Darkslider

Evolution here too, bought their biggest one cheap off their website shop soiled which saved a bit over Screwfix. Are you sure the base/fence isn't adjustable on your Erbauer to get it cutting straight again though? Normally it's only when the bearings and pivots get so sloppy they don't cut straight and need chucking away but even that might be mendable.

Please come and update the thread with the eventual outcome we'd all be interested to hear, plus it might help some other unfortunate with a new non starting saw in future!

I was told by local Stihl dealer after several failed attempts to get our two FS460s running right that it was our fault for running the line too long and confusing the Autotune on them both. Don't know how true/relevant that is, the lads scoffed at that suggestion and maintained their lines hadn't changed in length at all and it was the dealer copping out of supplying duff machines they were unable to fix, never got to the bottom of it as Covid put a stop to further investigation! There is an Autotune reset procedure you can carry out apparently, may be worth looking into if your machine is fairly recent.

Well I never! Does that include Screwfix/B&Q specials too? The only reason I haven't got a shed full of Titan gardening tools is cos I didn't want to have two different types of fuel on the go, I always use good quality 2T oil so maybe now I can finally buy that chainsaw on a stick next time I've got a voucher to spend?

So we just need to wait until Spud offers a remapping service for the electric saws and it'll be a no brainer

I thought a lot of Mitox machines needed a 40:1 (or stronger!) oil mix, if this one's been run on 'ordinary' 2 stroke that could explain a lot?

I've ordered a couple of the solid pulleys from L&S so I can replace both Ergostart systems on two bg86 blowers. Are the pawls interchangeable or do I need to source different pawls/springs too? A new Chinese carb was only a tenner and it seems to be running fine on it when the starter isn't broken, I'll take the other one to bits when I've got more time I'm expecting to find the float sticking open or a worn needle perhaps, hopefully it'll be salvageable to keep as a spare.

You're bang on the money, the reason the first spring broke is due to a flooding carb! I fitted a brand new carb at the same time which cured the running/starting issues. Does anyone have a part no. For the non Ergostart pulley that will fit in the original casing? I can find plenty of solid one piece pulleys on eBay but all for different machines, how do I tell which one is a straight swap?

I was given a (Ergostart?) 2014 Stihl BG86C blower to look at as the starter cord was jammed. Popped the R clip, washer and pawls out to find the starter spring was mangled so ordered a new one and fitted it with no problems. The recoil spring was fine and pulls the cord back into the housing straight away. The machine pulled and started fine half a dozen times, then came back to me with the same problem. Lo and behold the brand new genuine Stihl spring has suffered the same fate again and is bent out of shape. Any ideas where I may have gone wrong?

I'm not convinced of the argument that supermarket fuel is inherently worse quality than premium fuel stations. All the fuel related problems I ever hear of are down to contaminated (water usually) fuel of some kind, which I've been told is down to how well the operator maintains their tanks which would indicate it's probably only small independent garages you've got to worry about, most big chains should be fine? Could be miles off however!?

Definitely no primer bulb anywhere on this saw!

Not sure this particular saw has a primer bulb, I'll check next time I'm in!

Left field suggestion, can you send the 201 to Spud and get it back capable of running a 14" bar?

No price on the 'free range eggs' sign would do my head in.

Yeah, someone did say on page 1 to just put a carb kit in it, dunno who that was ??

No problem, pleased I did reply, looks like the pitchforks were getting sharpened ? Didn't try any easy start, the plug was wet after a few pulls so there was obviously fuel getting through to the cylinder, maybe it was over fuelling and flooding the second you tried to start it on choke? Either way if a Stihl main dealer can fit a carb kit for £40 all in its obviously cheap enough to be worth a go for any DIYers with the same problem.

I just got the saw back earlier this week, it went in along with a non starting strimmer (Stihl fs460 - duff coil) so took a while to get it back. thought I'd better update this post even though I was sure it would have sunk to the bottom with nobody interested. How wrong I was! I didn't collect it so didn't get much info on the diagnosis rundown, but a new carb kit was fitted at the cost of £40 and it now runs as good as it ever did. Not sure how I would have pinpointed the carb as needing rebuilding myself, it was my next port of call but I'd decided I'd sunk enough time into it already and I could be doing something more worthwhile. Thanks for the help all, and sorry it didn't turn out to be something exotic!

The saw came from them originally so hopefully they won't screw me over! Or if they come back and say it's definitely the ignition coil/carb/something else and it'll be a million pounds to fix, I'll have it back off them and fit the parts myself for less. Fingers crossed

Perhaps should have mentioned the fuel mix has always been the green Stihl stuff with the fuel stabilizer in, though the saw isn't used regularly it never goes more than 6 months without a few tanks of fuel run through it. Anyway I decided I can't afford to spend any more time on it so it's being dropped off at the local Stihl dealer so I'll update what they come back with!

Have done a search but can't find anything exactly relevant, trying to get the above saw going after it being progressively harder to start for a while now. The saw has good compression: 150 psi after 2-3 pulls. Carb mixture screws set to standard as per owner's manual. Brand new correctly gapped NGK plug. New genuine fuel filter new genuine air filter magneto-flywheel gap checked and set (0.25mm/10thou) fresh fuel that's reaching the cylinder (plug is wet after a few pulls) when earthing the plug against the cylinder head I'm getting a spark. The only thing I'm not 100% confident of is the strength of the spark I'm getting, I'm used to a bright blue spark on vehicles but this is producing quite a weak yellow spark with both old and new plugs. I'm not sure if this is the norm for the little coil/plug setups on these saws or if this is potentially my problem, but I can't see what else it might be. I've read in my search so far that the coils are prone to failing regularly on the little Stihl saws, however at £50 for a new genuine coil I want to be 100% sure it's at fault before I spend ~30% of the saw's new price on one! If there's anything I might have missed that could be worth checking out I'd appreciate some feedback. Thanks in advance!

Alternatively you can get 12v DC compressors that will run from a car/4x4 battery if you're in a yard with no power, I've never used one myself but one might have enough blast to shift general crud. Handy for inflating tyres too. Something like this maybe? PORTABLE 150PSI CAR 4X4 VAN TYRE WHEEL 12V DC MINI AIR COMPRESSOR INFLATOR PUMP | eBay

Could this not be countered by thinning/topping the outer row or several rows of now exposed trees to 'share' the exposure to wind with the ones behind?

That's really good to know and quite a weight off my mind if I'm honest, I'll bookmark their website for future if it's needed.

I'll jump on the bandwagon too and ask for some prices, though I don't suppose you'll have done a saw like mine yet (Solo 646). Do you need to split the head and crankcase to do the porting properly if there's no internal work required? I know you would if you were dropping the pot to raise compression but do you do this on every saw? The saw isn't that old and has probably done less than 50 hours. Reason I ask is finding gaskets and spares is a nightmare for it so if it's just a case of removing the carb and exhaust it'd probably be doable, but any further stripping down and you might struggle.

I bought one of the cheap Solo 646s that was on Ebay around a year ago, Abbey garden sales are still asking for £420 for my one which is a bit optimistic considering I and countless others paid £180. While basically a good saw it has a few cheaper quality parts where it matters and the odd annoying design flaw that you definitely shouldn't be getting on a £400+ saw, plus the lack of spares availability now is a massive shame. I've basically had to accept that if I ever need a substantial part I'm probably going to have to write the saw off if I can't bodge or modify it which isn't a nice feeling.