spudulike

Don't use the decomp, the valve lowers the compression too low IMO. Heating the plug up with a plumbers lamp can help the saw start. Worth pulling the plug out, switch the ignition off, turn upside down and pull over hard to clear unburnt fuel. You can try the redneck, hold the throttle open and pull over hard, frowned by many as being dangerous but it can get a saw running if semi flooded....if you are careful!! If the piston is free of scores and it is clean when viewed through the exhaust port and it sparks well then the carb is left. Crud in the gauze strainer is the most common fault, holes fuel line a possibility where it pushes through the wall of the fuel tank, holed pump diaphragm and weak or stuck needle valve being possible issues also.

The parts will be worth it. Worst case is that it has a Chinese aftermarket carb and top end or it has a shot crank and top end. If you can fix it, go ahead.

5-10 tanks and extend the cutting time if needed after the first five. If it is impractical to do this make sure you don't over do it for the first two tanks as the roughness of the piston and bore will lessen pretty quickly and with that, the heat build up will lessen. The important bit is flat out running from the start, no leaving it on idle and no excessively long cuts.

HP Super of Husqvarna Low Smoke, both semi synthetic and suitable for Autotune engines or fully synthetic if you have the £££. The Autotune means the saw uses less fuel i.e. less oil so using a good oil is more important as less oil means bearings and cylinder get more of a hammering. Running in - flat out but for short runs. You need to make the most of the roughness of the bore and cylinder to bed them together quickly but this generates heat hence 1-2' rings 2 or three then cool rather than long felling cuts with a 4' bar.

I sorted out my suppliers when I went pro with my business and their stance was in line with what you are suggesting. I was surprised that I was already on their radar and it gave me a comfortable feeling. Customers expect the world when a companies main business is probably generated by a handful of loyal decent mid size businesses rather than the odd fella that wants one bar and chain for rock bottom prices with no support for your business. You know your business and it is generally 20% of your customers giving your business 80% of your earnings so reward these and not the guys that just want a few quid off their once a year purchase of ....a chain!!!

....or you could put a bit of acoustic damping around it and seal it up in a cabinet to keep the noise in. Mine makes a bit of noise but ear defenders work....just supply them to your neighbours or should I say Les voisines

How do you sharpen your drill bits? Yup, bench grinder. The art is getting the pointy bit bob on middle and grinding it so the cutting part is proud of the rest of the ground top part. By eye works and you can give it a few goes if you cock up. You can clearly tell when it is good!!

On the Stone Cutter, you started by saying the spark was no problem but now it is playing up and it sounds like you are on your third coil!!! So, have you tried closing the coil to flywheel gap right down using a piece of thinner card than a business card - perhaps a magazine cover thickness - if the gap is too large, you can get a spark that lasts for a short time after starting. I have sorted many weak magnets and dodgy sparkers in this way. The fact the coil sparks for only a few pulls can be a sign of a faulty coil. I have seen this before on Japanese strimmers. You can bend the end electrode out at a 45 degree angle on an old spark plug to make a rudimentary spark tester. You can remove the kill wire from the coil to eliminate the kill switch and associated wiring. This switch actually CONNECTS the coil to earth so unless the switch is somehow closing, it is unlikely to be the switch as most fail to connect and the symptom is the machine can't be turned off rather than what you have. Sometimes kill wires chafe and you can get a faulty spark hence the comment about disconnecting the kill wire from the coil. Lastly, are these OEM coils as some of the Chinese ones are pretty Micky Mouse!!

That is the Gunson HiGuage and is fine on saws. If you have some high compression engines, you can rupture the schrader valve which causes it to leak but the gauge is fine as the valve is in the very end of the union that screws into the engine and the schrader valve is very lightly sprung.

Well done, always good when a job works out - These stud extractors and also helicoil sets are an engineers friend and invaluable. I have the Sealey easy outs that you tap in to the hole and they have fluted cutters on all four corners to grip the bolt, a set of Japanese easy out left hand screws (broke one though....that was a bad day), and a set of Presto ones. Glad it worked out....a damn good set of drills is also very worthwhile, I use the colbalt ones by Heller, German quality but not stupidly expensive and I sharpen them if they lose their edge - very effective if you get the angles right.

Looks like an earth to me and should be with the other black wire. I am sure ADW will confirm if he can tear himself away from the Downton Abbey boxed set!!

The trees haven't suddenly appeared and were there when the property was viewed, surveyed and purchased. Now it is up to the surrounding owners to do something about it as they now have a new neighbour that doesn't like it. The question is...why did the fella purchase the property with the trees that close if he didn't care for them being there and why didn't he clear their position and owners views before the purchase? It is a bit like the type that move next to a church and then campaign for the bells not to be rung on a Sunday and the clock to be silenced or moving next to a steel works and getting it closed down because of the noise!! The suggestion is to do due diligence a bit better in the future! And...YES, I have had similar with a neighbour in the past hence the comment!!

