pixie

Many thanks , I have replaced the sprocket and bar about two chains ago, checking it, it’s just about ok for another chain. I think I will try BPX semi chisel and see how much easier it is to sharpen. I often question my sharpening, especially if I’ve caught something with the chain and have a lot of filing to recover the edge. thanks again - always helpful on this forum! pixie

Evening all, have a husky 346xp and when running the std 15 inch bar have previously used 21LPX chain with no real issues. having used up my stock of half a dozen chains , I went to order again and now get a few more alternatives , inc 73EXL, 20LPX and type 95. I’m not a pro, but fell and process stuff for firewood for home. Do I stick with type 21 or try something else? cheers pixie

Thanks both, will have a go on Friday and see if it works Pix

Bit off topic, but our stihl saw wouldn't start after 12 months no use. Suspected carbs as everything else in the container has had to have a new one this year, but still no joy. White Spark is there but tiny, so put multimeter over the module and get 2.3 k ohms, but can't find if this this in the OK range or not. It's a three hole module which are around 60 quid to replace unlike the 2 hole ones at 15 quid, so would rather check. If that's ok I'm stumped. Tried fuel directly in the spark plug hole and pull over and not a sausage ( or any other indication of firing) suggestions other than putting it in the bin gratefully accepted. Ps it had a new pot and piston last year and was used twice before being out away, so hoping it's not that, it does have compression. Leak test may have to be next.... Pixie

try this Service FAQ | Common Questions McCulloch Lawn & Garden Products however they are pretty robust in stating warranty will only be given if you have an original sales receipt and are the original owner. no proof, no warranty! Warranty - I lost or cannot locate my dated sales receipt.Will warranty on my product still apply? Published08/07/2011 20:19 | Updated 30/04/2012 21:40 I lost or cannot locate my dated sales receipt.Will warranty on my product still apply? Your warranty is based on your date of purchase that's on your sales receipt. May we suggest that you contact your bank or the place of purchase, to see if they can produce a copy of the sales transaction. The receipt is all you have to determine warranty coverage, and without it, no warranty repair can be offered .:scared1: website also gives dealer info , if you are not confident in having a go yourlsef, suggest you take it in to them to at least see if it is a major problem or not. pixie

just an update for anyone interested, reset the carb on the 064 and took it up to my work colleague with a bit of poplar to cut. three logs c 50 ft long and 20" diameter up to 40" diameter. 2 hrs later and 2 litres of fuel, 3 nicely processed trees into 6" thick rings. plug showing a nice coffee colour and letting the saw do the work it eclipsed my colleagues ryobi saw trying to do the same on sub 10" diameter stuff. on my final cut went through a hole in the tree to find one very shell shocked mouse still in it!! thanks for all the help and advice, has been really useful in prepping the saw ! pix

sorry marc you did ask before, saw was running a 7 tooth spur gear (probably original), which to be honest had some wear on it but was servicable, but dropped on a unused. still in the wrapper, genuine stihl 3/8 7T rim sprocket and clutch drum for £9 which i put on it along with new bar and chain for good measure (wish that had been £9!!). the husky has a 15" bar on it normally (in fact is just about to get a new 15" bar and chain fitted in the next few weeks, 3 weeks of firewood duty on old skirting board and garage panels as well as lots of rusty nails has not been kind...) and only gets the 18" on for slightly heavier jobs, which it does pretty well for a small saw. I'll price up a 18" bar and chain for the 064 and see if the hobby fund will stretch! (suspect will have to wait:thumbdown: ) saw now back together with silicone rubbed into airbox joins as best can do. will wait for it to set and fire it up tomorrow evening when back from work, then re set carb and take it from there! pix

thanks mine is an early saw and so has the welded and screwed tank so will just fillet the edges with sealer to try and seal it, don't really want to disturb the plastic welds. ta pixie

well, have stuck 9psi into the 064 and left it for a couple of hours and no change in the needle, so no air leak ! (unless i've done something wrong...) biggest job was getting exhaust plate to seal, but have done it now and no issues, so will go to plan b and not change the oil seals as more chance of wrecking something else. have cleaned bits i didn't know existed and found some silicon sealer in the air box between orange carb housing and the fuel tank - is this a normal mod or just an attempt to prevent dust leaks into the airbox. (it has the original full mesh filter and non compensating carb on it ) have removed it for now, but will replace if someone can give me a good reason too!! it seems dust getting into the airbox is a weakness in the 064 ? will reassemble tomorrow and reset the carb and go from there, i think marc was probably right, not used to big stuff and paranoid about having a lakeyboy experience (ouch!!) pix

