GardenKit

Not many of those on here Richard, think it just you and me mate.

I saw one or two in the local river last year but only from a distance of about 60yds (from the bedroom window infact!) but have walked the river banks with my camera since but never found them. Have you got any tips where to look and at what time of day, Matt?

Next years RNLI christmas card, Rich? Nice photo.

After 2 days of ride on services it was back to 2T machines today. First up was a nice easy job, an MS200T with a stripped thread for the bar stud. Fitted a helicoil and a new stud. A simple job and now much stronger than the original.

I would have thought the more common problem is filing out too much 'gullett' and also the side plates, getting a little close to the rivets if not careful.

for information, 010114032 replaces 010114031.

As we have seen in some of the previous posts, the MS200T does run OK on Aspen. What we have with a 200t is that due to its rather poor carburettor and its 'finicky' nature, it very often plays up, even on ordinary petrol. There are many posts to that effect on this forum. They often need a carb rebuild or even a new carb to cure them. A saw run from new on Aspen will run perfectly well, but one swapping over from petrol may play up due to the problems already started by the use of petrol. A carb service or sometimes a replacement will set them up and they will subsequently be more reliable on Aspen than they were on petrol.

I usually get genuine kits, but in Zama or Walbro packets, rather than the same thing in, say, a stihl packet. Usually around 1/3 of the price. However the Carb manufacturers are not always allowed to sell the kits, especially for some later saws. One example was yesterday when I wanted a kit for an MS261, but had to get genuine, Ouch. I am a bit wary of the non genuine 'pattern' parts. I guess some are OK, but others..??? As I am selling my services to my customers rather than working on my own kit, I prefer not to take the risk.

You wont be far out there Steve.

I would always fit new diaphragms and gaskets during a carb clean, they will not be as good as they were when new after being subjected to the solvents in petrol. They are not expensive generally and it saves a lot of agro in the end as you have found the hard way.

I delivered a new John Deere garden tractor to a guy a few years ago as a replacement for a stolen one, which was itself a replacement for another stolen one. He opened a couple of cans of Dulux gloss in pink and cream and emptied them over the bonnet. They wont nick that now, he said.

Hell! I wish I had not read this thread, I,ve just bought a 12 plate 280 van!

Had to go in today to try and catch up a bit. Serviced 3 saws and 4 hedge cutters. i would have done more , but an 024 needed the carb overhauled as the gauze was blocked with dissolved plastic from the tank and the pump diaphragms were swollen. An MS210 also needed the carb doing as the gauze was choked with emulsified oil crud. This one was a bit weird though, as on reassembly I could not get it to run without the H screw out 21/2 turns. (spec is 11/2 with cap off and 3/4 cap on) At this setting it ran fine, but being so far out it hinted at an air leak, so I set it up for a pressure/vac test. But as normal, one of the M8 exhaust nuts decided to lock on its thread, so a bit more time wasted. The test however revealed perfect crankcase sealing, so no problem there. The saw tached perfectly at 12500 and runs sweet. The plug colour is good. I like things to conform a bit more than this, but cant do any more, so it will go back to the owner with fingers crossed. It will be OK. The final picture is of a fuel problem on a JD lawn tractor that I can't blame on stale petrol. Why do mice love to eat plastic I wonder?

It really does not hurt to file a little (just a little!) off the tie straps. The ones in your slightly blurry pic look fine. The chain has almost had it anyway, so you wont go down any further.

nice view from his garden though!

I now use Aspen in every machine, including lawn tractors, that pass through my workshop. This costs me a LOT of money, even at trade price, but the workshop is a much more pleasant place to work. My chest problems have dissapeared, and my wife's headaches have reduced (her office is within the unit and only a few yards from the workshop door.) And, last year we had none of the normal few 'comebacks' from serviced machines not starting well a few months after service. Switching to Aspen is one of the best changes I have ever made, and our counter sales of Aspen are phenominal.

Its often just the drive belt come off because of grass build up inside the belt cover. The cable could of course need adjusting. But as they were quoted £200 to fix I guess they know its a gearbox. An IZY gearbox (dependant on exact model) retails at around £103 plus vat. BUT, Izy,s do suffer from rust, with many perforating on the left side under the carb, within 8-10yrs, some even at 6 yrs if they have been used on treated lawns, so dont spend heavily on an old model would be my advice.

Three positives MS200 reports, to help dispel the myths. Keep them coming. The RRP inc vat is currently £18.16 per 5litre can (2 stroke) ex shop. (UK price)

Not usually John, especially rom new. Even different brands and mixes of petrol can require retuning.

Strange yes, because huskies are made to run on Aspen and Huskie recomend the use of Aspen before petrol ( its in the manual) Aspen is pure an clean, so the carb would not have needed cleaning unless it was dirty before the Aspen was added. I wish I could have got my hands on that saw, I would have made it run on Aspen.

Nice try Dan, now if you were in East Devon......... Seriously though, logically Aspen cant hurt anything and certainly wont kill a saw. Carburation may however be a little different, and Aspen may show up existing problems caused by petrol. I do want to put this to bed as a myth though, so still want to hear from other users.

There are stories about that the MS200T wont run on Aspen. I dont believe it, I think its just that the MS200 carb is a fickle thing and plays up whatever fuel is used. I am keen to hear from those of you who do use Aspen in the MS200, as I want to put this myth to bed if possible.

Or Tesco petrol.

I,m pretty much with Spud on this one. These air leaks we all talk about are in fact pretty rare on newish saws, and I have my doubts they caused the initial failures, but when the saws first siezed the seals could have been 'cooked' so could have caused the second failure if not spotted on a pressure/vac test. As Spud says, the use of stale fuel will cause this. It causes the saw to run weak. But if your fuel is always fresh then I would expect that you have a 'fiddler' in your camp! They are quite common, ' a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

ah! never thought of that! If it did seize I suspect it wont run for long until it self destructs. It will most likely need a pot and piston, but you may be lucky with the con rod and bearings.