Life of a chainsaw

[old2stroke]

Here's a question for you professionals who run a saw hard for long hours day after day.  Are you able to have a reasonable estimate of how many years service you should be able to get out of a saw with this kind of use, and when it is "worn out", is it worthwhile doing top end rebuilds or is there a point when you just say the hell with it and buy a new saw?  Echo is advertising a 5yr warranty on their saws, will they actually last that long with professional use?

[ScottInCabot]

I use an Echo at work.

The top handle lived almost three years, then it was taken away and used by another crew member.....it lasted two weeks with him and 'BANG', came apart.  What he did to it was unknown, and I'm sure it was just sitting there, idling, while he was stacking brush or something(this is a rolleyes moment).

The small saw that is used for bucking into moveable pieces....it died after a year.  The place I work had it rebuilt by a professional 'Stihl' saw guy.....it sits on the shelf, it won't start unless you're really pigheaded and like to abuse yourself.  We use a well worn out Sinnerdaiwa 488, it starts.




Scott in Cabot

[HolmenTree]

Echo's 5 yrs warranty only applies to consumer non commercial use.
Most of the major saw companies only warranty about 3 months for commercial  end users.

[ladylake]

I think the best pro saws will last 1500 to 2000 hours before needing a piston and rings.  That would be 1 year running a saw 8 hours a day 200 days a year but I don't think many get ran that much.  Steve

[cbla]

I used to trail cut pulp. I had a 254xp that I ran 5-6 days a week for 3 years. I sold it after 3 years and bought another saw. The guy that bought it from me had it for another 5 years ( recreational cutting)I am very crazy about regular maintenance and it surprises me to this day how many people are not.

[Texas-Jim]

  I dont care who makes the saw but the major reason they last is the user. No saw can survive a non caring owner. We often dont associate a chainsaw with clean but cleaning does help. I tell every customer that buys a saw and even show him how,,,keep air filter clean. Its a cascade event, the chain gets bit dull and instead of stopping and changing it or touching it up we keep going. Then the saw starts making fine dust instead of chips and that dust gets every where. Collects in the bar groove and hinders oiling and bar and chain start wearing faster. Collects on filter and once its nice and dirty they start sucking air around the edge and the saw is eating dirt. Dirt might as well be sandpaper inside the engine.

If i get an engine failure (which is rare) and theres dirt and debri inside the filter housing i will not warranty that saw. A warranty is defect in material and workmanship, it does not cover miss use.

So if you want you saw to last, A-- get saw big enough to do the job. B-- keep it clean. just my opinion.

[tyb525]

I've wondered before, how do you know when it is time to rebuild your saw?

[CR888]

Another thing to consider about echoes 5 year warranty is the fine print. Find out what actually parts are under that warranty. I know a Echo dealer that says the warranty 'sounds' far more valuable than it even remotely is. I personally don't let warranty be a deciding factor in a new saw purchase, buying the 'right' saw is far more important. I am not suggesting Echo are not a good choice, what l am saying is don't let a stupid warranty make you buy the wrong saw. Yamabiko make quality stuff, usually not at the forefront of technology but build quality/reliability & metallurgy are their strengths. Their newer quad port high revving spring av saws behave more European than saws from years past. They always made quality stuff, now they are giving customers what they want.

[Ianab]

I've wondered before, how do you know when it is time to rebuild your saw?

Lacking power, hard to start, low compression.

While it's running sweet, it's running sweet. When it gets "tired", you need to take it apart and work out why. If you find it's low on compression because the rings or piston are worn out, then that's what you need to replace.

[Al_Smith]

In my shed resides a Stihl 038 magnum that had spent 20 years of rather hard usage for a tree company .I kept it in service for another 6- 7 after it grenaded a piston .It was given to me after that and still runs probably as good as the day it was made .

In that same shed are a Mac PM 610 and a Poulan s-25 I used since the 70's .During that time they must have cut a zillion cords of firewood which I sold when I wore a younger mans clothes .Might just be blind luck or the oil mix that was used. ;)

[nitehawk55]

Part of saws lasting way back was we didn't have ethanol to worry about .

