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Chainsaw, Hard to start cold harder to start warm?


gillbot

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Sometimes I love shopping on craigslist!

 

I needed a cheap-o chain saw to remove a couple of trees in my back yard. Saw an ad for a McCulloch for $30 listed as "hard to start cold, won't start warm" yet it includes 2 extra chains and a case. I figured hell, if it'll run long enough from cold for me to cut these couple of trees, $30 is well worth it. I could always sell it "for parts" on ebay after i'm done with it and most likely get my $30 back. I emailed and asked if it was available and if he could verify it would at least start before I came to get it. He assured me yes, so I went to get it after some further email exchanges and then a phone call.

 

When I arrived, the guy seemed fidgety and nervous but hey, a stranger was at his house late at night so whatever. He sure did have a hard time getting it to start, but what seemed odd to me was that he didn't once touch the primer bulb on the saw. Whatever, maybe he knew a better way of getting it running than the instructions. After he fought with it for a few minutes he finally got it to run. I told him that was good enough and peeled off $30 to hand him. No point in haggling IMHO over $30 as it was the cheapest saw I could find on CL and he's had a few other calls for it. (Saws go quick here in redneck country.) My hope was that he just didn't know how to work the damn thing and it was a decent saw overall.

 

I get home and toss it into the garage. With the rain, I haven't had a chance to mess with it until today. I go to the garage, look at the directions on the handle and proceed. Full choke, Set trigger lock, Primer bulb 10x, pull 1x, choke to 1/2, pull 1x and BAM fires right off and purrs like a kitten. I let it warm up for the directed 10 seconds, choke off and decide to stretch it's legs a bit. This thing runs GREAT! Ok, let's see how the chain is. Eh, it cuts but could use a sharpening, still I already cut most of what I needed to so bonus. I shut it down and decide to test this "won't start hot" statement. I flip the kill switch back to run and pull the cord once. Yeah, purrs like a kitten again. Hmm, lets try again. One pull, it's again purring. Hmm, $30 well spent!! Anything I cut with it from here out is just icing.

 

tldr cliffs:

Bought "barely running" chain saw from craigs list for $30

Includes 2 extra chains and case

runs perfect

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Guy seemed fidgety and nervous and was unloading a perfect working condition chainsaw for $30... sounds like you bought yourself a murder weapon or tool with which bodies were chopped up. :lolguy:

meh, clean enough when I picked it up so IDGAS.

nice grab mang. how big is the bar?

it's only a 16" bar. Nothing slasher size.

Stolen... Congrats rsp

IDGAS, I have a receipt for it. He gave me a look when I pulled out a pre-printed "goods sale form" and asked him for an autograph on it, but I like to cover my bases.

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Was my victory short lived?

 

I decided to clean up the saw today and take the time to sharpen the chains. Sharpened the chain on the saw using the dremel kit, switched to the "spare" chain and sharpened it as well. Now I have a spare one that's already been sharpened.

 

Then I decided to test my skills. Once again followed the directions and the saw fired right up so I got to work. Dropped another tree and began cutting it into log sized pieces. Then it happened..... The saw flat died. Pulled the cord and it fired right back up. Hmm, what gives. O-well, hit the throttle and limbed up some of the logs then BAM, died again..... SHIT. Fearing the worst, I pull the cord. Yep, fired right up but any touch of the throttle and it instantly dies. Double SHIT. After a couple more pulls of the cord, getting it running and it consequently dying, I think the guy may have been right.

 

Then my brain kicked in. Popped off the fuel cap, yep, don't see a level. Pour some gas/oil mix from my weedeater in and pull the cord. Fired right back up and off to work it goes.... WHEW!

 

BTW, for those with a chain saw, I HIGHLY recommend the dremel sharpening kit. I bet it wasn't 5-10 minuter after setup that I had both chains sharpened. That thing is easy as pie and makes short work of sharpening.

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Guy seemed fidgety and nervous and was unloading a perfect working condition chainsaw for $30... sounds like you bought yourself a murder weapon or tool with which bodies were chopped up. :lolguy:

 

Fidgety and nervous....likely would have traded you the saw for a $10 bag of crack. :yuno: Could have saved $20 if you really tried.

 

Glad it worked out man.

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Fidgety and nervous....likely would have traded you the saw for a $10 bag of crack. :yuno: Could have saved $20 if you really tried.

 

Glad it worked out man.

 

I probably could have, but it was already getting late and this was the cheapest saw I have found that actually started when I showed up. I didn't feel like playing the back and forth game, especially considering it had a case two extra chains and looked pretty much new. It was well worth the $30 IMHO.

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