List a saws design flaw

[Justsaws]

I am in need of reading about something other than oil, what to buy, which brand and/or what chain.

In reference to any saw, is there an aspect of it's design that appears to be flawed?

Not looking for manufacturing quality fit and finish issues only engineering and design issues. Any brand, any saw what would make it better. More power,less weight, higher speed, and lower price do not count anymore as valid answers. You have to work harder than that.

For instance-

The spikes on the 6400-7900 saws. 5 point, larger on the bottom.

Oil pick up tube screen on the 455 series Huskys. Make the openings smaller.

 

[lesorubcheek]

I think you could consider this a design flaw, or at least an initial shortcoming. The original Homelite 650 only had 4 anti-vibe buffers. I've heard stories that buffers were prone to break, especially with longer bars and hard use. When the Super 650 was introduced, Homelite added a fifth buffer to solve the problem. The same 5 buffer design was used on the 750 that followed the Super 650.

Dan

 

[Evan]

i honestly cant think of a true design flaw on my saws. and thats on the 026 359 044 and 084. i feel all these saws are very well designed and do as they were designed to do

 

[edisto]

Mine all have a problem with the nut behind the handle.

 

[lesorubcheek]

Here's another one that I consider at least a shortcoming. On an 8800, the upper bolt that holds on the handle bar is held by a nut that's inside the air box chamber. So, if you need to remove and reattach the handle, you have to remove the air box cover to access the nut inside. No big deal but still a nuisance. You'd think the housing would be threaded as is done for the lower bolt or if using the nut, at least a retainer would be added.

Dan

 

[GASoline71]

With the new Walmart Poulans... you have to remove the bar to get them to fit in the trashcan properly.

Gary

 

[edisto]

With the new Walmart Poulans... you have to remove the bar to get them to fit in the trashcan properly.

Gary

I just fold the bar in half.

 

[Urbicide]

With the new Walmart Poulans... you have to remove the bar to get them to fit in the trashcan properly.

Gary

+1
Just fold them in half first.

 

[huskystihl]

Besides the filtration design the sparkplug location on many stihls, example that stupid little rubber loop on the 361 that snapped the first time I tried to use it. Another is that piece of basically steel wool in the filter cover on the 5100 that did nothing to help a subpar airfilter. One more is publishing the weights of every saw on the market just to give people here a reason to pi$$ and moan about why you shouldn't buy a saw before they ran it to see if the real saw power makes the weight a non issue based off it's performance. There I said it!!!

 

[lesorubcheek]

With the new Walmart Poulans... you have to remove the bar to get them to fit in the trashcan properly.

Gary

Now that right there was funny!

Dan

 

[Adam_MA]

The oil hole on Stihl bars don't always match up with the oiler. Nothing a drill bit and 10 seconds won't fix, but kind of annoying.

 

[Justsaws]

The oil hole on Stihl bars don't always match up with the oiler. Nothing a drill bit and 10 seconds won't fix, but kind of annoying.

How old was that bar? Stihl brand? I have yet to see this but have heard/read of it. I have lots of Stihl bars but none are new or even newish.

 

[Justsaws]

I think you could consider this a design flaw, or at least an initial shortcoming. The original Homelite 650 only had 4 anti-vibe buffers. I've heard stories that buffers were prone to break, especially with longer bars and hard use. When the Super 650 was introduced, Homelite added a fifth buffer to solve the problem. The same 5 buffer design was used on the 750 that followed the Super 650.

Dan

Adding an additional buffer sounds to me as though they corrected a design flaw.

The 8800 nut issue is a common saw complaint for any brand. There are a lot of models that inspire questioning why they put that fastener there and why that type of fastener.

 

[Adam_MA]

How old was that bar? Stihl brand? I have yet to see this but have heard/read of it. I have lots of Stihl bars but none are new or even newish.

In a brand new saw with a brand new bar last month. After the first 10 minutes with the saw, the chain was dry and caked up with crud. Took it back to the dealer, and took them 3 days to tell me there was nothing wrong, and then tried to charge me $25 to do nothing on a brand new under warranty saw. They told me "Oiler components are not covered by warranty" A raised eyebrow and a "Get your F*****G manager here right now" made them change their mind. It still wasn't right, but after another 10 minutes or so of not working correctly, even with the oiler turned all the way up I took the bar off and could see on the bar where the oil slot was running half way through the hole in the bar. I drilled the hole out a little bigger, and tapered the edges, and it works just fine now.

 

[Justsaws]

With the new Walmart Poulans... you have to remove the bar to get them to fit in the trashcan properly.

Gary

I would have guessed by now that you would have learned and stopped buying them or at least get larger trash cans. I only fold bars for cutting corners and squaring stumps. I like to leave the stump flushed and squared.

 

[bama]

Jonsered 910E

Jonsered 910E---Rear Handle is cheaply made and is the first thing to go. If you try to muscle it at all, it will break. Granted, this was fixed with the next series saw, so it is more of a "vintage" design flaw.

How about the 70E module getting too hot and failing? I read that if you drill holes in the top of the recoil, it greatly extends module life because the hot air is vented out.

 

[mountainlake]

Rancher 55 carb screws screw into soft plastic, strip easy. 029 290 bar mount studs into plastic, should have a metal insert. Steve

 

[rms61moparman]

Have to agree with the sparkplug locations on many Stihl saws!

260 pro is the worst for me.

 

[Edge & Engine]

Rancher 55 carb screws screw into soft plastic, strip easy. 029 290 bar mount studs into plastic, should have a metal insert. Steve

Same with the 346. A machine screw threaded into plastic.

 

[AT sawyer]

The oil hole on Stihl bars don't always match up with the oiler. Nothing a drill bit and 10 seconds won't fix, but kind of annoying.

I think sometimes the powdercoat paint job on the Stihl bars reduces the oil hole a bit, perhaps enough to restrict oil flow.