Ol' Brian
ArboristSite Guru
LOL, "Keep it Running"
A disappointment
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LOL, "Keep it Running"
I have a great dealer in a small town ( summerland ) BC Canada.The owner
is a collector himself, gives great discounts and is courteous to boot
every one i recommend becomes a loyal customer
doesn,t get better than that!
is a collector himself, gives great discounts and is courteous to boot
every one i recommend becomes a loyal customer
doesn,t get better than that!
the same person that comes in for 20-50 dollars in parts that need to be looked up and ordered will also return to buy bars/chains/ oil or even a new saw if their repairs fail
Power equipment repair is a very small part of my business, but I've done PLENTY of it over the years.
I seldom these days wonder over to any of the Husqvarna or Stihl dealers for parts. First of all they are nearly all Amish owned and in somewhat remote locations. I'm also not fond of smelling/breathing in kerosene and trying to see in the dark. Secondly I can get parts sent directly to my shop with a quick Google search and going thru some IPL's much quicker than the 13 year old Amish kid can browse thru the catalogs at the dealer.
Nothing wrong with all that and I'm not anti-Amish or anything of the sort. Time is money when you are self employed and a small operation. I LOOSE money every time I leave the shop so try to order parts and have them delivered instead.
Couple of other rules I follow which have served me well in this deal. I will NOT buy carburetor rebuild kits unless they are OEM. The "rice" boxed stuff doesn't make it for me. OEM Tillotson, Zama or Walbro is all that is used here. I'm also NOT fond of the cheap aftermarket P/C's so stick to OEM. I've had better success with older saws when P/C's are NLA buying them from folks on the boards or Ebay that take them from older parts saws than messing with poor fitting pistons/rings and inferior bore plating/coatings, etc.
Even with all that said OEM fuel lines still melt away to nothing, even the "green" stuff from Stihl. This new fuel is very hard on any type of rubber or attempts to replace rubber with ethanol "resistant" materials/parts. I still LOVE the stuff though, Ethanol that is, as leaving it sitting in any type of small power equipment for long periods of time insures that it will form enough "apple jelly" to plug the carb and fuel system up enough that I'll have PLENTY of work for many years to come.......FWIW......
I seldom these days wonder over to any of the Husqvarna or Stihl dealers for parts. First of all they are nearly all Amish owned and in somewhat remote locations. I'm also not fond of smelling/breathing in kerosene and trying to see in the dark. Secondly I can get parts sent directly to my shop with a quick Google search and going thru some IPL's much quicker than the 13 year old Amish kid can browse thru the catalogs at the dealer.
Nothing wrong with all that and I'm not anti-Amish or anything of the sort. Time is money when you are self employed and a small operation. I LOOSE money every time I leave the shop so try to order parts and have them delivered instead.
Couple of other rules I follow which have served me well in this deal. I will NOT buy carburetor rebuild kits unless they are OEM. The "rice" boxed stuff doesn't make it for me. OEM Tillotson, Zama or Walbro is all that is used here. I'm also NOT fond of the cheap aftermarket P/C's so stick to OEM. I've had better success with older saws when P/C's are NLA buying them from folks on the boards or Ebay that take them from older parts saws than messing with poor fitting pistons/rings and inferior bore plating/coatings, etc.
Even with all that said OEM fuel lines still melt away to nothing, even the "green" stuff from Stihl. This new fuel is very hard on any type of rubber or attempts to replace rubber with ethanol "resistant" materials/parts. I still LOVE the stuff though, Ethanol that is, as leaving it sitting in any type of small power equipment for long periods of time insures that it will form enough "apple jelly" to plug the carb and fuel system up enough that I'll have PLENTY of work for many years to come.......FWIW......
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I wonder how they handle looking up parts for the newest saws, I don't think they still put out an ipl on paper.
Haven't seen them do it but I was told they can tune the new Stihls, but even so the guy who does my logging absolutely HATES the new MS-661's. He added a couple to his arsenal when he logged a new property I purchased last year and had NOTHING good to say about them.....FWIW....
if you have no choice but to run ethanol laden gas try adding stabil the storage version,it seems to keep it from separating or going bad for over a year and non ethanol over 2 years. I have been adding it to all of the neighborhood generators I service with great results so far even using the old gas seeing 0 separation/discoloration or loss of octane. They are run for half a hour to warm up and load test then run out of fuel and float bowl removed to clean out then oil changed. I ran 5.5 gallons of treated 3 year old premium non eth through my car this year with no problems it recorded 0 knocks, my car is pretty bad about spark knocking/pinging if octane drops below 93. I sure wish gates would make small engine fuel line!!
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Or tracks
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I'm surprised they are running gasoline generators. Most backup systems I've seen are natural gas or diesel.
The little 4k gas powered unit I have, I store without any fuel in it.
Seems like shortly after I bought it, we stopped having extended power outages every time it was windy.
Was horrible the first few years. A winter windstorm almost always guaranteed no power for a day or more.
