dissecting an earthquake chainsaw

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
You guys keep talking about Ryobi saws,.. Are the Ryobi's that are CURRENTLY in Home Depot pretty good little firewood saws?

(You keep saying some of them are pretty hot little saws)

My Quakes are 45cc's.. Thats kind of as small as i like to go.

You have me curious about Ryobi now.
 
You guys keep talking about Ryobi saws,.. Are the Ryobi's that are CURRENTLY in Home Depot pretty good little firewood saws?

(You keep saying some of them are pretty hot little saws)

My Quakes are 45cc's.. Thats kind of as small as i like to go.

You have me curious about Ryobi now.
The present Ryobis are all re-badged Homelites. The ones that were cool (10532) were actually GZ400's but these are not made any more.
 
Last weekend I tried to start and got nothing. It was a first. I pulled and pulled and it only made the plug wet. There was spark, but maybe not as bright as I'd like. And twice it felt like it would pop and tried to rip my hand off (as much as a 38cc saw can). So I guessed coil.

The coil I had on it was from a Ryobi 10532, and the flywheel from a Jenn Feng McCulloch. I had put them on trying to figure out why it didn't like to rev no load - they made no difference but worked OK. I decided to put the stock Earthquake parts back on, and that did the trick. It fired right up!

However, in the week it sat it pissed out an entire tank of canola oil all over the bench. :mad: It usually never leaks a drop. It turns out it was the cap - they put an O-ring on there as a seal, but the case was clearly designed for a flat rubber washer. I made something up that works for now, but I have to find my sheet of rubber or an old innertube to make a more permanent piece.

The Quake is back in action.
 
Noticed a nice little 14" dead ash blowdown that was propped up on a large stove wall on one side and a stump on the other - way off the ground. So I decided to buck it with the Quake for a test, and it ran great. Still not the fasted saw I have that size, but it has a really nice feel. It is not peaky and has decent torque for 38cc.

The ash turned out to be burn-it-now wood. I was not entirely sure so I noodled a few blocks out of the crotch and tossed them in the little stove that was about due for a re-load. The took off with no hissing or spitting and no steam coming out the chimney. Score! Will be about 1/3 cord out of that - only the first round from the stump was at all punky, plus what was left of the crown which shattered on impact.

Started a thread on cheap, HF grinders. Maybe it will take off like this one?

Philbert
I've been looking at those and will check out your thread later on.
 
Well, my Earthquake running problems continued this weekend, but are now fixed. I had recently reinstalled the stock Earthquake flywheel and coil due to difficult starting/flooding, and that seemed to fix it. But this weekend it was inconsistent - I just could not tune it. I'd get it right but then the idle speed would be all over the map, sometimes it would bog and sometimes rev right up. I messed with it for a tank while clearing brush, but then set it aside. I cleaned the Walbro carb I had in there (nothing obvious wrong), and then it would not start - the plug was dry. A little fuel down the throat and it would fire.

So I replaced the diaphragm, but the results were the same. I checked all the passages and could not find it. By then it was dark so I left it for the morning - whereupon it started right up! And still ran like crap. I decided to try putting the original carb back in - it is a better carb anyway, as it has a fixed main jet in addition to the needle, which allows more acrruate adjustment. The problem was that the check valve had failed, but I was able to repair that (I started a thread on that). Now it's running great, and the saw is returning to more Earthquake parts!

I dislodged and dropped a 14" ash snag, and bucked it up with no issues.
 
Well, thanks to Chris-PA, I finally figured out my oiler problems. I managed to access the oil lines finally by taking the handle apart partially and removing the throttle cable. Once that was free I could gain enough access to the lower oil line. Then I physically blew it out and something seemed to dislodge within the line and oil came spewing out. I then pressure tested the line and it came back as ok so I just reassembled the saw. I fired her up and so far no leaks: Happy!
 
I've wondered how the carbs on these are going to last, sounds like they'll do ok. I have a 45 and about the only thing I really like about it is the rim and drum setup. The 45 seems as heavy as my 346xp so I don't expect that I'll use it much. I would like to have a rim and drum setup on the 38 because I really like it for limbing. If you ever find one that will work on the 38, be sure and let us know about it.
 
My BIL gave me his EQ 38 to tune up and I'm finding it is trying to take a finger or so. I know, I'm a girly! Just wondering if the timing my be out. Although I have to say that the older Poulan box store saws (non-strato) try to do that to me as well. So should I suck it up and pull faster, harder or hire someone else to fettle my saws?
 
My BIL gave me his EQ 38 to tune up and I'm finding it is trying to take a finger or so. I know, I'm a girly! Just wondering if the timing my be out. Although I have to say that the older Poulan box store saws (non-strato) try to do that to me as well. So should I suck it up and pull faster, harder or hire someone else to fettle my saws?
I'm 90% sure it is the ignition timing. I had a Ryobi ignition and flywheel on there for a while and it didn't do that. Recently I switched it back and noticed that it has become a rather nasty kicker for 38cc, which I recall from when I first got it too.

Given that, and the different shape of the coil and different keying of the flywheel, I'm guessing the Earthquake coil (and G3800) is a fixed ignition timing while the later GZ400/4000 designs have variable advance. Therefore the Quake has a lot of spark advance at start.
 
Still running mine, with old outboard mix and vegetable oil. I have an old countertop I need to cut up, so it'll used for that. I haven't been cutting much, though I really need to be getting some cut up and seasoned for next year (with the way my wood stack is looking, maybe for this year....)

And yea, mine is hard on the fingers also.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
 
By the way, the carb heat is effective on the 38/41cc models. I'm out breaking up some white oak, and had a few shorter twisted rounds I was noodling with the 38cc Quake. It's set for carb heat and it is not that cold - I could tell by the way it was running and the tuning it must be getting warm air, so I stopped after some long cuts and puller the air filter. Nice and warm it there. Too much for today really.
 
By the way, the carb heat is effective on the 38/41cc models. I'm out breaking up some white oak, and had a few shorter twisted rounds I was noodling with the 38cc Quake. It's set for carb heat and it is not that cold - I could tell by the way it was running and the tuning it must be getting warm air, so I stopped after some long cuts and puller the air filter. Nice and warm it there. Too much for today really.

MY BIL's 38 has no provision for carb heat. My Echo's do, at least the 440, 4400, and the 520.
 
MY BIL's 38 has no provision for carb heat. My Echo's do, at least the 440, 4400, and the 520.
Yeah, it does. You remove the top cover (4 screws) and there is a door you remove and reinstall upside down. It's not real obvious - its behind the right hand support for the top/front handle.

Pretty cool little saws, not lacking in any features.
 
I've decided to pull the jug on my 38cc for one more round of porting mods. It runs nice but still just does not have the punch that some of my Poulans do, and it should be closer to my GZ4000's. I've been looking at the timing numbers and think I know what it might be, so I'm going to give it another shot.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top