What did the surveyor say when you purchased the property? This sort of issue is generally listed!

I am used to much smaller screws so use "Easy outs" and have learnt to use the best quality drills starting with a small pilot hole to get bob on centre otherwise the hole can go all over the shop - it also gives the benefit of allowing you to tap the hole out if the bolt wont shift. If you use easy outs - don't snap it in the hole - they are hardened and won't drill out. If you can weld, may be a better idea!

Just checked the pics to see if the piston crown has been cracked...common when solid screw in piston stops have been used but it looks clean. I reckon the issue is with the compression tester. It looks like the valve in it may be close to the top of the gauge so the tube going up to the actual gauge is forming part of the combustion chamber lowering the reading. You lose so much when you can't pull the engine over to feel what it has on the recoil handle!

13 thou is OK and should give reasonable compression.

Sorry, a leak down test on a two stroke bears no indication of secondary compression (the compression between the piston and combustion chamber) and shows no indication of engine wear on the cylinder and piston. The way you determine wear of these components is inspection, measurement and if the engine is not in bits, you measure the compression on the cold engine after one pull and many pulls with a good engine giving 1/2 of its maximum compression on the first pull. Gauging the drop of compression from cold to hot is a good indication of engine wear - expect around 20 psi drop. The leak down test (pressure and vacuum) is used to check the integrity of all the gaskets, mating surfaces, seals and gaskets - a two stroke should not leak from these areas for a predetermined time as the only air entering the engine should be via the carb. Not having a go, just stating fact, perhaps you are meaning four stroke leak down which is another matter!

Back on topic...list some pics of the cover, clutch and chain....may spot the issue straight away and save all the Badger talk light relief!! The chain is probably as blunt as a bag of wet mice

Take the plug put and see if the flywheel/crank spins freely. If it does...are you using the decomp valve? If you don't use it, this damage will occur more often having sen it on 560s before. Other than that, when starting, pull the recoil handle lightly against the compression of the engine before pulling the handle rather than yanking it in any position as it may be the initial slip and slam in to the pawls doing the damage. Not sure there is much to gain in pulling the flywheel off if it isn't an XPG unless you suspect the broken pin is behind it - bit of a job for a novice without a puller!!

Sorry, missed this. You are good to go, the rubber is just tighter on the shaft and is gripping it a bit - more noticeable on a small engine but is fine - you have end float so just reassemble it.

A compression gauge for small engines will typically have an extremely light gauge schrader valve mounted in the part you screw in to the engine. The valve type is chosen because you can only spin the engine over for a few revolutions unlike a car engine that you can hold on the starter for a few seconds. The valve being close to the engine stops the tube acting as part of the volume of the combustion chamber and lowering the compression. Car type compression gauges can have bicycle type schrader valves in them and will give lower readings than small engine gauges. The Gunson "HiGauge" is one that works although I modified mine to take Presta valves as I was destroying the schrader ones with modified engines making 200psi+ The rings.....put them in the cylinder, make sure they are nice and square, measure the gap and it should be 7-15 thou, much more and the compression will suffer badly. The light part of the cylinder ADW mentions may well be the Nikasil plating worn through - try scratching with a craft knife and if it scratches on the light part, it is through to the aluminium. If you have another of these machines, just pull them over slowly and compare them. 75 or even 105 psi is pretty low. An engine in good condition will make 170psi.

Is there an ISO or BS rating on the bluntness of a badgers arse, does it include the tail or just the arse area in general?

How are you measuring the compression and with what gauge? Some gauges are meant for cars and a small engine won't register the correct compression measurement. 75psi, if correct and measured on 5-7 pulls is terrible. It should be 150+ and 75 on the first pull. Stone cutters usually are not looked after, the stone dust is very abrasive and it is easy to abrade the ring, piston and cylinder to the point you don't have much compression. If you rest the cutter on the ground and lift it by the starter handle, does it fall to earth in a second or two or can you lift it by the handle and have a few seconds of suspension each time the piston reaches top dead centre (compression)? No disrespect but a cylinder and piston "looking fine" by a novice may not be what an experienced engineer may think. It is possible the ring end gap is too large, the bore nikasil plating has worn off or the piston and ring have been abraded badly....as I said, stone dust is extremely abrasive and these machines are usually abused.

I think we should have a whip round for the poor fella!!

Nope....but I feel some modification happening very soon!!