GardenKit

The early MS260 saws had the 44m piston, it was changed for the 44.7 on serial number 162154676 according to the Stihl IPL

Its a strange coincidence to see this thread as I have just checked mine on a little machine I have but have not used for months. it was 148/78 which is about normal for me whilst on the tablets, before the tablets it was 210/112! 140/70 is just about in the Hypertension range.

Live pics of the river http://www.ferrymans.co.uk/cgi-bin/foweycam.cgi

And the one pretending to take important site photos:biggrin:

That will be Penmarlen Quay, then and the campsit at the top of the steep concrete road. And I meant to say 'hols' not 'hole' on my last post. Predictive text makes it sound a right dump!

Thats the one you can see in the picture (top right). Its one of three properties in a converted Hotel. Two of them now have ribs under their conservatory things. We rent a cottage next door with a 'frape' mooring for our hole.

I guess everyone has their favourite place, and Fowey is ours. We get down whenever we get the chance. In the winter its just for a walk and a meal, in summer we take our boat on as many Sundays as possible and launch on that slip in the picture. There is a little blue and white boat in the middle of the picture and to the right is a very small orange buoy. This is the mooring where we put the boat for 1 week every year when we rent a cottage just out of sight on the right. Roll on the spring.

I am just starting to send out fuel by carrier to some of my more distant customers. I can see the biggest problem is that this delivery is a 'signed for service' and that often in the smaller business there is nobody at home all day. How do you guys who buy online get on with receiving deliveries?

I would say thats just a little blocked!! I wonder what he could use to stop that in the future?? hmmmm

The old ones were bombproof, the new ones not so good IMO. Weak roller drives, fragile plastic underbodies and poor collection. The Kaz mower is the closest to the old Honda 536 models if you dont want to buy Honda. It is the Kaz I shall be selling this season for 21' roller mowers. All smaller models will be John Deere, Stiga and ALKO.

I,ve never needed to US them, a couple of blasts of air in the right places and it should be clean. The biggest problem with the plastic carbs is distortion, so if I were to US clean them I would not put the heat on or let the vibes heat it up. I always replace the diaphragm on service, but usually leave the old gasket in place rather than fit the new one, because it has moulded to the carb body and seals against air ingress a bit better. If it runs rougher after refitting than it did before, take the carb off again and add a second gasket (the new one you did not use) between the diphragm and the old gasket. That normally cures it, if not fit a new carb, they are under £20. I keep a couple in stock all the time.

Dan Curtis, your message box is full!! And I have the info you need

From the other side of the fence as a local (small) dealer. It is becoming ever more difficult to exist because of low margins driven by the internet sellers and many local dealers have closed their doors because of it. Many of us who are left are striving to maintain reasonable margins and not compete with online sales. I will never match an online price on principal as those who ask me to price match are wanting local service at online price. They can't have it. When they buy from me they are buying a bit of me as well and I have many customers who are very content with this arrangement. They know they can buy the product cheaper, but its the complete package of sales, and after sales service they are after. I am more than happy to lose the customers who are just driven by price, but they may have to wait a while if they need service on something they have bought online, my loyal customers will get preference. And I will not carry out warranty work on anything I have not sold. My prices are fair, very little is sold at RRP and on the whole the prices are not a great deal more than the 'sensible' on line sellers. I dont fall out with on line purchasers, it is after all their choice how and where they buy. I have found over the last few years that many more customers are coming back to buying locally, having found the online experience less than satisfactory (I am talking machinery) The thread so far has done much to malign the local dealers competence, this is indeed a problem. We all make mistakes but sadly some make more than others and I do see work that has been done by some other dealers that concerns me. But i hope that any person is given a chance to put his work right. I often get people in saying that they have had a machine repaired elsewhere and its not right so they are not going back. I think they should, and give the dealer a chance to correct his work. The strap line on my invoices is " If you like our service tell others, if not, tell us" But as to you buying online, or locally it is, "your choice".

Engines do run clean on Aspen. These plugs both came from mowers given their annual service today. The one on the left had run on petrol all last season, but the one on the right had used Aspen. Impressive?

bggc, DO NOT try to drop the gearbox!!! Take the drive belt off and the box will pivot, its a bit of a fiddle, but with some long nose pliers you can get the cable attached with its spring to the clutch arm, then insert the outer cable in its recess. Then attach the handlebar end. Put the belt back on and check its tension which can be adjusted with the cap head bolt against the gearbox plate. Good luck.

Sorry to say that the 536 is a totally different design to the 476 and is easier to work on. With the 476 you will need to remove the left roller cover then disconnect the spring which tensions the chain roller. This allows access to a 10mm head bolt which goes through to the underbody panel. Remove this bolt, then tip the mower on to its side. (carb up, engne cold). Remove the blade and the bolts holding the underbody quadrant in place and remove the quadrant. You now have access to the gearbox. Note the routing of the original cable before removing and then fit the new one in the same routing. (bit of a fiddle) Reassemble the underbody, refit the spring and side panel. Bingo!

Take the cover off any hedge trimmer gear case and you will find the grease stuck to the casing, but when its warm it will flow back to where its needed as long as there is enough of it. The casing should ideally be no more than half full. Lithium EP grease is fine.

I was not having a dig at you Steve, just a moan that in general we blame things we dont understand. We're still cool mate.

But they send you loads of saws run on petrol with messed up carburation too. We accept this as normal, but when they mess up with Aspen we blame the fuel. Bit unfair really.

I've just checked the IPL and it seems that the 038 uses nuts 0000 955 0801, which are the common nut used on most Stihls.

Hahaha, some would have started a thread, 'Aspen Killed My Saw'

The exhaust is an integral part of the tuning on a 2 stoke. If its loose or missing it lowers the back pressure which effects the airflow/fuel balance which in reality makes the engine run lean. A lean engine will soon sieze. I doubt a ring will cause it, I expect you will need a new piston and pot, or at least a cleaned (spudded) pot and new piston.

Or there is this one, almost as cute but louder.

It makes me so glad I have no neighbours:biggrin:

Bet you're popular with your neighbours, Steve. Hope you are going to sweep the drive up before your wife see's it.