Muddy42

I've had a few. I seem to get 5 years out of them before a non economic repair comes along. I'm in two minds - yes I like keeping 'professional' saws going but, when new they cost five times as much and after 5 years start needing money spent on parts. Yet you can get a basic Stihl for £150.

Also bags get damaged pretty quickly if you drop logs from a processor into them! Ive used various home made wooden frames and chutes to help.

The weird thing is the OP said they have replaced the pump last week, so it wont have had time to fail or block up? Are all replacement parts OEM and with part numbers that match those listed as compatible in the manual? As above has there been a mix up. Before you fitted the pump was it easy to turn manually?

Or a blocked oil tank vent?

A few months ago I moved two ornamental maples. They are about 20 years old and about 1 foot in diameter. We used a 16 tonne digger to dig out each root ball and hoisting them up with chains and straps and into a logic quad trailer. I pulled them off the quad with a tractor. The trailer nearly collapsed and one of the tyres burst. What a pallava, I can't conceive of how anyone would attempt such a thing for a tree that must be 10/20 times heavier?

great idea. I was in hospital recently (all fine) and you should have seen the kit that I rescued from being thrown into the bin. I got a variety of syringes up to 600m that I thought might be useful for emptying fuel tanks plus some long reach forceps that will be great for fishing out fuel filters !

Stihl 2 in 1s need to be used level and not tilted. Maybe you were tilting the file onto the rakers? But this is one of the reasons I don't like 2 in 1s. Sometimes the rakers get to low sometimes too high. Plus they stop you from seeing what's going on. Buy a flat file and a raker guage specific to your chain. Stihl do a complete set with round files too. You can use that chain for round file practice and if you take a few mm off with a round file, the teeth will be proportionate to the rakers again. Watch a lot of youtube.

Ah Im with you. Id definitely try and glue that. Preparation is important, remove as much as possible, probably that brake band and the brake housing cover. Also Id try and clean from the oil tank side. Flush the oil tank out with solvent or petrol and then refill with solvent leaving the saw clutch side down to drip through the hole. Empty petrol, clean and dry for a few days. Rough up the surrounding plastic with sandpaper to accept the epoxy.

I think I've found a leak in the bar oil vent. I ran it without the bar with mixed fuel instead of bar oil. It was spewing out.

or check the manual.

Im not sure what you mean by the "middle"? In these situations, extensive youtube learning is helpful. Like this:

Any chance of a photo from further back, hard to tell what we are looking at?

When replacing only springs, sometimes string can help. Get the clutch secured down somehow and get a piece of string tied around each end of the spring and pull apart. Same in reverse with the new spring.

So I replaced the #31 plate. Interestingly the replacement from L&S Engineers was thicker than the original one. This definitely seals better with less visible gaps. Frustratingly the results were mixed - initially it seemed to be oiling better, but then the oil dried up again. I'm going to repeat everything again - clean out oil tank, hoses, oil filter, oil pump, run solvent through it. Check bar oil vent. I will check this when I have the clutch off. Thanks thanks

When wood dries it might half in weight but it won't half in volume. I think that's where you have gone wrong. I use bags and IBCs. I'd advise buying way more bags than you think you'll need. Bags rip and break a lot especially if you filling them mechanically. Yes the wood won't dry well in bags, if thats what you are intending.

I can't see that having any (net) commercial value.

Thanks. Yes the parts were all OEM. I am pretty sure the pump is working OK because it is certainly draining the bar oil tank. I'll give it another flush to be sure. The crank seals are original and not leaking. The bar and oil hole is scrupulously clean. Yes I am hopefull that a new no31 mount plate will help.

Likewise, I am always really impressed with the quality of woodland management across France. They seem to continuously crop or open up small clearings and keep the species mix diverse. I have adopted a 'french pruning' technique on oaks that works really well to revive ugly multi-stemmed trees as they emerge from the tube guards. Basically in July you remove any competing leaders and brash off about a third from every branch. This sends the sap up to the leader and the resulting fresh leader growth is phenomenal. We also have a lot to learn about conifers - compare the alps to the UK's approach of planting non-native sitka spruce in plowed furrows lines - FUGLY!

My Stihl MS 460 has been having minor oiling mysteries. After 20/30 minutes of use the nose sprocket seizes up. Its a fairly new (first chain) 20 inch Stihl rollermatic bar 3/8ths pitch. On inspection the chain feels dry and I simply clean out the groove and free up the nose sprocket with wd40 and a screwdriver then regrease with my fingers. This happened twice last Saturday. BUT during the time I used a tank of fuel, the bar oil tank nearly empties so oil is going somewhere. The adjustable oiler is at max. Back at the workshop I did some further checking. The oil pump area was still clean and the lines didn't have cracks, but there was masses oil on the inside of the bar and on the case below the bar. I cleaned the saw up and ran it again. I couldn't get oil to flick off the end of the bar and the same mess emerged on the bar. I ran it without the bar, chain and inner guide plate - oil is emerging out of the oiler. My current thinking is that oil is pumped out of the saw but is somehow not reaching the bar's oil hole. Recently I replaced the worm gear, oil pump and flushed out the oil tank with petrol. Current thinking: 1) The inner guide plate is pretty smashed up and bent, maybe this is causing the issue. I have ordered a replacement (1128 664 1001) but have just found out there are two alternatives. See below, is 1128 664 1002 any good? 2) I've read that some people open up the oil hole on bars. This seems a bit drastic. Does anyone have any experience of this? Thanks

As above, a flails needs a large hydraulic pump and pressure. Think of the large tractors you see flail hedges crawling along at high revs. You need to match the spec (generally two numbers as a range of l/min) of your digger to the same for the flail. Best to have a range that is a close match rather than push it.

Lack of two stroke oil, not warming up the saw, operator pushing too hard, fins/fuel filter/air filter/carb clogged. Broken ring or metal in the cylinder? The intake side of the cylinder also looks bad - so debris could have got in there. Who knows. Pressure and Vac test is a must. Put the cylinder back on, clean the saw and do it now, before you waste money on parts. And watch out for debris falling into the bottom end (one of your photos shows this).

Amazing. I’ve always preferred a squirt of mixed fuel with two stroke oil, to raw carb cleaner etc. Spray behind the air filter, pull over and repeat until you are sure fuel is getting the plug wet. No drama if you flood it. otherwise check for the usual air leaks in rubber parts. It would be a real shame to damage it.

I tried ripping chain but didnt get on with it. I mostly cut oak and found ripping chain less good at coping with knotty, change of direction grainy bits. But maybe it was just me. Good sharpening practice, not forcing the saw and avoiding ‘sawing’ the bar side to side, helps keep the cut smooth.

looks like one of those automatic filters. I do like these older 70 ish cc stihl saws 044,046,460,461 real power houses.

Yes, id use normal crosscutting chain. If the wood is clean and metal free it’ll be fine. sharpen as needed.