GardenKit

I am sure your dealer will sort it for you subject to my previous comments. Just explain that you are not happy and you expect it to work properly. Be firm, but polite. He will likely need a day or two to make sure its right. Your dealer should really be the one to sort this for you, but if this fails, speak to Rochfords again, ask to speak to Michael Merrick and explain your problem clearly and without tantrums, he is the top guy in Mitox customer service and the buck stops with him. Whereabouts are you in the country? And how old is the saw?

Sure Steve, The Mitox is not a bad saw, the company are a good, family business. But.... I am very careful who I sell it too. As said, its definatley NOT a pro user saw. Even the best saw is only as reliable as the dealer who looks after it. I did sell a CS38 a few years ago which was a right 'b****h' of a saw. After the customer had brought it back twice and was none to happy, I swapped it for a new saw as I could just not justify spending time and money on it compared with the price (cost to me) of a replacement. Mitox would understandably not back me in this, as they prefer to fix, which i could have done but could not be arsed!

Unlike petrol, Aspen will not mix with water.

But have you ever seen a used plug as clean as the one the right when used on petrol? Fair enough comment on the other, it was just a picture I had to hand. I will take some better ones. There is absolutely no doubt that engines run much, much cleaner on Aspen as anyone who works on Aspen fuelled engines will testify.

Lets not lose sight of the fact that this is a domestic saw, and as such its quite normal to run 16" on 40cc. Just because its got a 16" does not mean that it can only be used on 16" timber and thus be underpowered. It will perform just as well on the average 8" or 10" wood as it would with a 13". The chain speed would be exactly the same and the frictional loss of driving the extra 6" of chain is minimal. But the domestic user likes to buy a 16", because it gives him wider options, if it came with a 13 or 14" the domestic buyer would not buy it. And the Mitox CS41 saw will perform OK. And the Mitox customer support is fine. But is the Mitox a saw that a Pro User should consider? Without doubt it is NOT, and Mitox are the first to admit this, Please do not engage in a witch hunt without all the facts from the 3 parties involved, its hardly fair on anyone.

:thumbup1:

I am a bit worried too Steve. Must be an age thing....... Maybe I should refresh my mind about Aspen The real story of Stale Petrol - -

Echo don't make toothbrushes........but if they did..

I fear you may be barking up the wrong tree! Don't expect too much from a blower vac, whatever the make or price. The lumps of bark and small sticks will have to be pretty small for them to be lifted and chopped. You may still need to rake them up. Ideal for leaves and sawdust, crap for most other things.

Fair enough, but I hope other manufacturers don't follow suit. I love a bit of grease in the right places. Edit, reply to Harrythecat

To be honest, if petrol smells ok it probably is ok, ish. Starting may be slightly impaired and power may be reduced. These effects are tangible, but the real danger may come from the engine running lean because of the lower calorific value, and I would not risk this in a small highly stressed engine. If it smells different, maybe a little like old paint, and a smell which really lingers, then it is well beyond useable. Every machine I service has the original fuel removed. Some will be OK, some stale, but it all gets mixed together and poured into my CRV. It does not perform as well as with fresh fuel, but performs well enough. The exhaust steams like a train in cold weather though, until the cat warms up. I put this down to the moisture content due to absorbed water.

Shall we see if it's the same story in a year or so? Can't see what is wrong a good old fashioned grease nipple and the odd squirt of grease.

It's £30 worth of fuel that could cost much more in repairs of your saws. Why even risk it? Stick it in a petrol car with another 20 litres of fresh. It will cause no problem and will return the £30 value which you can spend on fresh fuel for your saws.

I really don't get it. Having serviced many hundreds, if not thousands, of brush cutters over many years, I have seldom had to replace a gearbox on a regularly greased machine, but have replaced many on those which have never had any attention. The brush cutter gearbox is highly stressed (just feel how hot it gets) and the grease gets a pounding. It thins out and leaks. The main point of leakage is past the splines where the shaft fits into the pinion, the leakage is greatest when the machine is hung up /stood up with the engine lowest. The hot grease runs down the shaft. If you have a greasy clutch housing on the front of the engine, this grease has come from the gearbox. So let's hope the new Stihl pinions have blind bores to stop this or we will be supplying loads of gearboxes in a few years. But nobody will moan, or cry "unfit for purpose" because its Stihl, and Stihl can get away with anything.

Bet he won't Eggs!

Pretty sure Huck does not eat fish and chips Jon, or did I imagine that???? Edit Ha, just seen the previous two posts, it was just chips then!

If the problem lies with the manufacture of the saw, i.e faulty material or workmanship, and the saw is less than 30 days old, then you are entitled to a refund. After 30 days you are not entitled to a refund, but must give the retailer a chance to repair, but if that repair fails (and it sounds like it has) then you can ask for a refund, a second repair or a replacement. If I were the supplying dealer I would like the chance to fix it first, but if I were unable to I would be offering a replacement. The manufacture (any manufacturer) however would not back me on this except under very exceptional circumstances. They would, quite rightly expect me to be able to repair it, for which they would happily pay me. But of course, with no offence to the OP, there is always a possibility that the saw has been damaged by use (poor fuel management, for instance) in which case I would have to prove the case and stand my ground. This is where things can often get messy. Lets hope this can be resolved between the OP and his dealer in an amicable manner. The Mitox saws are "fit for purpose" and will perform as expected so there is no issue to answer there. The issue is whether this particular saw is 'fit for purpose" I guess that the performance was OK for the first 4 hours, or it would not have done 4hrs work, which would indicate a problem which has occurred during use.

Ah, yes, I see your point. Its all very well for us to try to diagnose problems on the forum, but we can often be way off course. There is no substitute for having the machine on the bench and seeing, hearing, feeling the problem first hand.

Probably just as well! After asking for his name I started to wonder what I would do with the info anyway. probably best to mind my own business:blushing:

Any idea who you spoke to? If so, don't name him on a public forum but drop me a PM.

That is of course absolutely possible, but there is a problem somewhere or this thread would not exist! I asked the question as I see loads of machines that customers have already tried to fix. They may say " I have done this" or "done that", or "My neighbour who is a an engineer has had a look at it" Sadly, often what has been done has not been done well.

May I ask who cleaned the carb? A professional saw technician, or an enthusiastic amateur? I only ask, because the problem may still lie with the carb.

As long as your fuel is fresh and clean, at the right mix, and always has been, then there is no reason why this 41cc Mitox should not perform as well as any other domestic chain saw. They are perfectly OK saws usually, although they do need setting up on PDI. I have very close connections with Mitox and am very surprised at your comments about their customer service, they really are not like this and always take issues seriously. The response that you quote is totally out of character. Of course, in any dispute, communication is the key, and there are always two sides to every story, so we cannot judge. But it seems that if your dealer is competent, but unable to get your machine working, then he should be able to take issue with Mitox on your behalf. I guess that with only 4 hrs use the machine is within its warranty period so should sorted at no cost as long as the problem is not of your own making.

No, to be there was very little grass on top, the belt was very clearly visible. Funny thing was that the customer said it was working fine.

The customer booked the ride on in for service, said it was OK but thought the belts may need adjusting!