Husqvarna 359 Oiler Plastic Gear

GF · July 06, 2004, 07:09:25 AM

I bought a Husq 359 about two months ago and it only has about 4-6 hr usage on it. Problem was the oiler quit working. It is under warranty, but I wanted to see how these saws are built, I took the clutch off and found a small platic gear that the clutch housing slides into that drives the oiler pump which has a metal gear. Needless to say the plastic gear was stripped out. I was wondering if there higher end saws have the same (poor) concept. I went to Husqvarnas wesite and could not find a tech support number, so I sent them an email and got no reply. Is it just me or is Husqvarna not worth dealing with. I just use it to cut down some trees on the weekends. If anyone has any contact info where I can call them and see if they may make some type of brass or better designed gear instead of plastic would be appreciated. I ended up milling a metal gear on the lathe and milling machine that seems to be working just fine, and will hopefully last longer than the plastic. Any feedback is appreciated.

Kevin · July 06, 2004, 04:38:54 PM

Did you adjust the oiler prior to the malfunction?

GF · July 07, 2004, 06:56:13 AM

Oiler was not adjusted it was set to 3 for the 20" bar, it has a smal adjustment screw at the ver botton of the motor that allows you adjust the flow, it does not even go to this part ot the oil pump it goes to a area before the oil pump.

Rocky_J · July 08, 2004, 04:46:58 PM

I have a small Husky 346XP that uses the same plastic gear. Been running mine for a year and a half, put 3-4 replacement sprockets and a couple bars on it in that time. This saw gets used a lot and gets used hard, and that little plastic gear is in perfect shape. I just looked at it about an hour ago because I just changed out a broken clutch spring (second one I've broken on that saw).

I do not believe the plastic gear is a problem. Perhaps there might be another issue that you haven't noticed? Or perhaps you may have just gotten a bad one? If the plastic gears were a problem, more people would have noticed by now.

TJACK · July 10, 2004, 08:51:17 PM

I have a 359 with more than 40 hours on it with out an issue. I would first discuss this issue with the dealer to see what they can do. If you do not get anywhere, send me a message and I will contact the technicians I know at Husky. They do stand behind their products and are continuely testing new designs and welcome feed back.

TJACK

Dean Hylton · July 10, 2004, 09:50:44 PM

Plastic? Poor design? On the surface sure it would seem like a bad idea, but I believe there is more to it than that. A new oil pump is about $70 give or take, a new plastic gear, approximately $4. Now if for some reason smoething goes wrong, like let's say the chain brake gets left on for an exstended time (drop a running saw trying to get away from bees) now which would you rather replace? Now there is also the expense of shop time for those who are not mechanics. If we have a soft part that is inexpensive that is designed to fail in an unfortunate event and is easy to get to and replace. This not only saves us from buying expensive parts but also saves us money at the shop as the time to replace the gear is much faster( snap it in verses replacing the entire pump). Just my opinion but I would say that the little plastic gear is a great idea.

rebocardo · July 12, 2004, 09:18:05 PM

In my previous posts about my Husky 365 not oiling and me going crazy, it turned out (I am pretty sure) that the cams for the clutch were not engaged into the plastic drive gear for the oil pump and that it was broken. If I did it or the factory did it, I do not know.

Sounds like your problem and the same type design. Yea, I was wondering if that screw did anything at all too!

Rocky_J · July 14, 2004, 03:33:22 PM

There is another possibility. Perhaps the plastic gear was overheated and melted enough to break. Extreme heat can be generated in this area by continued forcing of the saw when the chain is too dull to cut. This is a common occurrance with less experienced users who aren't familiar with chain sharpening requirements.

Touch one of the cutting teeth on your chain. If you can't draw blood, it's too dull to cut wood. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but one in 20 chainsaw users can properly maintain a sharp chain. But 95% will claim that they know how to cut with a saw and know how to keep a chain sharp. So in my opinion, about 90% of saw users are incorrect in their evaluation of their own sharpening/ operating skills.

GF · July 15, 2004, 06:59:34 AM

Chain was very sharp I touch it up after being used, personally I think its a very poor design on Husqvarna's part, I machined my own from brass stock and havent had any problem with it since.

The other part is I contacted them at there website for techsupport by email and never even got an acknowledgment so much for there tech support.

Sorry just airing my frustration, had an McCullough chainsaw that worked fine for several years only had to replace the bar/chain and sprocket that was it, buy a new Husq and within a 1 1/2 months already having to work on it.

TJACK · July 22, 2004, 10:15:36 AM

GF,

Check your messages, I spoke with a friend of mine at Husky and he will take care of your oil pump issue.

TJACK

Medina · August 06, 2004, 06:42:29 AM

First and foremost, this forum is great, I have learned more about saws and industry in the past 12 months than I thought possible. :P

Back on topic, I purchased a Husky 395 (not that I "need" a saw that big, but the wife said OK) last fall, have put way more than 40 hrs on it in the last month, still looks like new, have to say the air injection works awsome keeping the filter clean. Only problem is the oiler gear went out last week, shop (please don't tag me for having a big saw and taking to shop, still under warranty, want to use it up if possible) says probably wasn't keeping the saw clean enough. Have to differ there, pull it apart at lunch and on the weekends take it apart and go over with compressed air.

My question is how protected are these plastic gears from a chain drop, that's when I noticed the problem. :

Also, is Husky looking to make a change, maybe aluminum, soft enough to not eat everything up, inexpensive, but much more durable than plastic.

Finally, is it a big enough problem that Husky is covering it under their warranty?

Anyway, thank you all for insight, keep safe.