[Texas-Jim]

I think we often overlook ethanol as something that shortens life. The specific gravity or density of Ethanol, is less than petroleum fuel. That means it leans out your engine. Now they are supposedly designed to be able to use it without worries but. Ethanol absorbs moisture, from the air from bad gas, the more moisture the leaner you burn. Plus water in fuel will pull ethanol out and then you have more water sloshing around. Water can really lean an engine if it keeps running. If it happens your better off if saw dies.

Cool experiment if want to see is put an inch of water in a jar, doesn't have be exact. Mark that level then add gas to it and watch over a few minutes. The water level will rise as the ethanol is pulled out, and ethanol will not burn in our saws without the gas. So we end up having to work on them more,,,ethanol is bad!!!

[Al_Smith]

The saving grace on that is the fact many OEM/aftermarket replacement parts are now formulated with a different type material than the original buna-n stuff .It's more robust to the effects of ethanol .

I'm sorry  to break the bad news but ethanol is not going to go away, deal with it .

[tyb525]

Ethanol attracts and absorbs water due to it's hygroscopic nature. That means you could start with 100% water-free fuel in a gas can, and end up with water in it after a short time.

Even in a low humidity and ideal conditions in a sealed gas tank, enough water will be absorbed to consider the fuel contaminated in 100 days. In reality (high humidity, poorly sealed tank) the time is even shorter than that.

I try to use up a can of 2-stroke mix in a few weeks if possible. If it has been sitting for a month or more, I just dump it in the tractor an mix up a new can with fresh gas. All the gas around here has ethanol, and I'm too cheap to get it from the airport.

[Texas-Jim]

Al i don't know about where you live but non ethanol is still available here. Its true its not going away but non ethanol can be found if you look,,,at least in Texas. Its not just the components that are effected. Water causes corrosion when its left in contact with aluminum over time. So if it sits over the winter the ethanol pulls water from the air and it separates from the fuel it then can damage the carb.

Stihl  owns zama carb and according to what i understand the basic components of zama carbs has not been changed to resist ethanols effects. Hense the reason Stihl tells you to not leave the fuel in your equipment. No idea about walbora or other makers.

[John Mc]

...All the gas around here has ethanol, and I'm too cheap to get it from the airport.

Have you looked at pure-pas.org? It's a user-reported site with a list of gas stations selling non-ethanol gas. There seem to be a number of locations in Indiana that have non-ethanol gas. Try this link for non-ethanol stations in Indiana. Occasionally, I've found some of the reports are out-of-date, but they seem to be mostly accurate in my area.

FWIW, I think it's a good idea to avoid Aviation gas (a.k.a. 100LL or "100 low-lead"). As you noted, it's expensive. It's also not the greatest idea to be inhaling the exhaust fumes from something burning leaded fuel. The tetra-ethyl lead (sp?) in that fuel is a particularly nasty form of lead. I'm a pilot, and have easy access to the fuel, but I wouldn't burn it in my chainsaw even when we had no other non-ethanol alternative.

Some small airports will stock non-ethanol auto gas. Some older aircraft engines have problems with lead fouling when burning 100LL (despite the name, it's not really "low lead". It has more lead in it than the old leaded auto fuel). It's generally cheaper than 100LL, but more expensive than premium auto fuel bought at a gas station.

[Al_Smith]

Al i don't know about where you live but non ethanol is still available here.  Stihl  owns zama carb and according to what i understand the basic components of zama carbs has not been changed to resist ethanols effects. Hense the reason Stihl tells you to not leave the fuel in your equipment. No idea about walbora or other makers.

Northern Ohio in the middle of a giant corn field since you asked .The closest straight gasol
ine to me is 80 miles away, lake Erie .No I'm not going to go there .

FWIW Ford motor about 10 years ago changed the formulation for the 0-ring seals for the fuel injectors .Stihl OEM crankshaft seals are a bluish color instead of the typical black .The last higher quality after market carb kits I bought used a mylar type check valve assembly instead of the traditional buna-n impregnated paper material .Those were Tillotson ,I have no idea about Zama.--Yes I do, carb kits for a Stihl  200T also use a mylar type material. For a moment there I forgot I do have a few Zama carbs hither and yon .