Store its tank full to the top, it prevents the tank from rusting and building vapor pressure. Most folks here have portable 5500-7500 running watt gas powered gensets and stay away from the large diesel/propane/natural gas non portable gensets. When a hurricane comes through you never know where a tree will fall on your property, portables get stored inside, can be taken to relatives homes, cost under a grand nd easier cheaper to get parts and fuel for during a disaster.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Even if stored with a full tank, it'll still collect some moisture. I normally have 10-20 gallons of gas in the shed for the mower and snowblower.
Easy for me to just dump some of that in the generator and fire it up than worry about the gas going bad if not used for several years.
Sounds like all the sthl dealer around here, first off the old guy needs to tell his daughter to shut up and order the parts or go home to mommy.
hosocat
ArboristSite Operative
One of my pet peeves is when I try to support local business and the spoiled, entitled offspring of the man who built the business behave in an unprofessional manner. She will inherit the business and ruin it after her father has worked himself into the grave providing for her. And she won't even realize she caused the business to fail. She'll blame it on her dead father.
I use the marine version of stabil, havent had a single fuel system related issue since in any of my gas powered equipment.
I run a mosa 5500 watt powered by an air cooled yanmar. It's a bit heavy, but doesnt care about what fuel you run in it, and goes for about 7 hrs on a gallon under close to full load. Funny bit is I acquired it through work because the previous owner tried to use either to start it, and cracked the piston. I gave him $100.00 for it and paid the bill he had with the shop. Off he went to harbor freight for a gas unit lol. Havent had to use it often in recent years. When we bought the house the power was out every other week.
Ol' Brian
ArboristSite Guru
I was told by a local small engine guy to use the Marine Stabil as well, but treat at double the label rate. Since I've been doing that, I have had no ethanol problems.
I also mix 1 ounce of SeaFoam per gallon of gas into my storage cans along with the Stabil Marine. Everything runs like new, that SeaFoam stuff is incredible.
Never double treated on purpose, but I guess it cant hurt. If it's something that's going to sit for awhile, I typically give the tank a good dose of marvel mystery oil, and run it for a wile, the let it cool off pop the plug and dribble some more down I to the cylinder and crank it over a few times to distribute the MMO around the cylinder. I've used sea foam in the past, but recently havent really had a need. Still keep a bottle on hand though.
Yep, them’s the ones that “Fall in LOVE” with ya, they just don’t seem to Understand “Just for TONIGHT “
Doug
Marvels works great and is decently priced. I use it for multiple things but most often for decarbonizing through induction services and added to gas tanks as part of a tune up service. I even add about 2oz per quart of bar oil in winter to thin it but it really does wonders at softening carbon deposits, its all I will use on the ford 5.4 engines with the goofy long spark plugs. Using marvels I have yet to snap a plug off and the carbon falls apart easily like the calcium flakes from the bottom of a hot water heater when rubbed between your fingers. I used to use seafoam but it I was never impressed with anything i used it for except their deepcreep that I like for throttle body cleaning, It does not seem to damage the coatings and cleans ok if a brush is used with it.
When I changed the 3 year old gasoline I treated with stable that sat in the shed through three 100+ degree summers and 35 degree winters with our average 85% humidity it came out looking very close to the new gas (very very slight hint of yellow tint) and its vapors smelled fresh, I was very impressed. I also have suffered 0 carburetor problems in my small engines since I started using it 3 years ago and the same experience with all 5 of the generators I yearly service for friends and family that constantly required carb rebuilds and float bowl cleanings. I started telling people to add it to their boats after october every year until spring, their rancor filters have less visible trash and remain clearer.
My local stihl dealer has good customer service,they will look up parts and order parts when you walk in, call or even email them. Three weeks ago I walked in and asked for several small parts that the guy proceeded to look up to see if they had them on hand then asked if i would like them ordered. He spent half a hour with me doing that, I left without buying anything. I went back 8 days later and In front of the counter guys boss I praised his counter guys customer service and said because of his helpfulness I came back and purchased the maul from them.
When I changed the 3 year old gasoline I treated with stable that sat in the shed through three 100+ degree summers and 35 degree winters with our average 85% humidity it came out looking very close to the new gas (very very slight hint of yellow tint) and its vapors smelled fresh, I was very impressed. I also have suffered 0 carburetor problems in my small engines since I started using it 3 years ago and the same experience with all 5 of the generators I yearly service for friends and family that constantly required carb rebuilds and float bowl cleanings. I started telling people to add it to their boats after october every year until spring, their rancor filters have less visible trash and remain clearer.
My local stihl dealer has good customer service,they will look up parts and order parts when you walk in, call or even email them. Three weeks ago I walked in and asked for several small parts that the guy proceeded to look up to see if they had them on hand then asked if i would like them ordered. He spent half a hour with me doing that, I left without buying anything. I went back 8 days later and In front of the counter guys boss I praised his counter guys customer service and said because of his helpfulness I came back and purchased the maul from them.
And stalk the hell out of you no matter where you are.
sounds like you’ve had that experience too huh????
