Auction Find Stihl Chainsaw - Will It Ever Run Again?

If you have been reading the blog for very long, you know I am cheap. I don't like to spend a lot of money on things that I know I am going to abuse. Would I like a newer tractor? Yep! Would I take care of it like it should be taken care of? Probably not. This is even stronger when it comes to tools. I am rough on them. I neglect them and I use them for things they aren't meant to do. Chainsaws are a good example. I have a very nice Echo chainsaw that I actually do take care of. It lives in a case and gets the chain sharpened as needed, it gets only rec fuel without any Ethanol and it doesn't get beat up during use if I can help it. But, I also have had some cheaper chainsaws that I wasn't so nice to. One of those was an old McCullough that I found at a farm auction. The listing stated that it ran, which was all I needed. It was going to be used to cut out roots for stumps. I didn't want something that was very nice because it was going to be very abused. Well, I got it home, put some gas in it and sure enough, it did start and run. It ran pretty decent until it warmed up. Then, it smoked like crazy. It still ran ok, but it would fog out the entire forest in no time. PERFECT! When it died, I wouldn't be upset because it was already on its last leg. It cost me a whopping $40 too. I would easily get my $40 value from it with all the stumps I had to remove.

That saw lasted 2 seasons. It gave it's last gasp just as I cut the last root of a decent sized stump for a trail. This meant I was on the lookout for its replacement. I hit up the farm auction sites again. Maybe this time, I would find a nicer one that would last a bit longer. The way these farm auction sites work is they get a lot of estate items. Sometimes brand new things will sell for well under their worth because they are untested. It also means they get a lot of junk. Worn out tools that no one knows anything about but were in grandpa's barn. Unless you can go check things out in person, it's a gamble. I kept my eyes open for a deal. Lots of chainsaws went by but were just a little more than I was willing to spend. Then, one day I found something interesting. There were a bunch of Stihl chainsaws listed. Likely from a tree service that either closed or replaced equipment. Most were very beat up and missing parts but one was complete and in decent shape, cosmetically. It did state that it didn't run, but it wasn't seized either. I watched it and as the auction ended, I put in my maximum bid and actually won it. I had done some research and it was an older model but there are still parts available and they aren't expensive. My guess was that it would need the carb cleaned or replaced and the fuel system flushed.

I wasn't able to get it so I had my father-in-law pick it up for me. He lives nearby the auction company. When he texted me to say he had it he told me that he thought I had been ripped off. He said it doesn't turn over and seems pretty seized up. This had me a little worried. But, I had purchased it very cheaply, so I wouldn't be out a lot if it really was unrepairable. I would have to wait a few days to pick it up so I could evaluate it myself.

I made a trip to the Estate to get some work done on cleaning trails and getting things ready for spring and picked up the new-to-me saw on the way. When I got it I immediately started looking it over. It was complete as far as parts and pieces, so that was good. As I tried to pull the cord, it did appear to be stuck. I put it on the ground and pulled harder and it actually pulled thru. It had a TON of compression though. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but at least it pulled thru. After that, I wanted to see if I could get it running at all. I started by adding some fresh gas to it. Luckily, the tank was completely empty, so there was no bad gas sitting in it. I put it in the starting position and pulled...nothing. I pulled and pulled and pulled, still nothing. So, I grabbed the can of WD-40 and sprayed it into the carb just to see if it would start on "spray". Sure enough, it fired. It ran for about 10 seconds which was enough to let me know there was hope. Best case, it needs the carb cleaned or replaced, worst case, I might need a new cylinder and piston too. So, to the jungle site I went! I ordered a "carburetor kit" which included a carb, fuel lines, filter and a spark plug. I think it cost about $30, so not a big deal. I had plans to get right on the rebuild but things got in the way, mainly crashing the tractor into a tree. Six months later, and I am finally ready to start work on it. As soon as the weather breaks and it's not single digit temps with wind, I will be in the garage tearing into this bad boy. Stay tuned for updates. I'll even try to make a video on it for the Youtube channel, which you should also check out.