weren't supposed to put the cream on your strawberries unless they were a euphemism!!!

Yes, Andy is very...."supportive". Cant risk any chafing

I am worried, very worried, if you can't afford new pants, I will pop you a few quid! What have we come to!

I will sleep soundly tonight in the knowledge of this.

You will need to match the depth, height and diameter of the ring for it to fit. The depth is dictated by the depth of the groove in the piston. The height is the vertical height of the groove of the piston and the diameter is self explanatory. If you meet these, it will fit. Finding out the info is the hardest part but am sure other rings will fit your piston. The aftermarket rings can be a bit hard and brittle, the circlips can also be pretty crap!

Well one thing I remember is a member called MattyF asking for help from Arbtalk for an ex sub mariner he knew that had busted his back trying to fell a tree at around 80 years of age. Well, a shed load of members turned up working for free and did the job which shows the spirit of the members at that time - some are still on here! I wonder if he did the same again, the response would be the same! Yes Stubby, showing my age! Guess things are changing.

Personally, what gets me is members with one post, asking for the world and when you give them a solution to their issues and save them lots of time and money, haven't the decency to thank you, give you feedback on the advice or stay around to add to the Arbtalk Forum and its content. BTW - not having a go at any one specific person on this!!! There are still a lot of members with 1000+ posts and many with decent knowledge of their specific industry or skill but many evaporated when the site format changed and never came back or generally got fed up with the site becoming a soap box for political issues or just generally flaming controversial views. Shame as it seemed to have more of a community spirit a few years back!

Of course it is, most of the long term Arbtalk members don't post anymore and the rest just seem to have a go at new members!

These plates don't "fall off", as said earlier, it is behind the handle where it mounts to the crank-case just behind the clutch cover.

If it has been rebuilt with a new bottom end then the plate won't be on it. The serial can be found by plugging it in to the autotune PC interface and getting a print out from it. The dealer that rebuilt it may have the serial number logged!