488

[alderman]

Took down an Alder tree the wind took the top out of. Cranked up one of the Shindaiwa 488s. Not a lot of wood but some for next year’s burning.

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[pioneerguy600]

I ran one of those 488`s once and they are nice enough saws. The problem with running them commercially is the lack of support and scarcity of replacement parts around here. I know a guy that cuts a good deal and he loved using them but was in the same boat, he got around this by buying a half dozen of the 488`s alternating between them use wise and robbing parts off one or more to keep others running. You have a nice collection of Shindaiwa`s .

 

[alderman]

I agree with the lack of support. When I first got into Shindaiwa equipment there were several dealers relatively close to me.
I bought several “parts” saws that just needed a carb kit and were up and running.
Over the years I’ve had few failures once the saw was up and running, but I recently replaced an ignition coil on a 488 with a cheap aftermarket unit.
The internet has made getting parts easier, but the parts for the older saws are getting scarce.
I’ve got so many saws, blowers and trimmers they don’t get a lot of hours on them. I can see where everyday commercial use may not be the best application for them. On the other hand if I take the time to drain the fuel before storage I’ve had good luck getting them fired up after sitting on the shelf for a long time.
And I’ve been able to get a lot of equipment for relatively little money.


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[pioneerguy600]

A next door neighbor on the lake I have a summer place on bought a Shinny 15 years ago, used mostly as a camp saw and it did very well until it was left with gas in it and it sat many years unused. When needed again it would not start and he brought it over to me to look at. The fuel system was totaled, lines were black mush, carb ruined and the tank would need to be carefully and thoroughly cleaned out. I found the parts from different sources but when the total cost for the parts and shipping was done up it was too expensive to fix the saw. I just gave him a lowly Wild Thing , its all one needs around a camp for occasional use.

 

[alderman]

A next door neighbor on the lake I have a summer place on bought a Shinny 15 years ago, used mostly as a camp saw and it did very well until it was left with gas in it and it sat many years unused. When needed again it would not start and he brought it over to me to look at. The fuel system was totaled, lines were black mush, carb ruined and the tank would need to be carefully and thoroughly cleaned out. I found the parts from different sources but when the total cost for the parts and shipping was done up it was too expensive to fix the saw. I just gave him a lowly Wild Thing , its all one needs around a camp for occasional use.

I’ve seen the fuel line mush several times. That is why I always drain them before they go on the shelf. Seems to work.
Do other saws have this issue, or is it just the material Shindaiwa uses for fuel lines?


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[pioneerguy600]

Just about every saw that was made with black rubber lines have the same problems, lines disintegrating to black mush if fuel is left in them. Some newer saws have a more ethanol resistant fuel line in them, Stihl PRO saws do now. The bigger problem for us here is that replacement parts are so expensive ,need to be shipped in for the Shindaiwa`s where as lines for Husqvarna and Stihl are readily available and not overly expensive. Lines definitely last much longer if fuel is drained after each use if the saws are sitting for long periods between being used.

 

[alderman]

I didn’t know if it was just a Shindaiwa problem, but more often than not when I buy a used saw there is an issue with the fuel line and carb. So far, with draining, I haven’t had to replace them other than the first time. I run non-ethanol from a fuel distributor.

I bought a Shindaiwa brush cutter in 1984 and ran that a lot when it was the only one I had. It had fuel in it most of the time and the fuel line finally gave out about 5 years ago. It didn’t sit much between running so the fuel never got stale. I don’t know if this helped or not. It was probably going bad long before that but it kept running.

I’ve been collecting for quite awhile, so always looking on e-Bay for cheap parts.



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