Holy 2 stroke smoke batman we've been rumbled ! Marc, you are quite right, this is definitely a hobby, i think i am definitely a frustrated arborist as ringing up some big wood is very therapeutic! (though perhaps if i did it all day every day maybe my nice comfy office job in the middle of december would be a lot more appealing!!) Having had a number of saws for home use, i treated myself to a 346xp and that just led to a couple of ms200's and a hankering for a big saw and in the budget for hobbies, everyone seems to rate the 064 as a do all medium-big saw, hence the purchase. its currently down to the base crankcase and cylinder for a pressure test and having ordered a flywheel puller this morning, i'll probably replace the crank oil seals as it is stripped already (it is nearly 20 yrs old and nitrile/rubber bits usually have a service life of 7-9 years) though i'm hoping its the carb boot! 18" blade is very tempting, but have one for the 346 and boy is that a featherweight after an hours cutting with the 064 !! (yes i know wussy office boy, but thats how it is !) it has definitely been worth having the conversations especially with spud in particular, as the running on i would not have thought about, i thought is was the bigger engine/chain combo etc, so it may have saved me a piston/barrel in the near future as it looks clean as a whistle inside at the mo thanks again for all your help pix

Spud, what do you use for pressurising crankcase? pix

hmm, replaced clutch springs with new genuine replacements. unless they were not for 064 as described, not sure if that is a problem or not. however air leak looking more likely as the saw does take time to run down when you blip throttle - will do pressure check at the weekend now ! thanks for the input !

Evening all done a few more checks on saw, picked up a sykes pickavant compression tester on ebay for a tenner, shows saw at just over 150psi after 6 pulls, so looks ok, reset carb as instructed which was pretty much where it was originally and have heeded high setting warning! runs ok though it is a very fine balance to get it to idle without enough speed to set the chain just moving. could this be an air leak somewhere? worth doing a pressure test ? will try and get half an hour cutting some 20" poplar that needs ringing up to see what the plug is like and if it still bogs down, assume I can tweak the low setting to get it to pick up a bit quicker? any other pointers ? or am i just more paranoid than ever!! Pix

Many thanks to all for the advice and comments, apologies for the delays in replying, unfortunately the day job has been getting in the way of the hobby!! Maybe i wasn't completely clear, the clutch isn't slipping during use, in fact when i got the saw, I stripped the clutch and checked it(no excessive wear), replaced the clutch springs and as i dropped on a genuine stihl clutch and rim sprocket set for £6, replaced that as well , even though the spur sprocket on it has some wear on the sprocket but no ridge on the inside of the drum or signs of a hard life Also replaced bar, chain and filters as well as adding an elastostart after nearly ripping my fingers off when it kicked back (decompression valves were a great invention!!). The plug does show signs of having been fouled, but it seems to be ok at the moment, but it won't do any harm to reset the carb (any suggestions on settings please) I did alter the idle speed to stop the chain spinning up on idle, but nothing other than that. the complaint is that when the chain load gets too much and the saw bogs down, you have to clear the chain and then it takes 2-4 seconds to try and clear the engine before the revs pick up again. if there is any other advice, please let me know and thanks again for the helpful comments. regards Paul:thumbup1:

All Have watched these posts for a few years now and now am in need of some advice myself !! (I suspect spud may have the answers !!) recently bought an early but clean 064, which starts well from both cold and hot and runs fine. I was asked by a colleague to help him clear some poplar that he'd had professionally felled, but to save money would clear up himself !! (he has a 16" ryobi saw which i've just shown him how to sharpen!!) it was a good opportunity to try the 064, but wasn't expecting a bit of poplar ranging from 20" to nearly 45" diameter !! to cut to the chase, the tree was ringed up in about an hour, but I noticed that when the saw was cutting almost the full length of the bar (25") it would stop the chain with moderate pressure on it (ie slipping on the clutch) and then sometimes the engine would be bogged down so that I would need to lift the chain in the cut and give it some throttle to get the engine to pick up enough speed to spin the chain up. my "normal" saw is a 346XP which doesn't seem to bog down the engine once the clutch is slipping and it spins up as soon as pressure is off the bar. it is a nearly 20 yr old saw and a much bigger unit than i have used in the past and i am not a pro user, but it did seem a bit odd it bogged down so much the engine struggled momentarily to pick up revs until the bar was lifted in the cut. having said that it did cut it efficiently and cleanly, i just didn't seem able to 'make it have it ' like i thought it would !! do i need to start checking for anything or am i just paranoid !!, spark is good as is compression, runs a bit fast on idle, but it looks like it has not had a professional life as it is quite clean and not abused ! thoughts please !! Paul